Hey, good morning!
Welcome to your end-of-the-week Morning After. This week included detailed impressions of two divisive new Galaxy Notes from Samsung, Instagram’s ‘huge booty’ problem (it’s real and it’s pretty serious), and a laptop that has all the ports you could ever possibly want. And if you want a Subway meatball sub without the meat, Beyond has you covered.
Samsung reveals the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+
Say hello to two new Galaxy Note phones. The Note 10 is a little smaller (6.3 inches) than last year’s model, while the Note 10+ is a little bigger (6.8 inches). However, both come with new gesture controls, lack of a headphone port and the usual sumptuous Samsung screen. In short, it’s more choice for your stylus-toting lifestyle. Preorders start August 8th, while the devices will be in stores on August 23rd, so you can go check them out before splurging that $950 (or $1,100 if you pick the bigger Note 10.
Samsung also gave a deep-dive tour of its upgraded S Pen stylus and its gesture controls, or Air Actions. These will let users activate shortcuts and perform specific actions by drawing shapes above the screen. The S Pen can also shrink, enlarge or change the color of text — and you’ll be able to export handwritten notes in different formats, including Microsoft Word and PDF.
Instagram’s ‘huge booty’ problem keeps getting worse
Facebook says it is fully aware of spam/porn bots on Instagram, noting that it is investing more in research to better understand how these bad actors are evading its systems. But if you ever follow any of the major celebrities or accounts on there, a brief look at the comments show that it’s not really doing enough.
Seriously, take a look.
Huawei reveals HarmonyOS, its alternative to Android
Huawei’s long-rumored Android alternative was revealed early Friday morning.. At the Huawei Developer Conference, the company’s Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu surprised the audience by unveiling “HarmonyOS,” which he says is faster and safer than Android. That said, the software is primarily aimed at IoT products (such as smart displays, wearables, smart speakers and in-car devices) instead of smartphones. Yu says that when Huawei can no longer access Google’s Android ecosystem, the company can deploy HarmonyOS “at any time.” Until then, Huawei will continue to support Android.
Yu’s presentation was rather technical but in a nutshell, HarmonyOS is positioned as a future-proof, “microkernel-based, distributed OS for all scenarios.” The platform is open-source, and it’s actually more of a competitor to Google’s upcoming Fuchsia, given that both can be used on multiple types of devices at once. In his on-stage presentation, he said that Android isn’t as efficient due to its redundant codes, outdated scheduling mechanism and general fragmentation issues.
Apple Card begins its rollout, and the company has a tutorial for everything
Apple’s latest foray into finance is rolling out to its first users, and it’s made a YouTube tutorial for pretty much every step of the application process. If you applied for a notification when the Apple Card first became available, you’ll be among the first to get access, but an expanded release to the wider public should happen later this month.
SpaceX caught a piece of its rocket as it falls from space
Earlier this week, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. This was the third flight for this particular Falcon 9, and its mission was to carry the AMOS-17 satellite for Spacecom. One of the most exciting parts of the event came as a tweet from Elon Musk, as he shared a quick video of a SpaceX ship catching the rocket’s fairing in a net as it fell from space. Why is that so important? It plans to reuse the fairings. Musk previously said the company essentially throws away $6 million every time a fairing crashes into the ocean.
Nintendo may have many, many more Switch consoles planned
Nintendo is definitely launching its $200 Switch Lite handheld on September 20th, and may, according to rumors, release a higher-end console soon. Its plans might even go farther, too. According to Wall Street Journal sources on the inside, the company is reportedly working on updates beyond those models “to make the platform’s lifecycle long.” Sharp VP Katsuaki Nomura has added that the company will supply its IGZO display panels to a videogame client assumed to be Nintendo, according to an earlier WSJ report. Expect the next Switch to have a better-looking, power-sipping screen, as well.
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Author: Mat Smith
Source: GSMArena entertainment, gadgetry, gadgets, gaming, gear, internet, themorningafter
