After working on prototypes for several years, Google reportedly plans to release a foldable Pixel in 2022. According to 9to5Google's deep dive into the current Google Camera APK, the phone is codenamed Pipit. While there aren't many concrete details about what the foldable looks like or how it functions, the APK offered some insights into the Pipit's camera setup.
Seemingly, the main camera will have the 12.2MP sensor Google used in its devices between the Pixel 3 and Pixel 5. The new Pixel 6 lineup, meanwhile, uses a 50MP GN1 camera.
The Pipit (or Pixel Fold, or whatever it will actually be called) is said to use the same 12MP IMX386 ultrawide sensor as the current Pixels, as well as two front-facing 8MP IMX355 sensors. There's likely to be one of those on each side of the body so folks can take selfies whether the device is folded or unfolded.
It makes sense that the main camera might not be as powerful as the one in the Pixel 6 lineup. Those phones have a protruding bar on the rear to give the camera sensors enough room. Size is a bigger concern on a foldable than a slab-style smartphone, given it's twice as thick when its closed. So, camera sensors with a slimmer profile might be preferable for Google in this case.
Samsung has also used lesser cameras in its foldables than in the flagship S Series devices. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, for instance, doesn't have as powerful cameras as the Galaxy S21 lineup.
Elsewhere, the APK includes the term “isPixel2022Foldable." That's a decent indication that Google plans to release a foldable device next year, given how Google has used similar terminology to refer to previous Pixel models.
For what it's worth, Google recently announced a version of Android designed for tablets and foldables. The company plans to release the first public version of Android 12L next year, "in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables."
The latest iPad Pro is your best bet if you want to eschew traditional laptops and go for a more versatile Apple machine. Currently, both Amazon and B&H Photo have a great deal on the 512GB WiFi model — it's down to $1,249, which is $150 off and a new all-time-low price. If you plan on using this iPad as a laptop replacement, you won't regret springing for a model like this with a bit of extra storage.
We gave the 12.9-inch iPad Pro a score of 87 thanks in part to its stellar performance. The latest tablets run on Apple's M1 chipset, so they perform similarly to the company's MacBook Air M1. They handle taxing tasks like 4K video editing smoothly, and they won't break a sweat when handling multiple browser tabs, mobile games and other actions. Battery life is good too — you should get at least 10 hours before needing to recharge. On top of that, the latest iPad Pros have support for 5G, and they include a USB-C port for charging and connecting peripherals, plus the new Center Stage camera that keeps you in frame on video calls.
Both the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch iPad Pros look much the same as they have for the past couple of years. However, the 12.9-inch version has the added bonus of a Liquid Retina XDR display. You'll notice its full benefits when watching videos — the full screen can hit up to 1,000 nits of brightness, while some HDR elements like flashy visual effects will shoot up to 1,600 nits. Combine that with the screen's 120Hz refresh rate and you have a stunning panel that's excellent to use on a daily basis, and even better when watching TV shows and movies.
We still consider the MacBook Air M1 to be the best Apple laptop for most people, but you can get a similar laptop experience with a bit more versatility by opting for an iPad Pro. Paired with the right accessories — like the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil — a 512GB iPad Pro would make a solid laptop replacement for those that value portability above all else. And thanks to the M1 chipset, you won't sacrifice power to get a better grab-and-go machine.
Amazon still isn't done announcing Alexa-powered smart home gadgets this year. The company has unveiled a $69 Smart Air Quality Monitor (shown at right) that checks your household for carbon monoxide, dust, humidity, temperature and volatile organic compounds. If the air is unhealthy, Alexa will let you know through either its mobile app or an Echo device. You'll know to open a window or turn on an air purifier without having to check the monitor yourself.
You can ask Alexa about the air quality at any given moment. Display-equipped devices like an Echo Show or your phone will provide a detailed breakdown of the findings.
You'll have to be a bit patient. The Smart Air Quality Monitor is available to pre-order now, but the first orders don't ship until sometime in December. All the same, the wait could be justifiable if you prefer the Alexa ecosystem and worry that your indoor air quality is affecting your health.
Your iPhone might have a new capability as soon as next year: detecting a car accident and automatically dialing 911. Apple plans to unveil a feature called "crash detection" for both iPhones and Watches, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The feature would supposedly use sensors like the accelerometer built into Apple devices.
Apple has reportedly been working on the feature for several years and testing it using real world data. According to documents seen by the WSJ, Apple has been collecting data shared anonymously from iPhone and Watch users. It has detected more than 10 million suspected vehicle impacts, with more than 50,000 of those accompanied by a call to 911. Apple has been using that data to improve the accuracy of its crash-detection algorithm, since a 911 emergency call is pretty solid confirmation of a serious crash.
It's certainly not first to the gate with this. Google introduced a similar feature for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 via its Personal Safety app that can detect when you've been in a car crash and alert emergency services. GM has been offering it for years in its cars with OnStar, and recently introduced crash detection to smartphones via the OnStar Guardian app. OnStar's in-vehicle service reportedly responds to over 6,000 crash notifications a month, as the WSJ noted.
Apple introduced fall-detection to the Apple Watch 4 series, and it can automatically call emergency services and contact your loved ones if you don't respond to a prompt in a certain amount of time. The crash-detection feature is supposed to come out for iPhone and Apple Watches in 2022, provided everything goes to plan.
Apple only rolled out the MagSafe charging case option for the AirPods Pro wireless earbuds just two weeks ago, but they've already going on sale for a second time. Today, they're available for at Best Buy for just $190, down $60 (24 percent) from the regular $250 price. We expect Amazon will match this price soon, but for now, the online retailer has the earbuds for $200, just $10 more.
The AirPods Pro earned a solid Engadget score of 87, thanks to the improved sound quality, good active noise cancellation, IPX4 water resistance, improved fit for more ear sizes and always-on Siri access. They also offer touch controls that let you easily switch modes between, say, noise cancellation and "Transparency" mode that lets you hear conversations, street noise and more.
However, Apple device compatibility is the most attractive feature compared to, say, Sony's WF-1000XM4 wireless earphones. That allows you to rapidly switch between an iPhone, iPad and MacBook computer. Battery life is as high as 5 hours without ANC or Transparency modes, or 4.5 hours of listening time (3.5 hours of talk time) with ANC turned on.
As part of its new AirPods and MacBook Pro launch, Apple gave the AirPods Pro a MagSafe charging case. As before, the case has a built-in battery that allows you to go up to 24 hours without needing access to a wall plug. MagSafe makes charging a bit more convenient, though, as the case will magnetically stick to compatible chargers like Apple's own MagSafe puck.
The $190 Best Buy price makes the AirPods Pro with MagSafe nearly as cheap as we've ever seen the older AirPods Pro without MagSafe. They'll probably keep going on sale fairly often as they've been out now since late 2019 and a new model could be coming down the pipe fairly soon.
If you've been holding out for a better price on a high storage capacity iPad Pro, Amazon may have you covered. The latest 11-inch iPad Pro with 1TB of storage is $200 off right now, bringing it down to $1,299. That's the best price we've seen and $100 cheaper than its previous low.
There are very few differences between this year's 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros. The larger model has Apple's new Liquid Retina XDR display, which will improve your video-watching experience. But just because the 11-inch model doesn't have the latest display tech doesn't mean it has a paltry screen. You're still getting a 2,388 x 1668 resolution Liquid Retina panel with ProMotion and True Tone technology, which is to say, it's still a lovely screen.
Otherwise, the 2021 iPad Pros are much the same. Both run on M1 processors, giving them powerful performance and making them the best laptop alternatives Apple has made yet. They also have 5G support, a USB-C port that double as a Thunderbolt connector with USB 4.0 compatibility and new Center Stage cameras. The latter works to keep you in the center of the frame when on video calls, and that will make a big difference whether you're on a Zoom meeting or just FaceTiming with your family.
Most people probably don't need 1TB of space, but it'll be useful if you're a creative professional using the iPad Pro for both work and play, or someone who wants to ditch their old laptop for a hybrid device. Paired with the right accessories, this iPad Pro would make a solid laptop replacement.
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If you’re a Google Fi subscriber, the next time you phone someone your call may be protected by end-to-end encryption. The MVNO will start rolling out support for the privacy-minded feature to Android phones in the coming weeks. Once it’s available on your device, it will kick in automatically anytime you call another Fi subscriber.
You’ll know you’re about to make an encrypted call thanks to the special audio and visual cues Google has added to the phone app. A lock icon will appear on your screen as you’re about to be connected to your contact, and it will remain on-screen during the call. You’ll also hear a different ring tone when you’re dialing someone who has a compatible device.
If it wasn’t already clear, how much value you will get out of encrypted calling will depend on how many of your friends and family also happen to be Fi subscribers and they’re using Android phones. As things stand, there’s a chance you may never hear the ringtone that indicates your call is secure.
In that way, encrypted calling on Fi is much like RCS was a few years ago. It’s a protocol without support from carriers. If you’re concerned about keeping your calls private, your best bet is to look elsewhere. That said, it’s a nice-to-have and way for Google to differentiate its wireless service.
The Apple TV app has reached its final frontier: your cable provider's set-top box. According to Variety, Comcast used its latest earnings call to reveal that the Apple TV app will be available on Comcast's platforms in the "coming months." Viewers with Xfinity X1 set-tops, Flex streaming hubs, XClass TVs and (in the UK and Europe) Sky Glass sets will have access to Apple TV+, in-app channels (like AMC+ and Showtime) and Apple's usual video purchases and rentals.
In exchange, Comcast is bringing its Xfinity Stream app to Apple TV hardware. The move will let you use the Apple TV device either as a set-top stand in or to watch broadcasts on someone else's TV when you're away.
This may be a more significant expansion than it seems. Apple's streaming video app is available on many smart TVs, dedicated media players and game consoles in addition to the company's own products, but there are many people whose cable box is the smartest device in the living room. This brings Apple TV+ to many people who wouldn't even consider a service if it required a new TV or any device beyond the ones included with their cable subscriptions.
Google hasn’t given up on Android tablets. Even though, looking at the last few years, it probably should have. I’m (half) joking, but bigger-screened Android devices have felt like an afterthought for a while, as iPads or Windows-powered hybrids cleaned up at the high-end, and cheap devices for families and workplaces offered a mostly smartphone experience with more screen real estate.
Enter Android 12L. It’s designed for bigger screens, including foldables and even laptops. It boils down to a set of new features for the existing OS that are optimized for big screens. While Android can handle a (sort of) multi-window experience, parts of the interface still end up feeling like a blown-up version of a phone OS, rather than something that makes better use of the increased space. One of the things coming to Android 12L is a two-column layout for the notification shade and lockscreen when the system detects that the screen is above 600dps wide. Android is even adding a taskbar which is all very... Chromebook.
We've been hearing about Intel's powerful hybrid processors for so long, but finally the company is ready to launch those chips, previously codenamed "Alder Lake," as its 12th-gen desktop CPUs. And maybe, just maybe, it'll be able to steal the spotlight back from AMD and Apple.
Intel says 12th-gen chips are up to 19 percent faster than 11th-gen overall, and they're twice as fast in the Adobe After Effects Pulse benchmark. When it comes to multithreaded performance (tasks built specifically for more than one core, like video and 3D rendering), the company claims the top-end i9-12900K is 50 percent faster than last year's comparable chip from Intel while using less power. Better still, it can achieve performance parity using only around a quarter of the power. Basically, everyone who held off on upgrading over the last few years could be in for a treat.
The new hybrid core design will make Intel’s new chips look similar to AMD’s big.LITTLE technology found on smartphone CPUs, combining energy-efficient cores for lightweight tasks with heavy-lifting (but more energy-hungry) cores.
Apple's built a lot of tools into its new FaceTime feature.
iOS 15.1 was released yesterday, which means you can finally start checking out Apple's long-awaited SharePlay feature. The feature still only works with a small collection of apps at the moment, but it's coming soon to Disney+, while the NBA and TikTok apps will be updated today to support it. But, er, how do you use it? First step is: update your device.
The Xperia 1 III is another Sony phone aimed at camera fans. It sidesteps software processing tricks, popularized by phones like the Pixel series, instead showcasing Sony’s camera smarts in features like focus tracking and fine-grain controls. I put the phone through its paces, and while the gorgeous 4K screen can run at a smooth 120Hz, specs like this come at an almost prohibitive price ($1,300!), making it harder to recommend against the best smartphones from Samsung and Apple.
With four movies under its belt, the Toy Story franchise remains the crown jewel in Pixar's portfolio. But after Toy Story 4 seemingly wrapped up Woody's story, the focus is now shifting to Buzz Lightyear. The first trailer for Lightyear has just arrived, and it seems less about ‘toy’ Buzz, and more about the titular character himself.
Amazon's first in-house TVs may be showcases for Alexa, but that isn't precluding the company from supporting someone else's ecosystem. According to The Verge, Amazon has unveiled plans to add support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to both higher-end Omni and budget 4-series Fire TV sets now that they're available. You can use AirPlay 2 to cast content from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, but the HomeKit integration may be the most notable — yes, you can use Siri to control an Amazon TV as part of your wider smart home network. Amazon would only say the support was coming "soon."
The TVs themselves start at $370 for the 4-series, which provide the usual Fire TV integrations along with 4K and HDR support in sizes ranging from 43 inches to 55 inches. Omni sets, meanwhile, deliver Alexa-friendly far-field microphones and (on the two largest models) Dolby Vision HDR. They start at $410 and range from 43 inches to 75 inches.
The expansion isn't a complete shock. Insignia- and Toshiba-made Fire TV Edition sets received AirPlay and HomeKit support in July. We'd add that Apple and Amazon are relatively cozy. Amazon Echo speakers have streamed Apple Music since 2018, for instance, while Prime Video integrates with the Apple TV app. Amazon has a strong incentive to include AirPlay and HomeKit, if just to fend off competition from Android TV and sets that rely on Google Assistant.
As The Verge observed, though, there's no mention of either Apple platform coming to add-on media players like the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. For now, you'll have to buy hardware like the Apple TV or modern Roku devices to bring AirPlay and HomeKit to TVs where they aren't built-in.
