SpaceX has revealed the official details of its Starlink satellite internet service for aviation, and it promises to deliver speeds of up to 350 Mbps for each airplane. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian admitted earlier this year that the airline conducted "exploratory tests" of Starlink's internet technology for its planes. Hawaiian Airlines also announced that it will start deploying Starlink internet with "select" aircraft in 2023 around the same time. Shortly after that and after launching Starlink for RVs, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the company to provide satellite internet services to vehicles.
Starlink Aviation, according to the company's FAQ page, will be available worldwide, as long as the plane equipped with its Aero Terminals has an unobstructed view of the sky. The service's satellites are moving in Low Earth Orbit, so there's almost always one or a few overhead. SpaceX says that means passengers will have consistent access to the internet, whether the plane is over land or water and even while it's taxiing or landing.
If Starlink Aviation can truly deliver on SpaceX's promises, that would make it a lot faster than other satellite options that only offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps per plane at most. The company claims the service will allow passengers to do things they couldn't do so mid-flight, such as making video calls, playing online games and using VPN.
The service will initially be available for select airplanes, but the company plans on developing support for more airframes in the future. SpaceX intends to start deliveries for the Starlink Aviation Aero Terminal kits in 2023, so the first airlines to offer the service as an in-flight WiFi option will likely announce it in the coming months.
There were rumors of an M2 iPad Pro, but they were just the start of Apple’s announcements yesterday. The company dropped a bunch of new hardware, but let's start with its most powerful new tablet. The iPad Pro ($799), powered by its M2 chip, offers up to 15 percent faster performance than the M1, according to Apple. It also gets WiFi 6E support and a new "hover" experience for Apple Pencil. With a second-gen Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro will detect the peripheral when it's up to 12mm away from the display. Hovering above the display, you’ll be able to preview any mark you want to make before you actually apply it. When you place the Apple Pencil near the Scribble app, text fields will expand automatically. The updated Pro arrives on October 26th.
The new entry-level iPad got a major redesign, including USB-C charging and a landscape camera. The new model borrows the thin bezel of higher-end models and embeds the fingerprint reader built into the sleep/wake button. No more home button here. It’s more expensive, however: The redesigned iPad starts at $449 for the 64GB WiFi model. It also launches on October 26th. Alongside these new models, after a slight delay, Apple has also revealed that iPadOS 16 lands on October 24th.
Rounding out the barrage of Apple announcements, there’s a new $129 Apple TV 4K model. It has an A15 chip, 64GB of storage and HDR10+ support, with a 128GB Apple TV 4K option adding gigabit Ethernet. Both new Apple TVs also support WiFi 6. We’ve got all the pre-order details here.
– Mat Smith
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We've seen rollable phone concepts from companies like Oppo and TCL, and LG was even working on a commercial rollable smartphone until it quit making mobile devices last year. Now, Lenovo is showing off a laptop with a rollout display, while its mobile division, Motorola, has a roll-out smartphone — and they look like some of the more practical efforts yet. The phone starts out at a very pocketable 4 inches high, but with the click of a button, the OLED panel extends to a more normal, in 2022, 6.5 inches.
We’ve not seen a rollable laptop until now. The prototype starts with a typical landscape display and then rolls into a square, making it better for documents or vertical TikTok-style videos.
So you'd better hurry up and boot your ex from your account.
The next phase of Netflix's months-long crackdown on password sharing – which itself follows the company's first quarterly subscriber loss in a decade – is soon upon us. The company announced during its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday that beginning in early 2023, it will charge customers an added monthly fee to people who share their login credentials. The news comes as Netflix attempts to return to growth after losing subscribers earlier in the year. With help from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and the latest season of Stranger Things, the company was able to add more than 2.4 million subscribers in its third quarter. Netflix has not yet announced pricing, though if it follows the pilot program, it could work out to around $3 to $4 per month.
The luxury British manufacturer has unveiled its first ground-up EV, the Spectre coupe. The "spiritual successor" to the Phantom looks much like its stately gas-powered counterparts but promises an even quieter and smoother ride. Although it’s still finalizing specifications, the company expects the all-wheel drive machine to make a 0-60MPH dash in 4.4 seconds and achieve an EPA range of 260 miles. Not particularly notable, but this isn’t about numbers. This is about luxury.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator has ordered Meta to sell Giphy after it lost its battle at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The authority reviewed the decision in July after the tribunal sided with Meta on one issue (sharing sensitive third-party information). But it found the deal could still hurt competition by limiting rivals' access to Giphy’s library of GIFs, requiring unfavorable terms and reducing digital advertising choices. Meta bought Giphy in May 2020 at an unofficially estimated price of $400 million.
All Mac users can now take DuckDuckGo's browser and its built-in privacy protections for a spin. The company first gave us a glimpse of its desktop web browser in December last year before launching it as a closed beta in April. Now, the beta browser is finally open to the public and can be downloaded — clicking this link will automatically load its DMG file — from DuckDuckGo's website. The company has also bundled the browser with new features, some of which were requested by testers who've been using it over the past few months. One new feature is the Duck Player, a YouTube player that prevents the website from serving the viewer targeted ads.
While YouTube will still register a user's views, the videos they watch will not add any information to their advertising profile. The company says that had prevented most ads from showing up in videos during testing, but any ad that does pop up for viewers will not be personalized. Another new feature is integration with Bitwarden, an open-source password manager, on top of DuckDuckGo's own manager and support for 1Password's autofill feature.
When it's switched on, DuckDuckGo's Email Protection can shield the user's inbox with email tracker blocking. The company has also upgraded its Cookie Consent Pop-Up Manager to be able to block more cookies on more websites. Other features that were added after testers requested them include the bookmarks bar, pinned tabs and a way to view locally stored browsing history.
We tried out the browser for Mac and found it easy and quick to import passwords and bookmarks from other browsers like Chrome. It loaded quickly, as well, and the Fire Button that can instantly clear browsing data with one click is easily accessible at the top right corner of the app. Those who try it out and find themselves wanting to see features that aren't available for the browser yet can simply click at the ellipsis (...) menu next to the URL box to send the company their feedback.
To note, DuckDuckGo hasn't forgotten its Windows users. Its Windows browser is still in early friends and family beta, though the company is planning to make it available to more people through a private waitlist beta launch in the coming months.
Google's flurry of hardware launches may be part of a larger defensive strategy. Sources speaking to The Information claim CEO Sundar Pichai sees hardware as the best way to be "protected" against the pitfalls of a changing mobile market. According to Google Assistant VP Sissie Hsiao, Pichai is concerned Apple is taking share from Android partners like Samsung, and that antitrust regulators might nix Google's long-standing deal to make its search engine the default on iPhones.
This may be coming at the expense of support for non-Google products. While Android support apparently remains intact, the company is said to be investing less in Assistant for cars and third-party hardware in general. Hsiao and other execs have reportedly explored moving employees away from Assistant and Google TV.
Google declined to comment, The Information said. However, the company may have reason to take risks with its hardware business. While Android isn't about to lose its dominance, any continued shortfalls could eat into Google's all-important mobile ad revenue even if its iPhone search deal continues unchallenged. In contrast, Hsiao supposedly noted that the Android Automotive platform in use at BMW, Volvo and other companies is only now approaching $1 billion in revenue — a tiny fraction of the $257.6 billion Google made in 2021.
The main question is whether or not Google can grow its hardware efforts enough to serve as a hedge against any problems. While Google revitalized its phone lineup with last year's Pixel 6 and the just-launched Pixel 7, it's not yet clear this has translated to improved sales. Google moved just 4.5 million phones in 2021 where Apple and Google shipped well over 200 million each. And while Google-powered smart speakers have done well (they're second only to Amazon in lifetime sales), the company is only just making its first in-house smartwatch. It's also reentering the tablet space after a years-long hiatus.
There's also a worry Google might play favorites. The Information maintains that Google is concentrating on providing the best services to "premium" Android partners like Samsung, OnePlus and Xiaomi. That could hurt other brands that might not get equal access to Assistant and other key features. If you're concerned about the long-term health of the Android ecosystem, the reported focus shift might not be very reassuring.
Today, Apple introduced a new crop of iPads alongside a refreshed Apple TV 4K. The new gear was announced through a trio of press releases, not the usual pomp and circumstance of a livestreamed event. For the most part, that makes sense: the new iPad Pros and Apple TV 4K don't bring many sweeping changes, while the all-new iPad largely takes after the existing iPad Air, albeit with a few compromises.
That said, new is new, and all of the updated devices are available to pre-order as of today through Apple's online store. If you're curious about upgrading to a new tablet or high-end media streamer, here's a quick rundown of what's new, how much everything costs and how you can pre-order everything announced today.
Apple iPad (10th gen)
Apple
The 10th-generation iPad represents the most significant revamp of the gadgets unveiled today. It's available to order now in four finishes: blue, pink, silver, and yellow. Prices start at $449 for a 64GB model or $599 for a 256GB model. You can add cellular connectivity to those storage counts for $599 and $749, respectively. Apple says the tablet will be available in stores starting on October 26.
Design wise, the 10th-gen iPad follows closely in the footsteps of the iPad Air. It features a similar 10.9-inch IPS display with a sharp 2,360 x 1,640 resolution and 500 nits of rated max brightness. The design has flatter edges, slimmer bezels, no dedicated Home button, a USB-C port, and a Touch ID sensor located in the sleep/wake button. Battery life is still rated at up to 10 hours of video viewing and web browsing on WiFi.
There's a 12MP wide camera—up from the 8MP sensor in the ninth-gen, 10.2-inch iPad—which Apple says can take 4K video and utilize the company's "Center Stage" frame-centering feature. Notably, the front-facing camera is located along the landscape edge of the tablet, which should make it particularly accommodating for group video calls. The device supports WiFi 6, too, while the cellular version works with 5G networks. Like other new iPad models, it also ditches the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The new iPad is powered by Apple's A14 Bionic system-on-a-chip, which was previously found in the 2020 iPad Air and the iPhone 12 family of phones. This should be a handy upgrade over the 10.2-inch iPad's A13 Bionic chip and give more than enough post for most uses, but it'll still be a few ticks behind the M1 chip found in the iPad Air. The new iPad's display also remains non-laminated—so you'll see a small air gap between the image and the glass layer covering it—and it only supports the first-generation Apple Pencil, not the second-gen stylus with more convenient magnetic charging.
Alongside the 10th-gen iPad, Apple is rolling out a $249 Magic Keyboard Folio case, which looks to work similar to the existing Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and Pro, but includes a 14-key function row, but doesn't let the tablet "float" over the top of the keyboard, instead relying on a built-in kickstand.
Apple says it will continue selling the 9th-generation iPad at the same $329 MSRP (but frequently less than that online) for those who want a more affordable option, albeit with an aged design.
11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros with M2
Apple
The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are a bit more familiar, with the main upgrade being internal: both slates now run on Apple's M2 SoC, which is also found in the latest MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Both devices are again available in either silver or space gray finishes. Like the 10th-gen iPad, the new iPad Pros are available to order now and will hit stores beginning on October 26.
When we reviewed those M2 Macs, we found the M2 to bring a nice performance bump over the M1, though you'll likely need to go well beyond basic tablet uses to see a major difference in real-world use. Still, for those who want a tablet for video editing and other intensive tasks, it should be more futureproof all the same.
The new Pros will also support speedier WiFi 6E networks, Bluetooth 5.3, and, according to Apple, "more 5G networks around the world." For those with second-gen Apple Pencils, there's also a new "hover" feature that lets the tablets detect the stylus when it's up to 12mm away from the display, similar to past Samsung phones and tablets. Apple says this will allow you to preview of marks you can make before you actually apply the pen.
That's about it, though. Both tablets still support up to 120 Hz refresh rates, though the 12.9-inch model remains the only one with a brighter and more vibrant Mini LED panel, while the 11-inch model has a lesser (by comparison) IPS display. The ports, cameras, accessory support, and overall design is largely the same as before. Perhaps strangely, Apple has decided not to move the front camera to the side on the more expensive Pro models, leaving that feature to the far cheaper 10th-gen iPad alone.
The Pros should remain the best tablets in Apple's lineup nevertheless, though their pricing will likely keep them limited to the most involved iPad users. The 11-inch model again starts at $799 for 128GB of storage, while the 12.9-inch model will begin at $1,099 for the same amount of space.
You can also upgrade to 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, with the 1TB and 2TB models also doubling the included RAM from 8GB to 16GB. For the 11-inch model, those'll cost $899, $1,099, $1,499, and $1,899, respectively. For the 12.9-inch Pro, those jump to $1,199, $1,399, $1,799, and $2,199. Adding cellular connectivity to whatever option you pick costs an extra $200.
Apple TV 4K (3rd gen)
Apple
The new Apple TV 4K also gets a performance bump, jumping from 2018's A12 Bionic SoC to the faster A15 Bionic chip introduced last year and seen in the iPhone 13 family of phones and the latest iPad Mini. The set-top box also supports HDR10+ playback in addition to the usual Dolby Vision HDR, and the included Siri Remote now charges over USB-C instead of Lightning. Physically, the box itself is 50 percent lighter and slightly thinner, too.
The rest is largely the same as before, but the most notable (and welcome) change is the price: the new Apple TV 4K now starts at $129 for 64GB of storage. That's still a good ways more expensive than a Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, but it's a nice drop from the previous model's $179 starting price and 32GB of storage either way. (Though we've seen a number of deals on that device in recent months.)
If you need more storage space for Apple Arcade games and the like, you can order a model with 128GB of storage for $149. This version adds a Gigabit Ethernet port and support for the Thread mesh networking protocol for certain smart home devices, too.
The new Apple TV 4K is available to order now at Apple's online store, though Apple says it won't be available until November 4. It's also worth noting that, with the introduction of the new streamer, the company has also discontinued the 1080p-only Apple TV HD.
Now that Apple has introduced a lower-priced Apple TV 4K, it's apparently getting rid of the entry-level model. MacRumorsnotes the company is no longer selling the Apple TV HD through its online store. It's not clear if the device will still be available at retail or through other online shops, but you may want to act fast if you find it at a discount. We've asked Apple for comment.
A move like this isn't surprising. The Apple TV HD launched in 2015 and stayed at an official $149 even as later 4K models offered much more power for as little as $30 extra. Now that the 2022 Apple TV 4K starts at $129, there isn't much point to keeping the legacy player around — certainly not when it uses an iPhone 6-era A8 chip that limits its theoretical capabilities.
There are catches. The new Apple TV 4K doesn't include Ethernet or Thread support in the base 64GB model, so you'll still have to pay $149 for the 128GB version if you want that connectivity. Also, this still leaves Apple without a truly low-cost living room media player. You'll have to turn to competition like the Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max if you just want an alternative to your TV's built-in features.
You are getting much more for that $149, though, including support for all the major HDR standards, a far brawnier processor and more storage. If nothing else, Apple is clarifying its focus — it's staking out the high end of the market, and seems content to let rivals battle for the rest.
Apple rolled out a new round of iPads on Tuesday, upgrading the iPad Pro to the more powerful M2 chip and introducing a new 10.9-inch iPad that hews closely to the existing iPad Air, which launched this past March. While the new 10.9-inch iPad particularly complicates the latter's value, those who were already thinking of treating themselves to a tablet upgrade should still note the 64GB version of the fifth-gen Air is currently down to $519 at Amazon.
Outside of a one-day drop to $479 in August, that's the lowest price we've tracked for this SKU of the tablet, and it matches the deal we saw during Amazon's Prime Early Access sale last week. In total, the deal is $40 off the typical street price we've seen online in recent months and $80 off Apple's MSRP.
When we reviewed the new Air earlier this year, we broadly considered it to be the best Apple tablet for most people, what with its still-powerful M1 chip and significant design upgrades over the base 10.2-inch iPad, which Apple says will remain on sale going forward.
Compared to the forthcoming 10.9-inch iPad, however, the differences look to be more marginal. We'll have to get our hands on the device to confirm, but the new iPad starts at $449 and appears to follow the Air's design almost exactly, with the same 2,360 x 1,640 resolution, slim bezels, USB-C port, WiFi 6 support, Touch ID button, 12-megapixel front camera, and the like. With the new iPad, that front camera is also located along the right-side bezel, making it more suitable for taking video in landscape mode.
This new iPad utilizes Apple's A14 Bionic chip, which is the same silicon that powered the fourth-gen iPad Air and the iPhone 12 lineup. This SoC should be plenty powerful for media consumption and most of the other tablet things most people do with an iPad. Our review did find the Air's M1 chip to be noticeably faster across the board, however, and the M1 should be a bit more futureproof with games and more involved productivity tasks down the road, while also remaining overkill for lighter work, web browsing, and streaming.
Unlike the Air, the new iPad also lacks support for Apple's second-generation Pencil stylus. That means creative types will need to use a USB-C dongle to charge the first-gen Pencil and omit the newer model's magnetic charging and quicker settings-change features. The new iPad does support a new $249 Magic Keyboard Folio, however, which appears similar to the Magic Keyboard supported by the Air and iPad Pro, just without that model's "floating" design. This accessory also adds a row of function keys.
It's also worth noting that Apple doesn't list the new iPad's display as fully laminated, which means it will still have an air gap between its display and the glass itself, and thus can feel slightly more like you're interacting with an image below the glass, rather than the screen itself, which many find irritating. Apple also doesn't list this panel as having an antireflective coating. In terms of size, brightness, and resolution, though, it should be the same.
Beyond that, while the cost difference between the new 11-inch iPad Pro and the iPad Air is prohibitive for many—the former will start at $799—those who can afford the upgrade will still get twice as much default storage (a more robust 128GB), better built-in speakers, a more advanced camera system, a brighter display that supports a faster 120 Hz refresh rate, WiFi 6E support, and now an even more powerful chip. For most, the Air should remain a better value, but in a vacuum, the Pro is a better tablet.
All told, if the added horsepower of the M1, the laminated display, or second-gen Pencil support aren't worth an extra $70 to you, it's likely worth waiting to see how the new iPad stacks up. And if all you want is access to the iPadOS ecosystem for as little as possible, the 10.2-inch iPad is still a solid little tablet overall, and it's still at an all-time low of $269 itself.
If you do need the M1's power gains or improved stylus, though, or if you're looking to upgrade from an entry-level iPad or a pre-2020 iPad Air, though, this deal still represents a good value for those who want a tablet upgrade without totally breaking the bank.
Sony has revealed when you'll be able to get your hands on its premium DualSense Edge controller for PlayStation 5, but be prepared to shell out a pretty penny for it. The $200 peripheral will be available on January 26th in the US, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Pre-orders will open on PlayStation Direct on October 25th.
The DualSense Edge is "built with high performance and personalization in mind," Sony says. You can swap out the standard thumbstick caps, for instance, and use the included high dome caps or low dome caps instead. Replaceable stick modules will be sold separately for $20. For the back buttons, you can opt for half-dome or lever versions, both of which are included with the controller.
You'll be able to adjust the thumbstick sensitivity to your liking and remap the controls (including the back buttons) as you wish. Trigger stops and dead zones are adjustable as well. Those could come in handy if you play games that demand twitch reactions, since you'll be able to reduce the travel distance.
There's the option to save these settings to unique profiles you can switch between by using shortcuts. You can adjust audio levels via shortcuts too. What's more, the controller comes with a braided USB-C charging cable that you can lock into place.
The DualSense Edge is clearly geared toward serious gamers, particularly given that price. It's almost three times the cost of the standard $70 DualSense. However, it's in the range of the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, which starts at $150, and as of Tuesday is customizable through the Xbox Design Lab. The DualSense Edge is the same price as Scuf's Reflex gamepad for PS5. Scuf also offers more expensive models, which may cast the initial sticker shock of Sony's latest offering in a slightly less harsh light.
Google has turned its attention to tablets with today's Chrome on Android update, which focuses on improving tab navigation. The update introduces a side-by-side tab design that makes swapping open pages easier, and an auto-scroll back feature that brings you directly to your previous tab. When tabs become too small, the new Chrome on Android will get rid of the close button on each one, hopefully preventing accidental exits. There's also a new visual tab layout, which organizes tabs in a grid with a preview of each page.
Google is also adding drag-and-drop among apps, allowing you to take an image, text or link from Chrome and slide it into Gmail, Photos or other programs. Finally, today's update brings desktop mode to Chrome on Android.
The update is live now on all Android tablets, and it'll come to the Pixel Tablet when that lands next year. It makes sense that Google is trying to spruce up its tablet interface ahead of the Pixel's launch, and this likely won't be the last update in this space over the coming months.
Google has already confirmed that a future update will add tab groups, a popular desktop feature, to Chrome on Android.
Last year's Apple TV 4K wasn't much of an update internally, though the new Siri remote made up for that. But now, Apple finally has some worthy upgrades for its streaming box. That includes faster performance with its A15 Bionic chip, as well as support for HDR10+, which uses metadata to dynamically optimize HDR10 content (similar to Dolby Vision). Best of all, the new Apple TV 4K has a lower starting price of $129 (down from $179!), as well as double the base memory (64GB instead of 32GB).
If you want more storage, you can also snag the 128GB Apple TV 4K for $149. That model also adds gigabit Ethernet, as well as support for the Thread IoT standard. Both new Apple TVs also support Wi-Fi 6, which should greatly expand their wireless reception. They can also act as smart home hubs for HomeKit devices, like previous Apple TVs. The Siri Remote has all of the features we loved last year, except it now charges over USB-C.
No matter which Apple TV 4K you're looking at, they're both significant upgrades from the previous model. Apple says the A15 Bionic is around 50 percent faster, with 30 percent better GPU performance. That should come in handy if you're the rare person actually playing Apple TV games.
You can pre-order the revamped Apple TV 4K today, and it'll be available on November 4th.
