Apple tends to roll out its major software versions on a regular cadence, with iPhone and iPad updates usually dropping soon after its after its big annual hardware event in September. Things could be different this year, though. Bloombergreports that Apple might delay iPadOS 16 by a month or so.
The main issue is said to be with the Stage Manager multitasking tool, which will only be available on M1-powered iPads. It allows users to resize windows and have them overlapping. However, those who tried the beta by and large found the feature buggy.
"In its unfinished form, Stage Manager is a bit rough around the edges," Engadget's Nathan Ingraham wrote in his iPadOS 16 preview. "When I was using my iPad with an external display, the system crashed and threw me back to the home screen not infrequently, which obviously kills productivity gains. There are also quirks with apps behaving unpredictably when resizing their windows."
Previous reports indicated that Apple has new iPads lined up for later this year, including a souped-up base model with a USB-C port and an M2-powered iPad Pro. Delaying iPadOS 16 could mean it emerges closer to the arrival of new tablets as well. Pushing back the iPadOS 16 release will also allow Apple to prioritize and polish iOS 16, as Bloomberg notes.
For what it's worth, macOS Ventura also includes Stage Manager. In his preview of the operating system, Devindra Hardawar found that the feature was the standout addition.
It's expected that Apple will release macOS Ventura in October. Given that Apple has long been trying to pivot away from the perception of the iPad as a big iPhone and make it more of an all-purpose productivity device, rolling out iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura at the same time could send another subtle message about how the company is positioning its tablets.
Earlier this year, the Samsung Gaming Hub brought Xbox Game Pass, NVIDIA GeForce Now, Google Stadia and other gaming services to Samsung smart TVs and smart monitors, promising to add new services like Amazon Luna "soon." Soon, it turns out, is today: Amazon's cloud gaming service is now available on 2022 Samsung smart TVs.
Samsung says that with Luna, the gaming hub now has more than 1000 games available to play. Most of these games will require an extra subscription fee, though if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, you already have access to a small library of games. Very small. Right now Prime users can play four games (Steel Assault, MYST, Control: Ultimate Edition and Garfield Kart: Furious Racing) included with their subscription.
The selection of free with Prime games changes every month, but users can subscribe to additional channels to expand their library. Luna Plus, for instance, includes games like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Mega Man 11, Ghostrunner and Resident Evil VII. Luna's Retro Channel has a collection of classic games, from Centipede to Street Fighter II. Users can also subscribe to channels featuring Ubisoft and Jackbox game packs, all priced between $4.99 and $17.99 a month. If you do subscribe, your games won't be locked to your TV: Luna games are playable on PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones.
How well all these games work, however, depends on your connection speed. Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Pass both recommended minimum internet speeds of 10Mbps to 20Mbps on a 5GHz WiFi connection — and of course, you'll also need the aforementioned 2022 Samsung Smart TV and a Bluetooth gamepad. If you have all that, Luna's Free with Prime games are a great way try game streaming on your TV.
When OnePlus does a mid-year refresh of its phones, typically you end up with a slightly snappier device with a handful of slight refinements. But with the new OnePlus 10T, it feels like a lot was sacrificed for the sake of going all-in on speed. Updates include a faster Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, a 120Hz display with an adaptive refresh rate, even faster charging and some tweaks for improved wireless connectivity. Unfortunately, OnePlus’ signature Alert Slider and wireless charging have been removed, and water resistance is weak. So while the 10T is a solid device with an affordable price of $649, it doesn't have the same mass appeal as some of OnePlus’ previous offerings.
Design
For the 10T's design, OnePlus recycled the template it created for the 10 Pro, but with some cost-saving tweaks. You get Gorilla Glass 5 in front and back, with the jade green model sporting the smooth, shiny finish you'd expect. But on our Moonstone black review unit, OnePlus used two different processes to add a textured finish the company says was inspired by basalt. This makes the phone sparkle in the sunlight, which might be nice for Twilight fans or people who aren't planning on immediately throwing this thing in a case. That said, I think you could get a similar effect with glitter, but more than that, it makes the back of the phone feel kind of plasticky, as if it came out of a cheap 3D printer. Don't get me wrong, this is a really minor offense, but if I was buying one, I'd go with the jade version.
The OP10T also features three cameras in back with a smoothed-out hump, a speedy in-screen optical fingerprint scanner and stereo speakers that are relatively loud, though there isn't much to say about its overall audio quality. Sadly, what you won't find is an Alert Slider, which is a feature that has been present on nearly every OnePlus phone since the OnePlus 2 way back in 2015. OnePlus claims its removal is due to space requirements for larger antennas, a bigger battery, faster charging and more, and that the slider will make a return on future devices. But all that kind of makes not having it on the 10T feel even stranger, while also removing one of the few features that gives the phone a bit of personality.
Furthermore, as a downgrade from the OnePlus 9, the 10T only gets IP-54 dust and water resistance, which is only rated to withstand a splash or two instead of a full 30-minute dunk (up to five feet) like you used to get. All around, it feels like OnePlus is regressing a bit on the design front.
Display
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The 10T packs a big 6.7-inch 2412 x 1080 OLED display with flat edges and a 120Hz refresh rate, there's very little to complain about here. Colors are bright and punchy while still delivering lovely inky blacks. Meanwhile, using a light meter I found that the OP10T's screen delivers a peak brightness just shy of 800 nits, which is great. And thanks to the addition of an adaptive refresh rate that can switch from 120Hz to 90hz or 60hz depending on the content, you also get improved battery life without impacting image quality.
Performance
When it comes to speed, one of the biggest upgrades is the move to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which offers 30 percent better power efficiency and 10 percent faster graphics compared to the standard SD8 Gen 1. You can also configure the OP10T with up to 16GB of RAM, which OnePlus claims is enough to hold up to 35 apps open in the background, along with up to 256GB of storage.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
All this makes the phone feel rather spritely, though there's not much that can really tax a phone with flagship-level performance nowadays. Honestly, I can't think of 35 or even 20 apps I'd want to keep running all the time, and in side-by-side comparisons with SD8 Gen 1 phones, it's hard to discern much of an advantage in speed. But if you absolutely need to have the fastest silicon you can get in an Android phone, well here you go.
In addition to its new processor, the 10T also gets the same 1,000Hz touch sampling rate you get on the 10 Pro, alongside OnePlus' HyperBoost Gaming engine which attempts to smooth out any hiccups or stutters in your framerate. And for people who care about getting the best Wi-Fi speeds, OnePlus also created its Smart Link feature, which is designed to proactively seek out strong networks. This works in tandem with the OP10T's 360-degree antenna design, so you can get optimal signal strength regardless of how you're holding the phone or where your connection is coming from.
Cameras
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
When it comes to photography, the 10T's cameras are one of the biggest departures from its more expensive sibling. Not only does the 10T not have any features or tuning from Hasselblad like you get on the 10 Pro, it also lacks a dedicated telephoto lens. Instead, you get a 50MP main camera based on a Sony IMX766 sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide cam and a 2MP macro cam.
Thankfully, even without help from Hasselblad, the 10T's image quality is still pretty good. During the day, you get rich saturated colors and relatively sharp details. It was only after I compared the 10T's pics with similar shots from the $500 Pixel 6a that I noticed it sometimes oversharpens things a touch or exaggerates more vivid colors like the oranges on a flower. At night, the 10T holds up pretty well too, though I still have to give the Pixel 6a an advantage in low light thanks to Google's Night Sight mode. In general, the 10T captured sharp, well-lit images that were a touch behind what I shot using the Pixel 6a.
As for the other cams, the ultra-wide is totally serviceable and provides a more expansive 120-degree field of view compared to the 50MP main lens. Unfortunately, the macro cam is kind of a bust, because while it can take photos from just an inch and a half away (4cm), its low resolution and hit-or-miss focus means you’re often better off just using the main cam and cropping.
Battery life and charging
Ok, let's talk charging because while the 80-watt charging on the 10 Pro was anything but slow, the new 150-watt Super VOOC system on the 10T is ridiculously fast and actually lives up to OnePlus’ lofty claims. Starting with just a one percent charge, the OP10T added just shy of 60 percent battery in just 10 minutes, before going on to hit 86 percent in 20 minutes and 100 percent in less than half an hour. That's more than twice as fast as what you get from a lot of other high-end Android phones, including stuff like the $1,200 S22 Ultra and its slower 45-watt fast charging.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
That said, there are a number of caveats about the 10T's 150-watt Super VOOC charging you should know. The first is that you can only get these speeds when using OnePlus' included power adapter and cable. (But hey, at least you get a charging brick in the box unlike a lot of other phones.) When I tried charging the phone with two other 130-watt or higher third-party adapters, the 10T added less than 20 percent battery in 10 minutes, and that was even when using OnePlus' cable.
Additionally, because OnePlus' power brick doesn't support the 110 or 120-volt outlets that are most common in the US, charging actually caps out at 125 watts. However, if you're in Europe or India, you will get that full 150 watts. Finally, for anyone dreaming of juicing up a laptop or some other gadget with OnePlus' big brick, you should know that standard USB-PD charging is capped at 45 watts. And despite having a label on the brick that says 160 watts, regardless of where you are, charging speeds cap out at 150 watts.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
As for battery life itself, the 10T is downright fantastic. Even though it has a slightly smaller capacity than the OP10 Pro (4,800 mAh vs. 5,000 mAh), it lasted almost 22 hours on our video rundown test (21 hours and 59 minutes to be exact). That's the best time we've seen this year, even beating out the Pixel 6a's mark of 19:30.
And for those worried about what the 10T's rapid charging might do to its battery health, OnePlus says the phone has 13 temperature sensors to make sure it doesn't overheat while charging, while its duel-cell power pack helps spread electrons more evenly and efficiently. This is meant to help the 10T retain 80% battery health after 1,600 charging cycles, though obviously, we haven't had time to test that out fully.
Software
When it comes to software, nowadays most Android phone makers have gotten their custom skins in a pretty decent spot. However, with OnePlus's OxygenOS having transitioned to a platform based on Oppo's ColorOS starting with the 10 Pro and now the 10T, things can feel a bit jarring for long-time OnePlus fans. That's because while you still get things like the OnePlus Sans font, other elements like the settings menu, UI, and even some of OxygenOS 12's new sounds constantly remind you that this isn't the operating system you're used to.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
There’s a new Shelf that’s sort of like a blend between the Control Center on iPhones and a dedicated place for widgets that feels somewhat redundant. I've also noticed some odd bugs and inconsistencies like not getting a pop-up to enable file transfers when connecting the phone to a PC over USB-C. To fix this I had to manually enable Android's developer settings, which isn't something that an average user should need or have to do.
On the bright side, the 10T should enjoy solid software support, with OnePlus promising at least three major Android updates and four years of regular security patches. The company even says it plans to upgrade some of its phones to Android 13 later this fall, starting with the OnePlus 10 Pro, not the 10T, and moving on from there.
Availability
The OP10T will be available in Europe on August 25th starting at €699 for the 8GB/128GB config, or on September 29th in the US starting at $649. For US customers, there will also be a handful of pre-sale dates on OnePlus.com on August 3rd-6th, 10th-13th, 17th-20th and 24th-27th. OnePlus says anyone who buys a phone during early access will also be eligible for a free upgrade to the 16GB/256GB config along with zero interest if you opt for the company’s 24-month payment plan.
Wrap-up
So, the big question is should you get one? For the kind of people who crave speed, the OnePlus 10T is an interesting device. It has top-of-the-line performance, a big OLED screen and stupidly fast charging for just $650 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or $750 for the 16GB + 256GB config. Its camera quality is solid too, even though I wish OnePlus had opted for a zoom lens instead of a macro. And its battery life is truly superb.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The somewhat disappointing part are some of the cuts made to achieve all this speed. You don't get OnePlus' signature Alert Slider, there's no support for wireless charging, and its water resistance is mediocre. Another annoying wrinkle is that OnePlus has yet to detail carrier compatibility for the US (the company says more info will be available closer to launch, stay tuned for updates) .So while it's super fast, the OP10T isn't as well-rounded as phones like the Pixel 6. To complicate things even more, alongside the 10T's release, OnePlus is permanently reducing OP 10 Pro's starting price from $899 to $799. That puts the 10T in a tough spot between great values like the $500 Pixel 6a or the $600 Pixel 6 and more full-featured phones like the S22 and OP10 Pro. But if you gotta go fast and want an affordable phone with excess haste, the 10T might be exactly what you need.
Samsung debuted its Freestyle smart projector earlier this year at CES as a portable home theater gadget with auto focus and auto leveling features, making it easier to watch anything, anywhere. Normally priced at $900, the Freestyle projector is down to $798 at Amazon right now, which is just about $100 off. Samsung also has it for nearly the same price. The only time we've seen the projector cheaper was when it went on sale for $650 at Woot in a one-day sale back in April. If you missed the chance then, now's a good opportunity to grab the Freestyle while it's decently discounted.
The Freestyle is really best for those that want a portable projector as it weighs only 1.83 pounds and can be easily picked up and moved from spot to spot around your home. Its stand can rotate nearly 180 degrees and its auto focus and auto leveling features help align what you're watching, so you could project a movie onto your ceiling, your wall and a number of other places without the picture looking too wonky. The Freestyle projects images with a 1080p resolution with a size range of 30 to 100 inches, making it easy to adjust the image to fit the surface you're working with. Along with built-in Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby voice command support, it also has 360-degree audio, so you won't need to plug in external speakers for sound.
If you'd rather invest in a new TV than a projector for your home theater setup, some of Samsung's 2022 smart TVs have also been discounted on Amazon. The 85-inch Class Neo QLED Mini LED 4K TV is a whopping $700 off and down to $3,298, which is an all-time low. This set uses Mini LED technology to produce bolder, brighter colors and higher contrast, plus it supports a 120Hz refresh rate, 4K AI upscaling, Dolby Atmos and Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby voice controls. Elsewhere, Samsung's 65-inch Q80B Series QLED 4K set is $200 off and down to $1,298, while the 65-inch Class Neo QLED 8K Mini LED TV is $500 off and on sale for $4,498.
Microsoft has flagged a formatting bug that freezes Outlook whenever you open emails with complex tables, including, er, Uber receipts. The glitch is so powerful it even crashes Word, too. The problem was first noted in a standard release of Outlook, but existing beta and Current Channel Preview versions face the same bug if they try to open messages with tables.
Microsoft says it’s developed a fix to reach beta users "shortly" and get to everyone in a patch arriving August 9th. If you really need to see a breakdown of that last Uber trip, you can revert to the earlier version in Windows by running Command Prompt instructions in Microsoft's support document.
The middle of the smartphone road has amazing options that balance price and features. These days, you can still get incredible cameras, vivid screens and decent battery life without breaking the bank. But there are so many — so where do you start? How about this guide? We’ve just updated it with a new overall winner.
Infrared light detection has increased the detail.
NASA
NASA and its partners on the James Webb Space Telescope have shared a fresh look at the Cartwheel Galaxy. It reveals extra details about both the star formation and the black hole at the center of the galaxy, which is around 500 million light-years from Earth. Using infrared light detection, JWST could peer through the dust that obscured the Cartwheel Galaxy from view when other telescopes observed it.
Samsung's self-repair program, in collaboration with iFixit, is finally available. You can now try to fix your Galaxy S20, Galaxy S21 or Galaxy Tab S7+ with officially sanctioned components and tools, complete with guides to walk you through the repair process. The initial selection is just screen and batteries, charging ports and back glass, with prices ranging between $67 (for a charging port on any model) to $227 (for a Tab S7+ display).
The Prime perk is currently available in 10 US metro areas.
Amazon is giving some Prime members another perk. Subscribers in more than 10 US metro areas will now be able to shop from select local brick-and-mortar stores through Amazon and have the items delivered to their home on the same day. At the moment, participating retailers include apparel brands PacSun, Superdry and Diesel, as well as popular vitamin retailer GNC.
They're working with Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now.
Logitech and Tencent have announced they're working on a handheld cloud gaming device. They're blending the Logitech G brand's hardware know-how with Tencent's software prowess. According to their landing page, the device is tentatively — and imaginatively — called the Logitech G Gaming Handheld. It will "support multiple cloud gaming services," Logitech said. Tencent and Logitech are working with the Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now teams at Microsoft and NVIDIA, so expect the handheld to support both platforms.
The site was bombarded by more than 200 times the normal traffic.
As more than 300,000 people anxiously watched the flight path of SPAR19, the US Air Force plane carrying Nancy Pelosi on her tour of Asia, Taiwan’s presidential website went down in an apparent cyberattack. According to Taiwanese presidential spokesperson Chang Tun-Han, the attack originated outside Taiwan and saw the website bombarded with more than 200 times its regular traffic. They claim the website was back to normal operation “within 20 minutes.”
As it promised earlier this year, Uber is testing bus and train travel options in the UK via a partnership with Berlin-based travel platform Omio, TechCrunch has reported. "We’re excited to launch our new travel offering this summer, allowing a seamless door-to-door travel experience across the UK," Uber UK general manager Andrew Brem said in a statement.
Omio covers over 1,000 transportation providers in 37 countries. It has its own travel app for consumers, but has also been developing a business-to-business API that allows partners to access its ground transport network. The company also offers air and ferry travel on its consumer app and website, but its primary focus is on train and bus/coach travel.
The company has already partnered with UK's LNER, travel site Kayak and others, but Uber is its biggest partner so far. "Uber is the first partner that is both at this scale but also the first that gets access to our full ticketing API so you actually are, as a customer, able to do everything within the Uber app," Omio CEO and founder Narem Shaam told TechCrunch.
With access to Omio's API, Uber will be able to offer international train travel to UK users right away. Trips booked via Uber's app will generate a commission for Omio, which it will share with Uber via an undisclosed split. Uber is also paying Omio to license its technology.
Omio believes that its app has a "high overlap" with Uber users, and is hoping the deal will increase its UK market penetration. Ground transport functionality will be added in phases with a basic feature set launching today and building out over the coming months.
Microsoft quietly announced the launch of Outlook Lite for Android, a streamlined version of the company's email service designed to use less battery and storage space than the default Outlook app without sacrificing features or performance.
Specifically, Microsoft says that Outlook Lite has all the main features of the Outlook experience neatly packed into a 5MB app that's optimized for speed, even on lower-end Android devices. The company says the app was designed to run fast on devices with as little as 1GB of RAM, use less battery impact than the full app and offer good performance on older 2G and 3G networks.
That lower data, storage and battery impact is, of course, the point. And Microsoft isn't alone: pared down, lightweight apps serve a huge market of users with budget devices on older networks. That's why Google offers Android Go, a pared down version of the mobile OS designed specifically for lower-end phones, and why Meta has put so much effort into building small, but feature-rich versions of its Instagram and Facebook apps. You can find lightweight apps for Twitter, Tiktok and even Tinder.
Like most lightweight apps, this one has its caveats. Microsoft's new mail app doesn't cut any major features to earn its 'lite' moniker, but it won't work with as many email providers as the primary Outlook app. At present, Outlook Lite is only compatible with Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, MSN, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Exchange Online accounts. Likewise, the app is also only available in select countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela — though Microsoft says it may add support for more locations in the future.
LG's newest CineBeam projectors are ready for your living room, and it's clear you'll pay a premium for their image quality. The company has announced that the laser-based lineup is available starting at $6,000 for the HU915QE, which can produce a 90-inch 4K picture when positioned just 2.2 inches from the wall, or 120 inches when it sits 7.2 inches away. It also reaches a high 3,700 lumens of brightness and can muster a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, so daytime viewing is a realistic option.
The $6,500 HU915QB (shown above) isn't quite as bright at 3,000 lumens, but its black finish makes it better-suited to nighttime sessions. Both models have three HDMI ports with eARC support, two USB ports and an integrated 2.2-channel 40W speaker system. They unsurprisingly run LG's webOS interface (an advantage over rival 'dumb' projectors that lack native apps) and offer creature comforts like AirPlay 2 support, Bluetooth and screen mirroring.
The new Cinebeam projectors' HDR support is limited to HDR10 and HLG. You'll want to buy one of LG's latest OLED TVs if you crave Dolby Vision, and you certainly won't get 8K support. With that said, these units might be strong values if picture size matters more than anything else.
Logitech and Tencent have announced that they're working on a handheld cloud gaming device. They're blending the Logitech G brand's hardware knowhow with Tencent's software prowess. According to a landing page (where you can plug in your email address to receive updates), the device is tentatively called the Logitech G Gaming Handheld.
The system should come to market later this year and it will "support multiple cloud gaming services," Logitech said. Tencent and Logitech are working with the Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now teams at Microsoft and NVIDIA, respectively, so expect the handheld to support both of those platforms at the very least.
Whether the device actually goes on sale as scheduled remains to be seen, given the ongoing supply chain crisis that's making production difficult for just about every electronics company. However, many cloud gaming services are accessiblethrough web apps on phones, so the device likely wouldn't need a ton of processing might. It probably won't need to be as powerful as, say, the Steam Deck. Using lower-power components that aren't super difficult to come by could make it easier for Logitech and Tencent to actually build the handheld. In any case, we should find out more about the device in the coming months.
We are delighted to partner with Logitech G to bring a cloud gaming handheld to market later this year that will combine Logitech G’s expertise in hardware with Tencent Games’ expertise in software services. https://t.co/KfcC3US5xa
It took nearly half a year, but Samsung's self-repair program is finally available. The iFixit team-up helps you fix your Galaxy S20, Galaxy S21 or Galaxy Tab S7+ by purchasing officially sanctioned components and tools, complete with guides to walk you through the repair process. The initial selection is limited to screen and batteries, charging ports and back glass, with prices ranging between $67 (for a charging port on any model) to $227 (for a Tab S7+ display).
The kits include a free return label to help you ship the broken parts to Samsung for recycling. The self-repair program is limited to the US at present, but the companies expect to support more countries, devices and part repairs over time.
Samsung's launch comes a few months after Apple's. It's at once better and worse. While Apple doesn't yet offer self-repair kits beyond smartphones, it covers a wider array of components (such as cameras and SIM trays), and is more granular (you can even order screws by themselves). However, Samsung also doesn't require that you rent or buy a separate toolkit, and doesn't require a phone call to complete the repair process. Buy a part and you'll have everything you need, in other words.
The self-repair option doesn't currently cover the Galaxy S22 or Tab S8 families, and Samsung is keen to point its less DIY-oriented users toward regular repair providers. We'd add that this isn't a strictly altruistic gesture — Samsung, Apple and others are facing pressure from federal and state officials who are either implementing or proposing right to repair rules. Vendors might not have much choice but to let you fix devices on your own terms.
Still, this could be an important move. If you're reasonably comfortable with screwdrivers and spudgers, this gives you a way to lengthen the useful lifespan of a Samsung device without worrying about turnaround times or potentially expensive out-of-warranty repair costs. That, in turn, could reduce e-waste and offer more control over when you upgrade your mobile gear.
