In addition to new iPad models, Apple has already this week revealed new iMacs. While iMac Pro was left untouched, both 4K and 5K models of the iMac got some improvements.
The first update in two years to regular iMacs comes with improved performance but same design. After such a long time you are rightly expecting a fair bump in computational prowess, and you'd be right.
According to Apple, the 21.5 inch 4K iMac improves performance up to 60 percent over its predecessor, while the 27 inch 5K iMac destroys the previous model with 2.4x (240%) the performance.
The new 21.5 inch model features a generation old Intel Core processors but the 27 inch 5K iMac at least offers in the highest tier the newer 9th gen Intel Core processors. The CPUs in the new 21.5 inch models are either quad-core or 6-core ones while the 27 inch model offers 6-cores except for the top tier 8-core processor.
Both have AMD's Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, and Apple claims that the graphics performance has been improved by 80 percent in the smaller iMacs and 50 percent in the 5K models. The cheapest model has a Radeon Pro 555X, the top 21.5 inch model a Radeon Pro 560X, and the three tiers of 27 inch models have Radeon Pro 570X, Radeon Pro 575X, and Radeon Pro 580X.
To start off the week Apple revamped their iPad lineup with two new models. Neither the iPad Air (pictured below) or the iPad (pictured above) mini are the cheapest iPads around but they do bring something new to the table.
The more expensive of the two, iPad Air, offers the newest A12 Bionic chip you find in the iPhone XS. Not quite as fast as iPad Pro but still blisteringly quick. Also it supports Apple Pencil, although not the 2nd gen one like iPad Pro.
There is no 120hz ProMotion support like in the iPad Pro in iPad Air's 10.5 inch display but it does support TrueTone colors, just like the bigger brother. Talking about size, Air weighs one pound just like the newest regular iPad. They've shaved off some thickness though, it being only 0.24 inches thick. Still not quite as thin as the largest iPad Pro.
The new iPad mini on the other hand features similar specs with a 7.9 inch TrueTone display, same A12 Bionic chip, and support for 1st gen Apple Pencil. The resolution in 2048 x 1536, which is lower due to the size but gives it nice 326 ppi pixel density, a little bit above aforementioned larger siblings.
The FaceTime cameras are a big upgrade from regular iPad. Both iPad Air and iPad mini can now take 7 megapixel selfies and record Full HD video. The back camera is still just a 8 MP f/2.4 shooter.
The United States regulatory body for telecommunication, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has decided to create a experimental license for a new terahertz spectrum.
Like the gigahertz spectrum in use today, and far into the future, it will provide means for wireless communications but at far greater speeds and provide new possibilities. The new spectrum ranges from 95 GHz to the new tera terrority at 3THz.
Some of the spectrum, 21.2 Ghz to be exact, was set aside for scientific and governmental purposes.
The FCC terahertz test license is going to be valid for testing during the upcoming 10 years in which FCC believes new technologies using denser wavelengths will emerge. However, the license also allows the sale of terahertz equipment during this 10 year test period.
While increasing the frequency of the wireless connection increases the potential speed, it also makes the range much shorter and connection more susceptible to obstacles. Perhaps terahertz will bring along a new wireless data transfer technology for equipment that is nearly touching, maybe between components of the same device.
Google is about to receive a third fee for antitrust violations from the European Commission. Again Google has violated the laws by preventing third parties from displaying Google competitor advertisement on its AdSense network.
According to the Reuters, EU's legislative and regulatory body is going to address Google a fine next week. The fine is not going to be as high as the previous ones, but at this time there's no word on how much Google has to pay for the violations.
Nonetheless this one will certainly sting too, as just the fact that EU is striking down anything that smells like a monopolistic policy or practice is going to tighten Google's ropes.
Previous billion dollar fines came from Google giving themselves an unfair advantage regards to Android against competitive platforms and price comparison data in the search engine.
The former was the larger one at 4.34 billion euro ($4.91 billion) and the latter cost Google another 2.4 billion euro ($2.72 billion).
This is likely not the last we hear about EU and their antitrust battles with Google. European Commission has recently started new investigations into Google's search engine data and how they treat competitors.
Spotify and Apple are one of the more important modern day tech rivalries. The David vs. Goliath setup is definitely there, and makes it all the more interesting.
While Apple tries to abuse its power and reach with its own mobile operating system, Spotify fights back with innovation and carefully directed attacks at Apple policy.
Recently Spotify has addressed Apple's App Store royalties to the European Commission, accusing Apple of building an unfair competitive advantage with rules and regulations for competitors in the store.
Apple's response couple days ago claimed that Spotify wants to use their product but aren't willing to pay the price everyone pays for participating. Now Spotify has come out of the woodwork and responded once more, Variety reports.
Spotify reiterates its case about the 30 percent cut that Apple takes each time a person makes a purchase in the App Store. This 30 percent cuts deeply into the margins of a streaming service, and obviously Apple doesn't have to pay it.
While iMessage is the king of messaging platforms on iPhones, there's one cross-platform messenger that has held the crown for years with active users in the billions. It is of course WhatsApp.
WhatsApp offers a range of impressive features, including end-to-end encrypted messaging, calls, and even video chat. However, it's not always easy to know if you can use any of these features, if the recipient has blocked you.
If you have been blocked by the person you are trying to contact, you aren't made aware of it. Fortunately there are a few ways that indicate you might have been blocked.
There's no certainty, since WhatsApp doesn't allow the blocked person to know the status, but with the help of a few indicators you might get closer to the truth.
You cannot see the contact in online mode or the time when the contact has been last seen
You cannot see changes in the contact's profile picture
Sending a message to the contact always results in one, and only one, checkmark. One means sent, two means received.
Calls never reach the recipient.
If you can check all these checkboxes, and it continues to be the case, it is likely that you have been blocked. However, remember that this isn't conclusive, since WhatsApp doesn't want the blocked to know for sure.
Microsoft has been developing a port of Xbox Live to mobile platforms for a while now. Now it has officially confirmed that Xbox Live is coming to both Android and iOS.
Just as we are ready to enter this years Game Developer Conference, or GDC, Microsoft has revealed that it is going to release a version of Xbox Live to Google's and Apple's mobile platforms.
What this means is that game developers can use the Xbox Live platform and its features in their mobile games for Android and iOS. This includes the likes of achievements and community features.
Some games, developed by Microsoft, already support Xbox Live features, but now the Xbox Live ecosystem will become available to all game devs.
In the future with features like the achievements you can easier compare games to their cross-platform counterparts. It can also bring together different platforms in larger communities.
Microsoft is clear that they are trying to bring Xbox Live to as many platforms and gamers as possible. You shouldn't be surprised if Microsoft will eventually try to conquer PS4 and Nintendo Switch, or their successors, as well.
Yesterday Tesla introduced their upcoming crossover vehicle, Model Y, but we also got a little taste of more distant future. Even though Model Y did complete Elon Musk's pun-ful S3XY collection, this is not the end for new Tesla models.
In fact, the ending of the webcast that featured the amazing soundtrack from the original Blade Runner also quickly flashed a teaser we didn't expect. Thankfully Elon Musk revealed this teaser in his Twitter post.
Around a minute in they flashed a picture which features the silhouette of a futuristic looking vehicle. Elon Musk calls this "Tesla cyberpunk truck," a model that has been talked about for quite a while. Trucks are of course hugely popular in America, and would be an obvious next move for Tesla and its high-torque electric motors.
It's hard to say what the picture is, but it kind of looks like the back of a pickup with a bed cap and a Tesla logo on it. The light strip would act as backlights.
Obviously at this point it might just be a drawing that won't get even close to production, after all even some of the now introduced Model Y versions will take another year and a half.
Apple's annual developer conference, known as Worldwide Developer Conference or WWDC, is again held in June. Just like last year, and a few year before that, it will be held in San Jose, California.
Thousands upon thousands of developers and press attend the McEnery Convention Center on June 3 when Tim Cook will host the annual WWDC keynote.
The 30th Worldwide Developer Conference is primarily for the third-party developers and partners of Apple but obviously there will be some news that we, the customers, are anxious to hear about.
There will likely be news about both new versions of iOS (iOS 13) and macOS (macOS 10.15), as well as perhaps an improved tvOS and watchOS. Some are expecting even new hardware, like the hotly anticipated new Mac Pro.
Android Pie's market share among Android versions is probably in the low single digits still, but that doesn't stop Google pushing on with new versions of world's most popular mobile operating system.
Google has now officially released their first beta version of upcoming Android Q. The test version is available for all Google's Pixel phones, and you can download it here if you want to be one of the first to try it out.
Unlike in previous years this time the first version is not named Developer Preview, instead it is a proper beta release, and seems like it is further in to the development than previous Android iterations were at this point in the year.
There's still almost two months before the big reveal at Google I/O, so we can expect fairly complete Android Q by the time we reach Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 7.
There's always a possibility that Google is readying an earlier launch for new Android version, but that is not likely. Like past years, we'll probably see Google releasing the first stable version to the public in the third quarter, and new Pixel phones right after.
Android Q has a lot of upgrades under the hood, but there are some that are more visible too. One of the more hyped features is foldable phone support, which after Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X is a no-brainer. Other improvements include connectivity features like P2P connectivity and WiFi Easy Connect as well as better privacy features.
Teenagers, be it whichever generation, always find new ways to communicate to each other, often trying to stay hidden from the grown-ups.
Every time we think we've figured out what kids use to chat and share their literally premature ideas, they've moved onto something new. Apparently now it is Google Docs.
You might be thinking I've confused the service for another, but nay, the document editing software creates to compete with Microsoft Word, is the hottest tool for communication among the youth.
According to a report by The Atlantic, Google Docs, which offers a communication platform of sorts for shared documents, is the newest covert communication channel at school.
Kids can edit documents, I mean pretend to edit documents, all the while they indulge in the juiciest rumors making rounds in the school.
You can either join the live chat, or if you want to stay more covert, you leave coded messages between the lines of your fake document or add comments to specific parts of the text.
Best of all, you don't have to use your smartphone so taking them away doesn't deter you whether you are at school or at home. Obviously things like WhatsApp Web don't require your phone either, so taking away homes probably never really worked if you still had computers.
Spotify, the Swedish music streaming powerhouse, is one of the toughest competitor to the near trillion dollar behemoth that is Apple.
While Apple has destroyed many larger companies on their way to dominance, Spotify has managed to not only stay as the number one streaming platform for music, but in many markets even increase the lead.
One of the ways Apple strenghtens their own standing is taking a 30 percent cut from iOS purchases. Obviously 30 percent price difference cuts heavily into competitors' bottom line, and even worse it goes straight into Apple's pockets, and Spotify has been recently very vocal about this.
Spotify has complained about it to the EU Commission, but Apple is not going to let claims slide without responding.
They've released a statement where they simply offer an explanation that Spotify seems to want to use the platforms with its straightforward tools for customer acquisition but do not want to pay the price.
They also address a few other claims, including blocking access to products and updates, all of which they say are false, obviously. In addition Apple seems to want to throw a little bit of dirt, and claims Spotify is in it for the money and doesn't treat artists and music industry right.
Tesla has today announced their newest vehicle. The hotly anticipated Model Y is a crossover vehicle that fits right in between Model 3 and Model X.
Built largely on the same base as Model 3, it is a compact crossover/SUV which both looks similar to Model 3 and has the same kind of technology.
Model Y starts at $39,000, just above the $35K price tag of the smaller sibling. Long Range version will put you back $42,700 (RWD) or $46,700 (FWD). The Perfomance version is the most expensive at $55,700.
Standard Range model has a range of 230 miles, Long Range 280 miles (FWD) or 300 miles (AWD) and the Performance package limits the range back to 230 miles.
0-60 speeds range from Standard's 5.9 seconds down to Performance's 3.5 seconds.
Even though Model Y is fairly small, it can still transport up to seven people with optional row of seats like many modern SUVs.
Tesla will start selling Model Y in late 2020 with everything except the cheapest version. The Standard Range version will become available in fall 2021.
All major Facebook's properties - Instagram, and WhatsApp - are experiencing a global hiccup. All services are either unavailable or having problems as of now.
The problems started around 17:00 UTC and have continued at least until now, according to thousands of Twitter messages and monitoring sites such as DownDetector.
Some of the services seem to be working partially. WhatsApp users are reporting that normal text-based messages can be sent normally, but messages including multimedia cannot be sent. Instagram showed just an error message on its frontpage. Also, WhatsApp calls seem to be working only for some users.
It is not known what has caused the outage, but Twitter hashtags such as #whatsappdown are trending globally.
Can txt but not send multimedia or status updates. Anybody with same prblm? #whatsappdown
Originally an autonomous vehicle project inside Google, Waymo became their own subsidiary within Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in late 2016.
While self-driving cars seem to be the future, not everything has been sunshine and rainbows. Apparently the parent company Alphabet is tired of putting in money by themselves, and Waymo is now looking for outside investors, The Information reports.
According to the report, Alphabet has been in talks with European car manufacturers in terms of investing in Waymo, and even becoming a majority owner.
One of the manufacturers is Volkswagen, which could employ Waymo's autonomous technology in their future vehicles. One would assume that Waymo's tech is maturing now since they are looking for manufacturers to bring it to the customers.
Obviously selling a majority stake to a single car manufacturer is only one way to get the tech to cars, so perhaps there is also a licensing deal in the works.
However, Alphabet is losing money quickly, and something needs to be done. Waymo is spending a billion dollars a year, and the parent company dearly needs a return for the investment.
In addition to new iPad models, Apple has already this week revealed new iMacs. While iMac Pro was left untouched, both 4K and 5K models of the iMac got some improvements.
To start off the week Apple revamped their iPad lineup with two new models. Neither the iPad Air (pictured below) or the iPad (pictured above) mini are the cheapest iPads around but they do bring something new to the table.
The United States regulatory body for telecommunication, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has decided to create a experimental license for a new terahertz spectrum.
