Tablet

Apple will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court today to argue that a lawsuit brought against it is invalid. Apple claims that the lawsuit, which alleges that the iOS App Store creates a monopoly for the company, could only be brought by app developers, not the end users. If Apple is successful, then the case will be dismissed. Otherwise, Apple could be taken to court for potentially monopolistic practices.

The Japanese telecommunications firm NTT DoCoMo has announced the achievement of 27Gbps data transfer using a 5G transmitter in the course of a collaboration with Mitsubishi. This trial involved driving a car with a roof-mounted antenna past a test tower in order to monitor data speeds.

Lei Jun, Xiaomi's CEO, announced at a press conference that 43.9% of the company's revenues in the third quarter of 2018 had come from international markets. These overseas earnings had increased by over 100% compared to last year. This may be attributed to Xiaomi's by-now solid standing in Europe as an electronics provider.

A key Samsung executive has just confirmed that the upcoming Galaxy F foldable handset will ship with Bixby 2.0's successor. However, he also added that the company has not decided yet if the next-gen virtual assistant will be branded as Bixby 3.0, so in the end we might get Bixby F or something completely different.

Many Microsoft users will soon be able to make Skype calls over their Alexa-powered smart speakers. This feature is only available in select countries, however. Those living in them may be able to find the new function in the speakers' Settings menu.

Barnes & Noble have given its new Nook 10.1 some wings. After hitting the shelves on November 14, the company has now launched a matching keyboard cover and charging dock making it a very affordable productivity and entertainment package.

The German federal authorities have dedicated the country's entire C-band (or frequencies from 3.4 to 3.8 GHz) to the provision of 5G. This move is being applauded as it may result in more efficient deployment of the new mobile-data standard; on the other hand, there are those that see it as a governmental cash-grab.

The Apple iPad Pro is apparently not a very durable tablet as demonstrated by Zack Nelson of the popular YouTube channel, JerryRigEverything. Zack was easily able to bend the iPad Pro with very minimal effort, which raises concerns about Apple putting build quality at stake in the quest for slimness.

The United States and South Korea are the countries most strongly linked with the earliest widespread roll-outs of the new mobile data-transfer standard, 5G. AT&T is one of the US networks engaged in the upcoming national 5G distribution program. However, reps from the carrier have warned against getting too excited about it right now.

The October update for Windows 10 is currently being rolled out to the general public. For those in the Fast ring of the Insider Preview program, however, the build of the future is available to try out. This update, known as 19H1, includes an improved Light Theme and some other things Microsoft had promised.

Adoptable Storage is a feature introduced with Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). It allows a phone to effectively turn a microSD card into its own internal storage. Some brands still allow Adoptable Storage in their stock ROMs, but Samsung is not one of them. However, it now seems that it is coming back in future updates that involve Pie (9.0).

Apple’s new iPad Pro tablets have received largely positive reviews. One area that has come in for praise is its display. However, although claiming users can watch HDR movies on the tablet, all is not quite what it seems.

It appears Samsung already has grand plans for the future of the Galaxy F foldable flagship. A report from the South Korean Yonhap News Agency has stated that the tech giant intends to keep releasing new foldable phones each year in selected markets. This will be alongside the usual yearly updates to the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note series.

Microsoft has announced that it is taking pre-orders for LTE versions of the Surface Go in selected markets. The LTE Advanced models will ship from November 20 in the US and will start at US $679 (£619) for the 128 GB SSD/8 GB RAM version.

A report from TrendForce has been published that forecasts the state of the tablet industry in 2019. Apple is expected to remain the leader in terms of market share, followed by Samsung, Huawei, Amazon, and Lenovo. However, it is the Chinese manufacturer Huawei that is expected to enjoy the most growth in the sector.

Remember Samsung's DeX? While that program has so far been a failure, it had led to Linux on DeX, an exciting new feature for select Samsung Galaxy devices. Linux on DeX will allow users to load a full desktop Linux environment within an app container on their Android phone. After connecting their phone to an external monitor, users will be able to enjoy a full desktop Linux experience, all running off their Samsung Galaxy device.

The EverythingApplePro YouTube channel's drop and bend test is an increasingly common staple of each new iPad release. This year, its host Filip Koroy found his optimism about the iPad Pro 2018's durability daunted as he put the 11-inch variant of this new tablet through the procedure.

After spending a bit over a month in the Beta stage, Microsoft Launcher 5.0 is finally available for everyone as a stable release. The most important changes are the introduction of an updated Your Feed page and Windows Timeline support, but there are various other goodies in store as well.

Google’s first Chrome OS tablet is now up for pre-order following its unveiling early last month. The new Pixel Slate follows is the company’s latest attempt to crack the tablet computing market dominated by Apple’s iPad.

Powered by an unspecified processor — most likely a low-end MediaTek chip — the 10.1-inch NOOK Tablet 10.1 comes with 32 GB of internal storage space and promises more than 8 hours of autonomy. Those interested will find this US$129.99 slate in Barnes & Noble stores starting on Wednesday, November 14.

Diablo Immortal, the latest title in the storied Diablo franchise, has hit a wall of criticism. Many gamers are upset over the mobile-only release, claiming that the game is a cheap cash-in and a re-skin of another mobile game that developer NetEase released a while ago. Whether or not these claims are true, the game has drawn the ire of Diablo fans around the world.

Huawei includes access to its Mobile Cloud subscription service in its version of Android, EMUI OS. It is dropping the price for this 50GB cloud storage solution to US$0.011 (€0.01) for Huawei device owners in the EU for this month. The price increases to €0.99 when this promotion expires.

Microsoft has released a new version of the Surface Go in the USA without prior notice. You are now able to get a Surface Go with 4 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD for US$499.

Latest Geekbench results suggest that the A12X Bionic SoC is closer than ever to Intel's top mobility CPUs. The single-core scores are pretty tight, however, the gap in multi-core mode is more noticeable. Still the A12 only lags behind by around 3,000 points, which means upcoming mobile chips from Apple could finally match Intel's solutions in 1-2 years.

The shares of the company Spotify were down 11% at the start of today (November 1, 2018) due to a forecast that shows relatively poor fourth-quarter performance. In addition, Spotify is now reported to be committed to new investments to boost innovation and future-proofing in its products.

Apple has launched an all-new dongle alongside the launch of the new iPad Pro models. The latest dongle in Apple’s extensive selection of dongles available through its online and retail stores is a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack.

The newest iPad Pro is a tablet with a much thinner chassis than its predecessor. However, this is because it no longer has a headphone jack. The iPad Pro 2018 also has USB type C, for improved transfer speeds and maybe more. Hopefully, this will be worth living that dongle life.

Apple unveiled the new iPad Pro, and many of the rumors from the past year were accurate. The new iPad Pro brings a more powerful A12X bionic SoC, Face ID, and a switch from Lightning to USB-C. The iPad Pro starts at $799 for an 11-inch model and $999 for a 12.9-inch model.

In a recent study concerning children and media consumption, researchers discovered that the majority of apps targeted at children 5 years of age and younger contained advertising. Some of these ads were not clearly marked, were difficult to close, or contained disturbing imagery. Additionally, some of the ads pushed the user to make purchases, a clear violation of the FTC's rules regarding ads used in children's media.

Although Microsoft has killed off its smartphone line, the company is still interested in tapping into the handheld gaming space. One of its latest research projects is focused on customer reaction to bringing physical controllers to smartphones and tablets. hinting at possible plans for the near future.

Apart from the thin bezels and the redesigned corners, the 2018 iPad Pro tablets are said to come with IPS LCD touchscreens plus the second-gen Apple Pencils, slimmer profiles (not including the rear camera), a USB-C port and a smart connector, True Depth camera setups with Face ID support, and, of course the latest 7 nm A12 Bionic SoC.

The next upcoming update for iOS is now rumored to add Group FaceTime and dual SIM support to some phones. For some other, older models, however, only restricted forms of Group FaceTime are coming. Some others are not getting this feature at all.

A list of proposed rules put out by the U.S. Copyright Office would make jailbreaking devices like smartphones and smart speakers completely legal, if adopted. Jailbreaking, or circumventing DRM, is currently in a legally grey area. If these rules are implemented, then people could create their own tools to jailbreak a device for repair purposes. However, jailbreaking tools could not be distributed under these rules.

Buried in the latest iOS 12.1 beta code are instructions for users to hold their iPad in portrait orientation so that Face ID can be set up. If legitimate, this code would confirm rumors that Face ID is indeed coming to the next iPad Pro, widely rumored to be announced at Apple's event next week.

Rockstar Games has announced the Companion App for its upcoming release, Red Dead Redemption 2. This app connects an Android or iOS device to the console in question, and allows the player to view maps, stats and progress on their phone or tablet while gaming.

Although both were supposed to enter production in the second half of this year, it looks like the next-gen UFS storage solutions and LPDDR5 will not hit the market as soon as expected. While the UFS 3.0 memory will arrive in the first half of next year, the LPDDR5 DRAM chips will only roll out — if everything works as planned, obviously — in 2020.

The new H133W-MY 2-in-1 convertible integrates a Snapdragon 835 SoC, as Weibu was unable to get hold of Intel's Gemini Lake ULV CPUs due to the ongoing shortages. Apart from the not-so-well-received SoC, the compact laptop packs 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage and a 13.3-in IPS screen with touch capabilities.

A renowned supply chain analyst has predicted that Apple will soon update the iPad Mini series, with a fifth generation of the popular tablet possibly coming out in 2019. The iPad Mini 4 was released in 2015 and featured the now dated A8 SoC. It is expected an Apple iPad Mini 5 will come with “an upgraded processor and a lower-cost panel.”

The newest Windows 10 update (1809, or October update) has been plagued with teething issues. Most recently, some users have documented one of them on Reddit. This bug results in the failure to bring up dialogs that prevent the loss of data through conflicts or duplication during transfer.

The new device-as-a-service program from HP is limited to select customers for the time being and it targets creative professionals like photographers, video editors, graphic designers, and CG artists. Each professional group gets a specific hardware bundle with included accessories and a monthly "rent," plus access to the 24/7 Concierge program for streamlined setup.

Samsung has shut down services in the past and will surely do the same in the future, so the fact that Family Square is going down is nothing out of this world. This app came with the 18.4-inch Galaxy View and its goal was to enable users to put images on a virtual wall, including from other devices connected to the local network.

Samsung has taken the covers off its successor to the Galaxy Book. The new Galaxy Book 2 also happens to be the rumored Windows on Snapdragon (WoS) device that Samsung has been said to be working on.

The music streaming service Spotify has finally pushed an update for the app used on Android smartwatches. This version takes on the functions users formerly had to turn to 3rd-party solutions for. For example, the new Spotify for Wear OS has an actual set of music controls, and also syncs speakers with them.