This week Samsung held its UNPACKED 2019 event, during which they presented new phones. Lets start with phones we have already anticipated, Galaxy S10 and S10+. The first model starts at $899 and have following specification:

• 6.1-inch (3040x1440) AMOLED display,
• 8nm 64-bit 2.73GHz Octa-Core Processor,
• 8GB RAM,
• 128GB or 512GB of storage,
• 10MP selfie camera,
• Triple rear camera with 12MP Telephoto and wide-angle lenses, as well as 16MP ultra wide lens,
• Fingerprint reader built into the screen,
• 3.5mm Headphone jack 😉,
• 3400mAh battery with wireless charging.

The bigger model S10+ starts at $999 with following specification:

• 6.4-inch (3040x1440) AMOLED display,
• 8nm 64-bit 2.73GHz Octa-Core Processor,
• 8GB RAM with 128GB of storage, 8GB RAM with 512GB of storage, 12GB RAM with 1TB of storage,
• Dual front camera with 10MP selfie camera and 8MP depth camera,
• Triple rear camera with 12MP Telephoto and wide-angle lenses, as well as 16MP ultra wide lens,
• Fingerprint reader built into the screen,
• 3.5mm Headphone jack,
• 4100mAh battery with wireless charging.

And that's not all. Samsung following steps of Apple, introduced the "budget" version of the phone. Galaxy S10e starts at $749 with following specification:

• 5.8-inch (2280x1080) AMOLED display,
• 8nm 64-bit 2.73GHz Octa-Core Processor,
• 6GB RAM with 128GB of storage and 8GB RAM with 256 of storage
• 10MP selfie camera,
• Dual rear camera with 12MP Telephoto and 16MP ultra wide lenses,
• Fingerprint reader built into the screen,
• 3.5mm Headphone jack,
• 3100mAh battery with wireless charging.

The biggest surprised was introduced at the end. The Samsung Galaxy Fold is the first Samsung's foldable device. Here is the specification:

• Main screen is 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED display (4.2:3),
• Cover screen is 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Display (4.2:3)
• Has 3 cameras:
  • Cover camera 10MP selfie,
  • Dual front camera with with 10MP selfie and 8MP depth cameras,
  • Triple rear camera with 12MP Telephoto and wide-angle lenses and 16MP ultra wide lens,
• 7nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor,
• 12GB RAM with 512GB internal storage,
• 4380mAh battery with wireless charging.

Samsung's Galaxy Fold foldable starts at $1,980 and launches on April 2. I'm really interesting to see how this foldable device will behave in real life and can't wait to try it myself.

Now, moving on to other news. Earlier this week, we got rumors that Apple is planing to release new 16-inch MacBook Pro. All we know so far is that new mac is supposed to have a brand new design. This is interesting rumor, maybe overheating and hinge issues force Apple to change the design. I will follow this topic with great interest.

Speaking of Apple, there is another rumor saying that Apple will combine macOS and iOS by 2021. We already know that we will be able to run iOS apps on mac using project Marzipan, which should be released this year. But the more interesting part is that we have a date when this transition should be in effect, which means that around 2021 we will get macs with ARM processors.

Thats all for this week. Last but not least, here is the list of interesting things.

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The shady economics of ‘buy one, get one free’ deals

Image credits: Samsung.

This week we also start with Apple news, rumors to be precise. We all anticipating the March event, but the question is what Apple would present. The iOS 12.2 beta unveiled a little bit of the secret. It looks like new (smaller) iPads are coming as well as new iPod touch. iPads are not a surprise but the iPod Touch is, I thought Apple has already killed iPod line.
So far we don't have any rumors regarding iPhone SE replacement, AirPower or new AirPods, except that the latter should be released in the first half of 2019.

Speaking of Apple rumors, new reports suggest that iOS 13 will get a major redesign. The last time iOS got one of those was iOS 7 and since then Apple was perfecting its clean design. I personally doubt that we will see any drastic changes in terms of graphic design, but we might get new ways to interact with the operating system. As Apple plans to combine iOS and macOS apps into one with project Marcepan we definitely will see some changes.

iFixit unveiled a new flow in MacBooks and called it Flexgate. Apparently the ribbon that connects the display with the motherboard is being pulled out when display is open, causing cables to tear over time. This issue is known to all generations of the MacBook Pros with Touch Bar. This is the design flow which Apple hasn't acknowledged yet. Which is not surprising, to fix this problem the entire display must be replaced and such repair cost about $600. Well, if this is a common problem, another law suite is waiting for Apple as well as another repair action.

That's all for this week, if you want more, here is the list of interesting things.

30th anniversary of the Macintosh

Avoiding conflicts between developers and marketers

Open source Eva icons as Vue components

Here are some super secret VS Code hacks to boost your productivity

Image credits: iFixit.

During this week I looked back on what happened this year and I decided to pick my top 3 news from each month. Here are my picks.

January

1. Bitcoin bubble burst,
2. Meltdown and Spectre discovered,
3. EA became scared of YouTubers.

February

1. SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy into space,
2. Elon Musk started selling not a Flamethrowers,
3. Apple started selling HomePods.

March

1. Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal,
2. Apple fixed buggy iPhone X ad before fixing the actual iOS 11 bug,
3. Current frequency deviations in Central Europe.

April

1. Mark Zuckerberg testified before members of Congress,
2. SpaceX reached the promised land of launching every two weeks,
3. GTA V has become the most profitable entertainment product of all time.

May

1. Google Duplex has been announced,
2. GDPR has become effective,
3. Premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

June

1. Microsoft bought GitHub,
2. Apple held WWDC,
3. Apple Pay became available in Poland.

July

1. Apple updated MacBook Pros,
2. New MacBook Pros fixed keyboard but overheats,
3. Clone Wars TV series has been renewed.

August

1. Apple became first IT company to be worth 1 trillion dollars,
2. Twitter limited access to the APIs,
3. CD Project released first gameplay of the Cyberpunk 2077.

September

1. Apple unveiled iPhone XS, XR and Apple Watch 4,
2. Google was celebrating its 20th birthday,
3. iOS 12 and macOS Mojave has been released.

October

1. LucasFilm shared details about first Star Wars tv series - The Mandalorian,
2. Apple shoved new iPad Pro,
3. Google unveiled Pixel 3, a tablet and HomeHub.

November

1. Disney announced new streaming service - Disney+,
2. Stan Lee has passed away,
3. Robert Kubica returned to F1.

December

1. Microsoft announced that it's working on a new browser,
2. YouTube Rewind 2018 became the most disliked video on YouTube,
3. Google’s Home Alone ad.

That's all folks. This was an incredible year. I hope next year will be event better.
Happy New year guys and see you soon!

Image credits: Annie Spratt.

This week Apple held its October event. This time they focused on Macs and iPads. The first presented product was new MacBook Air. New model starts from $1199 and here is the specification:

• 13-inch Retina display,
• 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, with 4MB L3 cache,
• 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1.5TB od SSD storage,
• 8GB or 16GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory,
• Intel UHD Graphics 617,
• New keyboard with TouchID,
• Up to 12h of battery life,
• only 2 USB-C ports.

This update was long overdue, and I have to admit it doesn't look impressive. Don't get me wrong, it is good update, but it's an update we should have long time ago. After couple of years I would expect something more revolutionary, but this model looks like a step back. Previous MacBook Airs offered the quad core i7 option, the new model is only dual core, which is really disappointing for people who wants light and portable computer with a little bit more power under the hood. Now, they have to buy bulky MacBook Pro. The only impressive thing about this computer is new T2 chip, that disconnects a microphone when lid is closed.
What is even more surprising, Apple kept the old model on the shelves, without any price change. Wojtek Pietruszewicz compared this to selling a 1990's car for today's price. I completely agree with him, Apple devices are overpriced, especially computers, and there is nothing that could justify such high prices.

Now, let's move on to the Mac mini. This computer has not been updated for 1475 days! During the keynote Apple showed the new version specification starting from $799:

• 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i36MB shared L3 cache in base model up to 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz 12MB shared L3 cache,
• 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB of 2666MHz DDR4 SO-DIMM memory,
• 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of SSD storage,
• Intel UHD Graphics 630,
• 2 USB-A and 4 USB-C ports, HDMI output and 3.5mm headphone jack,
• 1Gb or 10Gb RJ-45 Ethernet port.

The rest of the design, beside the black mate color is the same as in the previous model. This update is a solid one, of course it is still long overdue, but it is better than nothing. This is basic computer that can be used by anyone, people who only wants to watch cute animals and by people who uses computer professionally. I'm glad Apple still support this type of computers.

The last device presented by Apple was new iPad Pro. And this is the iPad we have all been waiting for. Let's start with the specifications:

• 11 or 12.9 inch Bezel-less Liquid Retina screen,
• 64GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB of storage,
• 4GB of memory and 6GB in 1TB model,
• A12X Bionic chip,
• 7 and 12-megapixel cameras,
• e-Sim,
• Face ID working in portrait and landscape modes,
• USB-C port.

This model is the biggest change to iPad since 2010, when the first iPad came out. First big change is the bezel-less screen, now we have bigger screen in the smaller for factor. This is the first iPad that has new 1.43:1 aspect ratio, all previous models had 1.33:1 (4:3). Unfortunately, this screen is not OLED, Apple deviced to use the Liquid Retina display, which we can find in the iPhone XR.
Moving to the next big change, the new USB-C port. I have to say - FINALLY! We all have been waiting for USB-C in iPhones and iPads since 2016, when new MacBook Pros came out. New port offers not only faster changing and data transfers, but also offers connectivity with external displays up to 5K.
To drive the 5K monitor you need the powerful processors. Early benchmarks suggest that new iPad Pro is a beast comparable to 2018 MacBook Pro. Thats a lot of power! I really wish, we could so enthusiastic about the power of the Macs...
Together with new iPad, Apple presented new Apple Pencil. It has completely new design. It features wireless charging (finally) and it also supports gestures. A nice addition is, that it magnetically attaches to the iPad.
Apple also showed a new keyboard cover, but beside the new size, there is nothing to talk about.
Unfortunately, the new version cost more that previous models. The 11-inch starts from $799 and 12.9 inch model starts from $999.

Thats all. This week was all about Apple, but if you want to see more interesting things, please check out the list below.

Custom Apple Watch face for Halloween 2018 with source code

Docker Cheat Sheet

DevOps NIGHTMARE

What is the revenue generation model for DuckDuckGo?

udocker

Using dark mode in CSS with MacOS Mojave

As silly season continues, nothing really interesting happened. For me, the most interesting news was Apple's software fix for new MacBook Pros throttling issues. All new benchmarks show that fix helped and new laptop is able to maintain the base clock speed under heavy load.
That being said, the CPUs are still not able to reach their full potential because of insufficient cooling. But I think this is the price we have to pay for having slim design. Anyway, the new MacBook Pro is powerful machine that should satisfy any Pro user. Also, it is good to see that Apple took this issue seriously and released the fix so fast.

From the other news, Slack bought the HipChat and Stride from Atlassian. HipChat will be shut down and existing users will be migrated to Slack. Based on the statements from both companies, Slack is not eliminating the competitor, but rather teaming up with Atlassian on creating competition to Microsoft Teams. We will see what the future brings, but it is always good to see how companies are fighting for customers.

Now it's time for new from galaxy far, far away. Lucasfilm announced the cast of the Episode IX. The cast includes familiar faces: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining them are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell. Also we will see the veterans: Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian. Leia Organa will return! Once again played by Carrie Fisher. Filmmakers will use previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The filming begin at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1.

Finally, here is the list of interesting things.

Emulator 101

The Free Stack - Running your application for free on AWS

What Tech Stacks are Indie Hackers Using for Their Apps, and Why?

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Apple's design resources with UI elements from watchOS 5 and macOS 10.14

Creating a Markdown editor/previewer in Electron and Vue.js

DevCleaner - app for managing Xcode caches

Image credits: Lucasfilm.