Weekly Digest - 2020.05

Weekly Digest - 2020.05

One connector to rule them all

EU lawmakers voted overwhelmingly (540-40) in favor for rules that would establish a common charger standard for mobile devices. It has not been decided which connector is the chosen one, but proposed charging ports include Micro-USB, USB-C and the Lightning connector. Looking at the already wide adoption of the USB-C, it's rather safe to say that it will be chosen. Fortunately, we won't have to wait long for the decision, the European Commission should adopt new rules by July.

Apple wants to make SMS one-time codes safer

Apple's WebKit team published a proposal to change the format of SMS one-time passcodes. The idea is to make the two-factor authentication process more secure. The proposal describes two ideas to achieve that:

  1. SMS one-time passcodes would be associated with a URL. It would be achieved by simply adding the website's URL to the SMS itself,
  2. Standardized format of two-factor authentication SMS code would allow applications to detect passcodes; automatically extract them, and complete the login process without further user interaction.

Here is an example of such SMS message:

011970 is your Brain Archives authentication code.
@brainarchives․com #011970

So far Apple and Google have backed the proposal.

iOS 14 to support the same iPhones as iOS 13

According to French website iPhonesoft, iOS 14 will be compatible with all iPhones supported by iOS 13,  including:

  • iPhone 11,  11 Pro & 11 Pro Max,
  • iPhone XS & XS Max,
  • iPhone XR,
  • iPhone X,
  • iPhone 8 & 8 Plus,
  • iPhone 7 & 7 Plus,
  • iPhone 6S & 6S Plus,
  • iPhone SE,
  • iPod touch (7th generation).

As for the iPads, iPhonesoft informs that iOS14 will drop support for the iPad mini 4, and will support following devices:

  • 12.9-inch iPad Pro,
  • 11-inch iPad Pro,
  • 10.5-inch iPad Pro,
  • 9.7-inch iPad Pro,
  • iPad 7th, 6th & 5th   generation,
  • iPad mini (5th generation),
  • iPad Air (3rd generation).

iPad turned 10

This week is the 10th anniversary of the original iPad announcement. iPad supposed to become the "post PC" device that would replace personal computers. 10 years later, we know it hasn't done that yet, but current generation of iPads and iPadOS is closer than ever. Although, tablets hasn't become as popular as smartphones, iPad helped Apple take over this market.

Google's new business communicator

According to report from The Information Google is working on a new communicator for workplaces, that will combine the part of GSuite functionality, like Gmail Google Drive & Hangouts.

Image credits: Lucian Alexe

Weekly Digest - 2020.02

Weekly Digest - 2020.02

Cool tech at CES 2020

As always, the second week of January is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) week. I'm not going to cover in much details what has been shown, people on the site can do much better job. Instead, I've created a list of the most interesting gadgets & thing shown at CES 2020.

Mobile, portable & wearable devices

Laptops

Computers

TVs & Monitors

Headphones & speakers

Smart home devices

Cars & Vehicles

Weekly digest - 2019.51

Weekly digest - 2019.51

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

When Disney bought Lucasfilm I was really excited. Especially after seeing what they've done with Marvel franchise. In MCU every movie has its own plot, but ultimately it is a step forward into bigger, more important, story. Unfortunately the last Star Wars movies felt random. They lack of greater vision. It is especially visible with The Last Jedi. That movie is so much different from the rest of the saga, that JJ Abrams had to sacrifice a part of the Rise of the Skywalker to fix the wrongs of its predecessor. It is clearly visible by the incredible pace of the movie and some, still unanswered, plot holes.

Beside that, I enjoyed the Episode 9, and I think it is very good conclusion of the Skywalker Saga. It's not perfect, but it gives a closure to the story that started over 42 years ago.

The Witcher

Netflix has released the first season of The Witcher. And I really liked it, especially the role of Geralt. It looks like Henry Cavill  was born to play him.

I was a little worried about putting Yennefer and Ciri as the main characters so early in the story, but in the end I really liked it.

The only thing I didn't like, was mixing the events from the past with the current ones. There was no clear distinction between them. Past events felt like they were happening today, and in the end they are a little bit confusing.  

Overall, the first season of The Witcher is very good, and I can't wait for the next one.