Motorola will announce its next flagship phone on April 22nd

Motorola will unveil its latest flagship devices on April 22nd during a virtual event. It’s expected to announce at least two devices — the Edge and the Edge Plus — that will feature edge-to-edge screens.

The VergeAshley Carman

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a 120Hz screen, quadruple camera, and costs $899

OnePlus is launching two new OnePlus 8 series phones. The flagship handset is the OnePlus 8 Pro which includes a 120Hz display and a quadruple camera system.

The VergeTom Warren

Apple Announces New iPhone SE With 4.7-Inch Display, A13 Chip, and Touch ID, Starts at $399

Apple today announced the second-generation iPhone SE with a 4.7-inch display, A13 Bionic chip, Touch ID home button, up to 256GB of storage, and...

MacRumorsJoe Rossignol

gamescom on Twitter

“❗ Even though not all details are known at present, the nationwide ban on major events until the end of August will also affect the planning for #gamescom2020. Furthermore: gamescom 2020 will definitely take place digitally! We will provide further information shortly. ❗”

Twittergamescom

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-16/sony-is-said-to-plan-limited-playstation-5-output-in-first-year

SpaceX Gets May Date to Launch 2 NASA Astronauts to Space Station

The crew will be the first to travel to orbit from American soil since the space shuttle stopped flying in 2011.

NYTimesKenneth Chang

Leaked iPhone 12 Pro Max Schematics Show Thinner Design, Smaller Bezels, LiDAR Camera, and More

YouTube channel EverythingApplePro and Max Weinbach have shared what they’re claiming is a sneak peek of Apple’s hitherto unreleased...

MacRumorsTim Hardwick

Samsung Galaxy S20

XDA Developers leaked the photos of the successor to Samsung's flagship phone - Galaxy S10. What's interesting, Samsung is not going to just increment the number to S11, instead they are going to jump ahead to S20. Probably Samsung is naming is based on current year.  Other visible differences are:

• front facing camera cutout is closer to the center of screen,
• rear camera has 4 lenses:  regular wide, an ultra-wide, portrait, and a macro,
• body is less curved.

For the rest of the spec, we'll have to wait until February 11th.

New iPhones and iPads with faster 5G

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, this year iPhone will support both sub-6GHz 5G (slightly faster than LTE) and faster mmWave 5G (closer to WiFi transfers). Previous reports suggested only the the former, so this week rumor is a nice surprise. Of corse, it is possible that faster 5G will be available only in selected models of iPhone.  That would line up with  last week rumors,  that new iPhones might have staggered rollout.

Also, according to DigiTimes, upcoming iPads will get faster 5G as well.  Although, this feature might be limited only to iPad Pro lineup.

New MacBooks coming soon

Apple has register portable and unreleased Mac in Eurasian Economic Commission database. Common sense indicates that might be new 13-inch, or maybe even 14-inch, MacBook Pro with a scissor keyboard. Regardless, of the screen size, new Mac will be released within couple of weeks.

Windows 7 is dead

After 11 years, Microsoft is officially ending support for Windows 7. Although, users should not get any bug fixes or feature updates, Windows 7 will share the fate of Windows XP, and Microsoft will be releasing critical security updates for couple more years.

New Microsoft Edge is out

Microsoft has finally released the stable version of the Edge browser based on the Google's Chromium web browser project. New Microsoft Edge is available on both Windows and macOS.

Cyberpunk 2077 delayed

Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed by 5 months.  In the special statement,  CD Project Red (CDPR) announced that the released date has been moved to September 17th.

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most anticipated games of this year, and it is not a surprise, that CDPR want to polish the game and release the best game possible. CDPR did similar move with Witcher 3, which also was delayed for 3 months and turned it to be one of the best RPGs ever. So, there is nothing to worry about, all we need to do is be patient.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration

On Sunday, SpaceX performed the final test of the Crew Dragon. The goal of this mission was to verify the escape mechanisms of the Crew Dragon capsule.

Less than one and half minute after Falcon's 9 launch, Crew Dragon separated from the booster. Seconds later rocket itself was destroyed. Meanwhile, Crew Dragon achieved safe distance and parachuted in the ocean.

The test looked to be successful. If the telemetry confirms that, it means that SpaceX will be in the home stretch to send first astronauts into space.

Dope links

• How to fix slow List updates in SwiftUI
• Common pitfalls when using Keychain Sharing on iOS
• Full Stack Pronounced Dead
• Kubernetes for Full-Stack Developers
• What is the CSS ‘ch’ Unit?
• The Apple Archive
• The Witcher -  Interactive map of the continent & timeline

Image credits: XDA Developers

Mac Pro

Mac Pro is finally here. The base configuration has:

• 8-Core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon W with Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
• 32GB of DDR4 ECC RAM,
• AMD Radeon Pro Vega 580X with 8GB GDDR5 memory
• 256GB SSD,
• 1.4 KW PSU,
• Eight PCI Express expansion slots,
• I/O card with 2 USB3 and 2 thunderbolt ports,
• Two 10Gb Ethernet ports,
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0,
• Built-in speaker and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The base model cost "only" $5999. The top specification looks like this:

• 28-Core 2.5GHz Intel Xeon W with Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
• 1.5TB of DDR4 ECC RAM,
• 2 AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo cards with total of 128GB of memory,
• 4TB SSD,
• 1.4 KW PSU,
• Afterburner card for accelerating ProRes and ProRes RAW footage manipulation,
• I/O card with 2 USB3 and 2 thunderbolt ports,
• Two 10Gb Ethernet ports,
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0,
• Built-in speaker and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

It is mind-blowing, and costs $52199.

Also, we can buy steel frame with wheels for additional $400. So far first impressions are positive, so it looks like Pro focused Apple is back.

Xbox Series X

During Game Awards Show, Microsoft has unveiled the name and design of the upcoming Xbox called Xbox Series X. The console itself looks more like a PC than we’ve seen from previous Xbox consoles, but I really like this design. What's important, it can be used in both vertical and horizontal orientations, which was not the case with original Xbox one. There is no more details about the hardware inside the console, but we know it will have:

• Custom CPU based on AMD’s Zen 2 architecture,
• Radeon RDNA GPU,
• GDDR6 RAM,
• SSD for storage,
• Native 4K at 60 FPS, up to 120 FPS,
• Support for 8K gaming,
• Hardware accelerated ray tracing.

For the first time we also get a first glance at the new gamepad. To my relief, it has not been changed that much, but there is couple of improvements. It’s slightly smaller than current one.  Also, there is new, PS4 style, Share button, for uploading screenshots and video clips. The D-pad has also been redesigned, instead of cross shape, it has circle one, like in the Elite controller.

Regarding the name. At the first sight, it is awful, but there might be more to it than meets the eye. The name might suggest, to average consumer, this is continuation to Xbox One X lineup and all the games will we compatible (which has been confirmed by Microsoft). Or, which is more probable, Microsoft is going to release more than one next-gen console.

Game Awards 2019

Here is the list of new trailers presented during the show:

• Apex Legends Holo-Day Bash event
• Control Expeditions
• CONV/RGENCE: A League of Legends Story
• Dark Alliance
• Fast & Furious Crossroads
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake
• Gears Tactics
• Godfall
• Humankind
• Magic: Legends
• Man Eater
• Naraka: Bladepoint
• New World
• Nine to Five
• Prologue
• Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
• Sons of the Forest
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr
• The Wolf Among Us 2
• Warframe Empyrean
• Weird West

Interesting links

• Building Bottom sheet in SwiftUI
• Vue Flags - A flag component with 230+ countries
• Thinking about color
• iPhone XS Max Rocket Photography
• Full Size X-Wing Drones Fly Over Galaxy's Edge
• The Deep Sea

Image credits: Apple

50th Anniversary of Historic Moon Landing

This year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary one of the greatest achievements in human history, the human Moon landing. On July 16th 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins went on a voyage that took them to the Moon.

It took NASA only 8 years not only to build  the spacecraft, but also to invent the technology, procedures and even science which would allow them to land on the Moon. During Gemini and Apollo programs, NASA mastered the rocket launches, they learned how to bring two spaceships together and dock them on Earth's orbit. With Apollo 8, for the first time ever, human left Earth's orbit, went around the Moon and was safely brought back to Earth. And, of course, the culmination of all the efforts was on July 20 1969, when Neil Armstrong, as first human in history, set foot on the Moon.

I really wish that US government didn't stop fundings. With this speed and rate of innovations, the space travels would be now a "routine". Maybe we would be celebrating not only the Moon landing, but also the Mars one. Not to even mention innovations in other branches of science and their impact on day-to-day life.

But the history went differently ☹️  Even with limited fundings the innovation did not stop and we achieved some of those things. Thanks to the private companies, like SpaceX, the spaceflights became "cheap" and "routine". Also, we are still benefiting from Apollo program in other areas. All of that is awesome, but we have not reach the Mars yet. Hopefully we will not have to wait for long.

Interesting links

• Apollo 11 in Real Time
• This Augmented Reality app lets you visit the Apollo 11 landing site through a portal
• 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing by Google
• Apollo 11 Launch
• Apollo 11 Saturn V launch, 1969 TV broadcast
• Apollo 11 Moon Launch 50th Anniversary | CBS News Special Coverage, live stream
• Restored Apollo 11 Moonwalk - Original NASA EVA Mission Video
• Narration-Free Apollo 11 Documentary Put Viewers in the Thick of It
• The Real Story Behind the Apollo 11 Computer Error
• Apollo 11 Had a Hidden Hero: Software
• Original Apollo 11 Guidance Computer (AGC) source code for the command and lunar modules
• The ACTUAL Computer from the Saturn V Rocket
• Elon Musk Told Us Why He Thinks We Can Land on the Moon in ‘Less Than 2 Years’
• LEGO NASA Apollo Saturn V
• LEGO NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander
  

Image credits: NASA

2019 iPhone design

Mark Gurman tweeted a photo of alleged case molds for upcoming iPhones. Those molds align with previous rumors and shows much bigger, square camera bump. The bigger bump could be justified on the next iPhone XS ans XS Max, which are suppose to get 3 rear cameras, but XR model, despite the rumors about having only 2 cameras, also has square bump, almost the same size as XS will have.

Next Star Wars movies

Last week we got confirmation of the next Star Wars trilogy. This week, Bob Iger confirmed the rumors that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Games of Thrones show runners, will create next movie.  I'm stoked to see next movies, but looking at the turmoil the last season of Games of Thrones created I'm also a little bit worried.

Beside this, we also got more detailed release dates:

• Part 1 - 16th December 2022
• Part 2 - 20th December 2024
• Part 3 - 18th December 2026

3rd Star Wars TV show

Bob Iger also revealed that during 3 years break from the movies we will get 3 Star Wars TV shows. So far we know about The Mandalorian and Cassian Andor series. The third one was a surprise and becomes an interesting mystery.

App Store Monopoly Lawsuit Against Apple

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to proceed with the class action lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by some iPhone users who believe that Apple violates federal antitrust laws by requiring apps to be sold only through  the App Store. This allows Apple to collects a 30% cut from all purchases, which leads to inflated prices of the applications.

Long story short, iPhone users believe that apps would be priced lower outside of the App Store, as Apple's 30 percent cut would not be calculated into  prices.

I have mixed filings about this. I agree that 30% cut is a big one and it didn't change since the beginning of the AppStore, but I also doubt that apps would be priced differently outside of the AppStore.  

Interesting links

• When will Starman return to Earth?
• Apollo 11 HoloLens 2 Demo | Microsoft Build 2019 | Unreal Engine
• God of War - Raising Kratos: Full Length Feature
• Reinventing God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man: A Technical Postmortem
• How Video-Game Engines Help Create Visual Effects on Movie Sets in Real Time
• What to Expect From Marzipan
• I am a Web Dev. And I am Burnt The F#*K Out
• Node, Express, PostgreSQL, Vue 2 and GraphQL CRUD Web App
• Serverless Authentication with AWS Amplify and Vuex Modules
• You should never ever run directly against Node.js in production. Maybe.
• LEGO Stranger Things

Image credits: Mark Gurman