Weekly Digest - 2020.44

Weekly Digest - 2020.44

Mandalorian Season 2

It's finally here. Mando is on a quest of uniting the Child with its kind. And  if rumors are true, he will meet interesting characters along the way.  First episode started very strong. If the rest of the episodes are on the same level,  we will have superb season ahead of us. This is the way.

SpaceX 100 successful launches

SpaceX reached 100 successful launches with latest Starlink mission. It all started in September 2008 with  flight of a Falcon 1 booster.  Twelve years later, SpaceX has a fleet of reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, that not only sent cargo into space, but also humans.

If everything will go according to SpaceX's plans, then we might see 200th launch within next 3 years.

Image credits: Lucasfilm

Weekly Digest - 2020.38

Weekly Digest - 2020.38

Apple Event

Apple held an online event and introduced couple of new things:

Apple Watch Series 6

  • It is evolution of Series 5,
  • New S6 chip and U1 chip,
  • New sensor containing Blood Oxygen Sensor With ECG,
  • Available from $399 on this Friday.

Apple Watch SE

  • Comes in 40mm & 44mm of size,
  • Retina display (without always on feature),
  • S5 chip,
  • Second-generation optical heart sensor (without ECG),
  • Available from $279 on this Friday.

Apple Fitnes+

This is another service from Apple. This one, as name suggests, focuses on fitnes and exercising. It integrates with Apple Watch, and offers guided workouts. Apple Fitness+ will be available for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for $10/ month, or $80/ year.

Apple One

Apple combined all it services into bundles and called it Apple One:

  • Individual ($14.95/ month) - Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB iCloud storage,
  • Family ($19.95 / month, shared with six family members) - ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple TV‌+, ‌Apple Arcade‌, and 200GB ‌iCloud‌ storage,
  • Premier ($29.95 / month, shared with six family members) - ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple TV‌+, ‌Apple Arcade‌, 2TB ‌iCloud‌ storage, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+.

iPad 8th Gen

Entry level iPad finally got upgrade:

  • 10.2-inch Retina display,
  • Apple's A12 Bionic chip,
  • Supports the first-generation Apple Pencil,
  • Support Smart Keyboard
  • Starts from $329.

iPad Air

Also iPad Air got an update, and on paper it came much closer to a Pro version:

  • 10.9-Inch Retina display,
  • Apple's A14 Bionic chip,
  • Touch ID built into the power button,
  • 12-megapixel rear camera,
  • Supports the second-generation Apple Pencil,
  • Support Magic Keyboard,
  • USB-C connector,
  • Starts from $599.

PlayStation 5 launch date and pricing

During an online event, Sony finally revealed that the next-gen console will arrive on November 12 in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.  For the rest of the world it will be available from November 19th.

The PlayStation 5 will cost $499.99 for the standard version and $399.99 for the PS5 Digital Edition.

Image credits: Apple

Weekly Digest - 2020.04

Weekly Digest - 2020.04

Photos of the Xbox Series X leaked online

Photos of the next-gen console has were posted on NeoGAF and Twitter. It’s unclear how legitimate those photos are, but if this they are, it's the first time we can see the console with all the ports:

  • HDMI Out,
  • 1x front USB Type-A port,
  • 2x rear USB Type-A ports,
  • Ethernet port,
  • Optical port
  • Diagnostic port

Microsoft has not commented on the leak, so we will have to wait, probably till E3 2020, for official news.

iPhone 12 in new sizes?

According to report from Macotakara, this year iPhones will have new dimensions:

  • 5.4-inch model will have a height that is midway between the iPhone SE and iPhone 8,
  • 6.1-inch model will be midway between the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Max,
  • 6.7-inch model will be slightly taller than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.  Also, it will be thinner, 7.4mm instead of 8.1mm.

Disney+ in Western Europe

Disney announced that its streaming service, Disney+, will launch in Europe on March 24th.  It will be available in selected countries:

  • Ireland,
  • France,
  • Germany,
  • Italy,
  • Spain,
  • Austria,
  • Switzerland,
  • United Kingdom.

Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland will get access this summer. Unfortunately, Eastern Europe will have to wait till the first half of 2021.

Google I/O 2020 announced

Google revealed that its annual developer conference will take place from May 12th to May 14th. The conference dates were reveled through a puzzle game.

It's still unclear what Google is going to announce during the conference, but the preview of a new Android is a safe bet.

Image credits: NeoGAF

Weekly Digest - 2020.01

Weekly Digest - 2020.01

Apple Gaming Computer

According to Taiwan's Economic Daily News Apple is going to announce a gaming computer during this year WWDC. The report claims that new machine may be a a laptop or all-in-one desktop with a price tag of up to $5,000. So basically it could be a new MacBook or an iMac.

This rumor is so sketchy on so many levels. First of all Apple, just released a brand new, large-screen, laptop that is arguably gaming capable. Second, both iMac and iMac Pro are long overdue for an update, so they might get a hardware upgrade around WWDC. Also, iMac Pro is VR capable, so, without a doubt, newer hardware will be more powerful.

Beside that, Apple is focusing on Apple Arcade, which has small Indie games. Those, compering to AAA titles, are not that demanding, and most of today's computers could run them easily.

So as you can see, I take this rumor with a grain of salt. But in every rumor there is a little bit of truth, and I believe we might get updated iMacs. But the updates will be related more with VR than traditional gaming.

Emoji engravings on AirPods

Since last year, customers could engrave their AirPods with custom text. This year Apple extended this option with emojis. Unfortunately the number of emojis is very limited, but it includes the most popular ones:  smiling face, thumb up, heart, dog, alien, and even poop.

This feature is very silly, but I have to admit that those emojis look pretty dope on the charging case.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite

Samsung announced the budget versions of 2019 flagships. They offer some the of premium features at more affordable price points, which at the moment are still unknown.

Here are the specs:

Galaxy S10 Lite

  • 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display (2400 × 1080),
  • CPU: Snapdragon 855,
  • 6GB or 8GB of RAM,
  • 32-megapixel f/2.2 front camera,
  • Tripple lens rear camera:
    • 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro lens,
    • 48-megapixel F2.0 wide-angle lens,
    • 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 123-degree angle lens,
  • 128GB of storage,
  • 4,500mAh battery.

Note 10 Lite

  • 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display (2400 × 1080),
  • CPU: Samsung’s Exynos 8895,,
  • 6GB or 8GB of RAM,
  • 32-megapixel f/2.2 front camera,
  • Tripple lens rear camera:
    • 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide lens,
    • 12-megapixel f/1.7 wide-angle lens,
    • 12-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto lens,
  • 128GB of storage,
  • 4,500mAh battery,
  • SPen for hand writing and controlling the phone.
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.