Miscellaneous Tech News
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Apple acquires Intel’s 5G smartphone modem business for $1 billion
Apple will likely now develop its own 5G modems for future iPhones.
Apple today announced that it will acquire the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion. The acquisition will bring 2,200 Intel employees under Apple's umbrella, along with various intellectual properties, leases, and equipment. After the move is complete, Apple will hold more than 17,000 wireless technology patents, and Intel will still be able to develop modems for PCs, vehicles, IoT devices, and other products that aren't smartphones.
The confirmation of the sale comes after a series of on-again-off-again reports and rumors about the deal going back several months. However, a Wall Street Journal report earlier this week made it appear all-but-certain that the finalization of the deal was right around the corner. -
Please break up Facebook, cofounder asks regulators
They say that breaking up is hard to do, but Hughes really wants to try.
Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes isn't just idly wondering if regulators might break up the tech behemoth he helped launch. He's going on a personal tour, meeting with state and federal officials to lay out in detail the way he thinks it could be done.
Hughes has met with members of Congress, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, and the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James to make a detailed case arguing Facebook is too big for its own good, according to separate reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times. -
GitHub starts blocking developers in countries facing US trade sanctions
If you use GitHub's online services in a country facing US sanctions, you could be about to be kicked off all but the most basic offerings.
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@Obsolesce said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
GitHub starts blocking developers in countries facing US trade sanctions
If you use GitHub's online services in a country facing US sanctions, you could be about to be kicked off all but the most basic offerings.
The US is, once again, forcing the world to work around it for basic stuff. This could easily cause the end of the GitHub hegemony if people don't trust it.
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Soon you’ll be able to watch PBS on YouTube
It's the first time PBS will stream live over the Internet.
PBS and YouTube have announced that PBS and PBS Kids will join YouTube TV’s channel roster. The two partners made the announcement this week at the summer Television Critics Association’s (TCA) press tour. Based on their markets, 333 member stations will be available to users.
PBS already offers a robust on-demand streaming service of its own at video.pbs.org, with content tailored to individual markets. And PBS launched a channel on Amazon Prime Video with special on-demand content earlier this year. But this will be the first time viewers will be able to stream live programming from PBS through a digital service, excepting some anomalies over the years like the now-defunct Aero service and the like. -
Privacy group asks court to reconsider FTC’s $5 billion Facebook deal
The settlement does nothing to address the underlying issues, EPIC says.
A group of privacy and consumer organizations is asking a federal court to slow its roll on approving the Federal Trade Commission's $5 billion settlement with Facebook, saying it doesn't do nearly enough to protect individuals.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed the motion to intervene (PDF) with the US District Court in Washington, DC, on Friday, asking the court to let it and other privacy advocacy groups file comments in a "careful review of the fairness and adequacy" of the proposed settlement. -
Samsung won’t let Android tablets die, announces the Galaxy Tab S6
Would you believe Samsung is removing the headphone jack from tablets?
Samsung is still not giving up on the Android tablet market. Today the company announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, its latest high-end tablet, for $649.
The Samsung Tab S6 features a 10.5-inch 2560×1600 OLED display, a 2.84GHz Snapdragon 855, and a 7040mAh battery. The base version has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with a higher tier of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For cameras, there's an 8MP front camera, while the rear gets a 13MP main camera and a 5MP wide-angle lens. The device is down to 5.7mm thick and weighs 420 grams. This is Samsung's first-ever tablet with an in-screen fingerprint reader. Interestingly, it's an optical reader instead of the ultrasonic tech that the Galaxy S10 uses.
Somehow, on a 10-inch tablet, Samsung couldn't find room for a headphone jack. Even Apple, which ditched the headphone jack two years ago, still puts a headphone jack on iPads. Samsung is apparently declaring war on the headphone jack with this round of updates—the Galaxy Note 10, launching next week, is expected to dump the headphone jack, too. -
Multi-monitor wallpapers with Hydrapaper
When using multiple monitors, by default, means that your desktop wallpaper is duplicated across all of your screens.
However, with all that screen real-estate that a multiple monitor setup delivers, having a different wallpaper for each monitor is a nice way to brighten up your workspace even more.
One manual workaround for getting different wallpapers on multiple monitors is to manually create it using something like the GIMP, cropping and positioning your backgrounds by hand. There is, however, a neat wallpaper manager called Hydrapaper that makes setting multiple wallpapers a breeze. Hydrapaper is a simple GNOME application that auto-detects your monitors, and allows you to choose different wallpapers for each display. In the background, it achieves this by simply composing a new background image from your choices that fits your displays, and sets that as your new wallpaper. All with a single click. -
Command line quick tips: More about permissions
Each set has r, w, and x entries for whether a particular user (owner, group member, or other) can read, write, or execute that file. But there’s another way to express these permissions: in octal mode.
A previous article covered some basics about file permissions on your Fedora system. This installment shows you additional ways to use permissions to manage file access and sharing. It also builds on the knowledge and examples in the previous article, so if you haven’t read that one, do check it out. -
Android Auto’s biggest upgrade ever is finally rolling out
It has a darker design and more multitasking capabilities.
Earlier this year at Google I/O, Google announced a big upgrade to Android Auto, its smartphone-powered car interface and competitor to Apple's CarPlay. Now, around three months later, the interface is finally rolling out to the general public via an app update. This version of Android Auto represents the interface's first major upgrade since its launch in 2014. -
Russia denies OneWeb's satellite internet request
A firm that plans to launch hundreds of satellites into orbit to provide worldwide internet coverage has failed in its latest attempt to get approval in Russia.
OneWeb, whose headquarters are in the UK, was seeking to use a certain band of radio frequencies in Russia. However, the State Commission for Radio Frequencies has denied it permission to do so. OneWeb has been trying to get approval for its Russian operations since 2017. The company was founded by US entrepreneur Greg Wyler. It launched its first six satellites, out of a proposed 650, into orbit in February. In 2017, Russia's communications authority Roskomnadzor blocked OneWeb from offering services in the country. And the Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the satellites could be used for espionage. -
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InstaGram is down. WhatsApp might be as well. Facebook platforms definitely experiencing an issue internationally.
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AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is such a hit it almost outsold Intel’s entire CPU range
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@nadnerB said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is such a hit it almost outsold Intel’s entire CPU range
Wow
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@nadnerB said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is such a hit it almost outsold Intel’s entire CPU range
"To put this in a plainer fashion, for every single processor sold by Intel, AMD sold four."
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Intel reveals final details on Ice Lake mobile CPUs
Ice Lake boasts significant power savings and much-improved integrated devices.
Compared to 9th-generation Core mobile CPUs, Ice Lake features an 18% improvement in Instructions Per Clock cycle (IPC), but it offers a decrease in maximum clock rate. This means maximum performance is basically a wash, but we should expect substantial gains in battery life, assuming notebook manufacturers don't scale down battery capacities in response. TDP itself is also significantly improved: Coffee Lake mobile i5 CPUs were rated at 45W/35W, while the new Ice Lake U-series i5s and even i7s are down to 25W/15W. -
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Intel reveals final details on Ice Lake mobile CPUs
Ice Lake boasts significant power savings and much-improved integrated devices.
Compared to 9th-generation Core mobile CPUs, Ice Lake features an 18% improvement in Instructions Per Clock cycle (IPC), but it offers a decrease in maximum clock rate. This means maximum performance is basically a wash, but we should expect substantial gains in battery life, assuming notebook manufacturers don't scale down battery capacities in response. TDP itself is also significantly improved: Coffee Lake mobile i5 CPUs were rated at 45W/35W, while the new Ice Lake U-series i5s and even i7s are down to 25W/15W.wow... nice.
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Polar Ignite review: Clever fitness perks marred by too many compromises
It's a powerful fitness watch, but the $229 Ignite misses the mark as a smartwatch.
Polar has had some catching up to do in the smartwatch space as Fitbit, Garmin, and Apple continuously improve upon and release new products. Polar has always had solid wearable options for serious athletes, but now the new Ignite smartwatch wants to reach a wider group of users. At $229, the Polar Ignite is more affordable than the Vantage M or V smartwatches, but it has more capabilities as a GPS watch than something like Polar's A370 fitness band. It's also more attractive and versatile thanks to a round, lightweight case and interchangeable bands. It seemingly provides a good balance of style and fitness prowess like Garmin's Vivoactive 3 or Fitbit's Versa does, but spending a week wearing the Ignite has proven that Polar should have paid more attention to small yet crucial details that can make or break a $229 smartwatch.
