Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Release date, specs and everything you need to know

Apple officially revealed several new products during its WWDC developer conference in June, one of which was a new iPad Pro, while another was the larger iPad Pro with updated specs. There was also a Siri speaker – called HomePod – announced, but that’s an entirely different topic for an entirely different feature.

The new iPad Pro is the device we are focussing on here. Bridging the rather large gap between 2016’s iPad Pro 9.7 and the iPad Pro 12.9, the iPad Pro 10.5 replaces the 9.7-incher with a slight redesign and a big bump in specs. Here is everything you need to know about the iPad Pro 10.5.

• Apple WWDC 2017: All the announcements that matter

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Design

• 250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1mm, 469g or 477g
• 20 per cent larger screen, 40 per cent reduction in bezels to iPad Pro 9.7
• Smart Connector, Lightning port, 3.5mm jack and four-speaker audio

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 features a similar design to the previous iPad Pro models, only Apple has reduced the bezels around its display by 40 per cent. It therefore is almost identical to the iPad Pro 9.7 but you get a 20 per cent larger display without too much increase in actual footprint.

The new model measures 250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1mm and it weighs 469g or 477g, depending on whether you opt for the Wi-Fi only model, or the Wi-Fi and LTE option. The same premium, slim metal build is present with the Apple logo on the rear, slightly raised rear camera lens in the top left-hand corner and the Touch ID home button beneath the display on the front.

There were reports the new iPad would ditch the home button and there were also reports of a bezel-free device, aside from the top of the display where the FaceTime camera sits but alas, not this time.

Like the iPad Pro 9.7, the iPad Pro 10.5 has a four-speaker setup and a Smart Connector on the rear for attaching the Smart Keyboard. The standard Lightning Connector is positioned at the bottom for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack is present at the top.

The iPad Pro 10.5 comes in four colour options comprising space grey, silver, gold and rose gold. The iPad Pro 12.9 only comes in space grey, silver and gold.

• Apple iPad Pro 10.5 vs iPad Pro 9.7: What’s the difference?

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Display

• 10.5-inch, 2224 x 1668 resolution, 264ppi
• True Tone, anti-reflective coating, P3 wide colour gamut
• Support for 120Hz refresh rate, 600nits brightness

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 features a 10.5-inch display, as you might expect from its name. The display is one of the biggest differentiating factors between the new model and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro it replaces, and not just because of the size increase and bezel reduction.

Like the smaller model, the iPad Pro 10.5 comes with an LED-backlit Retina display, though the resolution has increased slightly to 2224 x 1668 pixels in order to offer the same 264ppi pixel density as its predecessor. The company’s True Tone technology is on board again, adapting the colour and intensity of the display to match your environment, and the P3 wide colour gamut is also present.

Apple claims the iPad Pro 10.5 has the most advanced display in the world though. It is claimed to be brighter at 600nits, less reflective and more responsive than the previous model, supporting a 120Hz refresh rate, which means a smoother and more fluid experience from both your finger and the Apple Pencil. 

• What is Apple’s True Tone display?

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Camera

• 12MP rear camera, 7MP front
• 4K video from rear, Full HD from front
• OIS, Quad-LED True Tone flash, 5x digital zoom from rear

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 features the same rear and front cameras as the iPhone 7. This means you’ll find a 12-megapixel rear snapper with an f/1.8 aperture, five times digital zoom, optical image stabilisation and a Quad-LED True Tone flash.

It is capable of recording up to 4K video at 30fps and you’ll also get all the photo features found on the iPhone 7, including exposure control, auto HDR, body and face detection and Live Photos with stabilisation.

In terms of the front camera, there is a 7-megapixel sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a Retina Flash. The front snapper is capable of 1080p video recording and it too offers auto HDR, exposure control, a timer mode and body and face detection. No matter what your thoughts are on tablet photography, the iPhone 7’s cameras are excellent so the iPad Pro 10.5 will no doubt deliver in this department.

• Apple iPhone 7 review

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Hardware

• A10X Fusion processor, M10 motion coprocessor
• 64GB, 256GB and 512GB storage options
• Compatible with Apple Pencil and Apple Smart Keyboard

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 features the A10X Fusion processor under its hood, as the rumours predicted, along with an embedded M10 motion coprocessor. The new chip is claimed to offer 30 per cent faster performance than the previous iPad Pro generation, as well as 40 per cent faster graphics and Apple says it will cope easily with tasks such as editing 4K video or rendering 3D images.

The battery capacity remains the same as its predecessors, with Apple claiming the new model will deliver up to 10 hours of life. The storage capacities have changed though, with the iPad Pro 10.5 available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB options, none of which offer microSD as is the case with all Apple devices.

As mentioned, the iPad Pro 10.5 comes with four-speaker audio, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Smart Connector on the rear. It is compatible with Apple Pencil, which has improved latency to 20ms thanks to the new display, and it is also compatible with a new Apple Smart Keyboard, designed specifically for the new size.

• Apple iPad Pro 12.9 review

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Software

• Will launch on iOS 10
• iOS 11 due in September

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 will feature iOS 10 when it first launches, though it will get an update to iOS 11 when the new software build arrives this Autumn. It’s expected to be released alongside the new iPhones in September.

Plenty of exciting functions and features have already been previewed by Apple during WWDC though so we already have an idea of what to expect when it arrives. The Apple Pencil will become more useful with iOS 11, with Instant Notes, Instant Markup, Inline Drawing and Searchable Handwriting all arriving.

There will also be a new Drag and Drop feature, allowing you to move text, photos or files from one app to another, and Apple has also redesigned the App Switcher to make changing apps quicker, requiring just a swipe.

Multi-tasking has also been redesigned with both apps staying active in Slide Over and Split View formats, a new Files app will bring all your documents and files together from your iPad to your iCloud and services like Dropbox, and there is an all-new Dock too for favourite and recently used apps and files.

• iOS 11: 11 features coming to your iPad and iPhone

Apple iPad Pro 10.5: Release date and price

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 was announced on 5 June during WWDC 2017, alongside a spec-updated iPad Pad 12.9. Both are available to pre-order now from Apple. They will both ship on 14 June.

The Apple iPad Pro 10.5 starts at £619 and goes up to £1019, depending on the storage capacity and model you select.

The Apple iPad 12.9 starts at £769 and goes up to £1169 for the top storage and Wi-Fi and Cellular model.

HTC U11 review: Flagship glory, with a gimmick squeezed in

HTC’s big play with the HTC U11 is being able to squeeze the phone as a new method of interaction. It’s a natural motion and works well for one-handed use is the argument, giving the company’s new flagship something different.

Apple doesn’t have squeeze. Samsung? No squeeze control to be found. But, here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter. HTC doesn’t need squeeze, which it calls Edge Sense, because it’s a gimmick.

Having lived with the HTC U11 for a couple of weeks, the squeeze isn’t the please – it’s the feature to try and hook you in. So while Edge Sense may have grabbed your attention, join us as we explain why it’s everything else about the HTC U11 that’s really good and, ultimately, the reason this phone is worthy of your attention.

HTC U11 review: Design

• 153.99 x 75.99 x 9.1mm; 168g
• Liquid surface glass finish in five colour options

HTC has undergone a major shift in smartphone design in 2017. Having owned the metal phone space with the unibody HTC One M7 in 2013, it’s become a little passé. Everyone now offers metals phones, from the most expensive iPhone down to the budget offerings of the Moto G. At the top end it’s expected, at the bottom it’s aspirational as a badge of good value.

For HTC, 2016 saw the move to a chamfered body in the HTC 10. We loved the serious look of it, but in the dark gunmetal version there was nothing that really screamed out “look at me, look at me” which is what you need when you’re competing with the likes of Samsung.

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HTC’s answer in the U11 is the liquid surface design which uses glass, but in a way that’s unique on phones. It’s the sort of finish you might find on a piece of art, with metal elements introduced to the glass in the manufacturing process to create hues that have a depth you don’t get elsewhere. For HTC, flat colours are out, and a much more extrovert range of almost two-tone colours is in.

The result is on one hand beautiful, but on the other slightly hard work. With a super glossy finish, this is a phone that needs polishing to look its best. It will probably need a case to preserve its glory, too, so good job there’s one of those in the box – but putting it on is a little like wrapping your car to protect the paintwork, while obscuring some of its natural glory.

From the front there’s little to differentiate the U11 from the HTC 10. It’s uniformly black, with only a few punctuations to the glass for the front fingerprint scanner and the ear speaker, but the new phone is now waterproofed (it has an IP67 rating). We’ve used it in the rain and got it soaked, and it’s perfectly happy in those conditions.

The quality of the build also can’t be faulted. This is a tightly designed phone with every curve and join accurately made and neatly finished. It might not have that new-age Samsung and LG tallness to its screen aspect ratio, but it’s still a thin and light phone that we’ve found perfectly usable in one hand.

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HTC has settled on 5.5-inches for its flagship, so in many ways it feels like the Google Pixel XL in use. It’s a large chassis, especially compared to the latest devices from LG and Samsung, but at the same time there will be plenty who are happy that there’s a conventional 16:9 screen ratio option out there.

For those wondering whether the squeezable sections look or feel any different, they don’t. If you turn off Edge Sense, you’d know no difference.

• HTC U11 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: What’s the difference?

HTC U11 review: All-powerful hardware

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage + microSD
• Single USB Type-C connection
• Front-mounted fingerprint scanner

HTC is one of the first companies to bring the Snapdragon 835 out in a major handset. Samsung offers it in some S8 devices (although many are Exynos-based, depending on region), so HTC pushes the fact that it has the top-drawer processor in all its regional models as a selling point. On the flip side, there are two different versions: one with the standard 4GB RAM, another limited version with 6GB RAM.

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The positive point is that the HTC U11 is as slick and fast as any other flagship handset that you can buy. There’s speed and immediacy in daily usage that makes it feel very capable and no lesser than the Galaxy S8 when it comes to regular daily tasks. Whether you’re playing games, flipping through browser tabs or crushing through your emails, the U11 delivers a smooth experience.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 review: A mobile masterpiece

Much of this comes down to offering the latest hardware, but is also due in part to HTC’s software optimisation. It’s been the aim of the company over the past few years to ensure that HTC Sense – the company’s software suite, which sits over the top of the Android operating system – doesn’t stand in the way what you want to do. And the result, generally speaking, has been speed.

This brings us back to our opening comments about Edge Sense. You can use squeeze control to launch a range of things, like open the camera, take a photo and so on, but the speed of the phone means you can hit an onscreen shortcut or double-press the power button and get the same result just as fast, without the need to squeeze.

The fingerprint scanner on the front beneath the U11’s display is very fast and reliable in use; this is one area where HTC easy betters the Galaxy S8 experience and its poorly positioned rear fingerprint scanner. HTC’s sensor also doubles as the home button, navigating fast so, again, who really needs squeeze when you can so easily return to the home screen and hit a shortcut?

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There’s 64GB of storage as standard with the option of a microSD card to expand this. As in last-gen devices, HTC embraces Android’s adoptable storage feature so you can incorporate a memory card for seamless expansion – but you’re not required to do so, you can just mount external memory (which will give you fewer options). The phone is also dual SIM, so you can use the microSD card slot for a second SIM card instead, if you prefer.

Finally, there’s no 3.5mm headphone socket here, only the USB Type-C connection. This is used for all your charging, data and headphones. It’s convenient in the sense that USB-C is getting wider adoption as a universal standard, but comes with limitations of what you can connect and when. We’ll talk about this more in the section on audio below.

• HTC U11: What can you do with a squeezable phone?

HTC U11 review: Battery life

• Quick Charge 3.0
• 3,000mAh battery

HTC has opted to allow Quick Charge 3.0 speeds rather than the latest 4.0. Does that make a difference in the real world? Not really. It means that this phone could charge a little faster, but HTC made a conscious decision to stick to QC3.0.

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The 3,000mAh battery sounds suspiciously on the light side. Ok, let’s qualify that. We’re starting to see a number of phones that offer 3,300 or 3,500mAh in order to, ahem, squeeze out a little more endurance.

HTC has been working hard on optimisation, so the U11 isn’t a battery flop, but it doesn’t feel like the strongest contender out there. Using the U11 in the same way we did the Galaxy S8+ (which has a 3,500mAh battery), we’d find the HTC to be heading south of 15 per cent battery in the early evening, which rarely happened on the Samsung phone. Bigger is better and that shows in the U11’s more limited stamina.

There are things you can do to limit that drain, however. There’s an effective power saving mode, although some might find it slows things down a little and the display brightness is then less than optimum. There is also Sense Companion that’s forever telling you it’s optimising things and making your device last longer. But is it? Like some of Huawei’s battery management in EMUI, HTC Sense Companion wants to draw this up to be a conversation point, rather than just make the batter last longer. That’s what the phone needs: background management, not constant reports on how it’s improved.

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The HTC U11 will get you through a day, but it doesn’t sail through. Using it alongside our older Pixel XL, we’d say the Google is the slightly better performer, but Samsung has the edge with its big screen Galaxy S8+.

HTC U11 review: Display

• 5.5-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixels (590ppi)
• Super LCD 5 with Gorilla Glass 5

HTC has stuck to its conventional choice of Super LCD 5 for the U11’s panel – the same type of display that was in the HTC 10 and the performance, therefore, is very much the same.

Some commentators had expected HTC to opt for AMOLED after equipping the Google Pixel with an AMOLED display in late 2016. So while AMOLED is winning fans for its vibrancy and punch, the HTC U11 looks slightly less exciting as a result of its panel choice.

There’s nothing hugely wrong with this display. Our only real complaint is that the auto-brightness could be better, as it sometimes needs a manual tweak to get it where you want.

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One irritation for those with polarised glasses is that you can’t use this phone in landscape if you’re wearing those type of sunglasses. It means that if you want to take a photo in landscape, the screen blacks out entirely. We don’t always mention the display polariser on phones, but often this isn’t a problem – you might get some dimming at a diagonal point, but on this HTC it’s a complete blackout on a major axis.

We also have the same issue with this phone’s “night mode” as we did with the HTC U Ultra. It tends to leave have red ghosting when moving through content. For example, when scrolling through Twitter, you get a red trace left by black bars and text. It’s a minor thing, but we only seem to notice it on HTC’s phones.

Overall this is a good display, but it won’t make you go “wow” like you might with some rivals.

HTC U11 review: Camera performance

• 12-megapixel UltraPixel 3 rear camera, 1.4µm pixels, OIS, f/1.7
• 16-megapixel front camera, 1µm pixels, f/2.0

HTC is often judged by its cameras because it’s been the area that people have often been turned off in the face of more consistent performance elsewhere. What HTC hasn’t had on its side is a great run of consistency. From the HTC One M8 through to the HTC 10 there was a lot of change. Fortunately, things seem to have settled somewhat in the HTC U11.

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The rear camera offers a good resolution and is setup to better perform in low light conditions. There’s optical image stabilisation and an aperture of f/1.7 to let in plenty of light. HTC is using the UltraPixel 3 name which you can mostly ignore; the 1.4µm pixel size is pretty average these days, smaller than the original UltraPixel sensor of the M7.

HTC’s aim is an easy-to-use and natural camera – and that’s what you get. Importantly, all the essentials fall into place. It’s fast to focus and easy to change focal point if it’s not focused where you want it. It captures great outdoor photos, with HDR (high dynamic range) swinging in to compensate when faced with a scene that’s full of contrast with balanced and realistic results.

The HTC U11’s camera can overexpose at times, but the ability to swipe up and down the display to manually tweak the exposure is really handy: you can correct a photo before you take it, rather than after, and often that gives you better results in low light (when the phone is trying to make things brighter than they should be).

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Low light performance can get a little grainy and soft, which is par for the course and common to all phones, but we’ve been happy with the results. There’s a Pro shooting mode offering raw file capture with control over focus, shutter speed (down to 32 seconds) as well as ISO sensitivity, if there’s a more deliberate shot that you want to make.

The jump to 16-megapixels on the front camera feels like something of an oddity, as the argument for increasing the pixels while shrinking the size seems to run counter to the logic applied to the rear camera. It’s also no longer stabilised like the HTC 10 was and there’s also no autofocus here. The selfie camera results are ok though. They don’t seem to suffer from this change in direction from the HTC 10 and the red tinge we often found on the older phone seems to have gone too, so there’s little to complain about.

Switching to video mode and there are yet more shooting options. There’s slow motion, which while not at the speeds you’ll get on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, does give you some high frame-rate action. The video capture is clean, but the impressive feature is 3D sound zooming. This is gathered from the four mics on the body, giving you a sense of zooming in on the sound that you’re listening to when zooming the camera.

Overall, the HTC U11 camera does little wrong. It’s simpler than it has been in the past and the performance, especially the bread and butter daylight with Auto HDR performance, is good enough to keep up with rivals.

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One of the highlight features that HTC has been showing off for Edge Sense is launching the camera and taking photos. When we first saw the HTC U11, we thought this was really clever. But as time has passed, we rarely opt to do that. As we said before, a double-tap of the power button launches the camera just as fast and we’ve found that a squeeze on the phone to take the photo can introduce more shake than pressing the button on-screen anyway.

HTC U11 review: Software, Sense and assistants

• Android Nougat with HTC Sense
• Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
• HTC Sense Companion

Say HTC and you can’t help but think about HTC Sense, the software which very much started the friendly reskin movement for Android phones with more features and bespoke options. However, Sense as it has dominated on the HTC Hero for so long has recently become less relevant since Google has incorporated most of the experience into Android itself.

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The Sense experience in the U11 is very much as it was in the HTC 10. That means it’s a little dry, perhaps, with themes and BlinkFeed being about the only vestiges of HTC Sense that remain.

The launcher, folders and apps tray look like they did in 2014 and that’s a bit of a shame; although you’re offered a whole range of customisation, there’s a lot here that’s remained unchanged for some time. Not that that matters hugely – this is Android and you can change it all anyway – but HTC isn’t selling itself through visual UX in the way it once did.

On a much more positive note, there’s very little bloat. HTC’s decision to use mostly stock Android apps is a good one. You still get some Facebook properties piled in – Instagram, Facebook and Messenger – but on the whole, it’s a pretty clean experience. One exception is the TouchPal keyboard, which we find slow compared to the stock Android keyboard, so worth a change to Gboard for the better experience, especially if you use trace entry a lot.

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Removing app bloat gives way to AI, the new frontier in all our connected devices. There’s Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa included (although neither was present on our review device, just the regular old fashioned “Ok Google” voice search). You’ll be able to pick and choose what you use, but at the time of writing, we can’t comment on integration of either service.

• What is Google Assistant, how does it work, and which devices offer it?

HTC continues to put its eggs into the HTC Sense Companion basket. This service was introduced on the HTC U Ultra and U Play, designed to adapt to how you use the phone, make suggestions and generally be your sort of phone-based chum. It will make suggestions about battery optimisation, about where you might want to eat your dinner, let you know how many steps you’ve taken that week and so on. It feels like a loose collection of things though, without much real direction. The notifications don’t really enrich the experience of using the U11 and if you switch them off, you won’t miss the information you’re being given. Similar to Huawei’s badgering in EMUI, it just feels a bit like fluff you don’t need.

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Overall, once you’ve tweaked and changed things around, the HTC U11 runs fast and happy. Switch, change, customise and this is a phone that’s as efficient as any other flagship out there. It might not have changed the icons to circles like the Google Pixel, it might not pack in as many native features as the Galaxy S8, but when you’re gaming away, smashing through emails and polluting your social networks, none of that really matters. 

HTC U11 review: Superb sound

• USonic headphones with active noise cancellation
• Custom tuned
• BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition

With the dual front-facing speakers of HTC’s former phone now a distant memory, the U11 is the second flagship to offer BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition. This takes the two speakers – one on the base and one for the ear – and uses them to create sound that you’ll struggle to find in another device.

This is where HTC very much remains the master. Using the U11 without speakers gives you great audio. Sure, it’s no match for a Bluetooth speaker, as the bass is a little weak and at top volume it’s a little shrill, but this is a phone that you can watch and share YouTube videos on without it sounding embarrassing. It easily beats other rivals.

The headphone experience is also boosted by the USonic headphones in the box. These offer a custom tuning option so they adapt the sound to best suit your ears. This clever technique was available on the HTC 10 too, but it’s now been boosted with the addition of active noise-cancellation.

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This is something of a strange implementation, however, because you have no control over it. Once you’ve tuned the headphones, it’s an all-in-one offering and we’d really like the option to be able to turn it off. It’s not as efficient as using a set of headphones like the excellent Sony MDR-1000X, but it’s a little bonus and these HTC headphones sure do sound good.

The thing that might upset some, however, is that the U11 has ditched the 3.5mm headphone socket. That means you’re using USB Type-C to connect – which has some disadvantages, such as the inability to charge your phone and listen to music. Oh, and the fact that those USonic headphones won’t work with much else.

For those who do want to use existing 3.5mm headphones there’s a dongle included in the box, but this does just add bulk when you slip it in your pocket. We’d urge you to try the USonic headphones though, as they are excellent quality – far better than most of the bundled headphones you’ll get free with a phone.

Verdict

The HTC U11 brings with it some of the core components you want from a flagship: there’s loads of power for a fast and fuss-free operation, a good display, great camera performance, and attention to detail in the audio offering which puts HTC above its flagship rivals.

All that comes wrapped in unique design, with the wonderful colours offered by those new glass backs. It’s a design you really want to show off, because it draws plenty of admiration for good reason.

You’ll notice we’ve not really mentioned HTC’s unique addition, the ability to squeeze using Edge Sense. Sure, it’s something that only HTC offers, but for us it doesn’t add anything to the experience, and doesn’t make this a better phone. Other down points

In summary, HTC really does very little wrong in the HTC U11. This is a 2017 flagship that’s up there with the best, but we suspect that many will be distracted by Samsung’s aggressive marketing and glamorous new looks over a “squeezable” phone. That’s a real shame, because the HTC U11 would be a perfect phone for a great many people.

Alternatives to consider…

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Samsung Galaxy S8+

The phone that everyone is talking about is the Samsung Galaxy S8. The S8+ is the more natural rival to the HTC U11 thanks to its size. Aside from great design, it’s all about that new display with the 18.5:9 aspect and those curved edges. Power, performance and a great camera, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the slickest phones around, but also the most expensive. The fingerprint scanner and sound quality don’t match the HTC U11 though.

Read the full review: Samsung S8+ review

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LG G6

First out of the gate with this new 18:9 aspect ratio display with HDR was the LG G6. It’s compact, it’s affordable and it has a great wide-angle camera on the rear, which are the real selling points for the LG G6. It’s not as nice to use as the HTC U11, however, and it’s not as powerful, using older hardware.

Read the full article: LG G6 review

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Google Pixel XL

The Pixel XL is the mac-daddy of Android phones. It’s pure, enhanced Android with all of Google’s latest tricks packed in to a fast, powerful device with a brilliant camera. It’s running older hardware now and it’s still pretty pricey considering that older arrangement, but it’s first in line for updates. 

Read the full article: Google Pixel XL review

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iPhone 7 Plus

If you want it all but without the Android part, the 7 Plus is your current best bet, offering a consistently good experience. It’s excellently built, has a great camera system, lasts more than a day per charge and offers the best apps available anywhere. The design does look dated, though.

Read the full article: Apple iPhone 7 Plus review

The Morning After: Thursday, June 8th 2017

Welcome to your Thursday morning. Want more Instagram likes? Russia has a vending machine for that. Want to stream Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for free, through a tenuous branding exercise with a pizza chain? I think we know the answer. Chicka chicka.

You might not notice the brighter screen, but the performance is noticeably better.A day with Apple’s new iMac (no, not the Pro)

Executive Editor Dana Wollman left WWDC on Monday with an iMac. The bad news is that it’s not the iMac Pro. Sorry, but our review of the space-gray machine with the 18-core processor and $4,999 price tag will have to wait until December. Dana already has some thoughts on the refreshed 21.5-inch system, however, which brings a slew of under-the-hood upgrades.

It’s amazing what a nearly limitless R&D budget can accomplish.
How Apple reinvigorated its AI aspirations in under a year

At its WWDC 2017 keynote on Monday, Apple showed off the fruits of its AI research labors. We saw a Siri assistant that’s smart enough to interpret your intentions, an updated Metal 2 graphics suite designed for machine learning and a Photos app that can do everything its Google rival does — without an internet connection. Being at the front of the AI pack is a new position for Apple to find itself in. Despite setting off the AI assistant arms race when it introduced Siri in 2010, Apple has long lagged behind its competitors in this field. It’s amazing, however, what a year of intense R&D can do.

That hollow-feeling ego boost will cost you less than a dollar.
Quench your thirst with Instagram likes from a vending machine

Since the dawn of the internet, people have sought artificial ways to look more popular online. In exchange for a small sum, various dodgy-looking websites have long promised to boost your ego by selling you fake followers. Now, one Russian company is taking that concept offline, allowing you to improve your social standing by buying likes at a vending machine — all for mere pocket change.

Some of the most popular add-ons and mods are unavailable as legal pressure mounts.
A piracy lawsuit is tearing Kodi’s add-on community apart

Some of the biggest third-party Kodi streaming add-ons are no longer available. ZemTV and Phoenix have recently closed following a lawsuit from US satellite broadcaster Dish Network, with others following suit. The add-ons, which offer on-demand and live streamed content free of charge, are accused of direct copyright infringement of various TV channels. It’s thought that while the Dish lawsuit is currently focused on other streaming add-ons, developers like Cosmix are distancing themselves (full list here) from any potential legal action due to the costs involved. Many Kodi developers consider themselves hobbyists and administer add-ons in their free time for no financial reward.

GPU docks are still a big deal for pro users.
Mac VR support is more confusing than you think

At its WWDC keynote, Apple announced VR support in OS X, along with an external GPU dock for Mac developers. External GPUs already work right now in macOS Sierra without huge issues. However, Apple’s new High Sierra OS brings full support for GPU docks in its graphics API. Coupled with NVIDIA’s commitment to release graphics drivers for macOS and it’s suddenly going to be a lot easier for Apple users to boost the power of their machines. Immediately after the announcement, one Engadget editor remarked that adding an external GPU would be “dope if you’re buying a MacBook Air or a low-powered machine” — you’d have an ultraportable that you plug into a dock for VR and high-end gaming. That dream isn’t realistic though. Let’s take a look at what a GPU does and why adding one to an underpowered machine won’t make it VR ready.

Where are the mirrors?Tesla drops a shadowy teaser pic for its Model Y SUV

Elon Musk stopped by his company’s annual shareholder meeting and brought along our first glimpse of its next consumer vehicle, the Model Y. It’s not due until 2019, but it will build on the Model 3 platform in the same way that the Model X did with the Model S. Speaking of the Model 3, if you’re getting one at launch then don’t expect to have many options — Musk says you’ll be able to choose color and wheels, but not much else, as Tesla tries to limit complexity to speed up production.

Do quit your day job?
Twitch cuts streamers in on game sales

Now, when an Affiliate streamer is playing a game that Twitch sells (remember how Amazon owns Twitch?), they can get paid when viewers use a link on their page to buy the game or in-game items. Their cut is five percent, which comes out to $3 on a $60 purchase, so it’s going to take quite a few game and loot box sales before they start adding up.

It could very well be the ‘largest AR platform in the world.’

Apple’s AR strength is making it available to everyone

Apple is finally getting serious about augmented reality. ARKit, the company’s first-ever stab at an augmented reality platform, will be baked into iOS 11, and Senior Vice President Craig Federighi had the audacity to say onstage that this would be “largest AR platform in the world.” Even though it’s late to the party, Apple’s ARKit is a historically classic Apple move. Much like how it did with smartphones and MP3 players, the company waited to see how the rest of the tech industry dealt with augmented reality before coming in to offer a simpler and much more mainstream solution.

The creators have explained how they built a sci-fi racing classic.
The story behind ‘Wipeout’

Alcohol, Mario Kart, CD technology and the movie Hackers all played their part in the creation of Wipeout.

But wait, there’s more…

• Astronomers prove Einstein right: Stars can warp light
• Domino’s will stream ‘Ferris Bueller’ for free on Facebook Live
• Watch SpaceX land another rocket in crisp 4K
• Waze arrives on Android Auto after a year-long wait

Roli expands its modular music gear with the touch-friendly Seaboard

Last year, Roli launched an affordable, modular music creation system called Blocks. At launch, the company sold a square Lightpad block (intended for tapping out melodies and drum beats) and two smaller blocks that let you adjust a variety of settings or record and loop your music. Users can snap together as many Blocks as they want and hook them all up to an iPhone or iPad to create and record music.

I spent some time playing with Blocks earlier this year, and while there’s no doubt they’re a fun and unique tool, the Lightpad’s small size introduced some challenges when trying to create precise compositions. Roli’s looking to fix that today by taking its flagship musical instrument, the Seaboard, and shrinking it down to Block size. The new $300 Seaboard Block is a small, two-octave version of its larger Seaboard instrument, but it retains all the unique touch-sensitive features you’ll find in the bigger and more expensive versions. (The Seaboard Rise starts at $800, and Roli sells a variety of other sizes that range in price from $1,110 all the way up to over $8,000.)

As such, Roli is looking at the Seaboard block as something of a bridge between the cheaper Blocks and more expensive Seaboard models — it’s both the most “premium” block Roli has created and the cheapest Seaboard by far. I got a quick demo of Roli’s new Block, and it looks like it’ll go a long way towards solving some of the problems I had with the company’s modular music system.

Perhaps most importantly, the Seaboard is significantly bigger than the Lightpad — it’s the width of three of those blocks. That increased size means that there’s far more room to play with, making it a lot easier to be more precise with what you’re playing. The Seaboard’s layout is reminiscent of a traditional piano, which means it’s a lot better for playing melodies than drums, but you can bang out beats if you’re so inclined. Just like the Lightpad, the Seaboard Block is essentially just a MIDI controller with some unique touch-sensitive features.

If you haven’t played a Seaboard before, it differs from a traditional piano in a number of ways. For starters, the keys form a continuous surface, so when you play a note, you can just hold your finger and slide up and down the board for smooth transitions between notes — it’s a lot like a fretless bass. The surface is also pressure-sensitive, so notes will ring out stronger the harder your attack. Once you’re holding a note, you can also apply more pressure to increase the intensity of the note.

Sliding your fingers vertically up and down the Seaboard’s surface will apply various modulation effects, and you can also slide horizontally across the Seaboard’s surface to change tones — there’s even a completely flat strip at the bottom of the keyboard that makes gliding left and right easier than dragging your fingers across the key bumps. Finally, the keyboard also recognizes how quickly you remove your fingers from the surface and cuts off the notes accordingly — removing your hand quickly cuts the note right off, or you can slowly ease your fingers off to let the sound ring out longer.

This all adds up to an extremely versatile and unique playing surface — one that was the inspiration for the touch- and pressure-sensitive Lightpad block. But the vastly increased surface area means that users have much greater control over each individual note. I often felt like I was “running out of room” when using the Lightpad; that’s not a feeling most users should have to worry about with the Seaboard.

Roli’s also releasing a new $79 “touch” block specifically for the Seaboard that lets you control the keyboard’s sensitivity without needing to dig into an app’s menus. It’s half the size of the Lightpad, like Roli’s existing Loop and Live blocks and basically provides easily accessible hardware controls that keep users from digging through menus to adjust settings.

All told you can hook all five of Roli’s blocks together, in any quantity you choose — and since they’re really just MIDI controllers, you can set them up any way you want using your music software of choice. Originally, the Blocks family was designed with Roli’s NOISE app for iOS in mind, but since then they’ve opened them up to work with additional software, including Garageband and professional-grade apps like Ableton Live and Logic Pro.

From my perspective, using a Seaboard for melodies alongside a Lightpad to serve as a drum machine seems like a pretty solid setup, though I’ll need to really test it out more to see how it works in practice. But between this new hardware and software improvements Roli has made since launching Blocks last fall, the system feels much more robust than it did at launch. There’s certainly still a learning curve, but Roli said that it’s been updating software to address issues like I had when I tried Blocks out earlier in the year. A combination of a more responsive Lightpad Block and the new Seaboard Block might be enough to help Roli’s platform take off.

Apple Opens Up HomeKit Platform To Make Smart Product Development Easier

Apple has taken steps to make its HomeKit smart home platform more accessible to third parties in order to encourage faster adoption, the company announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Wednesday (via Forbes).

Apple told developers in session that they no longer need an MFi (Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad) license to test out HomeKit smart products before bringing them to market, and are even free to experiment with the platform using popular custom-fit boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

The looser licensing should make it easier for developers to test out prototypes of smart home gadgets, although certification must still be obtained before the products are ready for commercial sale, Apple noted.

In addition to the licensing change, Apple has updated its HomeKit specification so that compatible smart products no longer have to include a hardware authentication chip. The update means authentication will go through software instead, with a firmware update allowing existing or future products to go through the same software-based authorization. Despite the change, Apple said the authentication process would use the same hardened encryption as it always has.

HomeKit has enjoyed reasonably wide support among smart gadget manufacturers, although users have sometimes had to wait for products to add the standard well after they have come to market. With a little luck, yesterday’s announcement should minimize the time it takes for third parties to integrate HomeKit into their smart gadgets.

Tag: HomeKit
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WhatsApp Gains Photo Filters and Automatic Albums, ‘Recall’ Feature Reportedly Imminent

WhatsApp gained a handful of new features this week, including photo filters, quick replies, and automatic albums in chat threads.

The photo filters in WhatsApp 2.17.30 are similar to those found in Snapchat and Instagram: users can now add one of five filters to photos, videos, and GIFs before sending, enabling them to enhance the look or correct poor lighting. Pop, black and white, cool, chrome, and film filters can be selected with a simple swipe up on the image.

Image via TechCrunch
In addition, WhatsApp now automatically generates album views when multiple images or videos are sent consecutively in the same chat window, thereby avoiding the usual stream of individual images that clog up a thread.

Elsewhere, users can reply to a specific message in a thread by swiping across it, which takes it to the bottom of the chat window where they can type a response. WhatsApp says the feature is particularly useful during fast-moving group chats when a particular message can get quickly lost higher up the thread.

Finally, WhatsApp is said to be readying a much-requested hidden “unsend” feature in another imminent update to the app.

According to fan site WABetaInfo, Whatsapp will enable “Recall” in version 2.17.30+, allowing users to delete texts, images, videos, GIFs, documents, quoted messages, and even Status replies after they have been sent, as long as the Recall feature is used within a five-minute window.

WhatsApp is a free download for iPhone from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: WhatsApp
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Teardown of New 4K 21.5-inch iMac Reveals Removable RAM and Modular CPU

iFixit has published a teardown of the new 4K 21.5-inch iMac, which reveals that – surprisingly – Apple’s smallest all-in-one desktop machine has both removable RAM and a Kaby Lake processor that’s not soldered onto the logic board.

iFixit made the discovery by disassembling Apple’s $1,299 mid-range 3.0GHz stock option, which includes 8GB of 2400MHz DDR4 memory, a Radeon Pro 555 graphics card with 2GB of VRAM, and a 1TB 5400-RPM hard drive.

After slicing through the adhesive that secures the 4K display to the iMac’s housing and removing the power supply, hard drive, and fan, iFixit discovered that the memory modules aren’t soldered onto the logic board like previous models, but instead sit in two removable SO-DIMM slots.

Similarly, after detaching the heatsink and removing the warranty voiding stickers on the backside of the logic board, iFixit found that the Intel SR32W Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake processor sits in a standard LGA 1151 CPU socket, making it possible to replace or upgrade the CPU without a reflow station.

As iFixit notes, an upgradeable iMac is a big shift in direction from Apple. The last 21.5-inch iMac with expandable memory was the 2013 model, while the last to include a modular CPU came in 2012. iFixit speculates that the change to a socketed processor may be because Intel’s desktop class Kaby Lake line-up currently lacks any permanently mountable chips, but it’s conceivable Apple could have requested one if it so chose.

It’s important to note that Apple officially considers these parts non-user-replaceable, which is easy to see given the relative difficulty accessing them – compare the work involved in accessing the 21.5-inch iMac’s RAM slots, with the external memory hatch found in the 27-inch iMacs, for example. That said, the fact that replacing these components is practically possible will come as music to the ears of tinkerers armed with the right tools and instructions.

Despite the upgradeable RAM and CPU, iFixit awarded the 2017 21.5-inch iMac a 3 out of 10 for repairability (10 being easiest to repair) because of the challenge involved in accessing the components. Still, that’s an improvement on the 2015 model, which was given a 1 out of 10 for repairability.

Other minor changes of note discovered in the teardown include a single microphone below the iMac’s LG-manufactured display (where previously there were dual mics), a replaceable CMOS battery, and an upgradeable 3.5-inch SATA hard drive, but no SSD connector.

Check out the full teardown on the iFixit website.

Tag: iFixit
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How the Huawei P10 Plus and Watch 2 make light work of a busy day

A lot happens in any given day. From fitness, to work, to social engagements and entertainment – we rely on our technology to get us through the connected world more than ever before.

With the Huawei P10 Plus in pocket and Huawei Watch 2 strapped to wrist that’s all possible with barely a second thought. The respective EMUI 5.1 and Android Wear 2.0 software platforms make it easy to surf through a hectic day without needing to reach for the plug socket until bedtime.

Here’s a day in the life with Pocket-lint using Huawei.

7:30am: Morning jog

Wakey wakey. Bleary eyed, Watch 2 strapped for wrist, it’s time to hit the pavement. The watch’s integrated heart-rate sensor and GPS ensure an accurate read to know the metabolism is getting in check.

The P10 Plus remains at home, rather than knocking about in a pocket, plugged into the wall making the most of quick charge for a full day’s battery life. Besides, as the Watch 2 Sport comes with its own nano SIM we won’t miss a call or message if anything urgent comes through – it’ll be right there on the wrist.

8am: Tunes in the shower

Sweaty brow achieved, it’s shower time. No need to take the Watch 2 off, however, as it’s IP68 water-resistant, which means it can be dunked in the bath for a full 30-minutes if you so wish. We’re in a bit of a rush, however, so no waiting around beyond a shower.

What we do have, however, are some tunes saved onto the 4GB internal storage, which is Bluetooth synched to our waterproof bathroom speaker. Beats and suds, that’s how to kick off the day.

8:45am: Mapping the morning meeting

As the Watch has been servicing all our morning tasks, the P10 Plus has been sat on the side table, plugged in, so is removed fully charged later than it otherwise would be.

Today it’s an in-town meeting, which means plotting a different route than normal to get there. Google Maps and that’s job done – just because the P10 Plus uses EMUI 5.1 doesn’t negate the base Android 7.0 software upon which it sits.

9:30am: Android Pay for much-needed caffeine

The caffeine count is nil, so there’s time to swing by a coffee shop in town to get some milky goodness before checking in for our meeting.

The P10 Plus has NFC so Android Pay is possible – or AMEX Pay as we use via the AMEX app – with a simple touch to the payment receiver. But as the phone has been thrown into backpack when almost missing the necessary train stop, it’s the turn of the watch to take charge here.

Yup, the Huawei Watch 2 is also Android Pay compatible. All you need are pre-registered card details, which makes for ultra-easy payment without reaching for phone nor wallet.

10am: Meeting, interruptions, easy business card scan

It’s meeting time. We’re introduced to an exec who duly hands over her business card. Never the best at keeping a collection of paper cards, we use the P10 Plus’s business card scanner – within the Contacts app, which then uses the phone’s camera – to auto-scan and save the info in seconds. It doesn’t save it as a picture, either, it deciphers the information and saves as a new Contact in full.

During the meet there’s an interrupting call and the P10 Plus, proudly placed on the table and accidentally set to vibrate, is making all manner of noise. Gestures are activated, however, so a quick 180-degree flip to put the phone face-down and the racket is cancelled. Smart.

Noon: Conserve battery life by closing background apps

Meeting wrapped-up, niceties done and dusted, the P10 Plus has a series of prompts advising us to close some apps down. WhatsApp? Don’t need the distraction right now. British Airways. Why’s that one open again?

Apps can be individually or group closed, the more you close the longer the phone will last on a charge. However, we keep Slack open to ensure those all-important work messages from the Pocket-lint team get through in real-time.

12:30pm: Pre-lunch cycle, track with Huawei Fit

We’re in fitness mode this week. After collecting a bike from a friend’s office underground storage facility, a quick tap on the Huawei Health app – which you’ll need to register for via a Huawei account (it’s free) – loads our day’s page, with our current exercise info. A tap of the Start Cycling button sets it to record the session.

At 13:14 there’s a missed call. Too huffed and puffed, a quick response via SMS using the Watch 2’s screen when stood off the side of the road settles things down: “Call back in 15mins”.

2pm: Instagram that foodie lunch picture

Bike back in storage, it’s time to take that friend out for lunch. It’s dim sum, the best lunch foodstuff in the whole world, but of course. And also among the most photogenic.

The P10 Plus has the best Leica Dual Camera 2.0 arrangement of any Huawei phone to date; it’s a defining feature. Not only can it shoot in true black & white or colour, it can also depth-map shots to deliver software-based melty backdrops for that ultra-professional look. f/0.95 selected, this one is the perfect snap to share on Instagram.

3pm: Emails, WhatsApp, Skype – all the core workhorse apps

An in-town day without being in the office means heavyweight app work on the phone. Slack for team meetings. Skype for team calls. WhatsApp groups for friends. Twitter for monitoring the feeds in the tech world. Gmail to manage all emails. The P10 Plus can handle all the normal Android phone operation without a fuss.

That it has a 3,750mAh battery at its core is very handy for prolonged use too. By 15:30 we’ve caught up on tasks, so use the EMUI “Optimise” feature to kill most of the open apps and let the phone drift into its natural Google doze mode to conserve on the battery.

Cue a laptop-based mammoth typing session to write-up this morning’s meeting first thoughts and that’s the end of the working day. Time for some more socialising…

7pm: Gaming on the train home

A swift pint in the pub – again, the perfect opportunity to grab an arty black & white shot – and it’s time to get the train home. Perfect for a spot of gaming. And as the P10 Plus has the Kirin 960 octa-core processor paired with 6GB of RAM it’s flagship in every sense of performance.

Which, in the unusual event that there’s space enough to manoeuvre arms in London’s overcrowded train cabins, gives enough time to dig into Candy Crush Soda Saga. Sure, it might not be the most graphically demanding game on earth, but we’re addicted of late. Besides, there’s nothing this phone won’t handle.

After finishing precisely zero levels – this game is hard, ok? – the battery hasn’t even dipped below 40 per cent from the full day’s uses, which is great going.

8pm: Entertainment at your fingertips

The housemates are watching some nonsense on the telly, so it’s over to the Netflix app to catch-up on some prime US boxset while eating dinner. The 5.5-inch display of the P10 Plus makes everything look great.

We’ve set Do Not Disturb on to avoid phone notifications too, as the Watch 2 can handle that for us instead. And Twitter is mighty distracting this particular evening.

10pm: Eye comfort schedule kicks in

We’re on the home-run to bed, and at 10pm the P10 Plus kicks into its Eye Comfort mode, which we’ve scheduled to activate each evening.

This cuts out the blue light intensity, for more comfortable viewing that won’t see you wired and wide awake when ready to get some genuine shuteye. It also further aids battery life, as it’s less bright.

11pm: Recharge time

We’ve got through a heavy day of use with no need to plug in the P10 Plus, while the Watch 2 is happily still ticking over.

With the provided USB-C cable the SuperCharge mode of the P10 Plus means it can re-juice the battery in double-quick time. Just 20-minutes at the plug can deliver a day’s worth of light use, not that we need it this late at night, but handy for morning top-ups if you’ve forgotten to charge overnight.

Tomorrow is another day; and we’ve got similar plans to repeat it all over again. At least our Huawei tech can keep up with the work, fitness, payment, social and entertainment tasks without any drama.

Oppo’s 4K Blu-ray players are the first with Dolby Vision HDR

Late last year Oppo promised its Ultra HD Blu-ray players would eventually be the first with support for Dolby Vision HDR (in addition to the required HDR-10 spec that all Ultra HD Blu-ray players support), and now a software update is available to unlock the feature. It only works if you have Ultra HD Blu-ray discs made to support Dolby’s flavor of HDR (plus a compatible TV), and, coincidentally, two just went on sale this week: Despicable Me 1 & 2. Later this year, they will be joined by movies including The Fate of the Furious and Power Rangers, as more studios release Dolby Vision-ready discs, while Sony and LG have their own players on the way.

While HDR already greatly expands the colors and contrast available, with Dolby Vision moviemakers can increase the bit depth and color gamut even more, take advantage of a “display manager” that’s tuned for what your particular screen is capable of, and adjust these settings scene-by-scene. So far, Dolby Vision has mostly been available via streaming from services like Amazon Prime, Vudu and Netflix. Now it’s arriving on Ultra HD Blu-ray discs that won’t have to deal with internet bandwidth concerns, and recently, it’s started popping up in games like Mass Effect: Andromeda.

The highly anticipated @Dolby Vision update is finally here for UDP-203 & UDP-205. Get the firmware update here: https://t.co/r3ENZRN1tH pic.twitter.com/G95fDpl143

— OPPO Digital (@OPPODIGITAL) June 7, 2017

Source: Oppo

Here’s a pollution mask you might actually want to wear

Why it matters to you

With pollution a problem in many cities, a mask like this could go some way to maintaining your health.

If you’re ever out walking or cycling in the city, you’ll know the air quality can fall through the floor on some days. Breathing in all those pollutants is going to ruin your health over the long-term, and won’t do you much good in the short-term either, a reality that’s prompting an increasing number of city dwellers to seek out a solution.

One such offering, currently on Kickstarter, is the Inversion Gaiter 2.0 pollution mask. Offering effective protection and a stylish design, it’s one you might actually want to wear.

Created by Salt Lake City resident Jeff Morton, the Gaiter not only keeps those nasty particulates from entering your system, but also ensures your neck stays nice and warm in cold weather. The mask’s lightweight, breathable polyester material, together with its exhalation valves, makes it comfortable to wear in warm weather, too, offering users year-round protection.

That neck covering also enhances its effectiveness, as the pollution is unable to enter from below.

To prove its power, Morton got an independent lab to run tests on it. The results, which you can see on the mask’s Kickstarter page, were impressive to put it mildly, with “no detected particles penetrating this filter during testing.”

Besides filtering out damaging pollutants floating about in urban areas, the mask can also be used against those pesky pollen and dust microns that affect hay fever sufferers, as well as offering air travelers protection against a plane’s recycled air. It’ll also come in useful if you ever run into a smoky area caused by something like a forest fire, and you might even want to grab it during a particularly severe flu outbreak in your locality.

The mask is available in four flavors — black, blue, coal, and red — and early-bird backers can pre-order one for $25. If the team reaches its $30,000 funding goal, free shipping to addresses in the U.S. and Canada is expected to start in September, 2017.

“As pollution gets worse in the U.S. and across the globe, we have more and more days where health officials and the media advise us not to go outside due to air quality,” Morton says. “But you can’t just stop living your life because of this, so this product is the perfect solution for the ever-increasing effects of pollution.”