Google needs to build a Chrome tablet

Developers needs the right tool to get their products ready for the future of computing, and Google is the company that needs to build it.

Many people reading this will have paid at least a passing interest to Apple’s WWDC 2017 announcements. Among all the hyperbole and salesmanship in the keynote address there was one thing that became clear: the iPad is closer than ever to the only “computer” most of us need. Apple is serious about making a tablet that’s productive but simple to use, and this is going to evolve into the standard for regular consumers. At least Apple thinks so, and it’s probably right.

That means Google needs to get on board and help define the future of this new-but-not-really-new thing. The good news is that it has a helluva head start with Chrome OS.

The software on a Chromebook is a good starting point for a next generation operating system.

A lot of people will disagree, but chances are a decent Chromebook is the only computer you need. Sure, content creators will need something with extra horsepower and the software tools to work with, but for the computer you buy for goofing around at home or doing your school work a Chromebook will probably work out fine. Hell, I spend most of my work week in front of one because I have everything I need and it’s set up the way I like it. Chromebooks are great for the now but need some adjustment to be ready for the future.

Chrome already works on a tablet. Mostly. We know this because so many Chromebooks can be flipped around and turned into one. I still think my little Chromebook Flip is the best Android tablet you can buy because it has every app you need from Google Play and a real web browser. But it’s thick and clunky to use as a tablet and some of the Chrome apps don’t work as well with a touch interface as they need to. And let’s be honest, the display isn’t on par with a good tablet from Samsung or even the Pixel C. But the core experiences — a touch interface that works and an on-display keyboard — are in place and usable.

It’s easy to take what we have now in the Chromebook Flip (or any other convertible Chromebook) and turn it into something better. We know it’s easy because Microsoft and Apple are doing it and a device that attaches to a keyboard isn’t a new idea. The Transformer series of tablets from ASUS is a great example of that. Hardware isn’t an issue, though money probably is.

The company who can build a good Chrome tablet needs to be able to lose money on it. That means Google.

A good tablet isn’t cheap to build, and that makes it expensive when it gets put on a shelf. The Galaxy Tab S3 or the latest iPad isn’t priced the way it is just because. And, to be honest, people who will be willing to adopt a “new way to computer” aren’t going to be satisfied with anything less. A good great 10-inch display with a high resolution, a decent processor and enough memory to hold a bunch of apps and web apps, and at least 128GBs worth of storage, is the minimum for a device that’s supposed to make us all give up our real laptops. And make sure it has a decent keyboard and a sturdy way to attach it.

Samsung’s not going to build this. It shouldn’t because Android on a tablet isn’t good enough to justify the price, but Chrome might be. At least when the Android runtimes are sorted and Android 8.0 becomes a thing and applications work better than they do now. The software needs to be sorted before it makes any sense to build an expensive Chrome tablet. That means Google needs to build it so there is real hardware to use when sorting out the new software.

It turns out that developers weren’t willing to spend the time and money to make tablet apps for Android.

Google can afford to be that loss leader for a “new” hardware category. It’s done it numerous times and tried to do it for Android tablets. While it worked for Android TV or Android Wear (mostly) it failed for the tablet because of the software. Developers don’t have to do anything for their app to work on a tablet, but there’s a difference between just working and working well. Making a great tablet app takes extra time and money that few companies are willing to invest. It’s hard enough to make money with an app for a phone, let alone spending more to build an interface for a much smaller tablet market. It seems like Google expected developers to just do it, and it was wrong.

That’s why Google now has to try and fix it. On a 10-inch screen, multiple apps doing their thing at the same time is pretty standard. Android 7 introduced new ways for developers to make things better in this situation, and Android 8 is going to help us use apps that weren’t updated. Things won’t be perfect, but they will be better and help the people making new apps see what they can do to cover both the small screen on a phone and the big screen on a tablet. Since Android apps run native in Chrome, everything a developer does also will apply here.

I still think we’ll eventually see a single OS from Google that scales with the display and type of user input. You can call that Andromeda or Fuchsia or whatever you like. But to get there, Google needs to get started now so developers can be ready. With a Chrome tablet, we all can get started and whatever the future of Google’s operating systems is, it will be better because developers are ready for it, too.

Best accessories for Porn in VR [NSFW]

Adult entertainment in VR gets even better with accessories.

VR has brought porn into a whole new realm. Now, you can watch your adult entertainment, in a venue where you are completely surrounded by it. So, it’s only natural that accessories can bring it up a notch even further. You may not have even considered the fact that there are accessories built specifically to better enjoy porn in VR.

That’s where we come in, we’ve got the details on some of the best accessories currently available to you.

Read more at VRHeads.com

Best EA trailers from E3 2017: Anthem, FIFA 18, A Way Out, Star Wars Battlefront 2 and more

EA does things a little differently for the world’s largest gaming show: it doesn’t present at the official E3 grounds. Instead it hosts an off-site live event to showcase its latest games and get the them in the hands of the gamers.

For 2017, with a new location at the Hollywood Palladium, EA didn’t just unveil its usual sports franchise titles, it teased an upcoming game from BioWare, and showed off Star Wars: Battlefront 2 in depth.

• E3 2017: Rumours, press conferences and what to expect from the games show

Here are the best game trailers from the EA showcase at E3 2017.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2

First revealed in April 2017, the EA showcase gave more info about the Star Wars sequel, including some details about a single player story mode that would “help bridge the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Fore Awakens”. Interesting. 

The core focus at the showcase was the multiplayer game, which we played in a 20 vs 20 team match. There are special characters – think Darth Maul, Han Solo and others – and abilities cards this time around, which can be “bought” by earning in-game combat points.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be released 17 November 2017 for PS4, Xbox One and Windows.

FIFA 18

The footy franchise has been built from the ground up this year, with Christiano Ronaldo providing his skills for motion-capture perfection.

There’s also an updated story mode, following the ongoing career of Alex Hunter, in The Journey: Hunter Returns.

• FIFA 18: Release date, what’s new and everything you need to know

Anthem

Introduced as BioWare’s new IP, the crowd had a big reaction for this one.

EA wasn’t saying much more, however, as the game was due to be shown in more detail the following day at Microsoft’s pre-E3 press conference.

A Way Out

It’s not all sport and gun fights, with EA Originals and Hazelight showing off this cooperative-only title, set around escaping from a prison. Yep, it can only be played split screen by two players at once – whether online or in the same room.

The dynamic introduced by the split-screen and, therefore, watching the interaction between both players’ co-operative game, is very clever indeed. Looks like one of the most original games from the show already.

Madden NFL 18

Football fans – well, American football fans – are treated to a FIFA-style story for Madden NFL 18. It’s not just about the play, it’s about emotional involvement.

Interestingly, the company made a particular point about how the game will look particularly special on Microsoft’s Project Scorpio – a console we expect to learn much more about at Xbox’s press conference.

• Xbox Project Scorpio: Release date, price, specs and everything you need to know

Other titles

In addition, EA showed off NBA Live 18, Need For Speed: Payback, the DLC content for Battlefield 1. Looks like a bumper array of content for 2017 and beyond.

Apple podcast updates will help you catch up on ‘Serial’

Podcasts have come a long way from the days when they represented a novel way to fill up your iPod. There are now shows with seasons (like Serial), teasers and other trappings that you’d normally expect from TV. Simply speaking, podcast apps need to evolve to keep pace with listening habits… and Apple knows it. The company has detailed changes to the specs for iOS 11’s Podcasts app that will make it easier to listen to shows as intended. The spec now supports seasons, and you’ll have the option of downloading an entire season in one go if you’re catching up. Creators can specify that a show is meant to be heard in chronological order, and they can tag podcasts as bonuses or teasers. And that’s not all — Apple is also helping podcasters make a better living through ads.

The company will start using anonymized data to help podcasters identify how many people are actually listening to podcasts, as well as those moments when they skip ads. They’ll find out whether or not they’re keeping their audiences, and sponsors will know if those mid-episode plugs are translating to more customers. You’d be more likely to get podcasts that reflect what you want to hear, and advertisers might be more likely to back your favorite series if they know their campaigns are working.

Apple’s updates also include “clear, concise” titles and a quick play feature in the iOS app to help you resume where you last left off.

All the changes appear to stem directly from last year’s heart-to-heart chats between Apple and the podcasting community. At the time, authors were worried that iTunes and the Podcasts app weren’t doing enough to nurture their content — how are you supposed to make money from a show if you don’t know reels in new listeners and sponsors? There are still some unanswered concerns about in-store discovery and paid shows (there’s still no official purchase mechanism), but Apple is at least addressing some of the fundamental issues.

Via: Six Colors

Source: Apple (PDF)

The Xbox One S will be $50 cheaper from tomorrow

Microsoft’s Xbox One S is getting a $50 price cut in the US tomorrow. That brings the regular, non-bundle price down to $199, which is $50 cheaper than the 1TB, gold PS4 “slim” which Sony announced last week. It’s not clear, however, if this is a permanent price cut or a limited-time offer. (We’ve reached out to the company for clarification.) Clearly, this is a move to push Xbox One S sales ahead of Project Scorpio’s launch. The new, high-specced system will be Microsoft’s focus this holiday, but the One S could still serve a purpose, and be successful, if it’s dramatically cheaper.

The new pricing will coincide with Microsoft’s E3 press conference tomorrow. Sony is holding its own the next day (June 12th), so will have a chance to counter-punch if it feels the PlayStation 4 needs to be marketed more aggressively. We’re hoping to actually see Project Scorpio tomorrow, along with a final name and pricing, which will show just how serious Microsoft is at taking down the PlayStaton 4 Pro. The system’s specs are certainly impressive, but it needs a price-point and software to match — if Microsoft fails on either, there’s every chance players will ignore it.

Summer’s coming.
Get ready to play with $50 off starting tomorrow, June 11: https://t.co/d5itkFCIx8 #XboxOneS pic.twitter.com/l5dIRKygcf

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 10, 2017

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Amazon star Richard Hammond involved in electric car crash

It’s a scary day for both The Grand Tour viewers and the motoring world at large. Amazon has revealed that show co-host Richard Hammond was involved in a crash while filming Grand Tour’s second season in Switzerland. Hammond thankfully escaped with only a fractured knee, but the incident destroyed the Rimac Concept One electric supercar he was driving (the photo above shows what’s left). While it’s not certain what led to the crash, Amazon notes that there was no one else embroiled in the incident.

It’s not clear how the incident will affect the Prime Video show (we’ve asked for details). However, it’s safe to say that any delays are far less important than Hammond’s well-being. Fellow host Jeremy Clarkson notes that it was the “biggest crash I’ve ever seen,” but adds that Hammond is “mostly OK.”

For fans, the crash is going to trigger unpleasant flashbacks to Hammond’s frightening crash during a Top Gear shoot in 2006. He suffered serious brain injuries after his Vampire drag racer blew a tire at high speed, flying off the track. While he eventually recovered, there’s no question that the event was life-changing for the TV star. This is a mild wreck by comparison, but it underscores the dangers involved in pushing cars to their limits in the name of entertainment — even something as relatively safe as an electric car.

Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury. pic.twitter.com/4Oib32IJvj

— The Grand Tour (@thegrandtour) June 10, 2017

It was the biggest crash I’ve ever seen and the most frightening but incredibly, and thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK.

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 10, 2017

Via: Recode

Source: The Grand Tour (Twitter)

What EA learned from ‘Mass Effect’ will shape its future

When I spoke to Electronic Arts’ executive vice president Patrick Soderlund last week, Kotaku’s report about why Mass Effect: Andromeda turned out so poorly hadn’t been published yet. Nonetheless, when I asked him about the flawed game’s development cycle, he was incredibly candid — just as he had been in 2013 when I’d interviewed him about his company’s move from myriad game design toolkits to just two. Here are his thoughts on several key topics.

The state of ‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’

In 2013, Soderlund told me that, if the experiment to move all non-sports game development to Frostbite didn’t result in games that looked, sounded, felt and played better, that would be cause for concern. “We can talk all day about the developer communities and the speed of development, but unless that yields better games for the consumers, it’s not worth anything — it’s a simple fact.”

Since then, pretty much every EA studio has shipped a game using the Frostbite engine. Most of them have been pretty good, but there are a few exceptions. Despite the game indeed looking and sounding better, Battlefield 4’s multiplayer barely functioned at launch, and more than that, dabbling in multiplayer had a nasty habit of wiping progress in the single-player campaign. The long-awaited follow-up Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst was effectively a dud that did little to capture imaginations the way its predecessor did in 2008. Visceral Games’ gritty tale of militarized cops and robbers, Battlefield: Hardline, failed to set the world on fire as well, sitting at 73 percent on review aggregator site Metacritic and prompting a return to historic wars for the series.

Which brings us back to Mass Effect: Andromeda from earlier this year. Here’s the full question and answer.

Engadget: “I know that you have said you are very proud of the team’s work and how the game turned out, but that isn’t the complete consensus on the consumer side of things with how the animations worked, glitches and bugs, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that.”

Soderlund: “No, and as you should. Here’s how I look at this: A game that we launched in the market that doesn’t function and is full of bugs, that’s not who we are and that’s not who we should be. Trust in me that that’s something I look at and I say there needs to be a change in process and a change in strategy. What I will say though is that we are a large organization with 6,000 developers. If one game comes out and we have those issues, then we come out and we attack that problem.

That doesn’t mean that the whole organization has that problem. But what you said, I can only agree with. It warrants a change in process, it warrants a change in approvals, which we’re going through. So all I can say to those people who feel that way is we hear you, and we agree with you. We will make sure that we rectify that going forward.

With Mass Effect, maybe the game wasn’t maybe as finished as people wanted it to be. Of course we take that seriously. What we do is we look at that toward the Mass Effect team themselves, but we also look at what learnings can we apply to the rest of the organization so that this doesn’t get replicated in another place around EA. Of course, anything that comes out of BioWare we’ll apply thorough dialog and change to ensure we get the best possible game in the market.”

On BioWare’s new big project, ‘Anthem’

Despite how Andromeda turned out, BioWare was in the spotlight at today’s media briefing with the long-in-the-works Anthem. Which, honestly, should show that EA still has plenty of faith in the role-playing studio.

Soderlund: “You’ll see us announcing a new IP from BioWare at EA Play, but that game, I think I can say without sounding like a complete arrogant prick, I think it pushes the boundaries of open world fidelity to a whole new level unlike anything you’ve ever seen before …It’s a new IP from BioWare, they’ve been working on it for quite a while. We’re gonna have a very short section of that at our press conference and then it will appear with a gameplay demo at a partner’s press conference the day after.

It’s cool for us because it’s been awhile since we came up with a new IP. We actually have several new IPs in development, but to create something from scratch and build something new takes time [laughs]. And this is the first out of more new IP you’ll see from us, and massive, hugely, hugely ambitious — almost to the point of too ambitious, but I like that — and I’m very bullish on it. I love it, I’ve been very personally involved in it and maybe that’s why I’m biased, but I hope people are going to like it.”

On proving naysayers wrong with Frostbite

Soderlund faced a lot of friction when he pitched Frostbite as being the one game engine that EA would use moving forward. The worry was that such a move would be impossible and could push the company deeper into the red than it already was in 2013. Plus, the idea of taking a game design toolkit that had primarily just been used for first-person shooters (the Battlefield series from developer and Frostbite architect DICE) and making racing games and role-playing games with it was pretty wild.

Soderlund: “I’ll be honest, there were even people inside the company who at the time who at the time when I started this project, if you want to call it that, who were questioning the viability of whether it was possible, and I was in some heated discussions where I said, ‘Listen, we are gonna have to do this. It’s the only thing that makes sense and let’s work on figuring it out.’

All in all, I think you will see…. If you look at the EA portfolio as a whole, whether that’s Battlefield 1 or FIFA or Star Wars Battlefront or whatever else comes out of EA, I don’t think people are going to look at us and say “I think they have subpar technology.” I think people would relate to the games that we do as great looking and with a tech platform that seems to be doing the job.”

On Frostbite Go, the mobile game engine

In 2013, EA also announced it would shift its mobile game design tools over to Frostbite as well. At the time, EA said it was “one of our most exciting current projects” and that it’d bring “true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms.” Four years on and there hasn’t been much, if anything, said about the mobile toolset since.

Soderlund: “Frostbite Go is actually something that we’ve continued on, I would say in a slower form. Our mobile teams have applied… A lot of the work that they have done has been on Unity and we’ve slowly moved away from Unity, and we have a mobile engine that we call Osiris, that originated out of Firemonkeys in Australia, the Real Racing guys, that we believe is a good foundation for our mobile games, at least in the short term.

Given everything that we’ve been doing with Frostbite, we may end up going to Frostbite long-term, but we have a tech foundation that we like in Osiris that we’re pushing right now inside. I’ll have to get back to you longterm on what the plans on mobile are.”

Engadget: “Okay, but as of now Frostbite Go is at a standstill?”

Soderlund: “Well, both yes and no. There are people working on it, but it’s not something that I can say there’s gonna be a game on Frostbite Go in the next ten months or the next five months.”

On the long overdue follow-up to EA’s first sports game with a story, ‘Fight Night: Champion’

Sure, last year’s FIFA made headlines for bringing a narrative to the beautiful game, but it wasn’t the first time EA had added a story in a surprising place. In 2011 EA released Fight Night: Champion, and beyond the series’ trademark fisticuffs it took the franchise in an incredibly exciting direction: an M for Mature rating. That meant the game could be more violent and graphic with how it portrayed battles between its pugilists. Facial cuts looked much more painful and detailed, blood would stain the ring and your boxer’s trunks, your corner cutman would drop the occasional four-letter word of encouragement.

The story didn’t stray too far from Rocky territory, but rather than feeling cliche, it came off as incredibly earnest. Since then, EA has tried its hand at mixed martial arts games, but unlike Fight Night, the controls were overcomplicated (because they kind of had to be given the amount of moves and positions available) which limited the audience to hardcore MMA fans. And even then, they weren’t very well received by critics and players.

The good news for Fight Night fans is that Soderlund counts himself among us”

Engadget: “Before FIFA had a story mode, before Madden had a story mode, EA had another sports game with a story mode: Fight Night: Champion. We’re kind of overdue for seeing that again.”

Soderlund: “[Laughs] I can’t comment on that. You and I are very aligned. I love that game and we may or may not be working on one, but I can’t give you any information.”

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

The waiting is the hardest part of making cold brew coffee at home

Sweet, sweet coffee — some of us depend on it to survive through the work day, and others even consider ourselves connoisseurs. Whether you’re a casual drinker or a coffee addict, you can likely tell the difference between a good cup and a bad one.

Although you only need water and coffee beans to make decent cup of joe, it’s pretty easy to make crappy coffee. What makes coffee taste gross? How about when you make it too strong, too weak, use a bad blend, or when you leave the pot sitting on the burner too long? That’s why office coffee is often the worst kind — the pot sits for hours, the coffee develops a burnt taste, and you’re left with something that’s about as palatable as mud.

The key to a great cup of coffee is chemistry. Your cup of java contains organic acids like malic, acetic, and quinic acids, and it has inorganic acids like phosphoric acid. That’s why bad coffee tends to have a bitter, acidic taste. So, what’s the key to making a great cup of coffee that tastes even better than your favorite coffee shop blend? Try cold brew coffee.

Cold brew coffee has a much more pleasant flavor because you get the sweet flavors from the good-tasting acids, without the bad taste of the bitter acids. When some people think of cold brew coffee, however, they think of a long and tedious process or costly equipment and supplies. But, you don’t have to be Starbucks to cold brew your coffee. You can make easy cold brew coffee at home; and it takes only about 10 minutes of work, and a bit of knowledge.

What you’ll need

• Coffee
• Water
• A fine strainer
• Cheesecloth
• A glass pitcher or a large mason jar

How to make cold brew coffee

Grind your beans. You want your beans to be coarse ground, about the consistency of kosher salt. If you only have fine-ground coffee available (like what you’d use in your coffee machine), it will over-extract, leading to a bitter brew.
Mix the coffee and water. Pour 4 cups of water into your pitcher and add your coffee. If you want a regular brew, add 1/2 cup of coffee grounds, which produces a 1:8 ratio of coffee to water. For a stronger brew, add up to 1 cup of coffee grinds. This is personal preference, but both Blue Bottle and Kicking Horse Coffee suggest a 1:4 ratio.
Give your coffee and water mixture a quick stir to help get brewing started.
Refrigerate your brew for 12 to 15 hours.
Strain the coffee and water mixture using a fine strainer coated in some cheesecloth.
To serve, add water or milk to dilute the concentrate. Again, it’s personal preference, but start with a 1:1 ratio and go from there. We added a vanilla bean, 1.5 cups of skim milk, and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Store your cold brew in a sealed container in the refrigerator for no longer than two or three days. When you add milk, water, or other ingredients, this shortens your coffee’s shelf life. If you leave your cold brew as a concentrate, you can store it for about a week before its quality degrades.

Tips and warnings

• Use filtered water for best results. You can also use regular bottled water, but filtered water is your best bet.
• As tempted as you are to remove the brew from the fridge before it’s done, wait at least 12 hours. It’s well worth the wait.
• Cold brew coffee sits for extended periods of time, and it tends to sit in danger zone temperatures of between 39 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Be mindful of food safety and shelf life guidelines.
• Cold brew coffee tends to be stronger than traditional hot coffee, so dilute your cold brew if you don’t want to be bouncing off of the walls.

iPad Pro 10.5 vs. iPad Pro 9.7: Which iPad Pro has the edge

At this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple took the wraps off a new tablet — the iPad Pro 10.5 — which is designed to replace the iPad Pro 9.7. It’s filled to the brim with high-end hardware, including a Retina display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a six-core A10X processor, and a camera that’s on par with the iPhone 7. But at $650, it’s also more expensive than its predecessor. So is the iPad Pro 10.5 worth an upgrade if you’re using the older model? We pitted the two against one another to see if Apple’s new slate is really worth the investment.

Specs

iPad Pro 9.7

iPad Pro 10.5

Size
9.4 x 6.6 x 0.24 inches
9.87 x 6.85 x 0.24 inches
Weight
0.96 pounds
1.03 pounds
Display
9.7-inch Retina display
10.5-inch, 120Hz Retina display with True Tone
Resolution
1,536 x 2,048 (264 ppi)
1,668 x 2,224 (265 ppi)
Operating System
iOS 10
iOS 10
Storage
32, 128, or 256GB
64, 256, or 512GB
Processor
A9X (2.26 GHz)
A10X Fusion
RAM
2GB
TBA
Camera
5 megapixel (front), 12 megapixel (rear)
7 megapixel (front), 12 megapixel (rear)
Video
4k video at 30 frames per second
4K video at 30 frames per second
Connectivity
Wi-fi, Bluetooth 4.3, LTE Advanced
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE Advanced
Sensors
Touch ID, Three-axis gyro, accelerometer, abrometer, ambient light sensor
Touch ID, Three-axis gyro, accelerometer, abrometer, ambient light sensor
Battery
Up to 10 hours
Up to 10 hours
Marketplace
 iTunes
iTunes
Price
$499+
$650+
Colors
Silver, Gold, Space Gray, Rose Gold
Silver, Gold, Space Gray, Rose Gold
DT Review
4 out of 5 stars
Coming soon

Speakers

The iPad Pro 10.5 boasts better speakers than the iPad Pro 9.7. The 9.7-inch model has a stereo arrangement: One left-hand tweeter and one right-hand tweeter, both facing forward. The iPad Pro 10.5 ups the number of speakers to four — two on the tablet’s top edge and two on the bottom edge — which allow it to blast crisp, AKG-tuned, stereo sound when the iPad is propped up in landscape orientation. The quad-speaker array is also louder on the iPad Pro 10.5 — as much as three times louder, according to Apple.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Processor

Under the iPad Pro 10.5’s hood is a Apple’s A10X Fusion processor, which is quicker than the A9X chip in the iPad Pro 9.7. Compared to the A9X, the A10X Fusion is up to 30-percent faster when it comes to handling day-to-day tasks and 40-percent faster in the graphics department. In benchmarks, the A10X blows the A9X out of the water, achieving an average Geekbench score of 6,588 compared to the A9X’s 4,990. That’s about a 28-percent difference.

Moreover, A10X’s embedded M10 co-processor — compared to the M9 in the A9 — boosts performance even further by tackling low-intensity tasks such as activity tracking, recording sensor data (from the iPad’s accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and barometer), and recognizing Siri commands.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Storage

The iPad 10.5 ships with more room for pictures, apps, and files. Apple boosted the tablet’s base storage configuration to 64GB, up from the iPad 9.7’s 32GB. The iPad 10.5 is also available in more configurations, including 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities. The iPad 9.7 is only available as either a 32GB and 128GB model.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Design

From an aesthetic standpoint, it’s tough to tell the iPad Pro 10.5 and iPad Pro 9.7 apart.

The most obvious difference between them is size. The iPad Pro 10.5 is about as thick as the iPad Pro 9.7 at 0.24 inches, but slightly longer (9.87 inches versus 9.4 inches). It’s also wider at 6.85 inches, compared to the 6.6-inch iPad Pro 9.7. But you won’t notice any difference in heft — the two tablets weigh roughly the same. The iPad Pro 9.7 weighs in at 0.96 pounds and the iPad Pro 10.5 at 1.03 pounds.

Little else has changed. They both have a physical home button and Touch ID sensor, a Lightning connector, and physical power and volume buttons. And on the rear of both the iPad Pro 10.5 and iPad 9.7, the Apple logo is positioned in the center. One noticeable difference, however, is the rear camera in the upper-left corner. On the iPad Pro 10.5, it protrudes slightly and has a flash module, and on the iPad Pro 9.7, it’s recessed and lacks a flash.

The iPad Pro 10.5 comes in the same colors as the iPad Pro 9.7; both ship in silver, space grey, and gold.

Despite the similarities, we’re going to give the nod to the iPad Pro 10.5, simply because of the onboard flash module.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Display

The iPad Pro 10.5’s screen is a subtle improvement over the iPad Pro 9.7’s. It’s an LED-backlit Retina screen that has the same pixel density (264 pixels per inch) and roughly the same resolution (2,048 x 1,536 pixels versus 2,224 x 1,668 pixels), but that’s where the similarities end.

The iPad Pro 10.5’s display, unlike the iPad Pro 9.7’s, is fully laminated, meaning there’s practically no gap between the surface of the glass and the touch-sensitive panel. In real-world terms, that means its brighter — up to 600 nits, according to Apple.

The iPad Pro 10.5’s screen also boasts Apple’s innovative True Tone and Pro Motion technology. True Tone automatically boosts color gamut and adjusts the temperature based on surrounding lighting conditions. Pro Motion, on the other hand, uses a combination of software and hardware to boost the iPad Pro 10.5’s screen refresh rate from 60Hz to 120Hz.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Accessories

The iPad Pro 10.5, unlike the iPad Pro 9.7, has a Smart Connector port on one of its sides. It provides a power and data connection to plugged-in devices, and supports a range of first and third-party accessories. One of the most popular is Apple’s Smart Keyboard, a tactile keyboard ($150) that’s made of durable, water-resistant silicon and boasts water-resistant keys. With a Smart Keyboard attached, the iPad Pro 10.5 could conceivably replace a laptop. The inclusion of the Smart Connector port is a plus, even if you don’t utilize it.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Battery life and charging

Despite the iPad Pro 10.5’s faster processor, brighter screen, and quad-speaker array, Apple’s newest tablet is actually more efficient when it comes to battery life than older models. Apple claims the Pro 10.5 can last up to 10 hours on a single charge, which is the same as the iPad Pro 9.7.

If the iPad Pro 10.5 charges as quickly as the iPad Pro 12.9, it won’t take long to recharge. When plugged into Apple’s 29-watt power adapter, the iPad Pro 12.9 charges from zero to 80 percent in 93 minutes. The iPad Pro 9.7, in contrast, doesn’t support rapid charging.

We’re crowning the iPad Pro 10.5 the winner here. The tablet’s fast-charging feature and 10-day battery life are impressive feats of tablet engineering.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Camera

The iPad Pro 10.5 inherits the iPhone 7’s camera. The wide-angle camera on the rear has the same megapixel count as the iPad Pro 9.7 (12 megapixel), but features a Quad-LED True Tone flash, a f/1.8 aperture (compared to f/2.2), optical image stabilization, and high dynamic range (HDR).

The camera on the front has been beefed up, too. The iPad Pro 10.5 has a 7-megapixel camera compared to the iPad Pro 9.7’s 5-megapixel sensor, with a f/2.2 aperture, HDR capabilities, and support for 1080p recording. The iPad Pro 9.7, on the other hand, only supports a maximum resolution of 720p.

There’s no question that in terms of raw specs: The iPad 10.5 has a better set of cameras. We’ll have to put it to the test to see if they translate to real-world performance, but for now, we’re giving the win to the iPad Pro 10.5.

Winner: iPad Pro 10.5

Software

Both the iPad Pro 9.7 and iPad Pro 10.5 ship running iOS 10, Apple’s mobile operating system. But they’ll both benefit from the forthcoming, free upgrade to iOS 11, which is expected to be released in the fall. With it comes a slew of new features and refinements, many of which capitalize on the best parts of iOS 10.

In iOS 11, you’ll have access to full-size keyboard called the Flick keyboard, which supports more than 30 languages. A new predictive area in the iOS dock will also allow you to switch between apps, and a new drag-and-drop feature lets you move images, text, and URLs between split-screen apps by tapping and holding.

Those aren’t the only improvements in iOS 11, though. Infinity Photo, an editing tool, lets you mock up photos in real time. Notes will have a built-in document scanner that the Apple Pencil can launch directly from the lock screen. And a new app — Files — provides access to the iPad’s on-device storage. You can even search tags across third-party storage providers, and dive into nested folders, recent documents, and various iCloud content.

Finally, Apple has revamped some of the Apple Pencil’s tools for use with iOS 11. Once released, you’ll be able to mark up any document that prints using AirPrint, and create a PDF — or handwritten email via iOS’s Mail app — on the fly. What’s more, handwriting is searchable across apps.

Winner: Tie

Price and availability

The iPad Pro 10.5’s numerous upgrades don’t come free. At $650, the iPad Pro 10.5 is a little more expensive than the iPad Pro 9.7. Unfortunately, Apple has discontinued the iPad Pro 9.7, but you can still pick one up from retailers like Amazon. Here’s how the pricing currently breaks down:

32GB (Wi-Fi)
32GB (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
64GB (Wi-Fi)
64GB (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
128GB (Wi-Fi)
128GB (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
256GB (Wi-Fi)
256GB (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
512GB (Wi-Fi)
512GB (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
iPad Pro 10.5
N/A
N/A
$649
$779
N/A
N/A
$749
$879
$949
$1,079
iPad Pro 9.7
$499
$600
N/A
N/A
$600
$799
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

Some carriers and retailers are even throwing in a few bonuses with the purchase of an iPad Pro 10.5 (Wi-Fi + Cellular). T-Mobile, for instance, is offering the iPad Pro 10.5 on a payment plan, as are AT&T and Verizon. Starting this week, new and existing T-Mobile One customers can even pick up a tablet with an unlimited 4G LTE data plan for as little as $20 a month (with AutoPay). Prices vary slightly from carrier to carrier, and you’ll often receive a discount if you opt for a two-year contract. Below is a more detailed breakdown.

 
64GB
256GB
512GB
T-Mobile
$60 down and $30 a month for 24 months
$160 down and $30 a month for 24 months
$360 down and $30 a month for 24 months
AT&T
$39 a month for 24 months
$44 a month for 24 months
$54 a month for 20 months
Verizon
$32 a month for 24 months
$37 a month for 24 months
$45 a month for 24 months

Best Buy, on the other hand, is throwing in a gift card when you purchase one of the latest iPad Pro models. Those who opt for the 10.5-inch model will get a $25 gift card.

Some carriers and traditional retailers have deals and discounts on the iPad Pro 10.5, but even so, the tablet’s base pricing is higher than the iPad Pro 9.7 at every tier.

Winner: iPad Pro 9.7

Overall winner: iPad Pro 10.5

The iPad 10.5 is a step up from the iPad Pro 9.7 in almost every way. It has a larger screen, better speakers, a faster processor, and support for Apple’s Smart Connector. It’s slimmer, too, and lasts just as long on a charge as the iPad Pro 9.7.

The only downside? Apple’s charging a premium for all those upgrades — the iPad Pro 10.5 is a little pricier than the iPad Pro 9.7. But if you’re looking for an iPad that’ll stretch your dollar the furthest, it’s tough to do better than the iPad Pro 10.5.

Everything you need to know about Intel Optane, the next big thing in PC storage

Intel’s Optane technology promises to revolutionize the way we store and access data — but what exactly is it? Intel’s been rather secretive about how it works, but long story short, it provides much faster read and write speeds than even the fastest SSD can match, without RAM’s constant power requirement.

Indeed, Intel is making huge promises regarding Optane’s potential, and on paper, it’s an impressive feat that could change the way we read and write data. Users who want a piece of that action don’t have many options at the moment, however, and not much is known about Optane’s technical aspects.

Where can you find it?

At the time of this writing, there are only two actual, physical products powered by Intel Optane. The first to appear was Intel’s DC 4800X SSD. That name isn’t catchy, because it doesn’t have to be. It’s an enterprise product, where potential buyers are far more concerned with dollars per performance than branding or aesthetics.

Despite the name, this PCIe-based SSD wasn’t even really meant to act as enterprise storage — it was actually designed to replace DRAM in servers. There are situations where users needed a ton of memory — on the order of terabytes — where that would have been prohibitively expensive. While Optane solutions can’t quite match current volatile memory speeds, they certainly do a better job standing in for it than a 3D NAND SSD, so the storage can be assigned as addressable memory. The drives are only available in 375GB models, and only to companies working with Intel directly, for $1,520.

At the other end of the spectrum, Intel Optane Memory attempts to fill a similar role in consumer systems. Intel’s suite of Optane firmware and software automatically keeps the most commonly used files on that drive, giving old HDDs a boost of speed. We spent some time with the drive, and found that its use in enthusiast systems is limited. However, it certainly beats using just a mechanical drive and no SSD, something we don’t recommend when buying a new system.

Under the hood

So what exactly is Intel Optane? Well, we aren’t quite sure, because Intel won’t tell us. The company has even responded to questions of the underlying materials with cagey answers and “no comments,” which leaves us wondering what sort of digital witchcraft powers this fast, non-volatile storage.

What we do know is rather basic. Optane is based on a previously announced Intel and Micron project knows as 3D XPoint, and the details quickly grow complex from there. In essence, it allows for greater speeds by changing the resistance across bits in large batches, rather than one at a time, and packs in more of that memory by stacking the arrays in rows, which are turned 90 degrees on each layer. The image below lays out an example of how this looks at a microscopic level.

Don’t confuse 3D XPoint with 3D NAND, however, which is simply flash memory stacked in more efficient configurations. Instead, 3D XPoint operates on (possibly) different materials, with proprietary forms of data storage and transfer, the details of which are a closely guarded secret.

It also isn’t the end of the story, because 3D XPoint is just the storage type, while Optane is a collection of first-party Intel hardware, firmware, and software that turns that mysterious chunk of whatever-it-is into a device that’s usable in a myriad of situations. We saw that with the first two implementations, which couldn’t be more different.

The next episode

Intel Optane’s humble beginnings aren’t indicative of the big things to come. Intel says consumer SSDs based on the technology will roll out later this year, and have the potential to change the way we think about data access. What exactly these products will look like remains a mystery, much like the tech that powers them.

For now, we advise waiting to see what the future holds. Intel’s Optane Memory didn’t quite hold up to our expectations, especially considering the low cost of SATA SSDs, and the limited compatibility with all but the newest Intel processors and chipsets, although it’s a huge improvement over just using an HDD, something we don’t recommend in a new system. It’s a promising start, however, and we’ll make sure to keep this post updated as new information becomes available.