The weirdest, coolest, and most influential ThinkPads of the last 25 years

Lenovo celebrates the 25th birthday of the venerable ThinkPad line on October 5, marking a quarter century of business-class innovation. ThinkPads aren’t always the most eye-catching machines, but they’ve earned a reputation for reliability over the years, thanks in large part to the careful engineering that goes into each and every one — even the weird ones.

What could possibly be weird about the humble, tireless ThinkPad? Let’s have a look at the last 25 years of ThinkPads and find out.

ThinkPad 700C

The ThinkPad 700C was among the first to bear the name ‘ThinkPad,’ along with its siblings the 700 and 700T. Announced on October 3 1992, it was the forebearer to all those sleek black business-class laptops you see in every office. As you can see, it was a bit of a beast by today’s standards, but back then it was a slim, lightweight alternative to bulkier and less-robust business-oriented laptops.

It introduced the characteristic design we would continue to see refined over the years, the all-black chassis with a cherry-red trackpoint ball in the center of the keyboard. Simple, understated, and elegant.

ThinkPad 701C

The ThinkPad 701C was a bit of an oddball by today’s standards. It featured a keyboard that would blossom open when you opened the lid of the laptop, offering a wider typing surface than you’d get otherwise. Additionally, the design of the keys themselves was a bit of an oddity.

The keyboard featured a “butterfly” mechanical key switch offering a remarkably tactile typing experience. It’s also worth pointing out that this laptop is a highly sought after collectors’ item, so if you happen to have one sitting in a closet somewhere, you might want to consider cleaning it up and posting on Ebay.

ThinkPad 750S

Yep, that’s a ThinkPad there, and it’s in space. Pictured here, we see the ThinkPad X70, but the first ThinkPad in space was the 750S, used in 1993 to view color images coming off of the Hubble Space Telescope. It certainly wouldn’t be the last. ThinkPads have been the laptop of choice for NASA ever since that first flight. .

ThinkPad 560

This guy was a fairly typical late 90’s laptop, but it was much slimmer than its competition. The ThinkPad 560 was the predecessor to the modern netbook, designed from the ground up to offer long battery life and be light enough to carry around all day. It’s certainly a bit larger than netbooks today, but at the time it was considered extraordinarily lightweight, despite its powerful 100MHz processor.

ThinkPad 240

The ThinkPad 240 followed in the footsteps of the 560, offering a thin-and-light chassis for extended everyday use, with one major difference. This was the first laptop to forego an optical drive in order to slim down and save space. It also featured a 300MHz processor, and a discrete graphics card, a NeoMagic MagicGraph 128XD with a whopping 2MB of memory. And no, we did not just make that name up. It was a real graphics card, from a real company. And it was named that on purpose.

ThinkPad 550BJ

As you might have guessed, this one was a bit weird. The ThinkPad 550BJ was a standard business-class laptop, but it featured an integrated printer. You’d just flip up the keyboard, feed paper in, and the internal printer would get to work. It effectively turned the 550BJ into a digital typewriter. The concept was certainly unique — and never saw a successor.

ThinkPad X20

The ThinkPax X20 deserves a special place on this list, because it was among the first ThinkPads to start pushing the boundaries of what we thought of as thin-and-light laptops. If you look at the overall silhouette, you can also see that this laptop has a uniquely ThinkPad aesthetic that appears modern even by current standards. The X20 featured a 600MHz Intel Pentium III processor, and a 20GB hard drive — impressive hardware for a system of its size.

ThinkPad X41

This laptop was among the first to introduce the idea of tablet computing to the masses. The ThinkPad X41 featured a display which could flip around and put the laptop into tablet mode, making it one of the first mass-market 2-in-1 laptops. At the time, it had the distinction of having the best battery life of any 12-inch tablet on the market. According to Lenovo, the X41 had a big impact on the design and development of the modern X1 Yoga convertible laptop.

Thinkpad X60

From the side, the X60 looks like it was put together by hand — like a laptop built from LEGO. That’s partially because it was designed to offer customers a modular design. The top part, the laptop, detaches from the “UltraBase,” which provided more ports and storage options.

ThinkPad X300

This laptop is one of the more recent entries in our list, as it hit store shelves in 2008, but at the time it was lauded for its exceptionally thin build. Coming in at just 20mm thick, the ThinkPad X300 was one of the thinnest, lightest laptops of its time because of its unique construction. It was the first ThinkPad to use carbon fiber elements in the chassis, making for a robust and lightweight build.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon

That brings us to the ThinkPad X1 Series. Among which we’ll find the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the first ThinkPad to use a full carbon fiber chassis, the X1 Tablet, and the X1 Yoga. All three are cutting-edge laptops with that unmistakable ThinkPad design pioneered by designer Richard Sapper. Even today, Lenovo says, those original designs inform the direction of and aesthetic of modern-day enterprise laptops, 2-in-1s, and tablets.

The Pixel 2 looks amazing. So why did Google bother with all the other nonsense?

The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are well thought-out, feature-rich, and highly desirable sequels to the already excellent Pixel and Pixel XL. We predict they will be two of the best Android phones released this year and next, and we’re not exactly going out on a limb to say it. They formed the centerpiece of Google’s October 4 event, but were joined by quite a lot of other, far less interesting products. Imagine if they weren’t.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were joined by quite a lot of other, far less interesting products. Imagine if they weren’t.

Think about it for a moment A five-minute introduction from Sundar Pichai, a 15-minute Google Home and Home Mini presentation, and a 30-minute deep dive into the Pixel phones, all rounded out with a rousing conclusion and ultra-competitive price announcements. It would take one hour, maximum; the crowd leaves elated, and we’re all too busy pre-ordering to write this.

Except Google didn’t do that. It filled another hour with a collection of side-projects, ill-conceived niche hardware for beardy types in San Francisco that no one will really want. If Santa used any of them as stocking fillers, we’d all be blocking the chimney up on December 24.

Google has two good products, why can’t it leave it at that?

The good

Let’s start with the positives. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are almost one and the same. Google’s masterstroke here is not forcing anyone to buy the $850 Pixel 2 XL to get better features. The Pixel 2’s camera, processor, memory, and design mirror the XL; the only difference between them is the screen. Yes, it’ll be nice to have the 18:9 ratio display, but hardly a necessity, and not for an extra $200.

The second highlight is what it’s missing: A second camera lens. It has only one lens, yet Google promises it’ll still take beautiful bokeh-style pictures, all by using some very clever algorithms. Promo pictures on Google’s dedicated Pixel 2 site look astonishing, and if it comes close to that in real life, it will have really proven a point to the industry.

Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images

Add in a more attractive design than the Pixel phones, the Snapdragon 835 chip, fast charging, and the latest version of Android — for three years, due to Google’s update promise — and we’re sold on the Pixel 2. We don’t need the AR stickers, Google, but we’ll let you have a little bit of fun because you’ve been so good.

We’re happy about Google Home Mini. Google Home is an excellent smart home controller and  assistant. It looks pretty, works consistently, and has more helpful, everyday features than Amazon Echo. It integrates with more devices, services, and products we use on a daily basis too, so making a smaller, cheaper version is logical and welcome. Even at this early stage, we can say fairly confidently these products will be worth buying, unless something catastrophically bad turns up when we review them.

The bad

Google should have stopped there, but it can’t help itself. We’ve seen this before. Google, like a puppy, gets really overly excited. Puppies make a little mess on the floor when this happens, and Google has essentially done the same, giving us the Pixel Buds, Google Home Max, Pixelbook, and Google Clips. These are easily summed up with, “Me too,” “Me too again,” “How much?” and “Why?” Every last one of these “products” would hardly receive any coverage if it came from any other manufacturer. They’re the worst examples of a company making hardware without an actual buyer in mind.

Don’t believe me? When you stand on stage with a straight face and say your new camera is for capturing those special, easily missed moments when your kids smile and your pets do tricks, it means you have no clue who will buy this product. Genuine use cases sell products, not vague descriptions of people who only exist in commercials. Apple knows, that’s why its own launch events sell products so convincingly.

Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images

Don’t let the demo of Pixel Buds real-time language translation service fool you either. We’ve all used Google Translate, so we know what a complete pig’s ear it can make of translating conversational language. Google really should have written “Canned language demos are not representative of real world use,” on the screen when the Buds were shown in action.

These should have been five-minute things-to-come tech demos. Not products. They each have some cutting-edge technology under the hood that’s worth mentioning. For example, Google Clips has its own on-device AI processing tech, instead of using the cloud, meaning more speed and increased privacy. This is very similar to what Huawei is doing in the forthcoming Kirin 970 chip, and it’s very cool indeed. No matter how problematic the Buds’ real-time translation turns out to be, it’s impossible to deny it’s a tantalizing forerunner to way better, and less intrusive translation tech down the road.

Give us what we want, not what you think is cool

When recalling the fantastic reception to last year’s Pixel at the start of his presentation, Google’s Rick Osterloh quipped, “I wish we had a few more of them to go around.” Yes, us too. Based on seven-week wait for some Pixel 2 colors, we’re guessing Google wishes it had a few more of those as well.

Here’s a thought: Stop making products no one wants, and use the money, time, and resources to build more of the ones that people do. We know manufacturing probably doesn’t work that way, but when we can’t buy Google’s best products for weeks, our patience isn’t helped by knowing time is being spent building products only a handful of people are excited about.

Just because other companies have speakers, headphones, laptops, and more, doesn’t mean you must as well. Stand apart, Google. Make more phones. Continue to refine Google Home’s software. Show us all the AI and machine-learning stuff in tech demos, then try to sell us a product when it’s clear what we’ll do with it. While you’re at it, you could shave $100 off the Pixel 2 prices, instead of being like Samsung and Apple, and fleecing smartphone buyers for all they’re worth.

That would be a return of the Google we love. Brilliant products at the best prices, with plenty of stock available. Maybe next year?

A look inside Lenovo’s Yamato Labs, where laptops become ThinkPads

What does it take to make a ThinkPad?

You might point to the iconic black “bento box” design, the TrackPoint, the concave keyboard, or any number of other unique features. You’d be half right. ThinkPad’s look, feel, and feature set remains unique in the world of PC hardware, but the brand is known for more than looks. Its durability is legend. Geeks who demand a reliable laptop almost always end up with a ThinkPad.

In celebration of ThinkPad’s 25th anniversary, Lenovo allowed Digital Trends a peek inside its Yamato Labs, located in Yokohama, Japan. The lab is responsible for a huge range of tests, from resilience against static electricity, to hinge durability, to radio frequency resistance. Every new ThinkPad goes through a gauntlet of trials, and if a design doesn’t pass, the engineers have to take it back to the drawing board.

Check out the gallery above for an inside look at the lab that turns laptops into ThinkPads.

It’s real! Lenovo announces 25th Anniversary ThinkPad with retro keyboard, styling

Why it matters to you

If you’re a longtime fan of the ThinkPad laptop series, you may be tickled pink by what Lenovo is offering with this limited edition laptop.

As promised, October 5 marks the 25th anniversary of the ThinkPad laptop brand, and Lenovo is celebrating by releasing a special edition of its ThinkPad T470 laptop for business. Although it will have the same modern internals as the T470, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 model sports the look and feel of the classic ThinkPad 700C designed by Richard Sapper and engineered in Japan’s Yamato Labs all those years ago.

Images of the throwback laptop surfaced in the middle of September. Now we have the official hardware specifications:

Screen size:
14 inches with Touch
Screen resolution:
1,920 x 1,080
Screen aspect ratio:
16:10
Processor:
Intel Core i7-7500U
Graphics:
Nvidia GeForce 940MX
Memory:
16GB DDR4 @ 2,133MHz
Storage:
512GB Samsung NVMe PCI Express 3.0 SSD

Connectivity:
Intel Dual-Band Wireless AC 8265 (up to 867Mbps)
Bluetooth 4.1
Ports:
1x gigabit Ethernet
3x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x HDMI
1x SD card reader
Audio:
2x Dolby Advanced Audio speakers
Camera:
720p HD webcam
Dual array microphones
Battery:
24WH battery promising up to 18 hours
Dimensions:
13.25 x 9.15 x 0.79 inches
Weight:
Starting at 3.48 pounds
Operating system:
Windows 10 Pro
Starting price:
$1,899

As the specifications show, there’s nothing “retro” going on inside this limited-edition laptop. Instead, the rewind button was pressed on the aesthetics, such as multiple status LEDs, a backlit 7-row keyboard, dedicated volume buttons, a colorful logo, and a blue Enter key. But don’t worry: this model won’t sport the same thick, blocky design used on the original 700C model.

According to Lenovo, the 700C’s design was inspired by the traditional Japanese bento box. By today’s standards, it was incredibly thick, weighing around six pounds. The components included an Intel 386 processor clocked at 25MHz, between 4MB and 16MB of memory, a hard drive with roughly 80MB of space, a 9.5-inch LCD screen with a 640 x 480 resolution, and a 3.5-inch disk drive. MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 were two operating system choices.

On the pricing front, you’ll be getting more for your money with the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25. The original ThinkPad 700C was marketed by IBM before the company sold its personal computer business to Lenovo in 2005. It cost around $2,375 in 1992, so when you take inflation into consideration, that’s roughly $4,156 in 2017. By contrast, this new special edition of the ThinkPad T470 has a starting price of $1,899. Overall, IBM and Lenovo have pushed around 130 million units since the ThinkPad brand emerged in the early 1990s.

Despite its “retro” feel, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 has everything you need for modern computing: a seventh-generation Intel Core processor, a discrete graphics chip to handle graphics-intensive applications, and speedy SSD storage. It even has a Thunderbolt 3 port pushing data transfers at up to 40Gbps for daisy-chaining external displays, adding peripherals, external storage, and more. What you won’t find here is a built-in 3.5-inch disk drive, but instead a fingerprint scanner mounted to the right of the keyboard.

You can purchase the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 laptop now for a starting price of $1,899. It will be available in limited quantities in select countries, so grab one now before they’re gone for good!

It’s real! Lenovo announces 25th Anniversary ThinkPad with retro keyboard, styling

Why it matters to you

If you’re a longtime fan of the ThinkPad laptop series, you may be tickled pink by what Lenovo is offering with this limited edition laptop.

As promised, October 5 marks the 25th anniversary of the ThinkPad laptop brand, and Lenovo is celebrating by releasing a special edition of its ThinkPad T470 laptop for business. Although it will have the same modern internals as the T470, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 model sports the look and feel of the classic ThinkPad 700C designed by Richard Sapper and engineered in Japan’s Yamato Labs all those years ago.

Images of the throwback laptop surfaced in the middle of September. Now we have the official hardware specifications:

Screen size:
14 inches with Touch
Screen resolution:
1,920 x 1,080
Screen aspect ratio:
16:10
Processor:
Intel Core i7-7500U
Graphics:
Nvidia GeForce 940MX
Memory:
16GB DDR4 @ 2,133MHz
Storage:
512GB Samsung NVMe PCI Express 3.0 SSD

Connectivity:
Intel Dual-Band Wireless AC 8265 (up to 867Mbps)
Bluetooth 4.1
Ports:
1x gigabit Ethernet
3x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x HDMI
1x SD card reader
Audio:
2x Dolby Advanced Audio speakers
Camera:
720p HD webcam
Dual array microphones
Battery:
24WH battery promising up to 18 hours
Dimensions:
13.25 x 9.15 x 0.79 inches
Weight:
Starting at 3.48 pounds
Operating system:
Windows 10 Pro
Starting price:
$1,899

As the specifications show, there’s nothing “retro” going on inside this limited-edition laptop. Instead, the rewind button was pressed on the aesthetics, such as multiple status LEDs, a backlit 7-row keyboard, dedicated volume buttons, a colorful logo, and a blue Enter key. But don’t worry: this model won’t sport the same thick, blocky design used on the original 700C model.

According to Lenovo, the 700C’s design was inspired by the traditional Japanese bento box. By today’s standards, it was incredibly thick, weighing around six pounds. The components included an Intel 386 processor clocked at 25MHz, between 4MB and 16MB of memory, a hard drive with roughly 80MB of space, a 9.5-inch LCD screen with a 640 x 480 resolution, and a 3.5-inch disk drive. MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 were two operating system choices.

On the pricing front, you’ll be getting more for your money with the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25. The original ThinkPad 700C was marketed by IBM before the company sold its personal computer business to Lenovo in 2005. It cost around $2,375 in 1992, so when you take inflation into consideration, that’s roughly $4,156 in 2017. By contrast, this new special edition of the ThinkPad T470 has a starting price of $1,899. Overall, IBM and Lenovo have pushed around 130 million units since the ThinkPad brand emerged in the early 1990s.

Despite its “retro” feel, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 has everything you need for modern computing: a seventh-generation Intel Core processor, a discrete graphics chip to handle graphics-intensive applications, and speedy SSD storage. It even has a Thunderbolt 3 port pushing data transfers at up to 40Gbps for daisy-chaining external displays, adding peripherals, external storage, and more. What you won’t find here is a built-in 3.5-inch disk drive, but instead a fingerprint scanner mounted to the right of the keyboard.

You can purchase the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 laptop now for a starting price of $1,899. It will be available in limited quantities in select countries, so grab one now before they’re gone for good!

The Morning After: Thursday, October 5th 2017

Hey, good morning!

All Google everything. You name it, and Google launched it. Phones, headphones, VR, speakers, camera, laptop — and all with AI in one form or another. It’s Thursday.

Two sizes, almost the same phone.Google introduces the Pixel 2 series — and it’s really proud of the camera

After all those leaks, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are now a reality, and both ditch the headphone jack. They’re both (a little) squeezable, which will coax the phones to launch Google Assistant for your questions and search queries, while also packing water resistance and a camera that’s apparently better than last year’s well-regarded Pixel phone. Google was keen to sidestep the tech spec nitty-gritty and talk about the AI smarts it’s stitching into its phones. You might recall Google’s Lens visual search from earlier in the year — well that’s coming to these phones before the end of 2017. The phones also have a redesigned UI, because people can’t leave things alone, and both are possibly the purest Android devices we’ve ever seen.

‘This one’s just right.’
A Google Home for every… home

Similar to Amazon blitzing us with Echo speakers in a bunch of form factors, Google’s showcase revealed the Home Mini and the Home Max. Those self-explanatory names do half my job for me, and while the Mini goes with a cheaper price and a more subtle design, the Home Max centers on audio quality. Oh and a price tag that will pit it again Apple’s HomePod speaker when it arrives. Naturally, we spent time with both of them.

Oh, and they also play music or whatever.
Google’s Pixel Buds are a real-life Babel Fish

Now that the Pixel 2 dropped its headphone jack, Google is preparing a pair of wireless buds to go with it, AirPod-style. When paired with a Pixel 2, they gain the power to do real-time translation between 40 different languages. Just say “Help me speak (language)” and talk, then your phone will output the words in that language. Then when the other person replies, you’ll hear their words in your own language, right in your ear. The $160 Buds will ship in November.

How much will you pay to run ChromeOS?
Google introduces its $1,000 Pixelbook

After a couple of years off, Google is back with another premium laptop, and this one is impressive. The Pixelbook is thin and light, measuring at 2.2 pounds with a 12.3-inch screen, and it’s powerful, with options for Core i5 or i7 processors, plus options for 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. It can flip around for use as a tablet, there’s a pen and it can automatically tether with your Android phone. Oh, and don’t forget support for Android apps, and news that partners like Snapchat are reworking their apps to better support ChromeOS. The only potentially bad news is its price, which starts at a very MacBook- and Surface-like $1,000.

It’s also the photographer.
Google Clips is a tiny AI-powered camera

For some reason, Google decided to cram some of its imaging smarts into a tiny square-ish camera. It doesn’t have a screen, and Google wants you to let the camera take the photos itself. Somehow, it manages to take notable shots and clips all through AI-powered image processing, focusing on people and animals it thinks you’d like to see photos of. Will it be a hit? Maybe not. But that probably doesn’t matter.

But wait, there’s more…

• Hands-on with Sonos One: ‘The Smart Speaker for Music Lovers’
• HP’s Spectre x360 13 hides your screen at a push of a button
• Plex makes its adaptive streaming tech available to all
• Apple watchOS update addresses LTE vs. captive WiFi problems

Investigators are using AI to find who betrayed Anne Frank

In August of 1944, Anne Frank and her family were captured by the Gestapo after spending a gruelling two years hidden in a secret annex within their apartment. The prolific diarist’s work would posthumously bring her fame and recognition the world over. But, to this day, no one has been able to identify who was behind the betrayal that led to her death in a concentration camp. Fast forward 73 years, and a former FBI agent is betting artificial intelligence can help crack the mystery. Retired sleuth Vincent Pankoke, and his team of investigators (comprised of forensic scientists and members of the Dutch police force), are partnering with Amsterdam-based data company Xomnia on the ultimate cold case.

As part of the newly-opened enquiry, a specially developed algorithm will scour reams of documents from the period. The master database of info being fed to the AI includes lists of of Nazi collaborators, informants, historic documents, police records, and prior research. “Our software allows [the team] to search the data and visualize it new ways. This has already led to a few new traces,” said Marius Helf, chief data scientist, Xomnia. “In the future, we plan to make the systems more intelligent, in the sense that it will be able to automatically connect persons, events, and places.” Pankoke told Reuters that the software will be able to provide new leads and connections based on the trove of data “that a human in their lifetime might not be able to review.”

The past several decades have seen numerous theories about Frank’s betrayal floated about. It’s been alleged by writers and investigators that the Frank family’s neighbours, co-workers, or even the Gestapo’s Jewish informants could have been behind the disclosure. Whereas, prior police investigations in 1948 and 1963 honed in on just one individual (warehouse manager Willem van Maaren) without probing other scenarios.

More recently, the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies cast doubt on the speculation, claiming there was no conclusive evidence implicating any of the proposed suspects. And, just last year, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam suggested that the raid on the residence could have been a mere coincidence. But, in both cases, the respective institutions stated that more investigation and evidence gathering was required.

The team working on the latest cold case are hoping that the public can provide some of that much-needed info. And, as a crowdfunded venture, the project is also relying on patrons to fund it to the tune of $5 million. The aim, however, is not to seek prosecution. Instead, the intention is to complete the case by August 4, 2019, which will mark 75 years since the arrest of Anne Frank.

Source: Anne Frank: A Cold Case Diary

Single-Lens Google Pixel 2 Camera Takes Top Spot From iPhone 8 Plus in DxO Labs Tests

The new Google Pixel 2 has bumped the iPhone 8 Plus and Galaxy Note 8 off the number one spot to become the top-performing smartphone camera in DxO Labs’ mobile photography tests.

Just a day after Samsung’s latest device matched Apple’s largest iPhone 8 handset with an overall DxOMark score of 94, Google’s newly launched Pixel 2 has now beaten both dual-lens devices with a score of 98, despite despite its rear-mounted single-camera design.

Its top scores in most of our traditional photo and video categories put it ahead of our previous (tied) leaders, the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, despite the Pixel 2 coming in lower in the new Zoom and Bokeh categories. The Pixel 2 is also a major step forward from the Pixel (which was our top scorer when it was released a year ago), moving from 90 to 98.

The reviewers praised the Pixel 2 for excellent video performance, scene reproduction, color rendering, and fast and accurate autofocus, highlighting in particular its “amazing” ability to render detail in both the bright and dark areas of difficult scenes.

One weak spot for the Pixel 2 was said to be exposure in very low light images, which show increased noise in high dynamic range scenes, although excellent exposure and highlight preservation is still in evidence.

Despite performing very well for a single camera phone, the Pixel 2 couldn’t outscore the zoom capability of the dual-lens Apple iPhone 8 Plus. The Pixel 2 also sometimes displayed aliasing and moiré artifacts in medium- and long-range zooms.

The reviewers concluded that for just about any photo or video use case, the Pixel 2 recommends itself as the phone camera with the best image quality, with the exception of zoom and bokeh (including Depth and Portrait) that dual-camera smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and Galaxy Note 8 can provide. The Google handset was especially recommended for videographers, since it achieved the highest video score (96) for any device tested by DxO Labs.

The reviewers signed off by noting that their scoring system has “plenty of headroom” to go beyond 100, so we’ll have to wait and see if Apple’s iPhone X can break that ceiling when it’s released next month.

You can read the full DxOMark Pixel 2 camera review and view all of the full-resolution images here. Do you agree with DxO Labs’ assessment? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone XTags: DxOMark, Google PixelBuyer’s Guide: iPhone (Buy Now)
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India Considering Exemptions Sought by Apple for Stores and Assembly Plants

The Indian government is now in the process of considering exemptions sought by Apple for setting up more units to assemble iPhones, according to a top bureaucrat in the country’s commerce and industry ministry (via Reuters).

The news came shortly after India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) gave Chinese smartphone maker Oppo clearance to open its own single-brand retail stores in the country, suggesting Apple has a good chance of gaining approval for its own state requests.

The Oppo decision is also positive for companies like Xiaomi and Vivo, which have been trying to get similar approvals, according to Counterpoint Research.

Apple has asked federal government officials for a range of tax and policy changes to help build out its iPhone assembly infrastructure in India.

Apple officially began assembling iPhones in May at plants run by supplier Wistron, thereby satisfying India’s requirement that 30 percent of products sold by foreign companies be manufactured or produced within the country.

The phones have been available to buy in reseller stores since around June. Apple’s website in India currently has a “Where to Buy” page for all iPhone models, directing users to resellers Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone.

Like Oppo, Apple is also seeking permission to open its own retail stores in India. Apple wants to open its first physical retail store in India as early as 2018, and the company is reportedly looking to open four to five flagship-class stores in the country over the next five to ten years.

Tag: India
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Apple Watch Nike+ Series 3 GPS and LTE Models Now in Stores

Apple Watch Nike+ GPS and LTE Series 3 models are now available to buy in stores across Australia, Europe and China, with customers already posting shots of their newly acquired smartwatches on the MacRumors forums and over on Reddit.

Several posts confirm that in some cases, customers are cancelling their online orders held up in shipping and are walking into local brick-and-mortar stores to buy their chosen Nike+ Series 3 model outright.

MacRumors forum member griffith_500 posted the above photo explaining that he preordered the Nike+ LTE with a reseller only to be informed today that they wouldn’t receive the watch before mid October. “So I tried my luck and walked into the Apple store in Zurich where they had all the Nike models on stock… Love it!”

Nike+ Series 3 LTE bought in Shanghai Apple Store
Over in China, Reddit member eddietsai posted the above image of his Nike+ Series 3 LTE purchase from a local Shanghai Apple Store, where they only had the white Sport Loop in stock.

Meanwhile across the U.S., Apple orders are currently in transit across various locations and should be making their way into the hands of customers in the next few hours. Although some eager early risers have also cancelled their online orders with Apple after stores including Best Buy updated their stock to indicate availability for in-store pickup as soon as stores open today.

LTE Space Gray aluminum case with Pure Platinum band (Image via Reddit)
Several Nike+ watch bands are also available for in-store pickup today. Additional Nike+ bands are $49 each in the United States. Apple Watch Nike+ comes in four styles in both 38mm and 42mm sizes, with both cellular and Wi-Fi + GPS only models to choose from:

◦ Silver Aluminum Case with Pure Platinum/Black Nike Sport Band
◦ Silver Aluminum Case with Bright Crimson/Black Nike Sport Loop
◦ Space Gray Aluminum Case with Anthracite/Black Nike Sport Band
◦ Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black/Pure Platinum Nike Sport Loop

Apple Watch Nike+ models are priced between $329 and $429 in the U.S.

Countries in today’s launch include the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: Apple Watch Nike+ EditionBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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