New Sixth-Generation iPad Priced Lower Than Previous Model in Several Countries

The price of the new sixth-generation iPad didn’t change in the United States compared to the previous fifth-generation model, but prices for the new tablet have been lowered in several other countries around the world.

Prior to the launch of the new iPad, rumors had suggested it could be priced as low as $259 in the United States, which did not happen, but the price has indeed dropped slightly in multiple countries.

In the UK, for example, the entry-level fifth-generation iPad was priced at £339, with the new sixth-generation model available for £319.

In Canada, the fifth-generation 32GB iPad cost $449, while the equivalent sixth-generation model is now available for $429.

In Germany, France, and other European countries, the new iPad is priced starting at €349 to €369, down from €399 to €419. Prices appear to be lower in most, if not all European countries.

Prices have not changed in all countries where the new iPad is available. In New Zealand and Australia, for example, prices remain unchanged, starting at A$469 and NZ$539, respectively. Prices have also not shifted in some Asian countries, including Japan, Singapore, and Korea, but prices are lower in others like China, and Thailand.

In the United States, the entry-level 32GB sixth-generation iPad is priced at $329, the price as the fifth-generation model. A 128GB version is available for $429, while Wi-Fi + Cellular models can be purchased for an additional $130 over the standard Wi-Fi only price.

Related Roundup: iPadBuyer’s Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
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Twitterrific for iOS and Mac Gains Video Attachments, New Muting and Muffling Features

Popular Twitter client Twitterrific 5 for Mac and iOS received a major update today, introducing features that bring it on par with the official Twitter apps and competing third-party Twitter apps.

Starting today, Twitterrific users can attach 140-second or shorter videos to tweets on both iOS and Mac. On iOS, a video can be inserted by tapping the camera when composing, and on Mac, you a video can be added by clicking on the camera button.

The app is also gaining official support for Twitter muting, so users and accounts that have been muted will sync between Twitter and Twitterrific with muted content removed from the timeline. Muted users do not generate push notifications, and all previously muted screen names will be auto upgraded to official Twitter mutes.

Muffling has been improved in Twitterrific with the following new features:

– Defining any muffle rule to apply only for a single user
– Muffling mentions from a specific person or mentions of a specific person
– Muffle tweets that quote someone specific
– Avoid seeing retweets from a specific person about someone else
– For full details, check out the knowledge base: https://twitterrific.com/help/muffles

Twitterrific for iOS includes several improvements such as better responsiveness when attaching media to a tweet, new rule suggestions for the Muffle submenu of the Actions menu, a easier-to-access Translate option in the Actions menu, a shortcut for muting the author of a tweet, and a media picker that sorts the most recent photos and videos at the bottom.

On Mac, the reading position marker is now updated when closing a timeline, user search results and listings indicate if a user has been muted or blocked, and there’s a new shortcut for muting the author of a tweet.

Twitterrific for the Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $7.99. [Direct Link]

Twitterrific for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Twitterrific
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Nwsty review: the news app for those who don’t (usually) read news

Tired of being bombarded with unimportant, ridiculous news all day, every day? We feel your pain. Even worse, today’s web-based information environment is increasingly being populated with fake news and misinformation that sometimes, can have a real-life impact.

So if you get your news from social media – and many of us do – you are exposed to a daily dose of hoaxes, rumors, conspiracy theories, as well as misleading news. And when mixed with info from reliable information from decent sources, the truth becomes a lot harder to grasp.

A new app called nwsty aims to solve this problem by offering to deliver the day’s most important news pieces from reliable sources straight on your Android device.

Setup

Simply download nwsty from the Google Play Store and launch it on your Android phone or tablet. The app is minimalistic and doesn’t have a lot of Settings to go through. So you’ll be thrown right in the middle of it. Its goal is simple, to deliver reliable news on a daily basis so you can stay truly informed and updated about important worldwide events.

Impressions

Nwsty is a pretty basic app. Launch it and you will be able to start reading news immediately. Every morning (Monday through Friday) the app will deliver a collection of what it deems to be the most important news of the day (six to ten bits).

The app takes advantage of AI technology to be able to “discern” which news is of importance. If you’re a person who doesn’t usually read the news but still likes to be up to date with the things going on in the world, then nwsty is the perfect app for you.

But I like to use my news sources as a means of discovery too. I follow science and I’m really interested in the latest advancements and published papers. So I prefer a news app which lets me choose my interests.

Nwsty simply assumes you’ll be interested in a story just because it’s trending right now or it’s flagged as breaking news. Which isn’t the wrong approach. If you want to stay informed, you’ll certainly have to go through global headlines on a daily basis. This is why nwsty is a great tool if you want to do just that.

Every day you’ll get a group of summaries outlining the latest news. These are concise, easy-to-read abstracts of larger, more in-depth articles.

Need more details? Simply tap the expansion icon in the upper right corner and you’ll be redirected to the source’s website, so you can read the full story. As far as I could see, the app uses reliable sources such as CNN, Reuters, Financial Times, NBC News, NPR, and the BBC for its pieces. So if you need a tool to combat the fake news trend, nwsty is once again the app for you.

You can also easily share the news with your friends and families by tapping on the social media button in the upper right corner. Easily share content on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram Direct.

The app delivers news from various categories including technology, business, gun control, banks, and science. But if you have a specific interest like I do, the app quickly become unsatisfactory.

As I mentioned above, the app is pretty bear. You download, install it and start getting news on your Android device. The app will send a notification each time a new selection of stories is available.

You can also revisit older news by accessing the calendar and tapping on a specific date. Other than that, there’s not much you can do in nwsty. You can’t customize your feed or pick a certain hour when you’d like to get your news delivered.

For me, the most frustrating part was that I wasn’t able to pick a specific news category or categories. But to be fair, the app’s purpose isn’t to give you an overview of news in a specific area, but to keep you informed of the important things happening in the world. Sometimes the two can overlap, but not always. I for one like to see more info about advancements in neuroscience than political stories in my news feed. But it’s my personal preference.

Conclusion

All in all, nwsty is a pretty useful app. It keeps you away from fake news by tapping into reliable sources while letting you read straightforward mini-articles that won’t take more than a few minutes to go through. It has a clean and simple interface and it’s not riddled by ads either.

Huawei P20 Pro Hands-on Review

Research Center:

Huawei P20 Pro

Bezel-less designs may be all the rage, but cameras continue to be the most talked about feature on modern smartphones. Apple touted Face ID and Animoji thanks to its TrueDepth Camera on the iPhone X; Google’s Pixel 2 is widely-accepted as the best camera phone; and Samsung made a splash about its “reimagined camera” on the Galaxy S9. Huawei has distinguished itself over the past few years with a monochrome lens, tuned by photography experts Leica, but the Chinese company is ready to ramp things up with its latest smartphone.

The Huawei P20 Pro, just announced in Paris, has four cameras: One selfie camera on the front, and three on the back. It’s something we haven’t really seen before, and Huawei is going a step further and adding a ton of AI (artificial intelligence) smarts to improve the camera experience. We’ve spent some time with the P20 Pro, and although the camera is fascinating, technically adept, and creatively exciting, the design is going to split opinion.

Huawei also announced the regular P20, which only has a dual-camera system on the rear, and some other minor specification changes. Let’s take a deeper look.

Notched design

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Huawei’s P20 and P20 Pro have screens with notches, a trend popularized by Apple on the iPhone X, and now adopted by many, many device manufacturers. Apple’s excuse is the TrueDepth Camera system housed in the notch, which helps make Face ID incredibly secure, while providing highly-accurate motion tracking.

Why is the notch there on the P20? There’s no purpose. The notification center comes down just as usual, and the camera simply has a high megapixel count. While you can unlock the phone with your face, it’s not as secure as Apple’s implementation, and it can’t be used to unlock apps like you can with Face ID. The notch is a design decision, and it’s an unfortunate one.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Not because it’s ugly — it’s a neat implementation — but it’s a decision that will be mired in controversy for being derivative, without offering anything new. Huawei should be prepared to hear it. We’d have preferred a Galaxy S9 or LG V30 approach with a super minimal top bezel, and thankfully you can have this by adding black bars on the sides of the notch (in the phone’s settings) so that it looks like a full bezel.

The notch is a design decision, and it’s an unfortunate one.

With that out of the way, the rest of the P20 is a delight. The body is curvy, and the P20 Pro is perfectly-sized and weighted to fit into your hand. Unusually, Huawei has opted for a fingerprint sensor below the screen, rather than on the back of the P20 and P20 Pro. It’s our least favorite implementation of fingerprint sensors; while it’s slim and easy to press, it detracts from the beauty of the front panel.

Turn the phone over, however, and you’ll thank Huawei for not slapping it on the phone’s rear cover. On the Pro model, two camera lenses are set inside a camera bump, with the third underneath it with the flash and color temperature unit. That’s about it. It’s super minimalist, and instantly recognizable as a P20. It’s a shame the individuality didn’t continue around the front.

There are several different colors, but it’ll be the new twilight color scheme you’ll want. In an industry first, Huawei has applied a gradient finish to the glass, where the deep twilight blue changes to green depending on how it catches the light. It’s wonderful, and proves again how competent Huawei is when creating eye-catching smartphones.

Pro or not to Pro

The difference between the 5.8-inch RGBW LCD P20 and 6.1-inch OLED P20 Pro is more clear cut than the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. The Pro version is clearly the superior model, and the one you’ll want to buy. It’s the only one with IP67 water resistance (the P20 makes do with IP53), and it’s the only one with the new triple-lens camera system. The battery is larger too — 4000mAh compared to 3400mAh — but the 2,240 x 1,080 pixel screen resolution remains the same. It has 6GB of RAM rather than 4GB, but both have 128GB of storage space and the Kirin 970 processor.

Put simply, buy the P20 Pro.

Huawei P20 Pro Compared To

Nokia 6 (2018)

Nokia 1

Sony Xperia XZ2

Nokia 8 Sirocco

Motorola MOTORIZR Z3

Jitterbug Dial

Samsung SCH-u620

LG VX9400

Sony Ericsson K790a

Nokia N93

Blackberry 8700c

Blackberry 8700g

Nokia N90

Palm Treo 650

Motorola RAZR V3c

Camera

We’ll talk about the P20 Pro and its triple-lens Leica camera here. The camera bump contains a 40-megapixel RGB color lens below an 8-megapixel telephoto lens, while outside is a 20-megapixel monochrome lens. Also inside the camera bump is the laser transmitter and receiver for the auto focus system, while the flash until contains a brand new color temperature sensor.

What does all this mean? First up, the telephoto lens has a 5x hybrid zoom capacity, and it really works. The optical zoom goes to 3x, and then it’s further enhanced digitally to 5x. The results are very impressive. Compared to the iPhone X on 5x zoom, the P20 Pro’s shots are detailed and accurate, rather than pixelated and noisy. We zoomed in on a sign and could read the text clearly, and it was impossible to tell it was shot on anything greater than a 2x zoom. We’ll need more time to test this out, but initial impressions are excellent.

Shots are also much brighter using a technology called Pixel Fusion, which lets in 4x the amount of light into a pixel, and by using all three lenses at once, sharpness is greatly improved. However, all three lenses will never work at full capacity together, so a magical 68-megapixel photo won’t be possible. The 40-megapixel lens something we haven’t seen in a phone in some time, and taking pictures in a test environment with the P20 Pro, the images it produced looked super. The color temperature skewed on the warm side, producing accurate, attractive pictures. The detail was clearly there too, but we could only view the end results on the phone’s screen at the time.

Another benefit of the three lenses is how much more natural portrait and people shots look. The longer focal length flattens features, avoiding pictures where some facial features are unnaturally highlighted. As is the fashion at the moment, the P20 can shoot 960fps slow motion video at 720p just like the Galaxy S9, which we demoed during a fencing match. The results looked good on the phone screen, and were shot with plenty of light; but capturing slow motion video is very hard, and timing it right is a bit of a challenge.

We’ve yet to put the three lens setup to a real test, but it certainly appears to increase versatility, which in turn boosts creativity, and we’re all for that in a smartphone camera. It’s also only then that we’ll know the true benefit of three lenses, which at first glance could be viewed as literal “one-upmanship.” Huawei’s aim is to create professional level camera equipment combined with ease of use on the P20 Pro, and it certainly appears to be well on the way to achieving this.

AI and software

The Kirin 970 processor is accompanied by the Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which specifically deals with artificial intelligence tasks. It’s successful, if a little underused, on the Mate 10 Pro. The P20 uses AI in more situations, primarily in the camera, and begins to better utilize the NPU’s ability.

For example, there are now 19 different scene recognition modes in the camera, up from 13 on the Mate 10 Pro, including close-ups, waterfalls, dogs, cats, and text. What’s really clever here is that it can switch modes depending on what it sees. Point the camera at a person and it will activate portrait mode, or at a close-up object to switch to macro mode. Additionally, the AI now helps with shot composition, providing visual advice on framing group shots, or a level for keeping the horizon straight.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

It also goes much deeper than this. Rather than using optical image stabilization (OIS) or electronic image stabilization (EIS), Huawei has introduced artificially intelligent stabilization (AIS) on the P20. AIS is so effective, the P20 can take long exposure night shots where the shutter is open for up to 8 seconds without the need for a tripod. This works on both stills and video. We tried it in a test environment and were pleased with the results using the P20’s Night Shot mode. Remarkably there was almost no blur, and very little noise. We look forward to trying this out more.

One thing we didn’t try is 4D predictive autofocus. Ever have trouble taking a photo of a flower on a windy day due to focusing problems? Huawei’s system recognizes and tracks the object, keeping it in focus regardless of how much it moves.

Elsewhere, AI powers a shopping mode which works with the camera, much like we’ve seen on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9. Plus, in the photo gallery app it powers a keyword search using image recognition, and organizes albums based on the best and most relevant images. This is part of Huawei’s EMUI 8.1 user interface, which also brings a few style changes, most notably to the camera app. The slide-in feature menu has been replaced by a pop-up drawer, making it easier to use with one hand. We spent only a short time using the software, which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, but found it to be fluid.

Conclusion

The P20 Pro is unlike any Huawei phone before it. The design is all-new, the headline feature is unique, and the use of artificial intelligence is well ahead of the competition. The short time spent with the camera has seen us itching to try it out again, to see if the results really can live up to the promise. If they do, and everything slots into place as we expect, this could be the finest Huawei phone we’ve seen.

We’ll update this story when Huawei announces pricing and availability, but the company has confirmed it has no plans to launch the phone in the U.S.

Google’s Clips camera now takes high-res photos on demand

Google Clips’ manual 7-second video bursts are fine if you’re not a stickler for high resolution, but there are times when you just want to snap a quality still photo to share with friends. Why can’t you capture both? Well, now you can: Google is delivering an update to Clips’ Android app that lets you take a high-resolution photo alongside the video when you press the shutter button either on the camera itself or in the live preview on your phone. That could be more than a little helpful if you want to capture a sharp picture the moment something interesting occurs, rather than hoping you have time to take a separate shot.

You may need a firmware update to change this functionality (we’ve asked Google to verify this), so be sure to check before going on a Clips photo safari.

The update also brings pinch-to-zoom cropping while you’re in the edit mode. Previously, you had to drag corners to frame your shot — this should make it faster and more intuitive. All told, it seems that Google is determined to evolve Clips’ features rapidly and give the user more control, rather than depending solely on the camera’s AI-guided capture to reel you in.

Via: 9to5Google, The Verge

Source: Google Play

TouchPal’s Talia A.I. assistant improves your smartphone keyboard experience

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Injecting artificial intelligence into existing products and services is every company’s mantra in 2018. Jialiang Wang, CEO of the company behind the popular TouchPal keyboard, thinks Google and Apple will embed their respective voice assistants — Google Assistant and Siri — into the default keyboards on Android and iOS. But TouchPal wants to stay ahead of the game, which is why it’s launching the “first A.I. keyboard,” featuring a smart assistant called Talia.

TouchPal is a third-party keyboard you can install from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. It has been around for quite some time, with many of the same features and customization options available on competitor keyboards. It’s preinstalled on numerous Android devices thanks to manufacturer partnerships (such as HTC) and the company said it has more than 712 million users around the world.

Talia was announced at Mobile World Congress 2018, but we’ve been testing a beta version of this keyboard to see how much of a difference an A.I. assistant can make.

Requiring permissions

The first thing you’ll want to know is that Talia requires quite a number of permissions so you can use it to its highest potential. Aside from access to your contacts and phone numbers, it also will need permission to store password and credit card details. You’ll have to go into your phone’s accessibility settings to enable enhanced features like intelligent prediction, smart reply — which can suggest emoji and text — and more. You can deny it access to some of these permissions, but then you won’t get the full Talia experience.

The company said it never collects personal information, and these permissions you allow helps to “improve the input experience.”

Smarter keyboard

The TouchPal AI Keyboard already has features you’d expect like themes, sticker packs, GIF search, gesture typing, support for multiple languages, voice input, a clipboard, and more. The biggest improvements artificial intelligence introduces are the A.I. Engine and Talia.

TouchPal claims the A.I. Engine offers a “higher prediction accuracy of 99.4 percent,” which in turn should improve typing speed. This can be seen in the bar above the letters. So if you type, “You’re my favorite,” the keyboard suggests words like “person,” or “girl” (we intended to type the former). This prediction system does a fairly good job of finishing off your sentences accurately if you want to use it. We wouldn’t say it improved our typing speed much, though.

Talia is helpful

The most impactful improvements came from Talia. It’s the intelligent assistant that sits at the top right edge of the keyboard, with an icon that looks like a circle with two other circles inside it. Talia reminds us a lot of Google’s Gboard keyboard — where you can access the power of Google search (and machine learning) right within the keyboard. But Talia is a more personalized assistant that is prone to offering more suggestions.

It’s easy to see the benefits Talia provides.

There are two ways you can use Talia. You can use it to search for things within a conversation, so you don’t have to leave the app you’re currently in. For example, if someone mentions a trip tomorrow and you want to check the weather, tap the Talia icon and type “what’s the weather,” and you’ll be presented with a weather card. You can inject these weather details into your conversation if you want to share it with the person you’re messaging. Ask Talia a bunch of things and the assistant generally offers helpful results, and if it doesn’t have what your’e looking for, the results default to web searches.

You can ask Talia to convert currency, convert text to GIFs, paste a phone number in to access a dialer, find nearby places and restaurants, use it as a calculator, and more. These are all genuinely helpful tasks, and Talia makes sure you don’t need to leave the conversation.

What’s even more helpful is when Talia automatically offers a suggestion. If you mention you’re hungry, or you specify a particular type of food you’re craving, a little pop out bubble will emerge from the Talia icon, asking you to “find restaurants nearby.” Tap on this and you can swipe through a list of recommendations. If someone mentioned Italian food specifically, then Talia will tailor the results to find Italian restaurants.

These suggestions also extend to copy and paste. If Talia detects you just copied text in another app, it suggests pasting it in your message conversation in case that’s what you were meaning to do. Sometimes we didn’t, but we never found these suggestions to be obtrusive.  Kind of like Google’s Smart Replies, Talia can also offer up suggested phrases you can use when someone asks you something. We haven’t seen these working in action, but it’s a beta and it will be a feature in the final product.

It’s easy to see the benefits Talia provides, and we can see the assistant becoming even more useful when TouchPal adds more features over time. It’s not life-changing, but it’s undeniably time-saving. It’s also a glimpse of what we can expect to see if Google or Apple ever decides to add their respective assistants into their keyboards.

TouchPal said it’s launching Talia and the AI Engine for its keyboard likely by the end of March. It will be available as an update to the TouchPal keyboard on both the Google and Apple app stores.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best keyboards for Android will have you texting faster than a 13-year-old
• Next-gen smoke grenade hides soldiers from enemy eyes — and thermal sensors, too
• The best ergonomic keyboards you can buy
• Amazon Echo Show Review
• Everything you need to know about Google Assistant

Huawei P20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: Are three better than two?

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Huawei has taken the wraps off its newest flagship, and the P20 Pro is the phone to snag if you’re looking for a new, powerful Huawei phone. But what’s that coming over the hill? It’s the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, and it’s angry at the P20 Pro for stealing its limelight. A conflict between the two is inevitable, but which will be left standing when these two clash? We took a look to find out.

Specs

Huawei P20 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Size
155 x 73.9 x 7.8 mm (6.1 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches)
158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm (6.22 x 2.91 x 0.33 inches)

Weight
180 grams (6.34 ounces)
189 grams (6.67 ounces)

Screen Size
6.1-inch OLED display
6.2-inch AMOLED display

Screen Resolution
2,240 x 1,080 pixels (408 pixels per inch)
2,960 x 1,440 pixels (529 pixels per inch)

Operating System
Emotion UI 8.1 (over Android 8.1 Oreo)
Samsung Experience 9.0 (over Android 8.0 Oreo)

Storage Space
128GB
64GB

MicroSD Card Slot
Yes, up to 256GB
Yes, up to 256GB

Tap To Pay Services
Google Pay
Samsung Pay, Google Pay

Processor
Kirin 970
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

RAM
6GB
6GB

Camera
Triple lens 40MP, 20MP, & 8MP rear, 24MP front
Dual lens 12MP rear, 8MP front

Video
2,160p at 30 frames per second, 1,080p at 30fps, 720p at 960fps
2,160p at 60 frames per second, 1,080p at 240 fps, 720p at 960 fps

Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 5.0

Ports
USB-C
3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C

Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Yes

Water resistance
IP67
IP68

Battery
4,000mAh
3,500mAh

App Marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store

Network support
T-Mobile, AT&T
T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint

Colors
Black, Blue, Twilight, Pink Gold
Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple

Price
$1,000
$840

Buy From
Huawei
Samsung

Review Score
Hands-on review
4.5 out of 5 stars

Performance, battery life and charging

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The Huawei P20 Pro comes equipped with the powerful Kirin 970 we last saw in the Mate 10 Pro. Huawei has tuned it up a little for the P20 Pro, getting more out of the A.I.-centred NPU chip inside, and we expect to see good performance again. It’s beaten in sheer power by the Galaxy S9 Plus‘s Snapdragon 845, which saw exceptional results in our review benchmarks. Will that translate into better real-life performance? Despite the S9 Plus beating both the iPhone X and Pixel 2 in benchmarks, we found both of those phones to be smoother than the S9 Plus in real usage — so better benchmarks don’t necessarily mean better performance.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus ships with the same 3,500mAh battery as the S8 Plus from last year. Heavy usage saw it drop to 25 percent by 6.30 p.m. after coming off the charger at 7.30 a.m. That’s not bad, but it’s far from the best performance around, and you may need to charge during the day if you’re a power user. Wireless charging is available, but the S9 Plus still only comes with QuickCharge 2.0, despite the Snapdragon 845’s QuickCharge 4.0 support.

We haven’t had a chance to properly test the P20 Pro’s battery, but we’re expecting the 4,000mAh battery to showcase similar performance to the Mate 10 Pro’s incredible battery life. With wireless charging available and Huawei’s SuperCharge fast-charging tech, we expect the P20 Pro to be a superior performer in battery life and charging.

Until we get chance to test out the P20 Pro fully, these elements are too close to call. It’s a tie for now.

Winner: Tie.

Design and durability

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Both of these phones are gorgeously designed glass-and-metal devices that look amazing. The Galaxy S9 Plus takes a lot of design cues from the S8 Plus, with the exception of some key decisions that fix some of our issues with the older design. The Huawei P20 Pro is similarly gorgeous, and you’ll find your eyes drawn to the lovely curves and shimmering finish — it’s utterly stunning. That said, the P20 Pro’s notch is a continued sore point in upcoming Android design, and we expect it to take some flack for that.

As these are both glass smartphones you’ll definitely want a case. A single bad bump could end up shattering either, and that’s not a good look. Thankfully they’re both more resistant to water, with the P20 Pro coming with an IP67 rating, while the Galaxy S9 Plus rocks a higher IP68 rating.

It’s clear that one phone here has a distinct edge over the other. With better water-resistance and our preferred design, the Galaxy S9 Plus takes it.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Display

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

You’ll find similar AMOLED display tech on both phones. The Huawei P20 Pro has a 6.1-inch display that boasts a 2,240 x 1,080-pixel resolution, while a higher 2,960 x 1,440-pixel resolution on the Galaxy S9 Plu’s 6.2-inch screen gives that phone the edge in sharpness. The vibrancy and deepness of colors, lights, and shadows is much the same, since both have top-of-the-line AMOLED displays.

With a slight edge in display sharpness, we have to give this to the Galaxy S9 Plus.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Camera

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Both of these phones have been advertised heavily on the high standard of their cameras. The Galaxy S9 Plus comes with two 12-megapixel (MP) lenses and an aperture that mechanically changes to adjust to available light — the first such phone camera we’ve seen for many years. We’ve done many tests with its cameras, and have been suitably impressed with the results. The S9 Plus has been awarded high marks by camera specialists DxOMark too, likely making it one of 2018’s best camera phones, and setting the standard for the coming year of releases.

But the P20 Pro has an ace up its sleeve — Huawei has crammed three lenses onto the P20 Pro, and they’re all absolute monsters. The main lens sports a huge 40MP, and is joined by an 8MP telephoto lens. Below these two is a 20MP lens that shoots in monochrome, assisting low-light snaps. We’re yet to get a significant amount of time with the P20 Pro’s camera, but it’s proven to be an excellent system in the short time we’ve had with it. It could be the phone camera to unseat the Galaxy S9 Plus, but we’ll have to spend more time with it before we make that call.

It’s a tie on the video front, with both phones shooting super slow-motion at 960 frames per second, though the S9 Plus does have an edge as it is able to shoot at 60fps at 2,160p. In terms of selfie cameras, the S9 Plus’s 8MP front-facing camera is dwarfed by the 24MP monster on the front of Huawei’s phone, but unless you take a lot of selfies it will be hard to tell the difference.

There are too many variables to be able to call this yet, but we’re confident that the P20 Pro’s cameras will put up a worthy fight. It’s a tie for now.

Winner: Tie

Software and updates

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Regardless of the phone you pick, you’re going to be using a heavily manufacturer-altered UI. The Galaxy S9 Plus comes with the Samsung Experience 9.0, while the P20 Pro runs Huawei’s Emotion UI (EMUI) 8.1. Both will be running Android Oreo, but only the Huawei device will have the latest Android 8.1 Oreo update applied at time of launch. Since they’re both running heavily modified UIs, you’re unlikely to get speedy Android updates on either phone.

Both UIs are pretty good, if heavy-handed, alterations of stock Android, and you shouldn’t expect prompt updates from either manufacturer.

Winner: Tie

Special Features

While the Mate 10 Pro had a desktop mode, the P20 Pro will not. On the other hand, the S9 Plus comes with Dex Station and Dex Pad support — but this will set you back at least another $100.

The P20 Pro’s has a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which works as a dedicated processor for A.I. assistance. This manifests in a few different ways, suggesting camera modes and tracking subjects in the camera app, as well as a translation app. Huawei has big plans for the NPU, and we’re likely to see more of this in the P20 Pro.

We’re excited to see what more we get from the A.I.-assistance on the P20 Pro. It beats the expensive desktop mode on the S9 Plus.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Price

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is available from most U.S. carriers, with prices starting from $840. We’ve written a guide to buying the S9 and S9 Plus to help you make sure you’re getting the best deal.

The Huawei P20 Pro is expected to launch within the next month, but numerous setbacks mean that you won’t find this phone on any major U.S. networks, or at Best Buy. Still, you’ll be able to pick it up from Amazon — though it won’t be cheap. We expect the P20 Pro to be around $1,000 at launch.

The massive price difference for similar tech means that the Galaxy S9 Plus wins this round.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Overall winner: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

There’s a lot to love in the P20 Pro, and it might be our favorite Huawei device released so far, but there can only be one winner here. The Galaxy S9 Plus is the phone to beat at the start of 2018, and though the P20 Pro is definitely a contender, the S9 Plus simply represents better value for money, has a more powerful processor, and — for our money — is the better phone for you.

If you’re looking for a flagship phone with strong battery life or you’re a Huawei-head, then you can consider the P20 Pro your next major upgrade — but everyone else should pick the Galaxy S9 Plus.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The Galaxy S9 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 8: Samsung’s heavyweights slug it out
• Check out our favorite Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus accessories
• Sharp shooters: The best camera phones you can buy
• Here’s absolutely everything we know about the Huawei Y9
• Honor View 10 review

eBay Shares Another Spring Savings Coupon With 15% Off Almost Everything Sitewide

eBay this afternoon launched another Spring Savings coupon, which is designed to allow customers to take 15 percent off of almost anything on eBay.

The 15 percent off coupon lasts for a few hours only, running from 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time to 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time, or 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To get the deal, customers will need to make a purchase on eBay worth $25 or more, pay for the item ahead of the coupon’s expiration date, and enter the coupon code PREPSPRING in the coupon redemption field.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with eBay. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

eBay’s coupon is available to eBay accounts registered in the United States and Canada, and the maximum discount allowed on an item is $50. The deal excludes gift cards and coupons, coins and paper money, and real estate. The coupon is a one-time use code, so if you’re planning to purchase multiple items to get a discount, make sure to purchase them all at once.

For more information on the code visit eBay’s landing page, and head over to eBay’s Daily Deals tech section to get started on shopping for ideas before the sale ends tonight. For more sales and discounts, make sure to check out our Deals Roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: eBay
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Apple updates $330 iPad, adds Pencil support and 200GB iCloud storage for students

Apple took reporters on a field trip to Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago to announce its newest product: An all new budget iPad targeted towards the education market.

The 2018 iPad costs $330 for consumers — the same price as last year’s iPad — and $300 for schools. While the pricing has not changed from last year’s entry-level iPad, it’s the first non-Pro model to support the Apple Pencil, a precise stylus that has mainly been catered towards artists and designers for professional use. Apple’s newest iPad is available to order now, and it will begin shipping this week.

The latest iPad packs a 9.7-inch Retina display, an A10 fusion processor (the same powering the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus) and 32GB of storage. The battery should last around 10 hours, making it perfect for a full school day. There’s an 8-megapixel camera on the rear, and an HD front-facing camera.

The body is constructed of aluminum, and the design looks nearly identical to the existing iPad. There’s no updates to the Apple Pencil, which the new iPad supports, and it will cost the same $100 for consumers, and $89 for schools. There’s a third-party Logitech stylus called Crayon (costing $50), along with a keyboard case, that will also support the new iPad. If you want to learn more, check out our iPad hands-on preview coverage.

Software

iWork, Apple’s productivity suite on iOS, also received a pretty impressive update. The updated edition will feature “Smart Annotation,” a feature that will allow teachers to collaborate with students on different documents. Students and educators will also be able to use the Pages app to create digital books.

Teachers will also be able to use Apple School Manager to create bulk Apple IDs as well as manage all iPad functions. The new iPads offer 200GB of iCloud storage for schools, which means there’s plenty of storage to work with on the cloud.

Schoolwork is another app that will be available to educators to assign class handouts and curricula.

Programs

Everyone Can Code, Apple’s Swift programming initiative played a key role in Apple’s announcement as well. While the program has been around for awhile, Apple explained the training opportunities available for educators and how Swift Playground, the primary coding app for students, can be used in the classroom. An ARKit plugin was also added to Swift Playgrounds allowing students to learn how to code different AR components.

New ARKit plugin for Swift Playgrounds to let kids get started with AR at an early age #DTAppleEvent https://t.co/ddKHGB6Brx pic.twitter.com/QgCln2yLkZ

— Jeremy Kaplan (@SmashDawg) March 27, 2018

Apple also announced a new program called Everyone Can Create. The program creates interactive educational experiences using Apple Pencil, speakers, and components of the iPad . A preview is available today and will be updated in the summer with additional content.

Although Apple has faced backlash this year concerning children’s increased dependence on smartphones and tablets, the company’s latest announcements show the tech giant is trying to emphasize the importance of meaningful tech time as opposed to passive consumption. Combining its low-cost iPad with its educational initiatives, Apple hopes to reiterate the value of tech in the classroom to increasingly weary parents.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Apple iPad (2018) hands-on preview
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• Could Apple already be considering a lower-priced version of the HomePod?
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Moment Filmmaker Collection brings cinematic shooting to smartphone cameras

With the iPhone-shot Unsane as inspiration, smartphone lens accessory maker Moment announced a new series of products built specifically for cinematographers. Called the Filmmaker Collection, it combines four accessories that push beyond the limits of your phone’s built-in camera, promising cinematic results like never before.

The heart of the collection is a new 1.33x anamorphic lens adapter that works with Apple iPhone (including the iPhone X), Google Pixel, and Samsung Galaxy phones via Moment’s Photo Case. This is a true anamorphic optic, widening the high-definition 16:9 aspect ratio to the cinematic standard of 2.40:1 without cropping away any pixels. Like professional anamorphic lenses, the resulting image will need to be “de-squeezed” to look normal without distortion, which can be done in the updated version of Moment app or Filmic Pro, a popular filmmaking app that offers advanced controls.

Anamorphic widescreen is a hallmark of cinema, a format originally invented to further differentiate the movie theater from a home television. It produces a wider field of view (in the horizontal dimension) than what you would normally expect from a lens of a given focal length, giving cinema a unique look that simply can’t be emulated.

Typically, anamorphic lenses are very expensive, but Moment’s compact adapter is $149. It still has a somewhat niche appeal, but filmmakers who have wanted to dabble in the anamorphic look now have an affordable option.

The remaining products in the Filmmaker Collection include the Gimbal Counterweight ($39), Lens Filter Adapter ($39), and an iPhone X Battery Photo Case ($99). The counterweight  is designed to balance the additional weight of using the anamorphic adapter or other accessory lens when shooting with a handheld gimbal. While it should work with most smartphone gimbals, Moment said it “officially” supports the DJI Osmo Mobile, Zhiyun SmoothQ, and Evo Shift. Gimbals perform best when perfectly balanced, but smartphone gimbals generally don’t offer as much control for balancing non-standard phone setups. The counterweight, which attaches easily via a Velcro strap, solves this problem.

The filter adapter (also $39) lets users attach standard 62mm filters onto any Moment lens, including the anamorphic adapter, while the iPhone X Battery Photo Case ($99), the first of its kind from Moment, adds an extra 3,100mAh to keep you filming longer (Moment says it can recharge the phone to 90 percent).

Moment is accepting preorders for all new products now, and expects to begin shipping in June.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Moment’s new lens adapter adds filters for your smartphone
• Sharp shooters: The best camera phones you can buy
• Snapchat now lets you create custom, wacky AR Lenses with new fee-based tool
• All phones in Alcatel’s 2018 budget lineup feature an 18:9 display
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