Month: August 2019

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  The updated Dell XPS 13 two-in-one with its new 16:10 display. [credit: Valentina Palladino ]

Today, Dell began taking orders in the US for the new 2019 version of the XPS 13 two-in-one convertible laptop. In this update, the XPS 13 two-in-one has seen a hardware redesign, with a different hinge and keyboard. And many people will be glad to hear that the laptop's formerly infamous webcam is now placed above the screen, not below. (That has been one of our main criticisms of this otherwise strong laptop in previous reviews of this product line.)

In terms of internals, the new XPS 13 two-in-one sports 10th-generation Intel Core CPU options ranging from the Core i3-1005G1 at the low end to the Core i7-1065G7 at the top. Dell claims the machine will be 2.5 times more powerful than its predecessor. It also can be configured with up to 1TB of SSD storage and 32GB of RAM. The top graphics solution available is Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics that come with the fastest Intel CPU. To accommodate these new internals, Dell developed a new two-fan cooling system.

This laptop also has a 13.4-inch touchscreen that supports Dolby Vision HDR or HDR400, depending on the spec, and that comes in either 1,920×1,200 or 4K variants. Thanks to reduced bezels, that screen is 7% larger than what we saw last year. Other specs like its 500 nits of brightness, 90% of DCI-P3 in the 4K variant, and either 1500:1 or 1800:1 contrast ratios make this a very strong consumer laptop display.

Enlarge / In The Hunt, Betty Gilpin plays Crystal, a woman who must fight for her life when she's hunted by wealthy "elites." (credit: YouTube/Universal)

[Update: 1:35pm ET, August 10, 2019] Universal Pictures has now pulled the planned September 27 release of its satirical thriller, The Hunt, Deadline Hollywood reports. Here is the studio's statement:

While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for The Hunt, after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film.  We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.

Co-star Hilary Swank, appearing at the Locarno Film Festival, declined to discuss The Hunt or the surrounding controversy, according to Variety. However, she did say, "No one's seen the film. You can't really have a conversation about it without understanding what it’s about."

My take: Swank is correct that it's a bit unfair to pass judgement on a film few people have actually seen. Trailers are just marketing tools and can often be quite different in tone from the actual film. That said, this is probably a smart move on the part of Universal, given the current socio-political climate.

Enlarge / EpiPen two-pack. (credit: Getty | Joe Raedle)

Brand-name drug makers are using "authorized generics" to keep drug prices high and stifle competition, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

Authorized generics are defined by the US Food and Drug Administration as brand-name drugs that are simply repackaged and marketed without the brand name. They’re made by the same company that makes the brand-name drug and usually sold at a discount relative to the brand-name version.

Traditional generic drugs, on the other hand, are versions of a drug that are equivalent to a brand-name drug in active ingredients and effects but may have slight variations, such as in inactive ingredients like fillers and flavors. Generics are made by different companies from those that make the brand-name versions.

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  Google Maps AR, in action. [credit: The Wall Street Journal ]

Google Maps is finally rolling out its augmented reality walking navigation to a wider audience. The feature was announced at Google I/O 2018 (yes, '18), entered private testing in February, and launched for Pixel phones at Google I/O 2019. Now, regular people will have access to AR navigation, as the feature is launching in beta on Android devices and iPhones.

The AR navigation feature is called "Live View," and it's meant to help kick off your walking navigation. GPS is great for pinning your location on a map, but nothing about GPS determines which direction you are facing. To help with this, phones have built-in compasses, which are supposed to nail down your heading, but mobile compasses, especially in Android phones, kind of suck. Compasses work by detecting the Earth's magnetic field, and while that is fine when you have a regular analog compass, building a compass into a smartphone means surrounding it with electronics and several actual magnets, which can make an accurate reading tough to obtain. When you're walking out of the Starbucks and just want to know if your first step is to the left or right, watching your compass helplessly spin around in a circle is not helpful.

So Google Maps Live View throws all that compass stuff out the window and instead handles directional heading with cameras and sensors. Google calls the system "VPS," or "Visual Positioning System." Your phone's GPS narrows down your location, you point your camera at the world, and Google matches the camera footage to the plethora of visual data it has from things like Street View. This gives VPS your position and heading in 3D space, assuming Google has the data for your location. And that makes it a lot more accurate than a compass.

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  Years and Years is a miniseries that examines the near future of Britain as experienced by the Lyons family. [credit: HBO/BBC ]

I don't know about you, but I'm not really a fan of the future we've found ourselves in. As a child at the end of Generation X, the year 2020 seemed impossibly far away for much of my life. Now it's just a date a few months from now, with none of the jet packs or moon bases or meals-in-a-pill we thought we might get.

Unfortunately, it's not like my generation is moving forward empty-handed: there's rampant climate change, plunging biodiversity, and a worldwide resurgence of reactionary ideas. All together, it strongly suggests that while history does not repeat, it sure can rhyme. If simply reading that doesn't already have you lying down and searching for a paper bag—or if Black Mirror is no longer a strong enough dystopian dose of what we've got in store—then have I got a show for you. It's called Years and Years, and it's a new six-part depiction of dystopia from the man who resurrected Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies.

Years and Years is a co-production between the BBC and HBO, so I apologize for being late to the party. The series first aired in the UK back in May and then became available in the US last month. Set in England and starting in 2019, the show from there ostensibly follows the lives of the multigenerational Lyons family across the next decade.

Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images | Getty)

If your new iPhone needs a new battery anytime soon, you may not want to bother replacing it yourself or heading to your local third-party shop. Thanks to a change on Apple's part, you'll be basically left with a permanent warning message if you do.

iFixit reports that replacing a battery in the iPhone XR, XS, or XS Max generates a "service" message saying the phone is "unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery." The phone will also not display any battery health readings.

The change is due to the chip on the battery itself. In addition to being able to relay information about battery cycles and temperature to the phone, the chips on the newer iPhone models also have an authentication feature for pairing with a specific phone.

Nintendo will partner with Sharp to put the company's IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) displays in the Switch, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported back in March that Sharp was set to be a new supplier for the Switch's display technology, which is currently a silicon display provided by Taiwanese suppliers. Now, Executive Vice President Katsuaki Nomura says the company will be providing IGZO displays to "a video game client," according to the Journal.

It's not clear if the new display technology will show up in the portable-only Switch Lite (due in September), the new standard Switch model with improved battery life (coming this month), or both.