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Google Pixel 10 and Pixel 11 camera features leak, including a big hardware upgrade
3:31 am | October 29, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

There have been a lot of Pixel leaks today, and now we have another one. This is all about the Pixel 10 and Pixel 11's camera features, which unsurprisingly have AI all over them. But first, let's start with hardware. The Pixel 11 Pro coming in 2026 is expected to sport a "next-gen" telephoto camera, one that will use its hardware in concert with AI features to bring 100x zoom for both photos and videos. Cinematic Blur will be updated on the Pixel 11 Pro as well, with support for 4K30fps and a new "video relight" option that does what it implies - changes the lighting conditions...

Here’s when Apple Intelligence will finally arrive in the EU
1:55 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

Apple has now released iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, along with macOS Sequoia 15.1. The thing all of these software releases have in common is the presence of the first Apple Intelligence features. For now, these features can be accessed "in most regions around the world", Apple says, when the device and Siri language are set to US English. Those regions don't seem to include the EU, however - at least not for iOS and iPadOS. Apple says Mac users in the EU can access Apple Intelligence in US English with macOS Sequoia 15.1. Apple Intelligence will become available to iPhone and iPad users in...

Google Pixel Watch 5 to have a custom Tensor chipset
12:31 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

Google's Pixel Watch 5 might get a custom Tensor chip, giving up on Qualcomm as a supplier. This makes sense since Google is also using Tensor chips for its Pixel smartphones, but interestingly the switch will only happen in 2026, so the Pixel Watch 4 will presumably still use a Qualcomm SoC. That said, the roadmap document that this leak is based on is itself from early 2023, which means a lot could have changed from then and up until now, keep that in mind. Google Pixel Watch 3 Now, this Tensor chip's CPU would have one Cortex-A78 core and two Cortex-A55 cores, according to the...

iOS 18.1 released with Apple Intelligence
11:08 pm | October 28, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Apple is now rolling out iOS 18.1, which, along with iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, brings with it Apple Intelligence, Apple's suite of AI features. Apple Intelligence brings with it a raft of new features, which include Writing Tools that are available nearly everywhere you can type, and let you rewrite, proofread, and summarize text, new Siri changes, where Siri is smarter and better looking than before while also being able to leverage ChatGPT for certain queries, Photos improvements with the ability to remove distractions with the new Clean Up feature and searching by...

Apple announces updated iMac with M4 chip and newish colors
10:05 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Apple has announced an updated iMac as part of a series of Mac-focused announcements over the course of this week. The first announcement gives the company's all-in-one desktop PC a shot in the arm in the form of an update processor and new colors. The new 2024 iMac is now built on the company's latest Apple M4 chipset. This includes up to a 10-core CPU (4P+6E), which is said to be 1.7x faster than the M1 model and 1.3x faster than the previous M3 model in Excel. There's also a new GPU with up to 10-cores, which is 2x faster than the M1 GPU and 1.1x faster than the M3's in gaming....

Google Pixel 11 to borrow a forgotten feature from the Pixel 4
9:18 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

Google's Pixel 11, coming in 2026, is now rumored to resurrect a feature last seen on the Pixel 4 from 2019. Google is apparently considering adding an under-display infrared camera to the Pixel 11 generation, thus enabling secure face unlocking. The last time a Pixel had something like that was in 2019 with the Pixel 4. Google then gave up on the feature, only to now be thinking about reintroducing it in a new vein (this is something the company does do a lot). While the Pixel 4 had to have a massive top bezel for its screen to accommodate the tech, the Pixel 11 will place the IR camera...

Nokia 110 4G (2024) is a basic feature phone with familiar looks
8:18 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

HMD may be done with Nokia-branded smartphones but it is still going strong on the feature phone front. Its latest release is the Nokia 110 4G (2024) which looks just like the HMD 110 4G that launched earlier this year with Nokia-branded model bringing some slight tweaks to the spec sheet. Nokia 110 4G (2024) in Titanium and Blue Nokia 110 4G (2024) gets a smaller 2-inch TFT LCD, down from the 2.4” panel on the HMD-branded version. You still get 4G connectivity though we don’t get the exact chipset that’s inside the phone. It features 128 MB RAM and 64MB internal storage,...

Nintendo Switch 2 announcement could be imminent
7:01 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

It's been more than seven years since Nintendo released the original Switch portable gaming console, and the company has long been rumored to be working on a successor. In fact, Nintendo itself confirmed as much, promising it would be revealed by the end of March. Now a new rumor claims the announcement might happen much sooner than that - today or tomorrow, actually. That's because a source billed as "reasonably credible" says Nintendo's current lineup is weak ahead of its investor conference on November 5, and so the company could use this announcement to make itself more interesting for...

Life is Strange: Double Exposure review: out of focus
7:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Gaming | Comments: Off
Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Nintendo Switch
Release date: October 29, 2024 (Nintendo Switch TBC)

In retrospect, Life is Strange: Double Exposure seems like an almost impossible sequel for developer Deck Nine to create. Even if that’s not the case, it’s hard to argue that the one we received is a success.

Who is Max Caufield? That depends on the decisions you made playing the first episodic supernatural adventure game. Don’t Nod’s 2013 success with the original Life is Strange was a lightning bolt, an episodic coming-of-age story driven by the emotional impulses of both the player and Max acting as one. Returning to Arcadia Bay and meeting your lost friend culminating in a decision to save her life and destroy your hometown or allow her to die to save it, commits the first game to a contained but forceful and emotional arc about the morality of controlling the fates of others.

In Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Max is no longer the teenager we once knew. She’s an adult, a photographer-in-residence, and a teacher at Caledon University in Vermont. She has a new life. She can’t use her rewind powers anymore to turn back time, but she’s seemingly settled in a new home and has two close friends in the geeky astronomer Moses and Safi, a poet and undergraduate.

One night, after watching a meteor shower on the snowy observatory rooftop, Safi leaves to take a phone call only to be shot dead in the night by a mystery assailant. Shocked by trauma, Max discovers a new ability to switch between a timeline where she lives and one where she dies, and uses this ability to try and understand her death, who killed her, and perhaps even save her.

Scars of the Past

Characters chatting around a table in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Make no mistake, my disappointment with Life is Strange: Double Exposure doesn’t come from a disdain for the decision not to bring back fan-favorite Chloe, Max’s romantic interest from the first game. While there has been some controversy over this decision, as she fails to make an appearance regardless of whether you let her live or die in the first game, this is not what holds things back narratively.

The overhanging cloud of Arcadia Bay, and the gulf between the state of reality where Chloe lives and dies, are so massive that attempting to tell a story that fails to commit to making one ending canon (or possibly both) results in a game that seems unable to move beyond history to explore who Max is today. Max claims that she has moved on, but the game inherently can’t. The result hamstrings the story from developing in certain directions at risk of contradicting either ending while stopping it from really having anything interesting to say by the time credits roll.

The result is a big disconnect between Max and the player. You may remember the events of the first game, and they may influence the way you act here, but the story can't acknowledge them. The loss of your friend and love interest, or the loss of an entire town, are major events that should define Max but are entirely absent aside from a few easter eggs.

A character using an old camera in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Narrative aside, there are also some problems with the mechanics this time around. Rather than a rewind ability like in the original game, Max discovers an evolution of her powers that allows her to jump between two timelines; her own, and another where Safi is still alive. What could be a tool to play with the morals of jumping between both to manipulate dual versions of these characters instead feels like annoying busywork.

In the moment-to-moment action, the power is surprisingly limited. You can’t switch timelines at will, nor integrate your experiences and knowledge from each timeline into gameplay without the game prompting you first. This means you’re left running backwards and forwards to find the spot to jump, and are left with little reason to even think about using the power without being prompted first unless you want to seek out collectible photos. It’s exhausting rather than interesting.

Best bit

Sitting on a snowy bench in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Moments of reflection backed by a strong selection of licensed indie pop offer genuine tranquility in the calm and beautiful snow-covered Vermont landscapes.

Compared to how much time travel was an active part of the narrative, the timeline-shifting powers merely dilute the characters we interact with. We barely get to know any of them before the major inciting incident and the resulting timeline split creates two versions of every character which prevents us from getting to know them deeply. Amanda is positioned as a love interest, but the interactions with this simultaneously disinterested and intrigued rural lesbian in differing timelines left me unable to understand who she was, or even care about learning more.

No matter how disinterested I acted in both timelines, Vinh also would not stop acting flirtatiously and I soon wanted to file a restraining order. Conversations and relationships between characters are a major step down from the last Deck Nine installment, Life is Strange True Colors.

What is it all for?

A glowing figure tying their shoes on a bench in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Safi’s death and the mystery behind that should draw you in but we barely know Safi before her death. I spent multiple episodes effectively trying to save a girl that I knew nothing about. Even when you do learn more about her past through our investigation and other events, much of her past remains obscured in a way that leaves her feeling like more of a plot device than a real friend. Major story decisions I made involving her character felt cold and meaningless.

It’s hard not to see this as a missed opportunity. The franchise has continued Max’s story before, albeit in comic form. It even integrates multiple timelines and shifting powers. While this comic begins continuing the story from the perspective of one ending (the destruction of Arcadia Bay), it also uses multiple timelines to its advantage, and in doing so creates a canon where both endings can exist.

By embracing the difficult decision, rather than trying to avoid it, it’s possible to more deeply introspect on Max as a character in a way that not only keeps you invested, but even makes you reconsider what was truly the right thing to do.

Does this mean that the game should have merely remade the comics? No! But it shows that committing to the impossible choice of the past rather than trying to skirt around it allows you to explore these characters in the depth they deserve.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is trapped by continuity. The past makes us who we are, but we are not defined by it. It’s a shame that developer Deck Nine didn't get the memo.

Should I play Life is Strange: Double Exposure?

Play it if...

The series’ gameplay is the main draw
While the story suffers, the gameplay formula that blends puzzles with talking to characters and making decisions that impact relationships with them remains the same as ever.

Don't play it if...

You care for the story
Narratively the game is disjointed and disconnected. If you’re here to enjoy Max’s story, it unfortunately falls short.

Building character relationships is key
Often the split timelines leave you unable to connect with a character due to their constantly-shifting personalities between two timelines, making this core part of the narrative hook of the games suffer as a result.

Accessibility 

Life is Strange: Double Exposure offers extensive accessibility settings and content warnings for transphobia, mentions of suicide, blood, loud noises, and more. Accessibility includes obvious things like subtitles, but also a camera assist, the ability to skip some gameplay, longer choice times, reduced motion, simple power effects to avoid flashing lights, and alternate controls for anything that needs multiple button presses.

How I reviewed Life is Strange: Double Exposure

I played Life is Strange: Double Exposure on a launch model PS5 using a DualSense Wireless Controller and an ASUS VG27AQL1A gaming monitor. For audio, I utilized a wireless headphone adapter and played the game using Apple AirPods Max. It took just shy of 10 hours to complete the five episodes and reach the ending.

First reviewed October 2024.

Tecno launches Megapad 10 with Helio G80 SoC, 7,000 mAh battery
6:01 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Tecno has launched a new tablet called Megapad 10. Despite what the name would have you believe, this is a low-end device, with specs to match. It's powered by the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset, paired with 4GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of expandable storage. The Megapad 10 has a 10.1-inch 800x1280 LCD touchscreen with 450-nit peak brightness, and a 7,000 mAh battery with support for 18W fast wired charging that should take it from empty to full in 2.5 hours. Tecno Megapad 10 in Champagne Gold (left) and Space Grey (right) It runs Android 14 and measures 240.7 x 159.5 x...

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