The email does link to an AT&T support article that mentions the company plans to scrap its 3G network in February 2022. “Once we do, 3G devices and 4G wireless devices that don’t support HD Voice will no longer work on our network,” the page says. However, the urgent tone of the email doesn’t make it clear to customers that they have well over a year to purchase a new phone.
The email has prompted discussion in the AT&T community forum, as users deliberated over whether it was a scam. One poster expressed skepticism, since their Samsung Galaxy S10e was released last year. A commenter replied that the email is a “scam for sure.” However, as Android Police pointed out, AT&T specifically has to whitelist phones that can use its 4G network for voice calling — so an unlocked, relatively new phone like the Galaxy S10e still could run into trouble. Again, though, it wouldn’t be for over a year.
We reached out to AT&T for comment, and they responded with this statement: “This email was one of many planned to keep customers informed about the shutdown of our 3G network in early 2022. It should have included the date that certain devices would no longer be supported. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and will be more clear in future updates.”
Considering the economy is in a difficult spot, we’re hoping AT&T’s future emails don’t try and pressure customers into buying a new phone.
Just like Microsoft’s previous quarter, the software giant isn’t taking much of a hit from the coronavirus epidemic. Amid strong revenues of 38 billion (up 13 percent from last year), the company’s Q4 earnings report reveal that its Xbox content and services business has increased by 65 percent from a year ago. Surface sales, meanwhile, jumped up by 28 percent, reaching $1.7 billion. Those figures aren’t too surprising, given the increasing demand for PCs to manage work and school at home, as well as games to keep us all sane as we’re trapped inside.
And of course, Microsoft’s cloud business is doing better than ever, with revenues of $13.4 billion. That’s a 17 percent increase from last year, which also includes a 47 percent revenue jump for its Azure cloud.
The second feature allows you to edit a Snap to make it more concise. You can access the Trim functionality by swiping up to the Memories interface and then tapping on the clip you want to tweak. Much like Apple’s Clips app and other mobile video editing apps, there’s a timeline along the bottom of the interface that allows you to change when the segment starts and ends. You can save your new clip as a separate Snap, so you won’t lose the original if you ever want to reshare it or return to it later.
While neither new feature will make Snap’s Spectacles into something more than a novelty, people who already own the wearable will appreciate the continued support. Long Snap and Trim are available today on iOS.
The company said that if researchers found a vulnerability through using the SRD, it must report it to Apple or an appropriate third party if it’s in a third-party code. Apple will then attempt to resolve the issue, and provide a “publication date” when it will take place. Until then, the researchers can’t share their findings with others. Techcrunch also reported that program participants will have access to extensive documentation and a dedicated forum with Apple engineers.
Device availability is limited, and researchers need to apply to be in the program. They must be an Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program, a proven track record of finding security issues, and be based in an eligible country or region.
The SRD program will run concurrently with its bug bounty program, which was opened up to all researchers last year. Participants can file security bug reports and potentially get paid up to $1 million in rewards.
“Ubisoft Forward was a major milestone and the response from our fans was very promising,” Duguet said on the call (via Video Games Chronicle). “We achieved record-high peak concurrent viewership during this event, surpassing our previous E3 conferences.”
The company’s leaders also discussed the recent harassment and misconduct scandals. In its earnings report, Ubisoft reiterated some points it previously made about putting in place a confidential third-party reporting system, along with the appointment of a head of workplace culture. It plans to hire a head of diversity and inclusion as well. It also revealed that “a portion of team leads’ bonuses will be tied to their ability to create a positive and inclusive workplace environment.”
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Noise-cancelling headphones can be super expensive, but a solid pair from Sony are deeply discounted right now. Sony’s WH-CH710N wireless noise-cancelling headphones are on sale for $128 at Best Buy and Amazon — that’s $70 off their normal price and the lowest we’ve seen them. Best Buy even includes a free three-month trial to Tidal when you buy the cans.
As more developers use the tool, you’ll be able to ask Alexa to open apps, run quick searches, view more info and access key functions. This will work through the Alexa app, Alexa built-in phones or mobile accessories like Echo Buds.
This could give Alexa an advantage over other voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant because it will allow Alexa to cross the iOS-Android divide. But as The Verge points out, it could also be more work for developers. Many apps already work with both Siri and Google Assistant, and now they’ll have to work with Alexa too.
Alexa for Apps is still in preview, and interested developers can request early access.
While you can use a Gorillapod or other portable mini tripod, Sony offers the ZV-1 in a kit with a shooting grip (along with a 64GB SD card). That gives you controls for things like zooming and recording, while converting into a mini-tripod via the retractable legs. I didn’t get a chance to use one, but with the controls and convenience, it looks like it’s worth the extra $150.
As with most Sony cameras, you can use the touch display to set a focus tracking point, but not control the main or quick menus. That makes it hard to change controls when you’re vlogging, as you have to reach around the back to manipulate the control wheel. Every other camera brand allows touch menu control, so again, it’s strange that Sony keeps holding out on this.
That’s a significant miss for a camera like this, which has very few manual controls, apart from several buttons and the wheel. It would make sense to use the nicely laid out quick menu controls, but it’s a royal pain to do so while vlogging without touch control.
Because of all that, Sony really wants you to use the camera in automatic mode and as you’ll shortly see, it does have some unique features that make that easier.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Unlike most of the solid metal RX100 series, the ZV-1 has a plastic body. It’s not weatherproof either, so this won’t make a great action camera and you wouldn’t want to go vlogging in a storm.
The ZV-1 has a single UHS-I SD card slot, but this is a rare model where that’s kind of OK. There’s clearly not enough space for two cards, and UHS-I is fast enough for 4K 30p video. It’s not ideal for burst photo shooting, but if you need that, get the RX100 V.
Another unwelcome blast from the past is the nearly obsolete micro-USB rather than USB-C port. That makes charging directly from the camera a bit slow, though the battery is so small it barely matters. In fact, it only lasts about an hour when you’re shooting 4K, so you’ll need multiple batteries and a charger when you go out for the day. Finally, on the plus side, the ZV-1 has a new, bigger record button and a tally light –yes! — that shows you when you’re recording.
Performance
Steve Dent/Engadget
Now let’s talk about shooting video with the ZV-1, starting with the 24-70 mm f/2.8-4 lens. It’s fast enough for most types of shooting, but I would have preferred if to be a bit wider. It could particularly be a problem for folks with big heads/hair and/or short arms.
While 24mm might seem wide enough at first, you can’t really use that zoom level for vlogging because of the stabilization. The optical stabilization alone adds no crop, but it can’t smooth out jolts when you’re walking or doing sportsy things. The active electronic SteadyShot stabilization makes vlogging very smooth, but it crops by about 25 percent.
Unlike most other Sony cameras, the ZV-1 stores gyroscopic data. That means you can go in after the fact and smooth your footage using Sony’s Catalyst Browse app — even if you had stabilization turned off. The results are better than what you’d get using Premiere or Resolve software alone. However, you’ll still get a small amount of cropping.
The best feature on this camera, by far, is the autofocus that’s borrowed from Sony’s latest RX100 VII and mirrorless cameras. As with those models, it keeps you locked in focus, even if you turn around or move out of frame. To track moving subjects, you just touch it and the camera will follow it around reliably as long as it’s distinctive from the background.
Face and eye detection is crucial for vlogging and can be flaky on other cameras. On the ZV-1, however, it’s nearly perfect. The only time it let me down was when I suddenly moved from dark to bright lighting or if there were two faces in the shot. I found it did work better if I slowed the focus settings down a notch. Note that the ZV-1 does have animal eye AF for a variety of pets and wildlife, but it only works for photo and not video shooting.
Steve Dent/Engadget
A lot of vloggers like to flaunt products like phones or makeup. The ZV-1 makes that far simpler with a new feature called “product showcase.” If you’re vlogging and you place any object in front of the camera, it will instantly focus on that rather than your face. That saves you the trouble of having to tap the screen to switch focus, potentially jostling the camera or missing the shot. Keep in mind that this feature must be used with a tripod, as the SteadyShot stabilization is disabled. Face/eye AF is turned off as well, switching the camera basic area AF.
Another very cool autofocus feature is background defocus. That opens up the aperture as much as possible so that you can stand out against a nice, soft bokeh background. In fact, all the camera does is select the minimum aperture possible (and balances by changing other settings), but there’s no fiddling — you just have to hit a single button.
This can even work outdoors, because the ZV-1 has a built-in neutral density (ND) filter. It darkens the image by three stops, so there’s no need to crank the shutter speed to 1000th of a second or beyond. Using fast shutter speeds like that can create a staccato Saving Private Ryan effect, rather than smooth video with a slight amount of motion blur that most vloggers want.
Keep in mind that there’s also a caveat with the ND filter, namely that you get no “auto” setting for it in any of the main video modes — you’ll have to manually turn it on or off. That’s too bad, because it would be nice if it kicked in automatically for use with the background blur mode.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Another handy feature for vloggers is the soft skin effect (shown above). It uses AI to smooth out any blemishes or other skin issues, though it makes you look a bit plastic at the most aggressive setting. I think most folks would do well to avoid anything but the mildest “low” setting — and speaking from experience, don’t forget to turn it off if you don’t want it.
Auto exposure mode is usually a no-go for vloggers, because most cameras change exposure settings in a jerky, distracting way. However, the ZV-1 has a special face priority exposure setting. What it does is keep the exposure on your face constant, even if the sun goes from behind you to in front of you.
Better still, when the lighting changes, the ZV-1 ramps the exposure smoothly. That makes it possible to shoot in shutter or aperture priority mode without messing up your shots — perfect for beginning vloggers who don’t yet know how to shoot in manual mode. If you do want to shoot in a completely manual mode, however, the ZV-1 can handle that too, of course.
Image quality
As with other cameras in the RX100 series, the ZV-1 offers excellent video quality for a camera with such a small sensor. Video is shot using the entire sensor with and supersampled to 4K, so video is sharp and there are no issues with aliasing (jagged lines) or moire (color fringing). As with other recent models, Sony has tweaked the color science in the ZV-1 for more realistic hues, especially in the skin tones.
Keeping the same design also means the newest phone inherits pretty much all the physical specs from before, but with some notable improvements. The 6.59-inch 2,340 x 1,080 AMOLED panel now comes with a faster 144Hz refresh rate and 270Hz touch sampling rate — both being the best-in-class at the moment. ASUS claims that over 100 games now support 144Hz gameplay, with popular titles including Forsaken World, Dead Cells, Slam Dunk and Rockman X Dive. Each display is also calibrated to maintain high color accuracy.
The stereo front-facing speakers no longer sport orange accents, because apparently some gamers found them a little distracting. (To be honest, I didn’t actually notice their disappearance until I placed both models side by side.) What the speakers have gained, though, is an extra audio performance boost courtesy of Swedish audio company Dirac. More on that later.
There’s also the same 24-megapixel selfie camera at the top right corner, which can be used to stream yourself and your gameplay to YouTube via ASUS’ Game Genie app.
Richard Lai/Engadget
The ROG Phone 3 comes with three rear cameras instead of two. Joining the old 13-megapixel, 125-degree ultra-wide camera is a new 64-megapixel main camera with apparently much improved low-light performance, along with a new 5-megapixel macro camera. A single sheet of glass now covers the back of the phone, with the old decorative trapezoidal piece replaced by a transparent window, which reveals the heat sink underneath. It’s a nice touch. And the ROG logo in the center still lights up with all colors and patterns you could possibly desire.
The capacitive shoulder triggers — now dubbed “AirTrigger 3” — are along the right side, with each marked by a “ROG” engraving. Since last year, these buttons let you do the usual tapping as well as sliding and resting your fingers on them. On the ROG Phone 3, ASUS added support for swipe input, continuous trigger (hold down to trigger multiple clicks), and dual partition buttons (doubling the number of triggers). I can set these up in ASUS’ Armoury Crate game launcher, though I had to adjust my grip to get used to the dual partition buttons in actual gameplay.
Internally, ASUS includes a generous 6,000mAh battery — which explains the same bulky 240g weight as last time — with 30W fast charging, which now reaches 4,510mAh in 45 minutes. You’ll also find an improved, redesigned cooling system, which can apparently eliminate CPU throttling and maintain a steady frame rate in ASUS’ own tests. This system features a new heat sink that’s six times larger than before to cover both the processor and the 5G modem, and this is further assisted by a redesigned 3D vapor chamber underneath.
Richard Lai/Engadget
The phone comes with a new AeroActive Cooler 3 clip-on fan which not only blows air at the heat sink area but also adds a kickstand for landscape orientation — in case you want to use the new detachable Kunai 3 Gamepad (or its predecessor) via Bluetooth or just to watch videos on the phone.
I played a bit of PUBG and Kingdom: Two Crowns on the ROG Phone 3, and while I noted the visual and touch improvements in the former, it was the loudspeakers that impressed me the most in both games (and any high-quality video I watched). I won’t bore you with the nitty-gritty details here, but basically, this is all thanks to Dirac’s clever correction algorithms for the greater audio clarity, along with artificial overtones to make the bass feel stronger than it is. And with some tuning magic, these relatively tiny speakers can produce what feels like a much wider soundstage.
These are bold claims, but I could certainly notice the difference. I heard very fine details that would otherwise only be available on a pair of good earbuds, and with my eyes closed, I could almost pinpoint where some sounds were coming from. These are the best loudspeakers I’ve ever listened to on a smartphone.
Richard Lai/Engadget
Building on that, a dedicated “Game Mode” automatically kicks in during gameplay to enhance specific types of in-game sounds — namely gunshots and footsteps — to give gamers a better sense of surroundings on the virtual battlefield. The company added that this Game Mode works on both the loudspeakers and headphones and said that it was exploring what it can add in the future.
In reality, many mobile gamers rely on their headphones, especially when they are commuting or when they don’t want any distraction. Interestingly, the ROG Phone 3 doesn’t come with earbuds, as ASUS assumes that most gamers would rather use their own audio gear. But for those who want to enjoy similar audio enhancements on their ears, they will have to opt for one of the ROG headsets, to leverage the Dirac-tuned sound profiles.
This is perhaps a suitable moment to mention that the headphone jack is gone on the ROG Phone 3, but you can use either the bundled USB-C dongle or the 3.5mm jack on the external cooler. ASUS claims it ran out of space, because of the new 5G modem plus antenna. It apparently didn’t want to sacrifice anything else — especially the battery — just to keep the headphone jack in this similar package. For the same reason, there’s no wireless charging here.
Richard Lai/Engadget
When it comes to peripherals, the ROG Phone 3 is compatible with all of last year’s accessories, except for the external fan and the cases — the new third camera gets in the way for the latter. The good news is that a new Lighting Armor Case, lit up by a secondary LED near the rear cameras, looks much better than the previous one. It follows the same design language as the ROG Zephyrus G14, except you’re stuck with the ROG logo instead of a customizable LED dot matrix. If you prefer something more lightweight, the phone still comes with a black Aero Case, but you can also buy the more eye-catching orange Neon Aero Case.
Much like how LG continues to offer its Dual Screen case for its recent phones, ASUS offers the same support for its ROG Phone 3. The new TwinView Dock 3 supports 144Hz refresh rate on both screens, whereas its predecessor will cap this at 120Hz. So far, there are four games that support dual-screen gameplay: Asphalt 9 uses the second screen to show the race map, Dungeon Hunter Champions uses it to display your stats, Modern Combat 5 uses it to lay out more weapon options, and Dungeon Hunter 5 uses it to show the inventory. For other games or apps, you can use the second screen to manage your socials, watch videos or run any other app you want.
ASUS
The new Kunai 3 Gamepad has a more rounded, ergonomic design, and a new bumper case that fits onto the ROG Phone 3. And yes, you can still mount both the Kunai 3 and the dual-screen dock (either the 3 or II) onto the new phone together for the whole shebang.
Another new accessory here is the ROG Clip, which lets you clip your handset onto a controller for either Google Stadia, PlayStation or Xbox. This attachment is compatible with any phone, but only the ROG Phone 3 will soon support key mapping on all three aforementioned controllers. The phone comes with a three-month Stadia Pro trial subscription in markets where the service is available.
As for those who are extremely competitive, you can grab the existing ASUS Mobile Desktop Dock (around $200) to share your PC’s peripherals — including monitor, mouse, keyboard and LAN connection — with your ROG Phone 3 at a click of a button. Plus there’s an internal fan to help cool the phone. But if you want to save a bit of money, there’s also the cheaper ASUS Professional Dock, or just about any USB-C hub with an HDMI socket, USB-A ports and, if you want, an RJ-45 port will do.
Richard Lai/Engadget
In short, the ROG Phone 3 is a much-improved ROG Phone II. As a gaming phone, last year’s model was already a solid foundation with many sensible design choices, including the front-facing speakers, shoulder triggers, massive battery and a silky smooth screen in what I found to be the right size. The trove of accessories was a pleasant bonus, too.
With the performance boost, 5G radio and various multimedia enhancements, the ROG Phone 3 will likely remain one of the top gaming phones for some time, though it would have been nice if ASUS had figured out a way to reduce the weight.
When it comes to future competition, I’m interested in seeing how Lenovo’s Legion Phone Duel — the only other contender to sport a Snapdragon 865 Plus for now — will fare with its own 144Hz display and side-mounted pop-up selfie camera. I’m sure more will join soon, as other Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Vivo and Nubia have also been aggressive in this space, which just goes to show how lucrative the mobile gaming market can be.
Richard Lai/Engadget
While the ROG Phone 3 may not launch in the US until Q3 the earliest, folks in Europe will be able to pre-order one today and receive it starting from the end of July. There’s the €999 base model with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM with 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, or you can go for the €1,099 version with 16GB of RAM.
If you don’t mind the regular Snapdragon 865 chipset and losing the heat sink window, then you can save a bit of money by picking the €799 ROG Phone 3 Strix Edition, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Amazon and Apple are facing more antitrust accusations. This time, Italy is investigating. Authorities want to know whether the two companies agreed to prevent retailers who are not part of Apple’s official program to sell Apple products and Beats headphones, Reutersreports.
Officials launched the investigation this week and searched the Italian offices of both Amazon and Apple on Tuesday. In a statement provided to Engadget, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is “fully collaborating with the Authority.”
