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Huawei’s Honor 9X Pro loses Google apps, but gets an updated processor

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To start, the company has an update to the Honor 9X called the Honor 9X Pro. The Honor 9X came out outside of China this past October, so the 9X Pro doesn’t feature too many enhancements over its predecessor. The phone’s most notable hardware upgrade is a new, more power-efficient Kirin 810 processor. Huawei says the 9X Pro’s chipset features a custom-designed GPU the company claims will lead to better gaming performance.

However, the biggest difference between the two phones doesn’t have anything to do with hardware. Instead, it’s all about software. The 9X was one of the last Huawei phones to skirt the company’s ban in the US, so it came with access to Google services. That’s not the case with the 9X Pro.

Like all of Huawei’s new phones, it won’t have access to the Play Store or Google-made apps like Gmail. Instead, you’ll need to use Huawei’s AppGallery to download any applications you want to install on the phone. At the moment, the AppGallery isn’t a one-to-one substitute for the Play Store. The Honor 9X Pro will also ship with EMUI 9.1 — which builds on Android 9, not the current version of the operating system.

Honor 9X Pro

Otherwise, the two phones are nearly identical. Like its predecessor, the Honor 9X Pro features a 6.59-inch IPS LCD. Internally, it includes a 4,000mAh battery and 6GB of RAM to support its new chip. For taking photos, there’s a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front of the phone, there’s a 16-megapixel pop-up selfie camera. That’s the same set of cameras that came with the 9X.

If you can get past Huawei’s software situation, the Honor 9X Pro might make a decent phone for the price. It will make its way to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Egypt, Saudia Arabia and Malaysia next month and cost €249 (approximately $270).

Alongside the 9X Pro, Huawei announced availability for the Honor View 30 Pro, a handset it announced late last year. The company says it will be available “soon” in Russia, with retail availability in other countries to follow.

Honor MagicBook 15

Outside of those two phones, Huawei is updating Honor’s MagicBook lineup. This year, the company will offer the laptop in 14-inch and 15-inch variants. They’ll ship with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processors and 8GB of RAM. You’ll also have the choice between a 256GB or 512GB NVME. Taking a page from the MateBook X Pro, Huawei hid the MagicBook’s webcam inside of a keyboard button. You tap the webcam button, and the spring-loaded camera pops up when you need to use it. For security, both computers will come with fingerprint sensors.

The MagicBook series will make its way to stores at the end of March, with availability starting in the UK, Germany, France and the Czech Republic. They’ll begin at €599 (approximately $650)

Honor Magic Earbuds

Last but certainly not least, the company plans to release a pair of true wireless earbuds called the Honor Magic Earbuds. Not only do these look like the AirPods Pro, but they also feature noise cancellation. Huawei says they can play music for up to three-and-a-half hours on a single charge — and up to 12 hours using the included charging case. They’ll be available globally starting in April for €129 (approximately $139).

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Uber is testing rooftop ads on its ridesharing fleet

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During the three-city pilot program, Uber will offer drivers $300 to install the vehicle-topper and an additional $100 each week they drive more than 20 hours. Once the program is up and running, drivers will be paid based on how many hours they drive. The displays will show eight-second still or video ads, based on location and time of day.

The displays should start showing up by April 1st, and they’ll be overseen by a new Uber business unit called Uber OOH Powered by Adomni. This is Uber’s first step into the world of advertising, which is a bit surprising given that traditional taxis have long-displayed ads. Uber previously said it expects to be profitable by the end of 2020, and this advertising strategy could play a part in that.

Uber could face competition, though. Just yesterday, Lyft announced that it acquired Halo Cars, a startup that lets drivers for app-based car services run taxi-style ads on top of their vehicles. And, of course, not all drivers will want to be rolling advertisements.

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Pioneering NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson dies at 101

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Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in 1918. Her clear mathematical aptitude placed her several grades ahead. At 13, she was attending the high school on the campus of the historically black West Virginia State College. By 18, she was enrolled in the college. After graduating with the highest honors, Johnson took a teaching job at a black public school in Virginia. In 1939, Johnson was selected as one of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools. She enrolled in West Virginia University’s graduate math program but left to start a family and later returned to teaching.

In 1953 Johnson took a job with the all-black West Area Computing section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA’s) Langley laboratory, where she was assigned to a project in the Maneuver Loads Branch of the Flight Research Division.

There, Johnson contributed to NACA’s (which later became NASA) first forays into space travel. She worked on the trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s Mary 1961 mission Freedom 7, America’s first human spaceflight. And in 1962, as John Glenn prepared for his orbital mission, he asked engineers to “get the girl,” Johnson, to run the same calculations as the computer. If they matched, he said, he was “ready to go.” That flight was a turning point between the US and the Soviet Union in space, and Johnson played a critical, but long underappreciated, role.

Johnson was also a prolific research author. In 1960, she co-authored a report laying out the equations for orbital space flight, marking the first time a woman in the Flight Research Division received credit as an author of a research report. She went on to author and co-author a total of 26 research reports.

Johnson retired in 1986 after 33 years at Langley, and in 2015, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. For many, Margot Lee Shetterly’s novel Hidden Figures, and the subsequent film, was the first introduction to Johnson. Now brought to light, Johnson’s legacy won’t be forgotten and will hopefully lead to recognition for other black women too-long overlooked due to racism and sexism.

“At NASA we will never forget her courage and leadership and the milestones we could not have reached without her. We will continue building on her legacy and work tirelessly to increase opportunities for everyone who has something to contribute toward the ongoing work of raising the bar of human potential,” NASA said in a statement.



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Huawei’s smart speaker will be available outside of China, but not the US

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Pricing and a release date aren’t yet available, although the Sound X sells for 1,999 yuan (about $284, or €262) in its homeland. As you might have guessed, though, there’s virtually no chance of an official US release. Huawei might not be too worried about that given the company’s success in China and other markets, but it’s unfortunate if you’re eager to see (or rather, hear) how this speaker compares to its rivals. It’s certainly a relief to American companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Sonos, none of which will have to defend their home turf.

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Microsoft confirms Xbox Series X will have a 12 teraflop GPU

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The Xbox Series X will feature an NVMe SSD, as we previously heard, to dramatically speed up load times. And on the graphics front, Microsoft also reiterated that the Series X will feature hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing for “true-to-life lighting, accurate reflections and realistic acoustics in real time.” The PlayStation 5 will also have its own spin on raytracing, and since it’s also running an upcoming RDNA GPU, it’ll likely be very similar to Microsoft’s approach. It’ll also be interesting to see how the consoles manage raytracing without hurting performance — something that’s been an issue with NVIDIA’s GPUs.

Microsoft also unveiled a new technology called “Smart Delivery,” which will allow you to buy a game once and play the best version possible on the Series X or Xbox One. It may not sound very exciting, but it’s going to be a useful feature for gamers as they transition to the new console. You could build up a library of Series X games with your current Xbox One, and it could conceivably let you keep playing the same title across multiple Xbox consoles in your home. The company says Smart Delivery will be standard for its exclusive Xbox Game Studio titles, like Halo Infinite, and it’ll be available for third-party developers to implement.

Beyond those tidbits, Microsoft fleshed out a few more details on previously announced Xbox Series X features. A new “quick resume” capability will let you instantly jump back into multiple titles from where you left off. That’s something you could do with a single game on the Xbox One, but it didn’t always work reliably and required using the “Instant On” power mode, which left the console in standby instead of completely powering it off.

Additionally, Microsoft is implementing “Dynamic Latency Input” (DLI) in the Xbox wirelss controller to reduce the delay between the buttons you’re pressing and what appears on the screen. Microsoft claims the new tech should synchronize input “immediately” for more responsive gameplay. I wouldn’t expect DLI to be something regular gamers notice, but it could be helpful for esports players and anyone who demands the lowest latency possible.

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Amazon drops the Fire TV Cube to its best-ever price

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The Cube is decidedly more expensive than the other Fire TV players on sale, but it might be the wisest purchase depending on what you’re looking for. It’s not just the speediest Fire TV, it doubles as an Alexa device. You might not need to pick up a separate speaker if you just want to check the weather or control your smart lights. It supports virtually every major streaming service (including Apple TV+, Disney+ and YouTube TV), and it’ll deliver them in Dolby Vision and HDR10+ when available. With that said, the Fire TV Stick 4K will still deliver a solid experience if you’re willing to forego hands-free Alexa and deal with shortages (it’s out of stock until March 2nd as we write this).

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Polly Pocket meets Tamagotchi in this portable LCD home

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The 1.3-inch screen is a window into the life of your Pixel Star, who will play, eat and sleep in her tiny designer home. You can interact with her using the four buttons below the screen, including all sorts of mini games. And if you’re starting to think this sounds a lot like Tamagotchi, you’re not wrong. But there’s a few key differences here, namely your Pixel Star won’t poop on the floor or die from neglect.

Your Pixel Star also has, well, dreams. She wants to be a celebrity chef, or a fashionista or maybe even a social media influencer. There are various mini games you’ll play with her to help her achieve these goals, which earn you in-game currency that can be used to purchase outfits, accessories and even expand her house… the digital one, anyway.

tamagotchi

The physical shell house is also quite charming in itself: It’s 2.5 inches tall and shaped like a beach duplex. Through the windows you can see some of the action on the LCD screen, almost like you’re spying on your Pixel Star from outside. The house’s front serves as a protective cover, sliding up to allow a full view of the 240 x 240 resolution display.

There’s no way to connect the Pixel Star Dreamhouse to the internet or contact other toys; it’s an insulated, child-safe environment. But it’s not lonely: “friends” will come to visit your Pixel Star and she can even adopt a pet. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, one that you can check out for only $30 when it comes out this fall.

Follow all the latest news from Toy Fair 2020 here!

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Wyze is working on a fitness tracker that puts Alexa on your wrist

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In a recent product update, Wyze outlined its plans for the Wyze Lock, outdoor camera, scale and doorbell cam, as well as the Wyze Band. Official information on the device is a little thin, but ZatzNotFunny has unearthed more details on what we can expect. As well as the usual activity tracking features and weather tools, the band will let users control Wyze devices straight from their wrist, as well as any number of Alexa devices, thanks to built-in Alexa capabilities. Smart phone notifications also appear to be included in the color screen device.

It looks like launch is a few months away yet, with Wyze noting in its product update that it expects to complete the beta phase soon and move on to preparing for the EA launch. No doubt the band — and indeed all of the products Wyze hopes to roll out this year — will be a harder sell, given its massive data breach last year. That being said, while there is no official pricing information available yet, we can expect the Wyze Band to represent an affordable way of getting Alexa on your wrist. With the company no doubt mindful of its security levels and taking steps to tighten its operations that might be enough to convince customers to give it a go.

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TSA bans employees from making TikTok videos

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In a statement, Schumer said, “These videos sure do make you chuckle; they’re creative. But China might be laughing at these TSA postings for very different reasons, and that should concern us and it’s why I am urging the TSA to find a different platform, and cease its use of TikTok now.” On Sunday, the TSA said that a “small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA’s social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued.”

The move follows similar decisions by other government organizations concerned about security threats associated with the app. Back in October 2019, senators began questioning the use of the app in government capacities, stating that “TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore.”

Since then, the US Army, Marines, Navy, and subsequently the Air Force and Coast Guard have all confirmed hard line restrictions on the app. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance hasn’t commented on any of these decisions individually, but maintains that “TikTok is committed to being a trusted and responsible corporate citizen in the US, which includes working with Congress and all relevant regulatory agencies.”

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Realme’s X50 Pro is a cheaper 5G flagship with super-fast charging

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Other “Pro” bits include better cameras, Dolby Atmos stereo speakers, a beefed-up in-display fingerprint reader, an improved vapor-cooling system and 35-minute, 65W “SuperDart” flash charge (it’s basically a rebranded version of Oppo’s “SuperVOOC 2.0”). These are all packaged into a low-profile “Moss Green” or “Rust Red” body, featuring a smooth frosted glass back which shows a subtle metallic shine at certain angles.

Oddly enough, Realme kind of went the opposite direction with the X50 Pro’s 1080p display. Rather than keeping the X50’s 6.57-inch 120Hz LCD (from JDI and BOE), the Pro model has to make do with a smaller, slower 6.44-inch 90Hz Samsung AMOLED panel. While some may be disappointed by the lack of a 120Hz AMOLED panel, this was most likely a price-conscious decision made by the brand. Not that this is a bad thing, mind; 90Hz AMOLED is already a noticeable upgrade for most people, and we liked it on both the OnePlus 7 Pro and the Oppo Reno Ace.

The X50 Pro maxes out at 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM with 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. It comes with a 4,200mAh battery along with the usual NFC (Google Pay friendly), dual-SIM tray and dual-mic noise cancellation. But nope, no headphone jack here.

Realme X50 Pro rear cameras

Much like the X50, the X50 Pro has a set of quad cameras on the back and dual cameras for selfies, but with a slightly different set of sensors and optics. The rear group is led by a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 chip with a f/1.8 aperture for super high-resolution shots, or for 4-in-1 pixel-binning to boost sensitivity in low-light scenarios. Below that is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, which also handles macro shots at down to 3cm. The top camera is a 12-megapixel telephoto shooter, which offers up to 5x optical hybrid zoom (or a gimmicky 20x hybrid zoom, if you’re really desperate). Last but not least, there is a 2-megapixel f/2.4 monochromatic camera at the bottom which assists the main camera’s portrait mode.

One of the main photography features that Realme is pitching for the X50 series is “Nightscape 3.0,” which comes with a “Tripod Mode” that does super long exposure of up to 50 seconds for some interesting night shots, so long as you can mount your phone onto a tripod. “Nightscape 3.0” also has an “Ultra Nightscape Mode,” which essentially boosts the camera’s sensitivity to take bright images even when illuminance is down to just 1 Lux. As for video, it’s just the usual 4K@30fps recording with two levels of video stabilization, and there’s also real-time bokeh effect video if you want to try something different.

Realme X50 Pro

On the other side of the phone, you get a 32-megapixel f/2.5 main selfie camera along with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide shooter, both powered by Sony sensors and are stuffed into the screen’s top-left punch-hole. Again, there’s real-time bokeh effect video recording here, but users will likely be more interested in taking slow-motion selfies at 1080p@120fps (just don’t call them “slofies“).

The Realme X50 Pro runs on Android 10 with Realme UI — essentially a near-stock Android experience with some goodies ported over from Oppo’s ColorOS, such as gesture navigation and smart assistant features. And of course, the software runs even smoother on the 90Hz display. One cool feature here is Dual Mode Music Share, which lets you play music through wired (USB) earphones and Bluetooth earphones simultaneously, and you can even pick up calls with the earphones you’re wearing while letting your friend continue listening to music with the other pair.

There’s no word on US availability just yet, as Realme is targeting Europe for now, with Spain being the launch market in April. The Realme X50 Pro will start from 599 euros (about $650) for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage version, and topping at 749 euros (about $810) with 12GB of RAM + 256GB storage. These are cheaper than even some of the recent 4G flagships, but apparently the China prices will be even lower when the phone launches there locally.

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