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Google’s next undersea internet cable will link Africa and Europe

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The Portugal-South Africa portion of the Equiano cable should be up and running in 2021. It’s named after writer and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, who was born in Nigeria — a likely port of call for an extension of the cable.

Google says it has invested $47 billion over the last three years to bolster its tech infrastructure. Equiano is the 14th cable it has a stake in overall, and Google’s third private international cable project. The first, Curie, was completed in April and runs between Chile and Los Angeles. The other cable, Dunant, will link France and the US and should be online next year. Such cables are vital for connectivity, as they shuttle around 99 percent of the planet’s data traffic.

The Equiano cable, which will be installed by Alcatel Submarine Networks, is a little different from the others, according to Google. “Equiano will be the first subsea cable to incorporate optical switching at the fiber-pair level, rather than the traditional approach of wavelength-level switching,” it wrote in a blog post. Google also claimed it’ll have around “20 times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve this region.”

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The best USB Wi-Fi adapters

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Why you should trust us

Before joining Wirecutter, Joel Santo Domingo tested and wrote about PCs, networking products, and personal tech at PCMag.com and PC Magazine for more than 17 years. Prior to writing for a living, Joel was an IT tech and system administrator for small, medium, and large companies.

Testing wireless home networking has been a part of Joel’s life for the past 20-odd years through all versions of Wi-Fi, back to the wireless phone extension he tacked on the back of his Apple PowerBook. He did this so he could dial in to the Internet from his desk, his couch, andhis bed (a rarity for the late 1990s).

Who this is for

If your PC came with built-in Wi-Fi, most folks will be happy without buying an external dongle; usually the computer will feel slow and become obsolete before the Wi-Fi radio does. But for desktop PCs without built-in Wi-Fi, a USB Wi-Fi adapter takes seconds to install and set up, no screwdrivers needed. It’s a lot easier than the alternatives—installing an internal Wi-Fi network card or running Ethernet cable through your home.

Though they’re mainly useful for desktops, USB Wi-Fi adapters are also a way to upgrade an older laptop to 802.11ac or replace an internal card that’s no longer working without opening up your laptop. There are also limited cases when your laptop’s internal antennas are just awful. In those cases, an external Wi-Fi adapter can make a weak connection usable.

How we picked

USB Wi-Fi adapter

Photo: Rozette Rago

We looked for 802.11ac (also known as Wi-Fi 5) USB Wi-Fi adapters from the major manufacturers as well as others that appeared often in online searches and on shopping sites. We immediately disqualified 802.11n-only adapters, as that standard is almost 10 years old.

We chose each adapter using the following criteria:

  • Good throughput: Think of the tasks you do the most where you’re waiting and watching a spinning pinwheel. You need throughput to download updates and stream videos at the quality you’re paying for. We started by looking at each adapter’s AC rating: while those numbers are generally pretty misleading, they do tell you each adapter’s maximum theoretical throughput. For example, an AC1200 adapter is rated to provide 300 Mbps (megabits per second) on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz bands, but no adapter can achieve that. We tested each adapter to see how it could do in a real home. Our test measures in megabytes per second (MB/s), and 12 MB/s translates into 96 Mbps, which is about as fast as the average broadband Internet connection, so we looked for that threshold on our tests.
  • Good range: A good Wi-Fi adapter should be able to maintain a strong connection and reasonably quick file transfer speeds even when it’s several rooms away from your router.
  • Good price: This factor is very important—you shouldn’t have to pay more than $35-$65 for a USB adapter. Paying more doesn’t necessarily mean better performance; the pricier adapters didn’t win all of our tests. If you’re paying more, you might as well consider upgrading your standalone router, running an Ethernet cable to the PC, or installing a new mesh network in your home.
  • Good compact case and sturdy build quality: Both will help you enjoy using your USB adapter. Smaller adapters won’t snag on cords or pop loose if inadvertently catch them on your arm, but they tend to have smaller antennas and weaker radios.
  • Beamforming and MU-MIMO: As the number of Wi-Fi devices grow, router and adapter manufacturers have to come up with ways to compensate for all those signals crossing through your living space. Beamforming aims the Wi-Fi signal to and from the router to your adapter, like how a spotlight is a more focused beam of light than the diffused illumination that comes off a naked light bulb. MU-MIMO (multiple user, multiple input/multiple output) lets the router and compatible devices communicate with each other simultaneously so devices don’t need to wait their turn to communicate with the router. Though they didn’t make a difference in our tests, these technologies will help you in the future as more devices adopt them, and they should ease network congestion in the long run.
  • A good warranty: All the adapters we tested had at least a one-year warranty, but two-year warranties are also common.
  • Multiple-OS support: All of the adapters we tested work with the latest version of Windows 10, but we noted when adapters claimed support for Linux, macOS, and earlier versions of Windows.
  • Ease of setup: Most if not all of these USB adapters should automatically use Windows 10 to install the correct driver and work. We noted if any extra steps were needed to get the adapter installed.

We looked at reviews from trusted sources like PCMag, SmallNetBuilder, and Tom’s Hardware, but reviews for individual USB Wi-Fi adapters aren’t very common—some of those reviews date back to the early days of 802.11ac adapters circa 2015. Quite a few sticks have been released since those reviews were last updated, and older drivers have certainly been revised since then. We acquired 20 adapters, including older and new models from Asus, D-Link, Edimax, Linksys, Netgear, Trendnet, and TP-Link.

How we tested

We plugged each USB adapter into the USB 3.1 Gen 1 (aka USB 3.0) port of a Dell XPS 15 Touch, one of our favorite 15-inch laptops for photo and video editing. We mostly relied on Windows Update to load an appropriate driver, since we found that the drivers it automatically installed were as new or newer than what was available from most manufacturers’ websites. If the driver wasn’t automatically loaded, we noted this and downloaded the driver from another source or online, as we had to do with the D-Link DWA-171 adapter. We ran all of our tests on its PCIe solid-state drive and USB 3.1 Gen 1 port, which were fast enough to avoid bottlenecking the adapters we tested.

We connected a desktop PC via Ethernet to a Netgear R7000P Nighthawk Wi-Fi router as our file server, linked each Wi-Fi USB adapter to the router, and used Windows 10’s built-in Robocopy file-copying tool to read and write two datasets: a 32 GB music folder with 6,154 MP3 files and a folder with two large files (an 8.1 GB MKV file and a 7.07 GB Linux ISO file). This is a significant amount of data, but we did this for two reasons. Both tests together could take over an hour, which allowed us to gauge if an adapter was prone to dropping connections during heavy use. For example, the Edimax EW-7822ULC and the Linksys WUSB6100M dropped off the network while transferring the music files at the long-range testing location.

Our tests also allowed us to weed out weaker competitors that took too much time to complete the test. The Dell XPS 15 laptop’s internal Wi-Fi took 37 minutes to copy the music and 14.5 minutes for the large file folder; we looked for adapters that could transfer the music folder in 45 minutes or less and the large files in no longer than 25 minutes. Two-thirds of the adapters washed out because they couldn’t complete the tests in time. And we also disqualified any adapter that didn’t complete the test because it dropped the connection midway through the transfer.

The R7000P was placed in the family room on the first floor of the 2,300 square-foot home, where the Internet enters the house. We placed the Dell XPS 15 laptop at two testing points within the home. The close-range test location was within line of sight of the router, 17 feet away. The long-range testing location is in a basement corner bathroom on the other side of the home, with the underground foundation of the house on two sides of the room. The signal to the bathroom has to pass through the floor and several walls. We measured the throughput for copying both folders at both locations and used that data to determine our picks.

Our pick: TP-Link Archer T4U V3

USB Wi-Fi adapter

Photo: Rozette Rago

The TP-Link Archer T4U is the best USB Wi-Fi adapter for most people. It typically sells for under $35, placed second in the overall throughput tests just behind our upgrade pick, the Netgear Nighthawk A7000, and (as with all our picks) we had no problems with dropped connections during testing. While it has a AC1300 rating (400 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz band), the Archer T4U was able to perform better than the Asus USB-AC68 and D-Link DWA-192, which both have a supposedly faster AC1900 rating (600 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 1,300 Mbps on 5GHz).

USB Wi-Fi adapter

The TP-Link Archer T4U is a long, flat stick with a flexible antenna. Photo: Rozette Rago

It was able to maintain excellent transfer speeds in both testing areas, something that most of the other Wi-Fi adapters couldn’t match. The Archer T4U was able to transfer our 32 GB music test folder at 19.4 MB/s and the 15 GB large files folder at 28 MB/s, both at the close-range testing point. When we moved the laptop and the Archer T4U adapter to our long-range testing point, performance hardly dropped to 17.3 MB/s for the music files and 26.4 MB/s for the large files. 13 of the 20 adapters we tested could not complete the file transfers at the far testing location before our time limit ran out: 45 minutes for the music folder and 25 minutes for the disk image and movie folder. The T4U did it in 31 minutes and 9.5 minutes, respectively.

USB Wi-Fi adapter

Higher values indicate better performance. *Model failed 32 GB music (Far) test.

Build quality is good: the adapter has a sturdy case and antenna hinge. Beamforming and MU-MIMO are both supported by the Archer T4U, and Windows automatically loaded an up-to-date driver within seconds after we plugged the adapter into the laptop. TP-Link’s USB adapters come with a two-year warranty, which is double the length of most of the other manufacturer warranties, including those of Asus, Linksys, and Netgear. The Archer T4U has some of the best driver support among the Wi-Fi adapters; it will work with computers running macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Archer T4U is a fairly bulky stick, measuring 3.64 by 1.24 by 0.55 inches (LWH), with an external antenna that swings up and out to 180 degrees relative to our test laptop’s keyboard. You can use the adapter with the antenna closed, but we tested it vertically at 90 degrees, like the other adapters with external antennas. It comes with a USB extension cradle, so you can place the adapter in a more convenient location.

Budget pick: TP-Link Archer T2U Plus

USB Wi-Fi adapter

Photo: Rozette Rago

The TP-Link Archer T2U Plus is a compact USB Wi-Fi adapter with a 6-inch antenna permanently attached to its end. It’s not as fast at long range as the Archer T4U, but it should be your go-to if you want to save as much money as possible but still need a solid wireless connection throughout your home. It has an AC600 rating (200 Mbps on 2.4 GHz, 433 Mbps on 5 GHz) and doesn’t support beamforming or MU-MIMO, but it was the only adapter in the $20 price range to complete our testing at the long-range test location; the other five USB adapters that completed all our tests cost between $30 and $80.

USB Wi-Fi adapter

The Archer T2U is shorter and slimmer than the T4U, but its antenna is longer. Photo: Rozette Rago

At short distance, the T2U’s throughput was faster than the Archer T4U’s on the music folder test (25 MB/s) and competitive on the large file folder (27.3 MB/s). However, throughput dropped significantly in the long-distance tests; both the music folder test (14.7 MB/s) and the large file folder test (15.7 MB/s) ran at about half the speed of the Archer T4U. That said, it completed both tests under our time limit and is certainly sufficient for web browsing and streaming media.

The adapter has a thinner, lighter case than the Archer T4U, though you’ll need clearance for the long antenna. Its articulated connection to the adapter’s case feels robust. The Archer T2U Plus also has an excellent two-year warranty and works with macOS and Windows.

Upgrade pick: Netgear Nighthawk A7000

USB Wi-Fi adapter

Photo: Rozette Rago

If your daily routine includes multiple large file transfers, or if you’re paying for a broadband data plan with a 100 Mbps or higher limit, the Netgear Nighthawk A7000 is worth the upgrade. It has an AC1900 rating (600 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 1,300 Mbps on 5 GHz), a bump up from the Archer T4U’s AC1300 rating. It costs roughly double the price of the Archer T4U, but it was the throughput winner across the board, beating all USB Wi-Fi adapters as well as the internal wireless adapter in the Dell XPS 15.

At close distance, the A7000 took less than 15 minutes to transfer the music folder (36.3 MB/s) and just under three minutes for the large files folder (84.7 MB/s). Transfer rates slowed a bit in our long-range test location, but the Nighthawk adapter beat the rest of the field handily (24.7 MB/s music, 40.8 MB/s large files). Overall, it’s more than twice as fast as the Archer T4U. If you need to move a lot of files locally to a NAS or between computers, or if you’re downloading movies from the Internet, the A7000 more than justifies its higher price tag.

USB Wi-Fi adapter

The Nighthawk A7000’s large size may make it an awkward fit for some computers; Netgear includes an extension cable and a stand so you can find a more convenient place for it on your desk. Photo: Rozette Rago

The A7000 is significantly larger than the Archer T4U, measuring 4.7 by 1.8 by 0.87 inches (LWH), but it needs that chunky chassis for multiple radios, a swing-out antenna, and room for cooling vents. It supports beamforming and MU-MIMO, and it comes with an external USB cradle so you can reposition it on your desk. It only has a one-year warranty, and while that’s sufficient for most people, the TP-Link adapters do offer a two-year warranty for a lower price. The A7000 is Mac- and Windows–compatible.

What to look forward to

New routers supporting the new 802.11ax protocol (also known as Wi-Fi 6) have been announced, along with internal 802.11ax adapters for laptops. However, like all new networking technologies, it will take some time before routers and devices become common enough and cheap enough to make the upgrade worth it. Plus, it will be even longer before 802.11ax is a common technology found in home routers, business routers, laptops, phones, and ultimately USB Wi-Fi adapters. You’ll need them all working together to justify the expense of upgrading your old network. We’ll be testing the new technology when it’s ready.

The competition

Like the Nighthawk A7000, the Asus AC-68 is a large expensive stick with a pair of pop-out antennas. While its performance at the long distance testing point was adequate, the A7000 trounced the AC-68’s throughput results, and the Asus adapter is significantly more expensive.

The D-Link DWA-192 tested well for PCMag and Tom’s Hardware, but those tests happened in the early days of 802.11ac and many newer adapters have come out since then. It performed well on our tests, but it is expensive, and its external ball-shaped housing isn’t as portable as our picks.

The Netgear A6210 completed all of the tests within time limits, but it was the slowest adapter we tested that did so. The A6210’s price is double that of the T2U Plus, sealing its fate in last place.

The D-Link DWA-171 completed three of the long-range transfer tests, but it took longer than 45 minutes to copy the music files folder in the bathroom. One oddity was that the DWA-171 didn’t automatically load Windows 10 drivers when plugged in. It has a built-in thumb drive with an installer for the drivers, which is a lot more inconvenient as we couldn’t use the adapter until we installed the driver manually. We checked Windows Update after getting online, and it loaded an up-to-date driver.

The rest of the adapters we tested failed our long-range tests, whether they were mini/nano–sized (the type of USB adapter that sticks out less than an inch or so and can be left plugged into the laptop when you store it in a bag) or larger sticks with room for better antennas and radios. The mini/nano–sized adapters that took too long to complete the tests included the Asus USB-AC53 Nano, Edimax EW-7822UTC, Edimax EW-7822ULC, Linksys WUSB6100M, TP-Link Archer T2U, TP-Link Archer T2U Nano, TP-Link Archer T3U, and the Trendnet TEW-808UBM. The larger sticks that took too long were the Asus USB-AC56, Edimax EW-7833UAC, Linksys WUSB6400M, and the TP-Link Archer T9UH. The Trendnet TEW-809UB was the largest and most notable adapter to not pass the tests: it is a large external block with four external antennas, and it costs even more than the Nighthawk A7000.

This guide may have been updated by Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commissions.

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‘Tetris Royale’ brings massive battles to phones worldwide

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The debut title, Tetris Royale, will include the hallmark 100-player battle mode. Players will compete for top spots on the leaderboards every season. It sounds pretty similar to Tetris 99 for Switch, but it could reach more players, as you won’t need a dedicated console. The classic mode will include daily challenges in which players can earn rewards, like customization options and power-ups. The game will offer massive daily competitions with thousands of players, as well as solo Marathon mode, where you can spend hours preparing for battle.

Tetris Royale is currently in development for iPhone, iPad and Android, and beta testing should begin sometime this year. We may have to wait until 2020 until it’s officially released, but the companies say Tetris Royale is just the beginning.

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Apple will reportedly manufacture its $6,000 Mac Pro in China

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According to Wall Street Journal sources, Apple will work with Quanta Computer Inc., out of a factory near Shanghai. That facility is close to other Apple suppliers, which could help the company lower its shipping costs, and manufacturing labor costs in China are still much lower than those in the US. Apple has a long-standing relationship with Quanta, which makes MacBooks and Apple smartwatches at its other facilities.

The decision to move Mac Pro production to China comes even as trade tensions between the Trump administration and China escalate. The proposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from China would affect all of Apple’s major devices. The company has asked suppliers to study shifting assembly of some products out of China, and Foxconn said it could produce US-bound iPhones outside of China if necessary.

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Apple will be fine without Jony Ive

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Apple has always prided itself on its culture, rather than its personnel. Tim Cook once said that Steve Jobs’ greatest contribution to the company was its culture and work to nurture new talent within it. But Apple also lionized Ive as an embodiment of its design skill, as evidenced by his regular (much-parodied) appearances in product videos.

But Ive was never a single figure in Apple’s design team, just the most famous — and the most powerful. Apple may have avoided the PR shock if it had other designers who were similarly visible outside of the company. Some longstanding rumors suggest any potential successors to the Ive mantle were pushed out of the company by the designer himself.

Ive’s departure may not hurt too much because Apple’s hardware division isn’t going to be the only thing the company is focusing on in future. The smartphone and tablet markets won’t see the sort of explosive growth that they have done in the past. And, as the company pushes into services as a key vehicle for profit, there’s less need for a superstar hardware designer hanging around.

It’s not as if the iPhone and iPad, among other products, are going to see radical innovation now, anyway. Their forms are pretty settled at this point, and it must have been a challenge for Ive to come up with a new tweak on a design he (arguably) perfected in 2012. And even inside Apple, Ive has always sought to design other products, like a limited-edition Leica, Diamond Ring and a watch. Not to mention Ive giving notes on how Kylo Ren’s lightsaber should work.

In fact, some of Ive’s obsessions saw him butting up against the laws of physics in a way that he must have found frustrating. For someone who wanted his designs to be unobtrusive, the lens humps on the iPhone and iPad cameras must have rankled. Similarly, Intel chips have lagged sufficiently that a laptop redesign would be tough, these days. And Ive’s desire to make thinner and lighter products sometimes made them less usable.

Take his infamous line from 2015, when Ive said that people were essentially using their phones in the wrong way. Rather than admit that his obsession with size and weight meant the iPhone battery was far too small, he blamed the user for their overuse. Similarly, the new MacBook Pro keyboard, built to shave precious millimeters from the laptop’s body, has met plenty of derision.

On the other hand, his philosophy achieved the impossible feat of shrinking a phone into a device as small as the Apple Watch. It’s a product that, for all its flaws, every one at Apple deserves praise for creating in an era of clunky wearables. But it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Ive’s successors, Evans Hankey and Alan Dye, loosen up on some of his more famous hangups. A gram of weight, here, for a bigger battery; a less elegant design for a more functional keyboard, there.

Neither figure has been in the spotlight much until now, but we can expect to see more of them in the near future. Both handled Ive’s responsibilities for software (Dye) and hardware (Hankey) while he was working to finish Apple Park. So they’re both used to the day-to-day parts of the job, without the increased scrutiny their new titles will involve.

In many ways, Ive leaves Apple with the most settled product line it has had in years, with the Mac Pro rounding out the set. The iPhone and iPad are both in rude health, and there’s little more that can be done with the iMac these days. If Apple does make an ARM laptop in the near future, then it’s likely Ive and his team have already designed and built the chassis for it.

We’ll still be living in Jonathan Ive’s world, it’s just that he’ll be off in his office, building a new toilet, or standard lamp… or something.

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Government hackers reportedly broke into Russian search company Yandex

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In the fall of 2018, the hackers deployed a type of malware called Reign, which is linked to “Five Eyes,” an intelligence-sharing alliance comprised of the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It’s unclear which of those countries might be behind the breach, though. A Yandex spokesperson told Reuters that the hack was detected early and that no user data was compromised, but Reuters‘ sources claim the hackers had access to Yandex’s research and development unit for at least several weeks.

As Reuters‘ notes, Western cyberattacks against Russia are rarely acknowledged, but earlier this month we learned that the US planted malware in Russia’s power grid. Last spring, a few months before the alleged Yandex hack, the US elevated its cyber warfare division and vowed to take a more aggressive approach to online threats. Even the private company Jigsaw, an Alphabet subsidiary, experimented with hiring a Russian troll just to see if it could. In those cases, some feared the US might provoke more digital aggression from Russia. This Yandex breach could add to those fears.

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The best 2-in-1 tablets for 2019

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Buy Samsung Galaxy Book 2: $1,000+

Whether it’s a tablet or a phone, the reasons to pick Samsung over other brands tend to be its typically superior displays and the useful S Pen. But for the Galaxy Book 2, you might also appreciate the fact that it comes with built-in gigabit LTE support. It adds the underrated convenience of always being online no matter where you go (cell coverage notwithstanding) and is best for someone who always needs to be updating Google Docs or a blog.

However, since the Book 2 runs Windows on an ARM-based Snapdragon CPU, it’s limited by slightly laggy performance and a smaller selection of apps (compared to full Windows). Still, Microsoft and Qualcomm continue to work on the software to make the experience as close to standard Windows as possible. For now if you need a beefy machine, go for a Surface Pro. If your workflow doesn’t depend on obscure apps or you won’t be editing videos or photos, then the Book 2 might be right for you. Plus, at just $999 including a keyboard and the S Pen, this is the most affordable option on our list.

Wrap-up

All these options hover around the $1,000 price, which is admittedly a lot to spend on a device that’s not a full-fledged laptop. But a good 2-in-1 can be the best travel companion on your business trips, and these are the industry’s finest offerings, making whichever one you pick a worthy investment. Just think how much work you can get done armed with one of these.

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Jony Ive helped make Apple what it is today

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When Ive joined Apple in 1992, Apple was struggling, no longer the tech darling it once was back in the ’80s. Steve Jobs had been out of the company for seven years at that point, and it had become a shell of its former self. One of Ive’s first-ever projects for Apple was to design the Lindy MessagePad 110 (a follow-up to the Newton) — he added a spring-loaded cover and integrated a stylus at the top of the device. The design ended up winning a slew of awards, and is even on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, despite the device itself being a commercial failure.

It wasn’t until Jobs returned to Apple that Ive’s designs really took off. Jobs appointed Ive as Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design, and the two embarked on a creative partnership that would last decades. “By re-establishing the core values [Jobs] had established at the beginning, Apple again pursued a direction which was clear and different from any other company,” Ive said in an interview with the Design Museum. “Design and innovation formed an important part of this new direction.”

Apple iMac G3 (Bondi Blue) Hardware Shoot

That was certainly the case with the 1998 iMac G3, which was Ive’s breakout moment. Unlike the boring boxy PCs of its day, the iMac G3 was curved. Instead of beige, it came in multiple colors. (The first was “Bondi Blue,” named after Australia’s Bondi Beach.) You could see through it thanks to its translucent plastic. In a controversial move, it even did away with the floppy disc drive and legacy ports (sound familiar?). While some complained about that, it was a daring design that shook up the world of personal computing. Apple didn’t know it at the time, but that colorful, playful iMac would help turn the company around, setting the stage for its now famous comeback.

Another big success was the design of the iPod, which was the brainchild of Steve Jobs and then-head of hardware Jon Rubinstein, along with Ive and Tony Fadell (who went on to found Nest). Ive is broadly credited with its now-iconic all-white design; even the earbuds and charging cables were white. The design was unique and unlike the mostly black and silver electronics of the day. His design team even went through great pains to design the packaging, which was a novelty in the consumer electronics industry back then. It was this attention to detail that elevated Ive at Apple, and it’s why Jobs greatly valued his insight. Jobs fondly referred to Ive as his “spiritual partner” and Ive’s role at Apple became more important than ever.

Apple’s most impactful product, however, was the iPhone. This too, was an Ive design. Instead of a smartphone laden with the familiar keypad, Apple wanted a minimalist, elegant form factor that used a touchscreen as its main interface. The company had to get people comfortable with the idea of a phone without a keyboard or buttons, and Ive’s approachable, rounded design paired perfectly with the software to help do that. No, it wasn’t the first touchscreen phone on the market, but it was one of the few that was easy to use. And, just like the iPod, the iPhone revolutionized an entire industry. Apple, with the help of Ive, had done it once again.

iPhone

Other successes soon followed, such as the iPad, the MacBook Air, and the Apple Watch, with Ive’s design aesthetic changing and evolving over the years. He was also hugely influential in Apple’s software design — Ive famously took over from Scott Forstall as the design lead for iOS in 2012 when he became the new head of Human Interface. He got rid of the tired skeuomorphic designs (where digital objects resemble their real-life counterparts) in favor of a flatter, cleaner aesthetic that still influences Apple’s entire product line today. That’s not to say that Ive hasn’t been involved with a few commercial failures — the iPod Hi-Fi and the PowerMac G4 Cube were beautiful flops — but there’s no doubt that Ive was instrumental in the rise of Apple as a design and tech powerhouse.

“We’re surrounded by anonymous, poorly made objects,” said Ive in a Time interview. “It’s tempting to think it’s because the people who use them don’t care — just like the people who make them. But what we’ve shown is that people do care. It’s not just about aesthetics. They care about things that are very thoughtfully conceived and well made. We make and sell a very, very large number of (hopefully) beautiful, well-made things. Our success is a victory for purity, integrity — for giving a damn.”

When Jobs passed away in 2011, many saw Jony Ive as his spiritual successor. Even though CEO Tim Cook was now in charge, Ive, it seemed, was still leading the way in terms of product design and overall vision. For a company that built its reputation on design, it’s no surprise that Ive had such a powerful role within it.

US-IT-APPLE-NEWS-FEED

But that seems to have waned a little over the years. In 2015, Ive was given the title of Chief Design Officer, where he gave up a lot of his day-to-day managerial duties. He seems to have picked the job back up in 2017, in part perhaps, because his work on the spaceship-shaped Apple Campus had come to an end — but it remains a mystery as to whether there were other reasons for the move.

Now, Ive is gone from Apple, leaving behind an enormous legacy that will be incredibly difficult for his successors to live up to. Ive was inextricably tied to Jobs’ and Apple’s comeback, and therefore to the company’s meteoric rise to where it is today. Ive’s departure also marks a recent shift in Apple’s priorities, as it moves increasingly toward software and services as a source of revenue. Of course, Ive said he and his design firm will continue to work with Apple, but his leaving is still, unquestionably, the end of an era.

Images: Apple (iMac, iPhone); BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL via Getty Images (Cook & Ive with Mac Pro)

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Valve forced to tweak its confusing Steam ‘Grand Prix Summer Sale’

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Steam’s event page advised players to update their wish list before they play. “[T]the very best drivers will be awarded their Most Wished For games throughout the event,” it said. A lot of players dropped titles from their list, thinking that could ensure that they’re getting the games they want the most. That’s bad news for a lot of developers, since Steam alerts players when the games in their wishlist are available or on sale. Independent developers say they’re seeing more wishlist deletions than purchases, and at least one of them told Kotaku that they’re losing money from being hosted on the platform.

To remedy the situation, Valve’s new blog post clarifies that players only have to move the game they want to win to the top of their wishlist. “There’s no need to remove other items,” it says, with advice to “keep them there so [they’ll] be notified when those items release or go on sale.” As for the Grand Prix mechanics, the company rolled out improvements to the Driver’s Dash and Manual to help clarify how to play.

We don’t see any massive tweaks on the event page, but the platform seems to have given more important information a more prominent place and added actual numbers for clarity. It also made some backend changes to prevent the snowball effects that led to Team Corgi’s massive lead. Finally, Valve is boosting the max points players can earn by 1,000 if they were active on day 1 and by another 1,000 if they were active on day 2. Whether all those changes can help entice people back into the game remains to be seen.



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Five automakers back Toyota’s and Softbank’s self-driving business

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The five automakers are investing 57.10 million yen ($530,620) each into the venture in return for a 2 percent stake. That means Monet now has $26.6 million in capital, which it will use to develop on-demand self-driving shuttle services in Japan. Monet’s ultimate goal is to roll out a variety of services based on Toyota’s e-Palette electric vehicle, though. Businesses could use e-Palette for meal deliveries, as mobile hotels or even as mobile offices. According to Reuters, services that use the e-Palette could roll out by 2023 — we’ll most likely see the actual vehicle, which is still just a concept, before that happens.

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