Take up to $250 Off Unlocked Galaxy S22 Plus Smartphones
Take up to $250 Off Unlocked Galaxy S22 Plus Smartphones
If you're on the hunt for a new smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus should be at the top of your list. It debuted earlier this year, and it's a solid choice that's packed with plenty of features and has enough storage to keep up with all of your photos, videos and apps. Plus, it comes in a variety of colors to suit your style. You can save up to $250 on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus at Amazon for a limited time, bringing the price to $800.
The Galaxy S22 Plus comes with a large 6.6-inch AMOLED screen, which is bigger than the S22 and smaller than the S22 Ultra, making it easy to operate with one hand while still providing a display that is large enough to stream content without strain.
It also features Android 12, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8GB of RAM and your choice of either 128GB of storage or upgrade to the larger 256GB storage capacity version.
This phone has a long battery life that can last all day and features fast charging when you need a boost. And it comes equipped with durable Gorilla Glass in case your phone takes a tumble. The S22 Plus also has a 50-megapixel rear camera that can record in 8K, as well as Adaptive Pixel technology that improves the look of your nighttime photography and video.
This Samsung is unlocked, too, allowing you to choose your carrier so you can get the features and coverage you want at a budget that works for you.
Read more: Samsung Galaxy S22 vs. Plus vs. Ultra: The Difference Is in the Details
A TikTok Music app may in development for the US market, according to a filing made by ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
As earlier reported by Business Insider, ByteDance filed a trademark application with the USPTO on May 9. The application lists a variety of potential goods and services, including "allowing users to purchase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, [and] lyrics," as well as "live stream audio and video interactive media programming in the field of entertainment, fashion, sports and current events."
The application also lists some potential social functions for the app, including the ability to "comment" on songs and albums, share lyrics and quotes, a karaoke function and sending messages and multimedia among users.
While the trademark filing is new to the US, the idea of a TikTok-adjacent streaming service isn't. ByteDance already has a music streaming app called Resso, which is available in India, Brazil and Indonesia. The streaming app incorporates many of the potential social elements that could be a part of TikTok Music, like sharing lyric images, commenting on tracks and sharing playlists.
According to the Patent and Trademark Office, an examining attorney will be assigned to the trademark application approximately six months after the filing date, meaning the application would likely be looked at in early November.
While exact development and release plans for the app are unclear, a TikTok Music service could complement the impact the main app is already having in the music industry. TikTok's short-form videos regularly spell out meteoric fame for songs and musicians, with tracks like Old Town Road by Lil Nas X, Stay by the Kid Laroi and Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo all becoming viral sensations on the app before charting on Billboard. TikTok could use the music interest of its existing users as an on-ramp to a new service.
But TikTok's surging growth may not necessarily translate to a disruptively popular music service. YouTube, the world's biggest source for online video, is the go-to place to watch music videos, but after years of operating its own music-streaming service, YouTube Music's share of global streaming-music customers is still a fraction of Spotify's. YouTube, which dominates global music listening online because so many people go there to "listen" to music videos, has more than 2 billion monthly active users; TikTok has more than 1 billion.
TikTok and ByteDance didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Final Fantasy 16 Trailer Reveals Summer 2023 PS5 Release Date, Epic Gameplay
Final Fantasy 16 Trailer Reveals Summer 2023 PS5 Release Date, Epic Gameplay
PlayStation's State of Play event finished up Thursday with an epic Final Fantasy 16 trailer, revealing that the Square Enix game is scheduled to come out on PS5 in summer 2023. It also gave us our first look at the RPG's gameplay, the action-oriented combat system and its summonable Eikons.
The Eikons will be familiar to fans of the series as the elemental beings that have traditionally been available to summon in battle. Each name is chanted in the trailer's music: Phoenix, Titan, Garuda, Ramuh, Shiva, Odin, Bahamut and Ifrit.
Final Fantasy 16 is set in the world of Valisthea, and you play as the sword-wielding Clive Rosfield -- who may be linked to Fire elemental Ifrit.
"Awaken child of fate, awaken Ifrit," says a rather conniving-sounding voice in the trailer's final moments.
The game was revealed during the original PS5 showcase in 2020, as one of the major exclusives for Sony's next-gen console. In December, Square Enix acknowledged that the game had been delayed by the pandemic.
It'll be the first mainline entry in the series since 2016's Final Fantasy 15, but fans haven't exactly been starved for adventures. Final Fantasy 15 got downloadable content until 2019, the incredible Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out in 2020, and MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 has received multiple expansions.
The series turns 35 this year. To mark the occasion, Square Enix created an anniversary website and started up a music-centric YouTube channel (which already has thousands of tracks). The series recently got two spinoffs: kart racer Chocobo GP and action-RPG Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
Ransomware rises as a national security threat as bigger targets fall
Ransomware rises as a national security threat as bigger targets fall
Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated and brazen in ransomware attacks, freezing computer systems at school districts, major universities, police departments and hospitals. Now the US government is stepping up its approach to fighting computer crimes.
Last week, the White House convened an international counter-ransomware event. Representatives from more than 30 countries, including big US allies like the UK, Canada and Japan, participated in the virtual gathering. Notably absent: Russia, which the US and other countries blame for harboring and possibly encouraging the groups behind the attacks.
The group pledged to share information and work together to track down and prosecute the cybercriminals behind ransomware attacks. "Governments recognize the need for urgent action, common priorities, and complementary efforts to reduce the risk of ransomware," the participants said in a joint statement released at the end of the meeting.
The high-level government attention to ransomware underscores its growing reach. Once nothing more than garbage malware locking up the hard drives of the tech unsavvy or of small businesses running dated versions of Windows, ransomware has become a global digital scourge.
It also shows no sign of letting up. Over the weekend, an apparent ransomware attack locked down servers and work stations at Sinclair Broadcast Group. Data also was stolen from the TV station operator, though it's currently unclear what information it contained. The company is investigating.
Earlier this year, a major oil pipeline and a huge meat processors were hit by cybercriminals who demanded millions of dollars in ransom. The attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS USA Holdings made headlines for weeks. They also marked a rise in the ambitions of cybercriminals and caught the attention of government officials and cybersecurity experts.
"It's really become a national security threat," Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Billington Cybersecurity Summit last week. "Everything is connected, everything is vulnerable, and the threat actors are just getting more sophisticated."
According to a report issued Oct. 15 by the Department of the Treasury, suspected ransomware payments reported by banks and other financial institutions totaled $590 million for the first six months of this year, easily surpassing the $416 million in suspicious payments reported for all of 2020.
Colonial Pipeline and JBS both forked over millions in ransom payments during that six-month period. The FBI was able to recover about $2.3 million of the $4.4 million paid by Colonial. Both ransoms were paid in bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency.
Both attacks wreaked temporary havoc, pushing up the price of gasoline and meat as the companies lost control of their supplies.
"It's amusing to the outside world that America doesn't care until it's about oil and meat," says Chester Wisniewski, a principal research scientist for the global cybersecurity firm Sophos.
Wisniewski says earlier attacks would target a dozen or so different entities. They didn't grab the same kind of national headlines, however, because they were separate, smaller attacks.
By today's standards, cybercriminals also weren't as talented. They bought the malware online and sent it out without much research into their targets. Companies would often pay the ransom, try to keep things quiet and move on.
That started to change a few years ago. As malware became more sophisticated, cybercriminals began hacking into a company's financial records to determine exactly how much money the company would likely be able to pay. Now ransoms often reach millions of dollars.
And other attack-related costs far outweigh the actual ransom. Even if a company pays and has its data restored, it still has to bring in experts to rebuild its systems and confirm they're no longer compromised.
On top of that, an attack usually prompts a company to upgrade its cybersecurity defenses, another cost.
Sometimes it can be tough for an entity to know exactly how much cybersecurity it should install. Even though JBS is a big company, many experts wouldn't have previously considered it to be an obvious target for a cyberattack.
While acknowledging in a June statement that it did pay the equivalent of $11 million in ransom, JBS said it was able to "quickly resolve" the issues resulting from the attack, thanks to its "cybersecurity protocols, redundant systems and encrypted backup servers," adding that it spends $200 million annually on IT and employs more than 850 IT people around the world. The company didn't immediately return an email seeking further comment for this story.
Even small companies should follow best practices that'll lessen the chances of a cyberattack or the fallout from one, says David Cowen, managing director of US Cyber Security Services at professional-services company KPMG. And those practices can be as simple as making sure employees protect their access to systems with strong passwords and always use two-factor authentication.
The government can help, too, he says.
"Look at what happened with Colonial Pipeline," Cowen said. "That group initially got paid but then they got tracked down and some of the money got returned. That's what happens when the government gets involved."
A recently introduced Senate bill would require critical infrastructure owners and operators, which would include companies like Colonial Pipeline, to report cyberattacks within three days.
In addition, nonprofits, businesses with more than 50 employees, and state and local governments would be required to notify the federal government within 24 hours if they make ransom payments.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department says it'll sanction cryptocurrency exchanges, insurance companies and financial institutions that facilitate ransomware payments. It also said it was taking action against virtual currency exchange SUEX OTC for allegedly facilitating ransomware payments. Officials for SUEX couldn't be reached for comment.
Wisniewski, the cybersecurity researcher, says he likes the idea but questions how much good it'll do if the government doesn't take action against the countries behind the exchanges and financial institutions.
"Are we going to sanction China?" he asked. "I don't think so."
Take Better Vacation Photos: 7 Tips From a Travel Buff
Take Better Vacation Photos: 7 Tips From a Travel Buff
Here's a secret: You don't need an expensive camera to get great photos. Sure, it can help, and there are some photos only a "real" camera can take. However, you might be surprised at how good your photos can be just using your phone or an inexpensive camera. Learning these tips and techniques will help you if you ever upgrade to a big camera too.
Who am I to give this advice? I'm a travel writer and photographer, with over 150 photo galleries here on CNET taken all over the world. I have an expensive camera, sure, but I also use my phone more than you'd expect.
There's an overused, but still true, adage: The best camera is the one you have with you. So if you can get photos you like without spending money on a camera you might only use once or twice a year, even better.
While each phone is slightly different in its hardware and camera app, I've kept the following tips general enough that they should work on just about every device. More expensive phones can generally take higher quality images than cheaper phones, but you should be able to get great results no matter what you have. Also, if you're confused by any of the terminology, there's a glossary of some often-used camera terms at the bottom.
For more, here's how to take great vacation videos with your phone camera and some tips for getting great shotseven if your phone is old. Plus, here are the seven things you should always pack when you travel and what travel veterans recommend before leaving on vacation.
1. Clean the lens
Does your phone screen look like this? I bet the camera does too. Few things can improve the quality of your photos more than a clean camera lens.
Serhii Shleihel/GettyImages
I can't stress enough how important this is. Well, I guess I can stress it since I'm putting it first. I'm amazed how often I see washed out and smudged images that are the result of fingerprints or other schmutz on the camera lens. Just cleaning your lens will improve the quality of your images probably more than any other tip.
How often? I literally check my camera lens before every group of photos. Important ones, anyway. Phone comes out of my pocket, I check the camera lens.
Ideally, you'll use a microfiber cloth, the same sort that comes with glasses/sunglasses. If not, even a soft shirt will be fine. Nothing rough or coarse. Nikon sells a nice microfiber cloth that comes in its own tiny neoprene baggie. This keeps it clean and conveniently on hand.
If you have a real camera, always (always always always) use a lens cap. I get such anxiety when I see people pull a camera from a bag, or have it dangling around their neck, and there's no lens cap. Scratches are even worse than smudges since they permanently decrease the image quality possible with the lens. Lenses are the eyeballs of your camera. Treat them as such.
If you're worried about losing your lens cap, or hate juggling it while you're handling your camera, check out cheap lens cap straps. They're great.
2. Tap the screen
The camera app on a Google Pixel
Google
This always seemed obvious to me, but I've regularly caused "ah-ha!" moments giving this advice. When lining up your shot, if it doesn't look right, tap the screen. Most phones are pretty good at figuring out what you're trying to photograph, but not always. Tapping on your subject, a person, animal, thing, whatever, and changes the focus and exposure.
Here's an example. Say you want to take a photo of your partner on the beach at sunset. Three beautiful things in one photo: partner, setting sun, ocean. The beach too I suppose unless you don't like sand. This is called a backlit photo, and it's extremely hard to do. Most often, your partner will be underexposed (see the terminology section below), as in they'll look dark/shadowed.
With most phone and camera apps, you can tell the camera where to expose the image. In this case, on your partner. The sun will then be overexposed (blown out), but you'll still get the idea it's a sunset and you'll be able to see your partner, which is generally the point, right? If your phone is able to take HDR photos, this image will look better than if it can't.
There is some editing you can do to make a photo like this look better, but that can only go so far. We'll get to editing a little later.
3. Don't use the flash
If you're this close to your subject, sure, try the flash. Most phones and cameras have decent low-light capabilities, so the image might look better with the flash turned off. It's worth checking.
Jenner Images/Getty Images
There's no such thing as a good camera flash on a phone. They're all terrible. Even the big add-on flashes for full-size cameras only work in certain situations. Believe it or not, in most cases you'll get a better photo turning the flash off completely. Not 100% of the time, however, so it's worth trying both options.
This is especially true if you're using a full-size camera with built-in flash. In every scenic place I've ever been there's at least one person trying to take a landscape photo and their flash fires. Flashes, even the best, only work within a few feet of the subject. Not only will they do nothing for landscapes, they'll wear down your battery faster at best, and mess with the exposure at worst.
You can turn off the flash in your camera app's settings. More on that below.
There is such a thing as a Slow Sync Flash photography that can be great when trying to photograph people in front of a twilight or night landscape. I'd classify this as a bit more advanced, but with a bit of practice the results can be great!
4. Get a selfie stick
Grandma's gonna find that reindeer and enact revenge.
Geber86/Getty Images
Selfie sticks are good. I have apishly long arms and I still have one, though I typically use it for my 360 camera. My 80-year-old dad has one. They're great. People should take more photos of themselves, of their family and friends, everything. I honestly don't get the hate. Photos are great! Preserve whatever memories you can. Future you will thank you.
To put it more pragmatically, a selfie stick will let you get a wider field of view of yourself, the people you're with and where you are. It just makes for a better photo.
When you're using them, certainly be wary of your immediate surroundings and the people near you. Some locations, especially crowded or dangerous ones, tend to restrict selfie stick usage. Keep an eye out for signage.
If you're not sure how much you'll use it, there's this $8 option on Amazon that extends to 28.7 inches, has a Bluetooth remote built in, and has a base that extends out into a tripod. It collapses down quite small too. For something a bit more elaborate and sturdy for an action camera, GoPro's own 3-way 2.0 configures to a wide variety of positions and angles. It's made for their cameras, of course, but many action cameras use the GoPro-style mount.
5. Get a better angle
This is Smeagol and he is a Very Good Boy.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Most people just bring the phone or camera up to eye level and take the photo. Sometimes that's fine, but you can often get far better results with a different angle. Try holding the camera above your head and aim down. Photographing people from below tends to be rather unflattering, but slightly above often looks great. If you're taking a picture of a kid or animal, get down to their level. A dog's-eye-view of a dog is almost always a more interesting photo than a human's-eye-view of a dog.
This is an aspect where a selfie stick helps. Extend it out and you'll be able to easily frame that epic photo of you and the fam at the Grand Canyon where you can see you, the fam, and the Grand Canyon instead of you, parts of the fam, and a sliver of the Grand Canyon.
6. Learn your app's settings and modes
Changing the default settings on your phone's camera app can have big results.
Apple
Nearly every phone's camera app is capable of a variety of different photo styles. I'm always surprised to see how many people have no idea. Portrait mode, landscape mode and night mode all let you take vastly more interesting photos than the basic mode, all with just a few taps on the screen. Check them out, see what they do.
As far as settings go, generally the stock ones should be fine. It's worth checking to make sure it's taking the highest-resolution it can and that the flash is turned off (see No. 3). Some apps let you shoot RAW, more info on that in the terms section below.
I'd also recommend enabling manual controls, if available. They'll just take a few minutes to learn and they should help you get the photo you want when, like described in No. 2, the camera itself is struggling to do so.
Fun fact: Many camera apps have the option to use one of the phone's buttons as the shutter. If it's too hard for you to tap the screen while holding the phone, perhaps using the volume button instead will be easier. There are also timer functions that give you a countdown of a few seconds to get your pose and people ready.
Read more: How to Use the iPhone's ProRaw Mode to Make Your Photos Look Better Than Before
7. Editing
Note the different editing possibilities cycling through on the right.
Google
Nearly every great digital photo you've ever seen has gone through some amount of editing. Colloquially this is called "Photoshopping" but you don't need to pay Adobe for a subscription to that specific program. In fact, there are a lot of free options. Your phone might have some built in to its gallery already. Instagram has some great adjustments too. Beyond those, check out CNET's best free and paid photo editing apps for iPhone and Android.
The easiest way to learn is to just pick a photo and see what all the options do. Visually, it will be pretty obvious what things like contrast, brightness, and so on actually do. Most of them do the same thing on your TV, if you're interested.
Slight tweaks to contrast, brightness, and color will do wonders for any image. You can "slap a filter on it," sure, but starting with a better base image will usually make it look better after you apply a filter too.
Bonus! Cloud backup
Ymgerman
While not a camera tip per se, I very strongly recommend getting some sort of cloud backup for your photos. Integrated with your phone this means that whenever you're on Wi-Fi all your photos will get backed up to the cloud. With a real camera you can download them to the camera's phone app, and usually they'll get sent to the cloud from there. Sometimes, like with GoPro, there's an extra step required to save them to your phone's gallery.
With a cloud backup if you lose your phone or camera, you won't lose your photos. This saved me in a big way when I got robbed on an overnight train in Italy, and another time when a hard drive crashed on me.
Also, never forget, there are only two types of hard drives: Those that have failed, and those that will fail.
Check out our six ways to keep your photos safe in case of an emergency and best cloud storage services for 2022.
When to upgrade
As you get to know your phone's camera, you'll start to find its limitations. A limited zoom is going to be the most obvious, followed by noise in the image, a lack of settings, and so on. Some of you will start wanting more. It's a logical progression, one I bounded through myself, from inexpensive options to more and more expensive options. It's a pricey hobby, to be sure. Buying used can help.
I recommend checking out my Best Camera for Summer Travel article as a next step. It's aimed towards vacation/travel options, but should give you an idea what's out there and what the upgrade steps look like.
Terms and words and stuff
You'll find these terms when reading about actual cameras, as well as about phone cameras and within apps.
Wide angle: A type of lens that typically captures more than what you'd see with your eyes in one glance. The whole forest instead of a single tree, so to speak.
A wide angle photo, taken with my phone, of the Root Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Note the tiny people in the lower left.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Telephoto: The tree, not the forest. Telephoto lenses let you capture images where you seem right up close to a subject but were actually far away.
Standing in the same place as the above photo, but with a 135mm telephoto lens on a Canon R6. These are the same hikers, a few minutes earlier, as they made their way across the glacier. Note how much closer they seem.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
SLR/DSLR: Single Lens Reflex/Digital Single Lens Reflex. Historically the "big, real camera." Usually a shorthand for a camera where you can change the lenses. Gradually being replaced, even among expensive cameras, with mirrorless versions.
Mirrorless: Lacking the moving mirror found in all SLR/DSLR cameras. What this means for you is the cameras are slightly smaller and lighter. Offered in a wide variety of prices. At the top end they're replacing professional DSLRs.
35mm equivalent: Refers to 35 millimeter film, the old standard, as a way to describe how wide, or telephoto, a lens is. For example, a 35mm-equivalent 12mm lens is wide, a 100mm lens is telephoto. Used as a relative reference since the actual focal length will vary depending on the size of the image sensor.
Optical zoom: This is the only real zoom. Uses glass or plastic lenses to make a subject appear closer.
Digital zoom: Best to think of this as "fake" zoom. It merely crops the image, and then upconverts it. Doesn't make the subject more detailed, just larger. OK if there's no other option, but the image quality is vastly inferior to optical zoom.
Underexposed: A subject or image that's darker than desired.
Overexposed: A subject or image that's brighter than desired.
RAW: An image format that's just very lightly processed data from the image sensor. At the professional level, RAW files are used almost exclusively as there is more range available to edit. However, you need to be knowledgeable with photo editing and have an app/software that can edit your camera/phone's RAW files. Not for beginners.
As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile road trips, and more. Check out Tech Treks for all his tours and adventures.
He wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and his YouTube channel.
Apple iPad (8th-gen, 2020) review: The best iPad value by far
Apple iPad (8th-gen, 2020) review: The best iPad value by far
The eighth-gen iPad feels familiar. It should be familiar: iPads don't change much. But the world certainly has. My whole family is trapped at home, working and going to school; remote connections are our whole lives. And iPads and Chromebooks are everywhere in our house.
My kids connect to their classes through devices: one on a Chromebook, the younger one on an iPad. iPads aren't ideal for school. They're convenient in a pinch, but not all apps work well, and not all input tools do, either.
Like
Faster processor handles iPadOS better
Supports Pencil and keyboard cases
Faster charger included in box
Don't Like
10.2 inch screen feels cramped with two-app multitasking
Doesn't support Pencil 2 or newer Magic Keyboard cases
Older front-facing camera, still not great for landscape Zooming
Entry-level 32GB storage too low to recommend
The basic iPad has been the "good enough" iPad for forever, while the Pro and Air have offered fancier features and better performance. This year, the iPad Air is getting a major revamp with a new processor, big display and USB-C, making it look much like an iPad Pro for less. But that new iPad Air starts at $599 (£579, AU$899). The new eighth-gen iPad I've been using, in the meantime, starts at $329 (£329, AU$499). Most stores will probably drop that to $300, and holiday sales could even bring it down further, if past years are any indication.
So what about this new 2020 entry-level iPad? It's an iPad, just like the one before. But it's a bit faster now. Whether you get one is basically the same question as before.
There's not a lot to say about this new 10.2-inch iPad. It's the same device as last year with one key improvement: Now it has an A12 processor instead of last year's A10. That's a big difference, and makes this a great time to consider the upgrade if you have an iPad that's several years old. Last year's basic iPad increased screen size and added a smart connector on the side, but it didn't change the processor. Upgrading is a major overhaul.
But you should also know that this basic iPad is a lot like last year's 2019 iPad Air and iPad Mini. So much so that, really, they're variants on the same device. (That 2019 Air is gone from Apple's website, but the Mini remains.) Think of it as last year's Air for less, and it's a good deal. But it's also an older iPad design. It still has a Touch ID home button and a headphone jack. And it still uses Lightning to charge and connect accessories, even though the upcoming iPad Air and current Pros use USB-C.
Here are the key similarities and differences between this new iPad and last year's Air and Mini:
The new eighth-gen iPad has the same processor and RAM as those iPads.
It also comes with less base storage (32GB).
The front-facing camera is worse on the eighth-gen iPad: 1.2 megapixels and 720p, versus 7 megapixels and 1080p on last year's Air and Mini.
The eighth-gen iPad works with the first-gen Pencil, just like those older iPads. That means you'll have to stick it in your iPad's Lightning port to charge -- and lose track of the little pop-off Pencil cap on the end in the process.
It works with the same Apple Smart Keyboard as the 2019 iPad Air, but that's not true of every Air case. Logitech's Combo Touch, for instance, has the same keyboard base but has two models to fit the Air and iPad's different thicknesses.
The included charger is better and faster: It's 20 watts, and the cable is now Lightning-to-USB-C, allowing it to work better with recent MacBooks.
The 10.2-inch display is a bit smaller and a hair less vivid than the 2019 Air. But it's still more than good enough.
Now that the iPad supports trackpads and mice, it's also more versatile for web apps and tools.
A Lightning charger, still, but a faster 20-watt one.
Scott Stein/CNET
So this all adds up to: The iPad Is Totally Fine. More than fine, I'd say. I'm writing this review on it using the smart keyboard (editing and prepping on CNET's content management system is still best on a laptop).
The iPad still isn't as useful as a Chromebook for a lot of school tools, at least in my house. App support is amazing, and Apple's streaming-friendly ecosystem also helps it double as a fantastic little TV. But multitasking and file saving are still weird and frustrating, even with iPadOS 14 improvements.
iPads in my house tend to be free screens we grab to do things, and this basic iPad fits that role fantastically.
Do you wait for the 2020 iPad Air?
The fancier Air comes out soon, and it looks nice. It's also nearly twice the price. As a result, it's not the same product at all. The Air looks like it would make a lovely gift for someone who needs a more powerful iPad for art or graphics work, and wants to save over the Pro. But for most people I bet this iPad will be fine.
Why is the camera on the side?
Most annoying iPad feature in 2020: The front-facing camera is still on the side in landscape mode, which is the mode most of us do chats and Zooms in. My face ends up off-angle and strangely centered, staring off into space. The iPad's camera is good enough, even in a step-down mode, and better than most laptops. But it's terrible for centering your face. And everything now is Zoom.
The Apple Pencil still goes in the Lightning port to charge.
Scott Stein/CNET
No great keyboard cases?
The Logitech Combo Touch has a trackpad, but its bulkier case and kickstand design aren't great for lap typing. It's perfectly usable, but at $150 it's an expensive accessory.
There's no Apple Magic Keyboard for this iPad, but you can use Apple's older smart connector Smart Keyboard cover, which is compact but lacks a trackpad.
Trackpad and mouse support is the best 2020 iPad feature
Just like every other recent iPad, with iPadOS 14 you can connect a mouse or trackpad (or get a trackpad-enabled keyboard case). I find it a huge help with editing and navigating, especially while the iPad is propped up on a desk with a kickstand case.
The smart keyboard case and Apple Pencil work with this iPad, but they cost extra and aren't the most recent versions.
Scott Stein/CNET
Battery life so far: Pretty good, as always
I was able to do a Zoom for an hour without making much of a dent on a full charge. I multitasked, read, watched shows, played games, worked on stories, and the battery held. No surprise, since the iPad's claim of around 10 hours of battery life has been the same for years, though it varies a few hours more or less depending on the model. I haven't done a battery benchmark but it's doing a full day with ease. The included faster charger is welcome.
iPadOS 14 is here now, and you might want to eventually try it on your existing iPad first before upgrading iPads.
Scott Stein/CNET
What I miss most from better iPads
Compared to the higher-end iPads, this one lacks the extra screen real estate on its sides. This larger-bezeled iPad is fine, but in multitasking modes with two apps open it starts to feel cramped. The next iPad Air (or iPad Pros) feel considerably more expansive, even if it's just an inch or so. Most laptops, TVs and other screened devices make a big deal about how narrow their screen bezels are. Still, this only really matters if you need to multitask -- keeping Slack and Gmail on screen at once, for example, or writing while following news feeds. It can be done on this iPad, but it works better with a second screen that's narrower (like an email, Twitter or Slack stream).
I also miss the TrueTone on the 2019 iPad Air and iPad Pro (and iPhone). It auto-adjusts color temperature, and I've really gotten used to it. This iPad's display seems harsher or bluer than I'm used to. It also lacks the fancy 120Hz refresh of the iPad Pro, but you might not notice the difference. The 2,160x1,620-pixel display is otherwise great.
If you're looking for an iPad and have no idea which to get, this is the safe iPad bet and the one you should probably buy. It officially starts at $329, but many stores sell it for $299, which can drop to $250 during sales. And, yeah, I'd recommend going to the $429 128GB model for that extra storage security blanket if you're considering downloading more than a handful of apps. If you're a pro, and need pro-level features, then you're already considering the iPad Pro or the upcoming improved iPad Air. For everyone else -- families, students, anyone looking to pick up a good versatile extra screen -- this is where you're likely to start looking, and also where you're likely to end up.
LG pledges three years of Android software updates despite quitting smartphone business
LG pledges three years of Android software updates despite quitting smartphone business
Just days after announcing plans to shut down its loss-making smartphone business, LG Electronics is offering new details on how long existing customers of its premium phones can expect software updates.
The South Korean electronics giant pledged Thursday to provide two to three years of software updates for existing customers of premium LG smartphones. The LG Wing, Velvet, G-series and V-series phone from 2019 and later should get three years of Android operating system upgrades, LG says, while select 2020 models such as the LG Stylo and K series are set to get two updates.
Readmore: LG once out-iPhoned the iPhone. Now it's exiting the phone business completely.
The LG Prada Phone beat out the iPhone as the first capacitive touchscreen handset.
Nicole Lee/CNET
Despite a bold history of innovation, LG plans to wind down its smartphone business by the end of July after years of losses. It had struggled to compete for market share against juggernauts Apple and Samsung, as well as Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Oppo that have aggressively expanded internationally.
LG said it will continue to manufacture smartphones through the second quarter to fulfill contractual obligations to carriers and partners, meaning interested customers can still buy LG phones currently in inventory.
See also: The best TV for 2021: LG OLED, Samsung and TCL QLED, Sony and Vizio compared
