Month: October 2024

Multiple leaks now point to the Pixel 9a having a very different design to its siblings.

Google could be planning something unusual with the Pixel 9a, because while typically the company’s a-series handsets look similar to the other Pixel models in a given generation, the Pixel 9a might not look a whole lot like the Google Pixel 9, or indeed the Pixel 8a. At least, that’s the impression given by some newly leaked renders.

Android Headlines, in collaboration with leaker @OnLeaks, has shared renders supposedly showing the Google Pixel 9a, one of which you can see below. The design ditches the camera bar that sticks out of the Pixel 9, with the lenses instead sitting almost flush with the back of the handset.

It makes for an arguably more ordinary and bland design, and one that we’re not overly fond of, especially coupled with the large bezels shown around the screen.

(Image credit: Android Headlines / @OnLeaks)

Sadly, this design is likely

Now, there’s always a chance that this leak is wrong, but the source has an excellent track record, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this particular Pixel 9a design, so for now, we’d say it’s likely accurate.

In any case, this latest leak also includes some specs, with the source claiming that the Pixel 9a will have a Tensor G4 chipset like the rest of the Pixel 9 line, and that it will unsurprisingly launch with Android 15.

We can also see that it has a dual-lens camera in these images, and the source claims that most of its specs will be similar to those of the Pixel 8a, a phone with a 6.1-inch screen, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 64MP main camera, a 13MP ultra-wide, and a 4,492mAh battery.

The Google Pixel 9a will also apparently get seven years of software updates, like its pricier siblings, and based on past form it’s likely to land in May, so there’s still probably a little while to wait.

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A new report has put the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery charging through its paces, and the results are fascinating.

This year, Apple has seriously ramped up the battery life of its new iPhones. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, for instance, offers some of the best battery life of any smartphone on the market and lasted an average of 16 hours at a time in our review. Now, a new report has put the battery life of Apple’s flagship device under the microscope in a different way, and the results are similarly impressive.

In an extensive suite of tests, ChargerLAB examined the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery from a variety of angles: temperature while charging, reverse charging a set of AirPods, compatibility with third-party chargers, and more. But the tests that were perhaps the most interesting were those that rated the phone’s wired charging speeds.

Here, ChargerLAB measured how much wattage the phone was able to draw upon with a wide variety of chargers made by both Apple and third-party manufacturers. When comparing the results to those that ChargerLAB recorded for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s clear that the iPhone 16 Pro Max can draw far more power from the same charger – in most cases.

For instance, this year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max can get 28.39 watts from an Apple 30W charger, compared to 24.55 watts for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, a boost of about 15%. When Apple’s 70W plug is used, the newer phone can take on 30.15 watts compared to 24.93 watts for last year’s device, an increase of almost 21%. That suggests that the iPhone 16 Pro Max should get a noticeable charging boost compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The only exception was using a charger with 20W of power or less, where both phones drew almost identical wattages.

Boosting the first hour

(Image credit: Future / Apple )

There is something of a catch here. When using that same 70W adapter, ChargeLAB found that it took the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery two hours and 20 minutes to go from empty to full. Interestingly, the outlet said this was actually “much slower” than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, although its review of last year’s model doesn’t record how long it took that device to fully charge.

Still, the charging process is not a linear timeline. With the iPhone 16 Pro Max and that 70W plug, charging ran at 28W for the first 13 minutes, dropping to 22W after 29 minutes and 15W after 41 minutes. It fell again to roughly 9W after about 47 minutes, before slowly decreasing down to almost zero over the next 90 minutes.

What that means is that although the iPhone 16 Pro Max took a while to fully reach 100%, it’s in that first hour or so that you’ll really see the contrast compared to older iPhones. Since it can reach a higher peak charging wattage, it should get a much better initial burst of charge in the first hour than you’ll see in the likes of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

It’s worth noting that Apple doesn’t make much of a distinction between the two Pro Max phones in this way. It says that 30 minutes of charging will get the iPhone 16 Pro Max to about 50% battery capacity – the same as what it claims you’ll get with last year’s phone.

Still, if ChargerLAB’s tests are anything to go by, you may well notice a difference, at least in the first hour of charging: ChargeLAB says this year’s product will get to 80% battery life after 57 minutes. If getting your iPhone juiced up as quickly as possible is important to you, the iPhone 16 Pro Max could be worth considering.

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Microsoft Defender wants to keep your data safe, even on public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi can be hugely convenient when out and about or working on the go, but trusted public networks can be spoofed by cybercriminals looking to trick strangers into handing over their browsing data and sensitive info.

Following Microsoft Defender’s recent introduction of its privacy protection VPN, the security software has now announced it offers protection across macOS, Android, and iOS, alongside Wi-Fi security auto detection and more.

According to the Microsoft blog, Defender’s unsecure Wi-Fi detection will now recognize networks that offer weak encryption that could allow an attacker to steal your data and show a warning notification with the option to turn on Defender protection with one click.

Defending across devices

This feature is currently available for Android, iOS and Windows, and will be available soon on macOS. Automatic VPN activation for public Wi-Fi is also coming soon for all supported devices.

Android and iOS devices have had an additional boost to unsecure Wi-Fi detection allowing Defender VPN to be turned on directly from a warning notification, offering almost instantaneous network traffic protection. This feature will also soon be available for Windows and macOS devices.

To enable enhanced detection on mobile, users need to download Microsoft Defender from the App Store, Google Play or Microsoft Store, log in, and then click the ‘Get Started’ icon within the privacy protection options.

Microsoft introduced Defender for Endpoint in 2023 to improve the ability for IT teams to protect their network from cyberattacks and ransomware.

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Epson’s latest portable projectors get a Google TV upgrade and are available in a range of eye-catching colors.

Projector maker Epson has dropped details about a pair of new models joining its “Mini” lineup. The EF-22 ($999.99) and EF-21 ($899.99) are portable projectors designed for easy set-up that beam images as big as 150 inches. These models feature Google TV for streaming – a welcome upgrade over the company’s earlier portable projectors, which used the more bare-bones Android TV platform.

The new Epson pair has better brightness specs than what you typically get with the best portable projectors. Both models are rated for 1,000 lumens (ISO) of white and color brightness. Image resolution is 1080p Full HD, and both support HDR10 high dynamic range.

Epson’s proprietary EpiqSense technology automatically sizes, focuses, and aligns pictures when the projectors are set up and positioned. The EF-22 model also features a 360-degree swivel stand that can tilt to project images at any angle, even on the ceiling.

With a 2x 5W Dolby Audio speaker system, both the EF-22 and EF-21 are all-in-one home entertainment systems. They also feature a 3.5mm audio output for connecting headphones and an HDMI input for connecting one of the best 4K Blu-ray players or a laptop computer. 

Color options for the EF-22 and EF-21 include Diamond White, Opal Green and Quartz Rose, and the EF-22 also comes in Stone Blue and Onyx Black. An optional EpiqVision Mini Custom Travel Case for taking your projector on the go is available for $49.99.

The Epson EF-22 and EF-21 will be available starting in early October.

Epson’s EF-21 portable projector lacks the built-in swivel stand of its EF-22 big brother (shown at top) (Image credit: Epson)

A promising pair of portables 

Epson is well known for its home theater projectors, including the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000, which tops our list of the best 4K projectors as the best overall model. However, it has only taken tentative steps into portable “lifestyle” projectors. The new EF-22 and EF-21 look to be the company’s best portables yet, with Google TV built-in for streaming and a sleek new design with multiple color options.

The portable projector space has become fairly oversaturated, with projectors like Samsung’s The Freestyle and LG CineBeam Q competing with models from XGIMI, Anker, JMGO, Dangbei, and other brands, including super-cheap projectors on Amazon. Given the crowded nature of the portable market, will Epson be able to make a name for itself in this space as well?

A key advantage Epson has going for it is its reliable, no-nonsense specifications. Epson uses the internationally recognized ISO 21118 standard to create brightness specs for its projectors, portable models included, so when Epson says its projector puts out 1,000 lumens, you can count on that number being accurate. That stands in contrast to multiple other projector manufacturers, a number of which have been sued by Epson for making misleading or downright false projector brightness claims.

We can’t wait to get an up-close look at Epson’s new portable projectors and expect they might just join the ranks of the best portable projectors after we’ve completed our review.

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Wireless audio can be too slow for DJs and producers. These new headphones promise to ditch the delay.

Even some of the best wireless headphones have a flaw that isn’t obvious to music fans, but that can be a deal-breaker for music makers and DJs: latency. That’s the delay between the audio being sent and it arriving in your ears, and while a little latency isn’t usually a problem for music listening, it can be a real problem for anyone who needs to have perfect timing – such as a DJ matching beats as they’re mixing records together. That’s why AIAIAI is launching a brand new pair of headphones specifically for DJs that promise wire-free convenience without the latency (via DJMag).

AIAIAI says that its new TMA-2 DJ Wireless headphones are a “world’s first”. You can use them as normal Bluetooth headphones or as cabled headphones, but when it’s time to fill the dance floor you can use their special wireless mode instead. Their dedicated transmitter plugs into the headphone port of your mixer, controller or other audio equipment, and it transmits the signal directly to your headphones using an “ultra-low latency” tech that’s different to Bluetooth.

(Image credit: AIAIAI)

TMA-2 DJ Wireless headphones: key specs and pricing

The new headphones promise 25 hours of wireless listening, high sound isolation for even the noisiest DJ booth, and exceptional comfort. And like other TMA headphones, they’re modular, making it easy to customize them, upgrade them, or replace worn-out bits such as ear cushions. AIAIA promises a suitably bassy sound too, thanks to a 40mm bio-cellulose diaphragm tuned for big bass in loud venues.

These aren’t AIAIAI’s first low-latency headphones. We reviewed their TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ headphones in 2022, and found that they delivered exactly what the firm promised in terms of an effectively zero latency connection. However, we also found that they had a very high noise floor using the W-Link connection: that could be because it uses the 2.4GHz frequency band, which is increasingly crowded. Hopefully that’s been addressed in these newer headphones, although given that they’re made for use in already loud environments it’s less of a concern than with studio headphones.

The AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless headphones will be available in early 2025. UK DJ sites are already offering pre-orders for £249 (about AU$480); the US price is expected to be around $300.

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Watch out, AMD – Intel’s future CPUs built on Panther Cove might be a huge leap forward in performance.

A future Intel architecture for its performance cores – the hefty cores that do most of the grunt work, as opposed to smaller efficiency cores in its hybrid CPUs – is expected to be a big leap forward for IPC, according to a new rumor.

This is the Panther Cove architecture – not to be confused with Panther Lake (we’ll come back to that shortly) – and it’s seemingly going to forge ahead in a major way with IPC. IPC stands for Instructions Per Clock, meaning that processors built with this future architecture will be able to get tasks done faster (literally processing more instructions every clock cycle).

As Tom’s Hardware reports, leaker InstLatX64 on X brought our attention to Panther Cove getting this boost, as per a post on the Real World Technologies forum (add seasoning).

That post observes that: “Panther Cove is big uarch (sic) change with large IPC [boost] and APX/AVX10 and more.”

Where does Panther Cove fit in with Intel’s CPU roadmap? Well, here’s where it gets slightly complicated, as you might think it’s for Panther Lake processors, right?

Nope, wrong. True, it seems a logical enough conclusion, bearing in mind that Panther Cove is an architecture – the nuts and bolts of the tech that makes a CPU core, a performance core in this case – and Panther Lake is a family of processors (built on a given architecture, or actually two architectures, as the efficiency cores have a different one – but let’s not complicate things any further than necessary, this leak is about performance cores).

However, despite the naming commonality, the two don’t go together, and in actual fact, Panther Lake CPUs will use the Cougar Cove architecture (processor families are ‘Lakes’ and architectures are ‘Coves’ it should be noted). If the rumors are right, that is – some of this leaked info may prove incorrect, as always.

(Image credit: Intel)

Analysis: Cougars and Panthers and Coyotes, oh my brain hurts

So, the theory as it stands is that Intel’s next-gen Arrow Lake desktop processors, which are imminent, will use Lion Cove for their performance cores, and then we’ll have Panther Lake – laptop CPUs only, arriving in 2025 – with Cougar Cove.

After that, we’ll see the generation with Panther Cove, which in theory would be the Nova Lake family (the next desktop chips for Intel after Arrow Lake, going by the grapevine – the purported Arrow Lake Refresh has been canceled). That said, the caveat here is that elsewhere on the rumor mill, others are saying Nova Lake performance cores will be built on Coyote Cove, another name that has only recently come onto the scene, adding to the confusion.

All of this underlines how tricky it can be to digest rumors on hardware that’s a long way down the line, and how Intel’s naming scheme for CPUs and their architectures is confusing (not matching Panther Lake and Cove just seems a bit daft, and is presumably a result of development timings going awry at some point).

However, the apparent message is clear – we’re due a big jump in performance with Arrow Lake, a more modest one with Panther Lake, and then a large leap again, as noted with IPC, in the family using Panther Cove (maybe Nova Lake – maybe not). Whatever the case, large gains are in the pipeline for the architecture that follows Arrow and Panther Lake, quite possibly the Core Ultra 400 chips – if this rumor is right.

The mentioned APX support – which stands for Advanced Performance Extensions – will also help speed up apps, and could have a pretty wide impact, depending on how much developers leverage it. This is more likely to be for apps than games, but that said, the major game engines could take advantage of APX (fingers crossed) for further gains.

Intel’s CPU future seems a bit brighter then, adding skepticism appropriately, and things are already looking up on the laptop front with Lunar Lake, mobile chips that have just arrived and have impressed already.

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Disney Plus just lost a bunch of acclaimed movies and shows – and Disney claims it ‘makes the most sense for the business’.

Disney has responded to fan complaints over the removal of multiple Disney Plus movies and shows, many of which were highly rated.

As first reported by What’s on Disney Plus on Sunday (September 29), the entertainment giant axed numerous Disney Plus Originals from the streaming service’s library. Critically-acclaimed projects, such as historical drama A Small Light, which holds a perfect 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the Willem Dafoe-starring adventure-drama film Togo (92% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes) are among the 25 productions that are no longer available to stream.

Here’s the full list of titles that have been consigned to the streaming scrap heap:

America’s Funniest Home Videos: Animal EditionA Small LightThe Biggest Little Farm: The ReturnCesar Millan: Better Human, Better DogFarm DreamsFreeksGenius MLX/XGoing Fur GoldHailey’s On ItHome In The WildLiving For The DeadLocked Up: AbroadLove & WWE: Bianca & MontezLove In FairhopeNarco WarsNever Say Never with Jeff JenkinsPretty Freaking ScarySaturdaysSuperhot: The Spicy World Of Pepper PeopleScience Fair: The SeriesScience FairTogoTop Ten: 80’sWicked TunaWicked Tuna: Outer Banks Showdown

It isn’t just certain nations that have been impacted by this latest back-catalog culling, either. I’ve checked Disney Plus’ library in the US, UK, and Australia, and I can confirm that none of these films or TV series are now viewable in these countries. It appears, then, that they’ve been permanently removed worldwide. It also appears that projects like A Small Light, which debuted exclusively on Hulu in the US, have been axed from Disney Plus’ sister streamer, too.

Comment from r/DisneyPlus

Unsurprisingly, this latest streaming cull has created a furore online. Threads on forums and social media platforms, including ResetEra and Reddit, are full of users who are angry at the sudden removal of these projects.

Given the ire that this axing has created, I reached out to Disney for an official comment on the matter. A spokesperson told me: “Like all media companies, we regularly review our titles and make assessments and content decisions based on what makes the most sense for the business. Collectively, it is less than 2% of our total titles globally. Fans still have unprecedented access to a wide variety of Disney’s film and television entertainment.”

So, if you’re a fan of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney’s classic movies collection, you can rest easy in the knowledge that Disney’s biggest franchises are safe. Almost all of the best Disney Plus movies and best Disney Plus shows are still available to watch to your heart’s content, too. Even so, I suspect that’s scant consolation to subscribers who enjoyed any of the 25 productions they can no longer stream.

Another kick in the teeth for Disney Plus’ userbase

Disney Plus users aren’t impressed by this latest round of movie and TV show culling (Image credit: Shutterstock / Ivan Marc)

This isn’t the first time that furious Disney Plus users have lashed out at Disney for unceremoniously dumping TV and Movie Originals. 

In May 2023, we reported that Disney Plus and Hulu’s libraries were about to get a lot smaller, with shows including Willow, Pistol, and Y: The Last Man being removed from these platforms. A few weeks later, we covered the news that Disney was looking to cut more content from its streaming back catalogs in the coming months. Then, in late August, two highly anticipated Disney Plus Originals were shelved just months before their own debuts – that duo being The Spiderwick Chronicles and Nautilus, which have found new homes on The Roku Channel and Prime Video in the past year.

On the movie front, things haven’t been as severe from a culling perspective. However, one of 2023’s new Disney Plus movies – Crater – was dumped just two months after it debuted on the streaming giant, which proves the House of Mouse isn’t averse to permanently deleting films from its streaming library if they don’t perform well.

Comment from r/DisneyPlus

This latest jettisoning of content comes at something of an awkward time for Disney. Indeed, with rumors of another Disney Plus price hike circulating online, plus the recent confirmation about how much it’ll cost you to share your Disney Plus password with people outside of your household, further fan outrage is the last thing that the entertainment titan and one of the world’s best streaming services needs right now. Still, at least Inside Out 2 was a massive it for the platform, eh Disney?

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