Last weekend was the beginning of the end of the shows m The wonderful Mrs. Maisel AND Barrybut new streaming services are popping up this week bringing original content to the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max.
The headline of our recommendation selection is Spectral in Apple TV Plus, the world-traveling spy thriller starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, while Diplomat AND Dead Bell Towers leads the pack on Netflix and Prime Video respectively.
Below, we’ve rounded up seven new movies and TV shows you can watch on streaming services over the next few days.
Ghosts (Apple TV Plus)
Gray man stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas reunite on Apple TV Plus this weekend in a new spy thriller Spectral.
Directed by Rocket man AND Bohemian Rhapsody Directed by Dexter Fletcher, this action-packed romance follows Cole, an old-school romantic who falls in love with the mysterious Sadie, who happens to be a CIA Special Agent. Sparks fly (literally) and the pair are quickly drawn into an international adventure to save the world.
The cast also includes Adrian Brody, Amy Sedaris, Tate Donovan and Tim Blake Nelson Spectralthat probably won’t make it onto our list the best Apple TV Plus movies given its decidedly lukewarm critical reception.
Now available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Like Apple TV Plus, Netflix has a spy drama lined up this weekend Diplomat now streaming in its entirety.
This eight-episode thriller – from Homeland, west wing AND surgeons writer Debora Cahn – stars as Keri Russell as the US ambassador to the UK, whose arrival in London coincides with a major international crisis. Rufus Sewell and Ali Ahn are among the supporting cast of the series.
Critics have described Diplomat as “shiny” and “efficient”, suggesting that it may belong to best Netflix shows so far to arrive in 2023.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Dead Ringers (Best Movie)
Rachel Weisz plays a pair of twins in David Cronenberg’s 1988 contemporary film adaptation, gender-swapped. Dead Bell Towers.
WITH Inheritance AND Normal people Alice Birch, this six-episode series follows two genetically identical gynecologists, Beverly and Elliot, who perform ethically questionable medical procedures on infertile women.
Sure, this synopsis sounds suitably bleak, but Dead Bell Towers it was praised for its “contagious” dark humor and Weisz’s “powerful” performance. We think this one might be on our list the best Prime Video shows year.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and For All (Netflix)
Here’s one for adults who still want to be kids: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and for all is now streaming on Netflix.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the hit ’90s superhero franchise, this special reunites most of the cast from the original – including David Yost, Walter E. Jones and Barbara Goodson – to take on an old foe one last time. Expect bright colors and poor special effects.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Mrs. Davis (Peacock)
Given the current buzz around AI chatbots, image generators, and song makers, it was only a matter of time before the streaming service addressed the topic.
At Peacock’s Mrs. Davis, the nun – Sister Simone (Betty Gilpin) – takes on a powerful but dangerous AI program that might as well be considered the logical conclusion of the likes of ChatGPT, Bard and Bing AI. Saying more risks ruining the show’s biggest surprises, but in ours Mrs. Davis reviewdescribed the series as “an uneven but ultimately fun and thought-provoking journey into the questionable future of the AI chatbot.”
The first four episodes Mrs. Davis are now available for streaming Peacockand the remaining six installments will arrive weekly every Thursday until May 18.
Now available to stream on Peacock.
Launched to Mars (HBO Max)
Luke Wilson voices the new animated sci-fi comedy series Launched on Marswhich is now streaming on soon renamed HBO Max.
This eight-episode satire by Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey – which critics have called “existential and irreverent” – is about an unemployed Martian struggling to come to terms with his new place in, well, the universe. Tim Heidecker, Jeff Cooper and Pamela Adlon are among the supporting voice actors in the series.
Now available to stream on HBO Max.
Wild Islands (Best Movie)
David Attenborough fans, listen up! Veteran broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, author and versatile new good guy series, Wild Islandsis now streaming on Prime Video.
This five-episode documentary, already broadcast on the BBC in the UK – whose last installment was the subject intense political dispute (opens in a new tab) – takes a microscope into the natural history of the often overlooked British Isles. Not to be missed if you are a fan of birds, badgers and… Bambis.
IBM has announced full availability of its LinuxONE pure metal servers in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model, available for rent in the cloud.
As more companies move to hybrid solutions (IBM estimates that nearly 9 out of 10 infrastructure decision makers are using a hybrid strategy), Big Blue is moving into action that will allow it to take advantage of the cost-effectiveness and flexibility valued by customers.
The extension of this service extends the current invite-only availability that has been in place since September 2022, and for businesses that have not yet registered, it means that the already tested offer should cause them less trouble.
IBM LinuxONE now available
Customers already familiar with IBM hardware will recognize the Telum processor borrowed from the z16 mainframe, but LinuxONE differs in that it only supports Linux.
In the press release, the company compares a typical workload with an x86 equivalent. The results promise a 75% reduction in energy use, half the footprint and huge CO2e savings. While each use case will return different results, and those headline numbers are likely higher, there appear to be significant environmental and economic benefits on the cards.
Despite the introduction of the cloud-ready Bare Metal setup for even more people, availability is limited to the multi-zone regions of Sao Paulo, Washington DC, London, Toronto and Tokyo. TechRadar Pro asked IBM if it plans to expand to more regions, although it is likely testing and watching interest before rolling out more widely.
The price is $1490.66 for two vCPUs, 64GB of RAM and 2Gbps bandwidth. Upgrading to 16 vCPUs, 512GB of RAM, and increased 10Gbps bandwidth will give the company a return of $11,965.43 per month. Running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server instead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux will also unlock marginal savings.
While there is little left to wonder about Google’s upcoming foldable debut, a new series of apparent leaks leaves nothing to the imagination; filling in and pretty much confirming everything from the release timeline to official colors, storage options, key features and price.
Jon Prosser (opens in a new tab) from FrontPageTech has brought solid leaks to his YouTube channel time and time again, and despite having served as one of the main sources of unofficial information about the Google Pixel Fold in the past, he’s back with everything he hasn’t covered before.
Google Pixel Fold may be available
From Prosser’s seven-minute video, we learn that (at least at the time of writing) Google apparently plans to formally tease the Pixel Fold first, on April 26; ahead of an expected presentation at the Google IO 2023 developer conference, scheduled for May 10.
Pre-orders will begin immediately after being unveiled at IO, although this will only be through Google’s own online stores; until May 30, which is until pre-orders with carriers become available (all according to Prosser’s sources). It is assumed that since Prosser is in the States, it is specifically referring to US carriers, with dates that may vary by market, outside of Google’s internal Google Store pre-order program. Availability is then slated for a trade show a little later on July 27.
Google Pixel Fold possible price, capacity and colors
Aside from the dates, Prosser has also doubled down on the colors the Pixel Fold is expected to come in, with two: Chalk (white) and Obsidian (black) and yes, those finishes are tied to specific storage configurations.
What most consider an incredibly expensive starting price of $1,799 (around £1,450 / AU$2,685) appears to be true in this latest batch of leaks; with the basic Pixel Fold arriving with 256GB of internal storage and available in any finish. In the meantime, a more powerful 512GB version, sold exclusively at Obsidian, will also be made available. Price? US$1,919 (about £1,545 / AU$2,865).
Possible Google Pixel Fold specifications
In addition to offering new information on the Pixel Fold’s potential release plans, Prosser spent the rest of the video retreading and amplifying existing leaks regarding hardware details, as well as delving into some of the key features and software experiences marketing around the Fold will apparently be highlighted.
Here are the alleged specs, based solely on the details of this latest video:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 – cell 1
Dimensions (closed):
139.7 x 78.74 x 12.7mm (5.5 x 3.1 x 0.5 in)
Libra:
283g (10oz)
Cover screen:
5.8-inch 17.4:9 Full HD+ (2092 x 1080) 120Hz “Smooth Display” OLED with 408 ppi
main screen:
7.6-inch 6:5 2208 x 1840 120 Hz “Smooth Display” OLED with 380 ppi
“Battery life in excess of 24 hours” + up to 72 hours with Extreme Battery Saver
Coloring:
chalk, obsidian
If true, the big advantage of the camera will be how fast it starts up, while the system is also said to have an LDAF (laser autofocus) system and familiar Pixel photo software features such as Rear Camera Selfie, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Long Exposure and Real Tone.
Video capture supposedly peaks at 4K at 30fps or Full HD at 60fps from the Pixel Fold’s main camera, while the body of this hotly anticipated foldable also hosts a USB-C port and a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor.
All that remains is to verify that the information Prosser’s sources have provided him with is up to date, and our next anticipated look will likely be next Wednesday, before the full reveal of the phone on May 10.
Setting up your Google Meet conversations to only show people you want to contact (or like) will soon be easier than ever with a new update.
The video conferencing service has announced a change that will allow users to disable other participants’ video streaming during a Google Meet call.
Instead, a static image will replace their feed, allowing you to focus on the exact content you need, which will hopefully lead to a better video chat experience and fewer distractions.
Block video on Google Meet
IN blog post (opens in a new tab) In announcing the update, Google noted that the new option could be helpful in situations where users want to focus on one presenter or speaker, or hide particularly distracting video feeds from certain people.
Affected attendees won’t be notified that you’ve disabled their feed – in fact, Google says they won’t experience any change on their end at all.
(Image credit: Google Meet)
This feature does not require any admin control and is now rolling out to all Google Workspace customers as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.
It will be available to Google Meet users on the web, but also on mobile – and if you’re joining the meeting from the latter, you can now also select “Audio Only”, which will disable all video feeds except for tiles presenting content.
Elsewhere, Google is also making it easier to present on Meet with a new co-presenting tool.
The update means multiple users can now present Google Slides together while chatting on Meet. Whoever is designated as the primary presenter will be able to assign attendees to co-present the Presentation with them, while the co-presenters will be able to see the audience, the presentation, and the Presentation controls in a single window, as well as navigate and control starting and stopping the presentation any media.
“This eliminates the need to ask a colleague to move to the next slide in a presentation, leading to smoother transitions and minimal distraction. In addition, this feature further bridges the gap between people working in different locations,” the company said in a statement blog post (opens in a new tab) announcing the news.
It looks like Microsoft has another mysterious sequel in development, but according to court filings from a recent legal challenge, don’t expect to play it for another decade.
The unnamed title, which may or may not appear on the Xbox Series X|S, was referenced in court documents spotted by Stephen Totilo of Axios, incurred as a result of a lawsuit brought by a group trying to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard (thanks, VGC (opens in a new tab)).
The court document states that triple A titles such as Hello Infinity, they usually have a very long development time. More interesting, however, is the following quote: “For example, according to one Microsoft executive, [redacated]upcoming title from [redacted] franchise, it can take a decade to grow.”
Most Intriguing Redactions From Last Week’s Amended Complaint In Players’ Lawsuit Against Microsoft-Activision Deal: – Microsoft Franchise Continues In Possible 10 Year Development Cycle – Presumably Detailed Explanation Of Something Wrong From May 2022 (Redfall/Starfield Delay?) pic.twitter.com /OJETHAy8MMApril 20, 2023
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The key information here, while redacted, is consistent with the current inconsistent development of various Xbox Game Studios projects. But at the moment, we have not yet determined whether the edited title is the one that has already been announced.
Xbox has several announced titles in development, of which we’ve seen very little. They include perfect darkness, Fairy tale, Everwildand perhaps most of all Elder Scrolls 6, which is set to be an Xbox exclusive after Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks and ZeniMax Media.
I think any of these titles could fit the decade. It’s worth noting, however, that it’s unclear whether the executive edited here meant that we literally won’t see this title for another ten years (read: 2033 launch) or if it’s a game that’s already been in development since several years into the present. I think the latter scenario is more likely here.
I just hope not…
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Aside from the titles we know of, Xbox has a veritable collection of franchises that fans would love to see return. Probably the one that generated the most publicity on the Xbox One was 2013 killer instinct, a series revival that was as fantastic as it was surprisingly influential.
I consider Killer instinct one of the best fighting games of the last decade; I would argue that it has shaped today’s gaming landscape more than you might think. KI 2013 was one of the first fighting games to popularize network code recovery. In recent years, backtracking has become the new standard for online connectivity in fighting games, replacing latency-based network code.
Killer instinct it may also have contributed to the popularization of the seasonal DLC model. This isn’t exclusive to fighting games, as seasons of bonus content are present in almost every popular free-to-play game, including Fortnite‘S battle passes.
Killer instinct itself is certainly a long overdue, new, fresh entry. Still, with the developers of Double Helix and Iron Galaxy busy with other projects, it’s a matter of finding the right team to work with. Those are Phil Spencer’s words, not mine as the head of Xbox said expressed interest in bringing the series back (opens in a new tab).
That being said, I sincerely hope that the redacted title in these court documents is not new Killer instinct. On the one hand, it would be great to know that the series is coming back, but I certainly wouldn’t want to wait another five to ten years to play it.
Rumors about the Google Pixel Fold have been circulating for several years, but the phone may finally see the light of day. If we see this phone soon, it could be one of the coolest phones we’ll see this year.
Right now, only a handful of companies are into foldable phones, with Samsung dominating the market with handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Oppo recently stepped into the fray with one of its best foldable phones, the Oppo Find N2 Flip, but both brands could be in serious trouble soon. competition.
Leaks suggest that Google’s first foldable phone will be called the Pixel Fold or Pixel Notepad, but neither name is permanent, so for now we’re mainly referring to the device as the Google Pixel Fold.
We’ve heard a few details about its possible design, screen, camera and other specs, all of which you can find below. We also included information about a possible release date, which according to most rumors may fall in early mid-2023, as well as price leaks.
As soon as we know anything more about the Google Pixel Fold, we’ll add it to this article, so check back regularly if you want to stay up to date.
To the point
What is this? Google’s first foldable phone
when is it coming out? Possibly announcement on May 10th and launch on June 27th
How much does it cost? Probably $1,799 (around £1,520 / AU$2,660)
Google Pixel Fold release date and price rumors
As always, there have been multiple claims about when the Pixel Fold will launch – many of which disagree.
Early leaks suggested that the Pixel Fold would land in late 2022, but of course that didn’t happen.
However, a more recent leak (from another source) suggested that a late 2022 launch was apparently planned but pushed back to 2023, while another release date rumor was that it could land in Q1 (which is between January to March) 2023. Again, that’s not going to happen now, of course.
Instead, we seem to be looking at a Q2 launch. One recent rumor pointed to May 2023, while another suggested the Pixel Fold would arrive in June.
The latest leaks, however, are more specific, saying that the Pixel Fold will be announced on May 10 at Google IO 2023, but won’t hit stores until June 27. Jon Prosser’s leak in late April seemed to line up with Ten.
It certainly looks like it’s coming too, as in late February 2023, what may be the Pixel Fold phone was listed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and that’s usually fairly close to launch. Moreover, the term “isPixel2022Foldable” has been spotted in Google’s code, suggesting that the phone will land soon.
As for how much it might cost, Jon Prosser’s aforementioned leak also says the Pixel Fold will have a really expensive starting price of $1,799 (around £1,450 / AU$2,685). That’s a lot, but the pre-order bonuses will apparently extend to the Pixel Watch as well to cushion this shock to the wallet. We expect carrier offers to mask prices as well.
Design and display
The main information about the Google Pixel Fold comes from a large leak that included unofficial renders, some of which you can see below. Though unofficial, they are apparently based on images and information provided by a reliable source.
As you can see, the design here looks very similar to the Pixel 7 lineup when folded up, but with an overall form factor reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold lineup.
The Pixel Fold is apparently covered in metal and glass and is said to only come in shades of white and black (Chalk and Obsidioan as Google would say). It’s also apparently very heavy – more so than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 – and you can see that there are large bezels above and below the main screen.
Picture 1 With 2
(Image credit: FrontPageTech)
(Image credit: FrontPageTech)
In addition to these renders, we’ve now seen a video of the actual use of the Pixel Fold. The Twitter video we’ve posted below doesn’t show us much, but you can see the hinge in action.
Rumor has it that Google has been working hard on the hinge strength of the Pixel Fold, and you can also see relatively thick bezels around the screen size in this video – although the software interface is blurry.
There has also been hands-on experience with a fictional Pixel Fold unit like the accessory manufacturers use.
Images of this can be seen below and revealed things such as large bezels (which may be present to keep the price down), 5.7mm thickness at the thinnest point, 8.7mm thickness including the camera block, a less narrow form factor than phones Samsung, and probably a less visible bend.
Picture 1 With 3
(Image credit: Dave2D)
(Image credit: Dave2D)
(Image credit: Dave2D)
We’ve even seen pictures of what is rumored to be the Google Pixel Fold spotted on a train by Reddit user onetaketeo (opens in a new tab). You can see one of them below, but it doesn’t reveal much.
In fact, the design is so obfuscated that we can’t be sure it’s a Pixel Fold, although there is a visible hinge so it’s clearly a foldable phone.
(Image credit: Reddit/onetaketeo)
There is also a report claiming that Google has ordered foldable OLED panels measuring around 7.6 inches diagonally from Samsung Display – a claim we’ve heard many times before.
A newer report – from @OnLeaks in partnership with HowToiSolve (opens in a new tab) – indicates a 7.69-inch foldable screen and a 5.79-inch display on the case.
They also claim the dimensions when unfolded are 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm (up to 8.3mm including the rear camera bulge), and include renders that look very similar to the ones above, one of which can be seen see below.
(Image credit: @Onleaks / @HowToiSolve)
A more recent leak echoes much of the above, again pointing to a 7.6-inch foldable screen and a 5.8-inch cover display. This report adds that the Pixel Fold will apparently have the most durable hinge of any foldable phone, be waterproof and weigh around 283g.
Another leak suggests that the display will have a resolution of 2208 x 1840 pixels and will offer up to 1200 nits of brightness and a refresh rate that will also increase to 120Hz. The same source indicates overall dimensions of 123 x 148 mm.
SIM insertion process for the alleged Google Pixel Fold. (Image credit: 9to5Google)
That said, an animation found in Android 12L Beta 2 shows a foldable phone with a design more like the Oppo Find N – as short and wide as opposed to tall and narrow like the Z Fold 4.
You can see this animation above, and while it’s possible it’s just a generic animation, there’s also a chance it’s showing Pixel Fold.
Picture 1 With 2
(Image credit: Google/USPO)
(Image credit: Google/USPO)
Elsewhere, we’ve heard that the Pixel Fold’s cover display (its external non-folding screen) could be 5.8 inches.
Beyond these leaks, we’ve also seen a Google patent that shows a screen that opens to the size of a tablet but can be further stretched a bit further, like the foldable phone concepts we’ve seen. However, it looks ambitious for Google’s first foldable phone, so we’re not convinced it’ll have that look.
Patented mobile (opens in a new tab) it also uncovered two additional patents for the foldable Google Pixel phone, one with a fairly conventional clamshell design and the other with two hinges, allowing it to form a Z shape when unfolded and go from smartphone size to full tablet size.
So it appears Google is experimenting with a number of different foldable designs, but it’s likely the company has opted for a design similar to the Galaxy Z featured above.
Picture 1 With 2
(Image credit: Google / Patently Mobile)
(Image credit: Google / Patently Mobile)
Specifications and features
The benchmark suggests the Pixel Fold will have the same Tensor G2 chipset as the Pixel 7 Pro, which comes as no surprise, along with 12GB of RAM.
That said, the older original Tensor chipset was also spotted in a benchmark for the Pixel Fold which further mentions 12GB of RAM and Android 12, and elsewhere we’ve also heard rumors of a Tensor chipset. However, these are older leaks, so we believe that Google has already updated it to G2.
Given that this chipset appears to be designed to get the most out of the Pixel 7 series cameras, this could additionally mean the same cameras will be used as well, but we’re not at all sure about that. If it has these cameras, you can expect a dual- or triple-lens setup, with main, ultra wide-angle and possibly telephoto as well (5x optical zoom).
However, another leak pointed to different snappers, with the Pixel 5’s 12.2MP main camera paired with the Pixel 6’s 12MP ultra-wide and two 8MP selfie cameras (one on each screen). This is something we’ve heard many times before.
According to one source, we’re looking at a 64MP + 12.2MP + 10MP rear camera – so not all leaks and rumors agree at the moment when it comes to the Google Pixel Fold’s rear camera. As for the selfie cameras, both are apparently 9.5MP while the leaked renders (above) show a triple-lens rear camera.
There is also a chance the phone will have cameras under the display as a Google patent for this technology has been found. That said, the leaked images do not suggest this.
When it comes to battery capacity, a recent report suggests that the Google Pixel Fold will have a larger battery than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which means we can expect a power source of at least 4,500mAh. NO accurate details of the phone’s battery size have been shared so far, but we hear that number “will continue to hold.” [be] well below” 5000 mAh.
We’ve also heard it apparently lasts up to 24 hours before needing a charge, or up to 72 hours in low power mode.
Other than that, we don’t know anything about the specifications of the Google Pixel foldable phone, but we can speculate a bit. First, it will probably run on Android 13, but it will certainly work regardless of the latest version of Android at launch.
Going by the standard Pixel range, it’s likely to have decent cameras as well, but perhaps fewer lenses than rival phones. We would also expect the company’s foldable product to support 5G.
Finally, a minor tweak in the Google Camera software suggests that there is indeed a Pixel Fold on the way, and that Google is preparing its own software for it.
One of the best VPN providers around just proved the effectiveness of its no-logs claims after being hit by an inconclusive police raid.
Mullvad reported that six police officers from the National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish Police visited the Gothenburg office with a search warrant. The goal was to seize computers containing customers’ personal information, but officers left with nothing as no user information was stored.
No user data was compromised, the provider assured in a tweet.
The National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish Police visited Mullvad VPN with a search warrant, with the intention of seizing computers with customer data. No customer data has been compromised. https://t.co/bMpPRNz88NApril 20, 2023
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Mullvad’s commitment to privacy
“According to our rules (opens in a new tab) such customer data did not exist,” said Mullvad. “We argued that they had no reason to expect to find what they were looking for, and therefore any confiscation would be against Swedish law.”
The team had to demonstrate to officers how their no-logging VPN works in practice, showing that the security software is built not to collect or share any user information.
It seems that they succeeded, because the Swedish police left empty-handed. Not that it matters much because they wouldn’t have access to any customer information anyway, the supplier explained.
“We find it strange that the Department of National Operations (NOA) of the Swedish Police is now making this visit with a search warrant, for the first time in our 14-year history,” Mullvad CEO Jan Jonsson told TechRadar, adding that they did not know exactly what what the officers were looking for.
“They should already know how our service works. Our business is to fight against data retention and we never keep any activity logs.”
This is just a recent incident that shows how important it is to choose a VPN service with a strict no logging policy.
Law enforcement visited a Swedish supplier for the first time, but requests like this are more common than you might think.
This is why it has become common practice for the most secure VPNs on the market to have their no-logs claims checked regularly by an independent company.
Mullvad’s transparent commitment to protecting user privacy is nothing new, however.
The provider cut back on recurring subscriptions last year, clearly prioritizing privacy over profit. He recently teamed up with the Tor project to develop the privacy-oriented Mullvad browser to challenge today’s mass online surveillance.
Mullvad is also actively involved in raising awareness about EU Chat Control, a proposed bill similar to the Online Safety Bill that aims to undermine encryption.
“Mullvad is usually a very quiet company. This is probably the first time we’ve really pissed off enough to speak up,” Jonsson told TechRadar, explaining how a lack of privacy will lead to a worsening of democratic development – as offline as it is online.
A damning new report suggests that Google has effectively doomed old Chromebooks by ending support for them – a claim the company strenuously denies.
How The registry explainsUS PIRG report entitled Chromebook change (opens in a new tab)claims that after a surge in sales, driven mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chromebooks purchased by schools are now starting to “fail”, generate excessive e-waste and “charge schools with additional costs”.
According to the report, there are three main reasons why even the best Chromebooks become useless for schools:
Manufacturers typically do not sell new replacement parts or otherwise support repairs.
Computers have a built-in “date of death” after which software support ends.
Design choices thwart repair and reuse.
In points 1 and 3, the report criticizes Chromebook manufacturers such as Asus, Acer, and HP for making Chromebook devices that are difficult to repair, and for not offering replacement parts or repair services, so when a Chromebook fails, very few owners can do something other than throw away the Chromebook. For schools that have invested heavily in Chromebooks, this problem becomes even more problematic due to its scale.
The report found that of the 11 US PIRG Chromebooks that received repairability ratings (which are required in France), all Chromebooks scored noticeably lower in repairability and parts availability compared to standard laptops.
According to the report, “Acer does not directly sell replacement parts for its devices”, while “HP claims to offer parts for Chromebooks on parts.hp.com, but a search reveals huge gaps in its practical application.” In this case, while HP claimed to offer parts for its Chromebook 11a, the parts were actually a power supply and cord – not much use if the Chromebook needed internal repairs.
Asus, another major Chromebook maker highlighted in the report, “offers a ‘customer self-repair’ program that purports to offer a ‘quick, convenient notebook repair option’ which is slightly better but what you read about in the private report, but not much for schools and institutions that may have hundreds of units to repair.
(Image credit: Konstantin Savusia / Shutterstock)
date of death
While the report targets Chromebook makers, Google, the company behind the Chrome OS they use, also gets criticism for adding what PIRG calls a “date of death” but which Google calls “Automatic Update (AUE) Expiration Dates.” . Basically, every Chromebook apparently has a set date when it will no longer receive updates for Chrome OS.
While this doesn’t mean your Chromebook will stop working on that date, it does mean that it will no longer receive security and feature updates, making it vulnerable to online threats such as viruses. This is especially concerning for schools where Chromebooks are mainly used by children.
Additionally, PIRG says there have been reports of expired Chromebooks that can no longer access certain websites due to their inability to pass security checks – quite a serious problem for Chromebooks considering they rely so heavily on online services.
Hardware and software reaching the “end of life” phase is a common thing – for example, Microsoft has stopped supporting older versions of Windows such as Windows 7 and Windows 8 for much longer than the ChomeOS AUE dates.
For example, Windows 7 ended its life on January 14, 2020, 10 years after the operating system was launched. Some Chromebook AUEs are seven years old after model launch – and due to the way schools buy Chromebooks, they can have two or more years of product life – which means the time before an AUE is much shorter . Individual users may also be affected.
Most importantly, you can upgrade your laptop or PC to a newer version of Windows when the current version reaches the end of its life – as long as the device meets the minimum hardware requirements. For Chromebooks, however, it’s less clear why you can’t update a Chromebook to a new version of Chrome OS, and switching to a different OS is difficult – if not impossible.
This leads to a situation where schools, institutions and even individuals may find that they have a non-working Chromebook, even though its hardware is fully functional. This again is incredibly wasteful.
(Image credit: future)
Google’s answer
After reading the report, we contacted Google and received the following statement:
“We worked diligently with our hardware partners to extend the years of guaranteed support for Chromebooks, and as of 2020 we are now providing eight years of automatic updates, up from five years in 2016. We also continue to work with our device manufacturing partners to increasingly build devices across segments from post-consumer recycled and certified materials that are easier to repair, and use manufacturing processes that reduce emissions over time.
Regular Chromebook software updates add new features and improve device security every four weeks, allowing us to continuously improve the software while keeping older devices safe and reliable until their hardware limitations make it extremely difficult to provide updates. “
Google’s move to extend support for Chromebooks is to be welcomed – however, the report claims that this extension shows that “AUE dates are a choice”.
I think it’s a bit unfair – Chromebooks inherently rely on web services rather than locally installed apps, so keeping them up to date with security features is extremely important, and at some point Google needs to limit the number of devices it can support before things get unmanageable control.
However, more transparency on the terms of the AUE and the reasons for implementing them would certainly help. It also doesn’t help if you bought a Chromebook in 2016 only to find that it’s no longer supported and thus lacks features after just five years.
Recommendations
The report is quite painful reading for Google and Chromebook makers as it undermines the main advantages of Chromebooks: their affordability, environmental friendliness and advantages as educational devices.
Chromebooks remain some of the best laptops for students in the world, and they are devices that I often recommend to people who are looking for a cheaper alternative to laptops and MacBooks.
The report suggests that “Chromebooks aren’t designed to last, but Google has the power to change that” and outlines five ways to address these issues.
The first is “Extending Chromebook Expiration Dates” to 10 years from the model’s release date. This, the report says, “will allow school districts to significantly expand usage, potentially allowing students to use the same Chromebook for the majority of their elementary and high school attendance. End-of-life laptops can also be resold or refurbished to extend their lifespan.”
Second, “manufacturers should produce spare parts based on 10% of their stock” and this “will increase availability and keep prices low for institutions buying common parts like keyboards, screens and chargers in bulk.”
The third suggestion is that “Parts should be standardized across models and manufacturers,” which would allow parts from broken Chromebooks to be used to repair others – even from different manufacturers.
Fourth, “Renovators should be able to unregister devices from remote management” as some Chromebooks can be locked if they are associated with a prior user. This is an important security feature for individuals, but can cause problems for schools and institutions that expect multiple users to use a single device for its lifetime.
A final suggestion is that “Google should make it easy to install alternative operating systems” like Linux.
(Image credit: Google)
These are admirable suggestions and would certainly extend the life of Chromebooks – however, unfortunately, I don’t see many of them being adopted.
An AUE extension would have financial and operational implications for Google that I don’t think the company is interested in, especially in the current climate. I also can’t imagine Google willingly allowing users to install other operating systems.
Requiring manufacturers to produce 10% of their stock of spare parts also seems optimistic and does not seem to address the legitimate financial reasons for manufacturers to do so. If so, expect a price increase for Chromebooks.
Also, as much as I’d love to see it, I find it hard to imagine HP, Acer, Asus and other rivals putting differences aside and standardizing parts. Not only is there rivalry, but they could also argue that this standardization reduces product uniqueness.
The rapid obsolescence of Chromebooks is a very important and worrying issue, especially if it is artificially accelerated by the decisions of Google and manufacturers. I am certainly pleased that this report has drawn attention to such issues. However, I don’t think the suggestions it makes are particularly realistic, although I wish they were.
Regardless, this is a problem that needs to be addressed, and I want Google and manufacturers to continue to give me good reasons to recommend people Chromebooks.
Protecting your business from cyberthreats just got a whole lot easier with the new update to Microsoft Teams.
The video conferencing service is set to benefit from a number of security improvements as Microsoft introduces several Defender tools and services for Office 365 to the platform.
This includes full end-to-end protection for Microsoft Teams, but also a hopeful increase in user awareness and readiness in companies around the world
Security Microsoft Teams
“Today, 270 million users use Teams for communication and productivity, making it essential for effective collaboration,” the company wrote in a blog post. (opens in a new tab) announcing the news.
“However, the growing number of users has also become a new target for adversaries trying to gain access to sensitive organization data and operations. Attacks such as phishing and ransomware, which for decades mainly used email as an entry point, are now also targeting users on collaboration tools with increasing frequency.”
The launch follows recent research from Microsoft, which found that nearly three-quarters (71%) of companies admitted to sharing sensitive and critical business data through collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams.
Among the new features is the ability for users to report suspicious emails directly in Teams, similar to what is already available for reporting suspicious emails in Microsoft Outlook.
Security teams will receive notifications whenever users report suspicious messages, with the ability to block or quarantine potential threats and review them in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.
Microsoft is also adding to existing advanced hunting capabilities in Microsoft 365 Defender to support Teams security and gives IT admins the ability to simulate attacks to increase awareness and protect against threats such as phishing.
Collaboration Security for Microsoft Teams is available to Microsoft E5, Microsoft E5 Security, or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 customers, and the public preview is available now ahead of a wider rollout scheduled for June 2023.
Recently impressing us with the FiiO M11S mid-range portable digital audio player, Chinese audio company FiiO is back with a decidedly high-end offering for its next mobile device.
The new M15S portable player comes with two ES9038PRO desktop-grade DACs, with separate DACs for the left and right stereo channels.
Each chip uses four DACs for decoding, which FiiO claims to be of extremely high quality, and the device is capable of playing audio files up to 384kHz/DSD256.
The new M15S also supports MQA, allowing listeners to directly stream Tidal Masters as well as locally stored MQA files, while other high-resolution audio options are available in the form of aptX HD Bluetooth, along with wireless LDAC and LHDC codecs.
Onboard is 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi that supports Apple AirPlay and DLNA streaming, as well as compatibility with the increasingly popular Roon multiroom music software platform.
(Image credit: Fiio)
Weighing 345g, the device runs on Android 10 for lossless access to Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music, and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor – the same one found in FiiO’s flagship M17 audio player.
In addition to the regular 3.5mm headphone jack and balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs, there is a 5.5″ multi-touch HD display with 64GB of onboard memory, which can be expanded to 2TB of additional memory via the card slot microSD.
The FiiO M15S is available to order now for $999 / £979 / AU$1599 from FiiO website (opens in a new tab)and will be shipped later this month.
We can’t wait to test it out and see how it matches up with the best MP3 players currently available. Watch this space…
