Monday, 30 December 2019

Foldable phone hype flopped in 2019

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It's Monday, December 30, 2019.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

We're almost done with 2019. The year included cheaper 4K TVs, tons of foldable phones and some very forgettable tweets. At least one of those areas could use some significant improvements, and who knows, maybe I'll get my hands on the first great flexible device at CES 2020 next week.

-- Richard

(View in browser.)

Has anyone seen a Royole Flexpai in the wild?

2019 wasn't the year of foldables we were promised

For a while there, it seemed like 2019 would be the year foldable phones took over. You know how it played out: flaws, delays and mentions on “worst of” lists. Chris Velazco takes a look back at what went wrong for convertible devices over the last twelve months, and what there is to be optimistic about in 2020.

The court said the team violated the ‘bottom line’ of ethics.

Scientist who edited babies' genes sentenced to three years in prison

He Jiankui and two of his associates have been sentenced to three years in prison following a secret trial in China. The court convicted the team of "illegal medical practice" for performing human embryo gene editing "for reproductive purposes," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The court noted the gene editing technique had not been "verified for safety and effectiveness," and that He and others forged documents to convince patients and doctors to help. The team reportedly told patients they were part of an AIDS vaccine trial, not genetic modifications. Shortly after He revealed the CRISPR trials, experts condemned it as "unconscionable" and "immoral and unethical."

Luxury SUVs like the Bentley Bentayga, Jaguar I-Pace and Audi e-Tron debuted in 2019.

The next wave of electric vehicles will appear in 2020

Over a million plug-in vehicles now drive on US roads and account for 2.5 percent of all new vehicle sales in the country. More than a century after Ferdinand Porsche introduced his electric P1, automakers are taking notice and developing their own electric offerings in an effort to tap into the growing market.

Score this $150 action cam for $40.

If they’re too fast then the old 486 Turbo button may need to come back.

Intel 10th-gen desktop chips may pack better multitasking across the board

Leaks at Informatica Cero and VideoCardz have detailed a Comet Lake-S CPU lineup where every Core chip, from the i3 to the i9, reportedly includes Hyperthreading. You might not need need to buy a Core i7 or better to wring truly strong multitasking performance out of your system.

Stargazing.

Tesla's Cybertruck found its way into a Travis Scott music video

Rapper Travis Scott has shared a very car-centric video for "Gang Gang," featuring extensive, conspicuous shots of Scott and crew performing around (and occasionally using) both the Cybertruck and the Cyberquad electric ATV. There's even a Boring Company Not-A-Flamethrower in there for good measure.

But wait, there's more...

1. Google's budget Pixel 4a phone may pack a hole-punch camera

2. Christina Koch breaks record for longest spaceflight by a woman

3. CES 2020: Samsung's newest experiments include hands-free typing and a scalp scanner

4. Sony patent shows a DualShock with some extra buttons on the back

5. Kia will release a production version of its Imagine EV in 2021

6. New York doctor sues Apple over irregular heartbeat detection

7. China's alternative to GPS should be complete by mid-2020

8. After Math: Driving into a new decade

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Saturday, 28 December 2019

'The Mandalorian' is coming back next fall

Engadget Email Newsletter

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It's Saturday, December 28, 2019.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

The holiday rush is finally wrapping up and a new year right is around the corner. The only thing I can’t figure out now? How, after playing Fallen Order, watching Rise of Skywalker and streaming The Mandalorian season finale, I’m at all excited for more Star Wars stuff next year.

No matter what you’ve seen, this weekend is a good time to prepare for the year ahead, which for us starts with CES 2020. Things are quiet as we consider what went right (or wrong) in 2019, but next weekend we’ll be arriving in Las Vegas for a week of screens, flashing lights and AI everywhere. Until then, enjoy the silence.

--Richard

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It’s that time.

Welcome to Engadget's 2019 year in review

What's the deal with high-profile streamers leaving Twitch? Is VR finally going to go mainstream now that a Half-Life game is on the way? What's next for the streaming wars? And when did tech CEOs lose their luster?

To commemorate the start of the twenties, next week we'll highlight the tech that has defined the past ten years, and also compare the gaming landscape of 2009 with that of 2019.

Ultraportable luxury made affordable.

HP Spectre x360 13-inch review

The latest iteration of HP’s Spectre x360 is stylish and powerful, with Intel’s 10th gen Core CPU providing enough oomph for 60fps Overwatch gaming in 720p. It’s smaller and lighter than last year’s version, and even beats out the MacBook Air on the scale while still feeling like a solid, well-built machine. With an i7 CPU, 512GB of storage and 8GB RAM the price of our review unit is $1,200, which also compares well with competition like Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1.

Congress asked the FAA to issue new regulations or guidance.

The FAA wants to track all drones flying in the US

According to a rule proposed by the FAA, UAVs would be required to broadcast their location and identification info directly from the unmanned aircraft and to transmit the same information to the FAA's location tracking system via internet connection. If it goes into effect, most larger drones would need to be compliant within three years.

Here are the top VPN deals of 2019

This is the way.

'The Mandalorian’ season two will arrive next fall

Within hours of Disney+ posting a finale episode for season one of The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau tweeted confirmation that season two is slated to arrive in fall 2020. The show has become an early flagship series for the Disney streaming service, and more episodes can’t come soon enough.

The final episode didn’t show a single line of code.

Techno-thriller 'Mr. Robot' ends on a mind-melting high

After four seasons, the finale of Sam Esmail’s groundbreaking show made clear it was about a lot more than just authentically presented hacking.

But wait, there's more...

1. Disney+ is coming to Teslas 'soon,' according to Elon Musk

2. Apple spent 2019 giving us most of what we wanted

3. The best gadgets of 2019

4. Streaming won't get easier or cheaper

5. Tesla will deliver its first Chinese-made Model 3 on December 30th

6. YouTube's burnout generation

7. Corinna Kopf is the latest top streamer to jump to Facebook Gaming

8. Believe it or not, the Wii U is getting a 'new' game

9. Pixel 4 Feature Drop adds improved Face Unlock and other surprise updates

10. Mazda3 bug activates emergency brake system for no reason

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Friday, 27 December 2019

E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Friday -- December 27, 2019

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
https://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Is Privacy Possible in 2020?
How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Actually Works
Tech Firms Join Forces to Create Smart Home Connectivity Standard
Amazon Gives FedEx the Boot for Christmas
Just Wait Till Next Year

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Today's Story Highlights

Is Privacy Possible in 2020?

The California Consumer Protection Act goes into effect in 2020, and
other state and federal laws are on the horizon -- but is it possible
that these state laws will really provide us privacy? How many readers
take the time to read the privacy policy, or click agreement, when they
download a new version of an app on their smartphone or tablet? Probably
none. What are the consequences?
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/86432.html

How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Actually Works

Today's consumers live in a digital world, which means they can retrieve
all the information they desire at the touch of a button, putting them
in control. Added to this, they have become immune to traditional
outbound marketing methods -- such as billboards and television
advertisements -- and they expect brands and businesses to tailor their
messages based on customers' individual preferences.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/86430.html

Tech Firms Join Forces to Create Smart Home Connectivity Standard

Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance are teaming up on a new
Internet Protocol-based standard for smart home device connectivity.
Connected Home over IP will be an open source project. A working group
will define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for
device certification. The goal is to enable communication across smart
home devices, mobile apps and cloud services.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/86425.html

Amazon Gives FedEx the Boot for Christmas

Amazon third-party sellers will not be able to ship Prime customers'
orders using FedEx Ground and FedEx Home, as of Wednesday. "We have seen
a drop in the delivery performance of FedEx Ground and FedEx Home ship
methods for Seller Fulfilled Prime shipments," Amazon said. The
restriction is temporary, although no exact date has been set for
resuming FedEx Ground and FedEx Home for Prime orders.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/86421.html

Just Wait Till Next Year

For the last 15 years I've written year end articles on where we've been
and where we're going in CRM and more broadly in tech. This year it
struck me that the major topics that were important in 2019 would be
equally important in 2020. In my mind there are several clusters of
things that have sticking power. For starters, platform will be a bigger
story than it already is.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/86422.html

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