The Morning After: Samsung might have another Galaxy phone to reveal
It's not a spicy foldable, though.
Samsung’s phone lineup is confusing. Even if you can keep the Galaxy S, Galaxy Note and Galaxy A series all separate in your head (the Galaxy S and Note families are definitely engaged in a screen-size turf war at the moment), let’s add further confusion with the latest leak.
The Galaxy S20 Fan edition spotted over the weekend isn’t another cheaper Galaxy A phone, nor is it a Galaxy S20 Lite — I think? The rumored device will still pack a multi-camera array, a big screen and what you’d probably expect from a midrange phone. Just expect fewer premium features, like lower resolution cameras, even if you still might get the smooth 120Hz display as the original S20.
You might not even have to make a choice: This phone might never appear in its current state or even make it to the US. Rest assured, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t stopped Samsung making countless permutations of its smartphones.
— Mat
Instagram starts merging chats with Facebook Messenger
Not that you can expect it to work, though.
Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, is slowing creeping towards unifying its multi-million dollar apps and services, whether you want it to or not. Reports over the weekend suggest that Instagram is offering the ability to message “friends who use Facebook” via Messenger.
While the signature paper airplane icon for DMs has been replaced with Messenger’s logo, I still can’t message Facebook friends just yet, suggesting the announcement might have come a little early. Continue reading.
Play the rare arcade version of 'Quake' on PC
No arcade cabinet required.
If Quake with the latest ray-tracing graphics does absolutely nothing for you, then maybe you want to step back in time, to 1998. The arcade edition of the 3D shooter, which most of us probably never played, is now playable on your PC, with some help from Github.
Quake Arcade Tournament Edition was a slight spin on id Software’s original game. It included the familiar single- and multiplayer elements, and you could even play deathmatch rounds if there were multiple cabinets. It also included random “instaprize” gift boxes that would dispense tokens for real-world gifts. Continue reading.
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There might be a school laptop shortage
Even older laptops might be problematic.
A report from Axios is pointing to acute laptop shortages as we head into the back-to-school season, particularly for Chromebooks. Acer America President Gregg Prendergast warned that his company was “not even close” to supplying enough Chrome OS laptops to support virtual classrooms. Acer has also just received government requests for “hundreds of thousands” of devices in California and Nevada.
Meanwhile, NPD Group Analyst Stephen Baker also warned that laptop sales have been 20 to 40 percent higher “every single week,” and a cursory check of Best Buy’s site showed that 24 out of 28 low-cost (under $400) Chromebooks were sold out.
Continue reading.
White House budget proposal focuses on AI and quantum tech push
Up by 30 percent.
The White House has proposed a 2021 non-defense budget that includes a roughly 30 percent increase in spending on AI and quantum computing. It would spend about $1.5 billion on AI work (versus $1.12 billion in 2020) and $699 million on quantum technology (versus $579 million).
Apparently, about $25 million of that spending would go toward the quantum internet plan, an ultra-secure network built for the future. Continue reading.
But wait, there’s more...
Apple Watch Series 5 drops to $299 at Walmart
The Joker and Poison Ivy are coming to 'Fortnite' on November 17th
