THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature APPLE WWDC 2021 KEYNOTE LIVE BLOG: IOS 15, IPADOS, MACOS Live blog: Apple’s 2021 WWDC keynote with iOS 15, iPadOS, and more. Apple’s 2021 Worldwide Developers Conference is upon us again, and we will be tracking all of the new software announcements WAABI, THE RARE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE STARTUP WITH A WOMAN Waabi is an autonomous vehicle startup founded by computer vision luminary Raquel Urtasun, who formerly helped lead Uber’s AV division

in Toronto. The

THE SUPREME COURT PARED DOWN A CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-HACKING The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial anti-hacking law which bans “exceeding authorized access” on a computer system,

was

APPLE EMPLOYEES PUSH BACK AGAINST RETURNING TO THE OFFICE Apple staff members say they want a flexible approach where those who want to work remote can do so. Tim Cook sent out a note two days ago MICROSOFT TO REVEAL ITS NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS ON JUNE Microsoft is planning to detail its “next generation of Windows” at an event later this month. The software giant has started sending invites to media for a Windows event on June 24th. SWEET TOOTH REVIEW: NETFLIX’S NEW SHOW IS A WARMER TAKE ON The main character of Netflix’s new series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic by Jeff Lemire, is a young boy struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a pandemic. But while the world around him GO READ THIS STORY ABOUT WHY IT’S TIME TO SCRAP RACIST Washington Post environmental justice reporter Darryl Fears breaks down a legacy of racism within birding.There’s a growing movement to

change birds

MICROSOFT TEASES A ‘NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS Microsoft is teasing a "next generation" of Windows coming very soon. CEO Satya Nadella revealed at Build 2021 that Microsoft is making some store changes for Windows developers. HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature APPLE WWDC 2021 KEYNOTE LIVE BLOG: IOS 15, IPADOS, MACOS Live blog: Apple’s 2021 WWDC keynote with iOS 15, iPadOS, and more. Apple’s 2021 Worldwide Developers Conference is upon us again, and we will be tracking all of the new software announcements WAABI, THE RARE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE STARTUP WITH A WOMAN Waabi is an autonomous vehicle startup founded by computer vision luminary Raquel Urtasun, who formerly helped lead Uber’s AV division

in Toronto. The

THE SUPREME COURT PARED DOWN A CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-HACKING The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial anti-hacking law which bans “exceeding authorized access” on a computer system,

was

APPLE EMPLOYEES PUSH BACK AGAINST RETURNING TO THE OFFICE Apple staff members say they want a flexible approach where those who want to work remote can do so. Tim Cook sent out a note two days ago MICROSOFT TO REVEAL ITS NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS ON JUNE Microsoft is planning to detail its “next generation of Windows” at an event later this month. The software giant has started sending invites to media for a Windows event on June 24th. SWEET TOOTH REVIEW: NETFLIX’S NEW SHOW IS A WARMER TAKE ON The main character of Netflix’s new series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic by Jeff Lemire, is a young boy struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a pandemic. But while the world around him GO READ THIS STORY ABOUT WHY IT’S TIME TO SCRAP RACIST Washington Post environmental justice reporter Darryl Fears breaks down a legacy of racism within birding.There’s a growing movement to

change birds

MICROSOFT TEASES A ‘NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS Microsoft is teasing a "next generation" of Windows coming very soon. CEO Satya Nadella revealed at Build 2021 that Microsoft is making some store changes for Windows developers. HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. WATCH THE FIRST TRAILER FOR UBISOFT’S GORGEOUS AVATAR GAME 3 hours ago · At its E3 2021 keynote, Ubisoft revealed the first trailer for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, which is coming to the Xbox Series X, PS5, PC, Stadia, and Amazon Luna in 2022. NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAKS IN ASIA COULD EXACERBATE THE GLOBAL 6 hours ago · New outbreaks of COVID-19 in Asia could create delays in the global supply chain and exacerbate the global semiconductor shortage, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. MICROSOFT TEASES A ‘NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS Microsoft is teasing a "next generation" of Windows coming very soon. CEO Satya Nadella revealed at Build 2021 that Microsoft is making some store changes for Windows developers. PHARMA IS WINNING THE BIG BUSINESS POPULARITY CONTEST 9 hours ago · COVID-19 vaccines made pharma more popular, while tech’s ratings took a nosedive over the past year. Also this week, research showed why the Alpha coronavirus variant spreads so quickly. RAINBOW SIX EXTRACTION IS FULL OF CREEPY ALIENS IN NEW 3 hours ago · Rainbow Six Extraction, formerly known as Quarantine, is a PvE experience featuring creep aliens, which launches on September 16th for the Xbox One, Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC. UNPLUGGED LETS YOU PLAY AIR GUITAR IN VR THIS FALL 41 minutes ago · The studio behind the upcoming virtual reality air guitar game Unplugged gave an update on the game at the Upload VR Showcase on Saturday and revealed one big band that will be part of

the soundtrack.

TWO FAR CRY ANIMATED SHOWS ARE COMING TO NETFLIX 1 day ago · Ubisoft and Netflix on Friday shared a first look at a new series based on Far Cry and announced that another is set to debut on the streaming service.. One Far Cry series is NEW IPAD PRO AD FEATURES CLASSIC SONG FROM ‘THE LITTLE 5 hours ago · Apple’s YouTube page currently has an unlisted video for an iPad Pro ad featuring the song "Part of Your World" from Disney’s iconic animated film The Little Mermaid. It’s a good ad. APPLE ANNOUNCED APP PRIVACY REPORT, CHANGES TO MAIL AND Apple has always stressed user privacy as part of its core mission. At its WWDC 2021 event, it announced it would be adding a spate of powerful new functions to Mail and Safari, as well as giving BACTERIA GET A FRESH GIG AS ART RESTORERS IN ITALY Bacteria get a fresh gig as art restorers in Italy. An image of Michalangelo’s The Day, part of the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici. This image was taken in 2002, long before bacteria got a chance THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature SENATE APPROVES BILLIONS FOR US SEMICONDUCTOR The Senate approved a sweeping science and technology bill, including over $50 billion to boost competitiveness in US semiconductor manufacturing amid an ongoing global chip shortage. WAABI, THE RARE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE STARTUP WITH A WOMAN Waabi is an autonomous vehicle startup founded by computer vision luminary Raquel Urtasun, who formerly helped lead Uber’s AV division

in Toronto. The

THE FBI SECRETLY LAUNCHED AN ENCRYPTED MESSAGING SYSTEM The FBI, Australian Federal Police, Europol, and other agencies announced 800 arrests as part of Greenlight / Trojan Shield, a sting operation based on a APPLE EMPLOYEES PUSH BACK AGAINST RETURNING TO THE OFFICE Apple staff members say they want a flexible approach where those who want to work remote can do so. Tim Cook sent out a note two days ago THE SUPREME COURT PARED DOWN A CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-HACKING The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial anti-hacking law which bans “exceeding authorized access” on a computer system,

was

HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. GO READ THIS STORY ABOUT WHY IT’S TIME TO SCRAP RACIST Washington Post environmental justice reporter Darryl Fears breaks down a legacy of racism within birding.There’s a growing movement to

change birds

DONALD TRUMP’S ‘SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM’ HAS LAUNCHED AND IT After months of promising his own social media network for banned posters, former President Donald Trump on launched a new section of his website that’s more similar to a WATCH DEXTER CREEPILY SMILE AGAIN IN THE FIRST TEASER The first teaser trailer for the Dexter sequel features a cabin in the woods and Michael C. Hall’s face. It’s for a 10-episode limited series on Showtime that’ll arrive in Fall 2021, picking THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature SENATE APPROVES BILLIONS FOR US SEMICONDUCTOR The Senate approved a sweeping science and technology bill, including over $50 billion to boost competitiveness in US semiconductor manufacturing amid an ongoing global chip shortage. WAABI, THE RARE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE STARTUP WITH A WOMAN Waabi is an autonomous vehicle startup founded by computer vision luminary Raquel Urtasun, who formerly helped lead Uber’s AV division

in Toronto. The

THE FBI SECRETLY LAUNCHED AN ENCRYPTED MESSAGING SYSTEM The FBI, Australian Federal Police, Europol, and other agencies announced 800 arrests as part of Greenlight / Trojan Shield, a sting operation based on a APPLE EMPLOYEES PUSH BACK AGAINST RETURNING TO THE OFFICE Apple staff members say they want a flexible approach where those who want to work remote can do so. Tim Cook sent out a note two days ago THE SUPREME COURT PARED DOWN A CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-HACKING The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial anti-hacking law which bans “exceeding authorized access” on a computer system,

was

HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. GO READ THIS STORY ABOUT WHY IT’S TIME TO SCRAP RACIST Washington Post environmental justice reporter Darryl Fears breaks down a legacy of racism within birding.There’s a growing movement to

change birds

DONALD TRUMP’S ‘SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM’ HAS LAUNCHED AND IT After months of promising his own social media network for banned posters, former President Donald Trump on launched a new section of his website that’s more similar to a WATCH DEXTER CREEPILY SMILE AGAIN IN THE FIRST TEASER The first teaser trailer for the Dexter sequel features a cabin in the woods and Michael C. Hall’s face. It’s for a 10-episode limited series on Showtime that’ll arrive in Fall 2021, picking MICROSOFT IS GETTING BACK INTO PHYSICAL RETAIL Microsoft is returning to selling products at brick-and-mortar stores, kind of. The software giant will start selling products at its “Experience Centers” in London, New York City, and Sydney SWEET TOOTH REVIEW: NETFLIX’S NEW SHOW IS A WARMER TAKE ON The main character of Netflix’s new series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic by Jeff Lemire, is a young boy struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a pandemic. But while the world around him BIDEN’S PROPOSED BUDGET KEEPS A BLOCK ON RECREATIONAL WEED A rider that has effectively blocked recreational cannabis for years in Washington, DC appears in President Joe Biden’s proposed 2022

budget,

BACTERIA GET A FRESH GIG AS ART RESTORERS IN ITALY Bacteria get a fresh gig as art restorers in Italy. An image of Michalangelo’s The Day, part of the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici. This image was taken in 2002, long before bacteria got a chance THE FOUNDER OF LIDAR MAKER VELODYNE IS GOING TO WAR WITH By Andrew J. Hawkins @andyjayhawk May 25, 2021, 1:03pm EDT. David Hall, the founder of leading lidar manufacturer Velodyne, is going to

war with

GOOGLE TO USE PATIENT DATA TO DEVELOP HEALTHCARE Google has made a deal for access to patient records from HCA, which which operates 181 hospitals and more than 2,000 healthcare sites in 21 states, so the tech company can develop healthcare FORD STARTS TAKING $100 DEPOSITS FOR NEW F-150 LIGHTNING Ford’s F-150 Lightning has just been revealed, and you can reserve one at Ford’s website. A refundable deposit of $100 is required. Orders can be completed in fall of 2021, ahead of deliveries PELOTON: IT ‘COULD TAKE MONTHS’ TO BRING TREADMILL BACK Peloton says it’ll take months to get its Tread Plus treadmill back on the market. The cheaper Tread model could arrive sooner, in July 2021, after fixing a screw. GOOGLE GOES NUCLEAR AGAINST ROKU BY ADDING YOUTUBE TV TO Google is escalating its ongoing dispute with Roku by letting customers stream YouTube TV directly through the YouTube app. The two sides have been unable to THESE NEW 3D-PRINTED HOMES IN AUSTIN ARE GOING FOR $450K ICON used its massive Vulcan 3D printer to create the first floors of four houses in East Austin, Texas. Each of the houses is between 1,000 and 2,000 square feet. THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature MICROSOFT LOOKS READY TO LAUNCH WINDOWS 11 Microsoft looks ready to launch Windows 11. Microsoft has been teasing a “next generation” of Windows for months now, but new hints

suggest

HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. BACTERIA GET A FRESH GIG AS ART RESTORERS IN ITALY Bacteria get a fresh gig as art restorers in Italy. An image of Michalangelo’s The Day, part of the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici. This image was taken in 2002, long before bacteria got a chance MICROSOFT TEASES A ‘NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS Microsoft is teasing a "next generation" of Windows coming very soon. CEO Satya Nadella revealed at Build 2021 that Microsoft is making some store changes for Windows developers. GOOGLE TO USE PATIENT DATA TO DEVELOP HEALTHCARE Google has made a deal for access to patient records from HCA, which which operates 181 hospitals and more than 2,000 healthcare sites in 21 states, so the tech company can develop healthcare MICROSOFT IS FINALLY RETIRING INTERNET EXPLORER IN 2022 Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer. The web browser will no longer be supported next year, and Microsoft is dropping support for IE11 on its services later in 2021. APPLE’S NEW PRIVACY AD IMAGINES THANOS-SNAPPING YOURCLICK TO

VIEW1:08

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.5 doesn’t seem to be a difficult concept to grasp; initial estimates suggest as many as 96 percent of US users are leaping at the chance DONALD TRUMP’S ‘SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM’ HAS LAUNCHED AND IT After months of promising his own social media network for banned posters, former President Donald Trump on launched a new section of his website that’s more similar to a FORD STARTS TAKING $100 DEPOSITS FOR NEW F-150 LIGHTNING Ford’s F-150 Lightning has just been revealed, and you can reserve one at Ford’s website. A refundable deposit of $100 is required. Orders can be completed in fall of 2021, ahead of deliveries THE VERGEMICROSOFTTECHREVIEWSSCIENCECREATORSENTERTAINMENT The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture. Its mission is to offer in-depth reporting and long-form feature MICROSOFT LOOKS READY TO LAUNCH WINDOWS 11 Microsoft looks ready to launch Windows 11. Microsoft has been teasing a “next generation” of Windows for months now, but new hints

suggest

HOW TO OPT OUT OF (OR INTO) AMAZON’S SIDEWALK NETWORK Sidewalk, Amazon’s new connection bridge between its devices, will get automatically switched on this coming June 8th. It’s actually pretty easy to opt out — we tell you how. BACTERIA GET A FRESH GIG AS ART RESTORERS IN ITALY Bacteria get a fresh gig as art restorers in Italy. An image of Michalangelo’s The Day, part of the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici. This image was taken in 2002, long before bacteria got a chance MICROSOFT TEASES A ‘NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS Microsoft is teasing a "next generation" of Windows coming very soon. CEO Satya Nadella revealed at Build 2021 that Microsoft is making some store changes for Windows developers. GOOGLE TO USE PATIENT DATA TO DEVELOP HEALTHCARE Google has made a deal for access to patient records from HCA, which which operates 181 hospitals and more than 2,000 healthcare sites in 21 states, so the tech company can develop healthcare MICROSOFT IS FINALLY RETIRING INTERNET EXPLORER IN 2022 Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer. The web browser will no longer be supported next year, and Microsoft is dropping support for IE11 on its services later in 2021. APPLE’S NEW PRIVACY AD IMAGINES THANOS-SNAPPING YOURCLICK TO

VIEW1:08

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.5 doesn’t seem to be a difficult concept to grasp; initial estimates suggest as many as 96 percent of US users are leaping at the chance DONALD TRUMP’S ‘SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM’ HAS LAUNCHED AND IT After months of promising his own social media network for banned posters, former President Donald Trump on launched a new section of his website that’s more similar to a FORD STARTS TAKING $100 DEPOSITS FOR NEW F-150 LIGHTNING Ford’s F-150 Lightning has just been revealed, and you can reserve one at Ford’s website. A refundable deposit of $100 is required. Orders can be completed in fall of 2021, ahead of deliveries MICROSOFT TO REVEAL ITS NEXT GENERATION OF WINDOWS ON JUNE Microsoft is planning to detail its “next generation of Windows” at an event later this month. The software giant has started sending invites to media for a Windows event on June 24th. UNITED AIRLINES IS BUYING 15 SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT FROM BOOM Update June 3rd, 12:46PM ET: United said it would purchase 15 jets from Boom Supersonic, with the option to buy 35 more, for a total of 50 aircraft. Also, Boom has said that its tickets would cost THE GOVERNMENT’S BEEN WORRIED ABOUT DJI DRONES The government has been so worried about equipment from Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei acting as part of its network

infrastructure

ACER CHROMEBOOK SPIN 713 (2021) REVIEW: VICTORY LAP Acer has made three significant upgrades to the best-in-class Chromebook Spin 713. The first is that the device now has Intel’s newest 11th Gen processors. The second is that the USB-C ports MICROSOFT AND QUALCOMM TEAM UP TO CREATE A WINDOWS ON ARM Microsoft has teamed up with Qualcomm to create a Windows on ARM-based dev kit for developers. The miniature PC will be sold at the Microsoft

Store this

GOOGLE’S NEW TOOL WILL IDENTIFY SKIN CONDITIONS Google announced a new tool to help people identify skin conditions. Experts don’t have much information on how symptom-checkers like this influence people’s management of their healthcare. MICROSOFT’S NEW OUTLOOK CALENDAR BOARD VIEW LOOKS A LOT A new Outlook calendar board view is coming soon to Outlook for the web, and it works a lot like Trello. It’s a new dynamic view that will let you organize meetings alongside tasks, notes, goals ANKER’S SECOND-GENERATION NANO II GAN CHARGERS ARE EVEN Anker’s GaN (gallium nitride) chargers are some of the best around, offering tiny sizes but powerful charging capabilities. Now, the company is introducing its second-generation GaN-based PELOTON: IT ‘COULD TAKE MONTHS’ TO BRING TREADMILL BACK Peloton says it’ll take months to get its Tread Plus treadmill back on the market. The cheaper Tread model could arrive sooner, in July 2021, after fixing a screw. WATCH DEXTER CREEPILY SMILE AGAIN IN THE FIRST TEASER The first teaser trailer for the Dexter sequel features a cabin in the woods and Michael C. Hall’s face. It’s for a 10-episode limited series on Showtime that’ll arrive in Fall 2021, picking Skip to main content clock menu more-arrow no yes

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THE GALAXY Z FLIP IS NEAT, BUT THE GALAXY S20 IS IMPORTANT

New,

3 comments

The S20, the S20 Plus, and the S20 Ultra loom larger — literally they’re huge phones By Dieter Bohn @backlon Feb 12, 2020, 7:00am EST

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Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Well! Yesterday was a day. I live-blogged the Samsung Unpacked keynote

,

where the Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra were announced alongside the Galaxy Z Flip folding phone. If there’s one big takeaway from Samsung’s presentation, it’s that DJ Koh has very much handed the reins of the mobile division to the newly-promoted TM Roh

.

On to the phones. Samsung skipped the usual corporate preamble and jumped immediately into the Z Flip unveiling. It was a flex (pun intended) and it worked to energize the crowd. Of course, we still got the corporate overview from Roh and a pile of partnership deals (Samsung loves them so much). Instead of a corporate preamble we got a

corporate amble.

Anyway, all of these phones had leaked but the big surprise is how good the Z Flip is. Samsung isn’t saying who makes the glass screen beyond that it’s being made in collaboration with a partner. Compared to plastic folding screens, it’s night and day. I was less surprised by the various Galaxy S20 phones. Samsung has been iterating on this basic design for many years and and it knows what it is doing. As you’ll read below, that causes a bit of cognitive dissonance. But that might just be me, because I will tell you that the Galaxy S20 phones, despite being “more of the same but _more,_” garnered way more audience interest than the Z Flip. Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge In other words, the Z Flip is cool, but what people are really going to do is buy the S20 when upgrade time comes. Whether Samsung can convince people to do that upgrading a little earlier than usual is harder to discern. Bottom line, though, is the S20 is where Samsung’s bread is buttered and our audience was right to pay more attention to the more consequential thing. Now come the questions: will 5G matter? Will the cameras live up to Samsung’s very inflated rhetoric? Stand by for a review. But yesterday was also _a day_ because while I was busy at a phone event, the rest of the _Verge_ was absorbing and writing about more monumental happenings. For the purposes of this newsletter, the T-Mobile Sprint merger approval tops the list, but a real preview of Windows 10X is in that mix too. There’s plenty for you to read below in the link list and when you click through in today’s newsletter, so the above is it from me for now. There will also be plenty more to come about the merger, the phones, and Windows 10X. You are reading _Processor_, a newsletter about computers by Dieter Bohn. Dieter writes about consumer tech, software, and the most important news of the day from _The Verge_. This newsletter delivers about four times a week, at least a couple of which include longer essays. You can subscribe to _Processor_ and learn more about it here . _Processor_ is also a YouTube series with the same goal: providing smart and surprising analysis with a bit of humor. Subscribe to all of _The Verge_’s

great videos here

!

By subscribing, you are agreeing to receive a daily newsletter from _The Verge_ that highlights top stories of the day, as well as occasional messages from sponsors and / or partners of _The Verge_. VERY BIG NON-SAMSUNG NEWS ┏ T-MOBILE AND SPRINT WIN LAWSUIT AND WILL BE ALLOWED TO MERGE

.

You can probably guess that I think this is a bad decision. We’ll have a full legal analysis up soon, but in the short term I encourage you to at least skim the introductory segments, which will make you think you are losing your mind. It boils down to something like “the future is unknowable and all experts are biased and honestly the idea of pretending otherwise through a long trial sounds exhausting so fuck it they can merge.” > In his decision, Southern District of New York judge Victor Marrero > rejected that argument. “The court concludes that the proposed > merger is not reasonably likely to substantially lessen competition > in the” mobile service market, Marrero wrote, and would likely > “enhance competition in the relevant markets to the benefit of all

> consumers.”

┏ FEDS CLAIM HUAWEI CAN SNOOP ON MOBILE NETWORKS

.

For some time now, I’ve been frustrated by the significant gap between the strident rhetoric from US officials and the evidence they failed to provide to back it up. It introduced the worry that the security fears were actually just a feint in the trade war. I never bought that, I always thought the concern was sincere. But truly, with allegations of spying you want to see something. Yesterday’s revelations aren’t quite the full disclosure I’ve been hoping for, but they’re still very significant. > the justifications for those sanctions have remained vague and > clouded by secrecy. Now, officials are getting specific, claiming > the Chinese hardware manufacturer has maintained backdoors into some > of the networks it builds, starting as early as 4G equipment sold in > 2009. There’s also no hard evidence of the capability, but the > claims are more specific than ever, and now coming from some of the > nation’s top national security officials. ┏ AMAZON, GOOGLE, AND FACEBOOK ORDERED TO TURN OVER EVIDENCE FOR FAR-REACHING FTC MERGER REVIEW

.

This is either huge news or nothingburger news and we won’t know for some time. If the FTC makes good on a threat to “unwind” mergers, it’s potentially huge. But even then it won’t affect the big ones, which the FTC already reviewed. If the FTC just uses it to inform future decisions which will be heavily lobbied anyway, do you like ketchup on your nothingburger?

MORE FROM SAMSUNG

┏ ALL OF THE BIGGEST ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20 EVENT

.

Here’s the big stuff from Samsung in a digestible form, if you want to just get caught up quick. Otherwise, here are some extra thoughts I had after checking out all the phones in person, attending Samsung’s keynote, and talking to a lot of people. ┏ SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20, PLUS, AND ULTRA FIRST LOOK: CAMERAS, 5G,

AND 120HZ SCREENS

.

Here’s my big look at the big phones, all three of them, including video. I tried to get at this a bit, but these phones really are simultaneously exciting and kind of boring. They have every feature you could possible ask for in an Android phone, and yet they are still “just” Galaxy phones and look like them. But calling them boring isn’t fair and I don’t actually think that. The screens are incredible and we shouldn’t take that for granted. And I cannot wait to dig into these cameras to see if Samsung’s grandiose claims have any relationship to reality. Samsung needs to catch up to Apple and Google a bit in that department. ┏ HOW SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20 ULTRA ACHIEVES ITS 100X ZOOM

.

Jon Porter does a fine job here and this is worth a read, but I still am going to remain skeptical until I can try it for real in a review. I spoke to some Samsung reps at length about pixel binning and demosaicing today. Here’s how Samsung put it: The 108MP sensor separates the RBG pixels in such a way that you get more of the benefits you’d normally get from a larger micron size (like better low light performance). Then when you go to full 108MP instead of the binned 12MP shot it demosaics to achieve that resolution. What I wish Samsung had said is simply this: it’s a Quad Bayer

array.

Idrees Patel at _XDA developers_ has much more detail on how it works

on the S20

.

┏ SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FLIP FIRST LOOK: FOLDING GLASS CHANGES EVERYTHING

.

My hands on, including video. Anyway, I will have much more to say with this phone very soon, but in the meantime this sums up some of

it:

> I’m not 100 percent sold on having the hinge provide so much > resistance, but I do think Samsung has figured some of its folding > problems out. It’s a shame the first introductions to folding > phones were so compromised, because this seems really promising. ┏ HERE’S HOW SAMSUNG’S GALAXY S20 STACKS UP AGAINST THE PIXEL 4,

AND ONEPLUS 7T

and here is HOW IT COMPARES WITH THE IPHONE 11

.

┏ SAMSUNG CONFIRMS ITS AIRDROP-LIKE ‘QUICK SHARE’ IS LAUNCHING

ON THE GALAXY S20

.

It’s a bummer that this is Galaxy-only. The lack of a convenient Wi-Fi direct sharing protocol for Android is one of those invisible problems. AirDrop really is great and Android/Windows people don’t know what they’re missing out on. I don’t have any inside information on what Google’s hopefully more universal solution will be, but I do have fact to share: it’s long overdue. VERGE DEAL OF THE DAY SEVERAL XBOX ONE GAMES ARE DISCOUNTED RIGHT NOW If you’re in need for a new game or two for your Xbox One, you can get some good prices on digital games right now over at the Microsoft Store. Just to name a few noteworthy titles included in the sale, _Assassin’s Creed Odyssey_ is $14.99 (usually $60), _Tom Clancy’s The Division 2_ is $2.99 (usually $60), _BioShock: The Collection_ is $11.99 (usually $60). The list goes on, so check it out

.

WINDOWS 10X FINALLY STARTS TO BECOME CLEAR ┏ A FIRST LOOK AT MICROSOFT’S NEW WINDOWS 10X OPERATING SYSTEM FOR

DUAL SCREENS

.

Tom Warren has a good set of first impressions of Windows 10X. Here’s my take: it is the first desktop OS (which is an antiquated term but I guess it’s the best we have) that fully integrates the UI ideas we’ve learned from mobile. A lot of people are pointing to Windows 8 as the precursor for some of these changes and sure, I buy that. But I think the real inspiration here is that Microsoft can piggy back off all the skills we’ve built up using phones and tablets. Comparing Windows 10X’s constraints, possibilities, and interface choices with iPadOS is going to be a lot of very fun work. ┏ MICROSOFT PROMISES WINDOWS 10X UPDATES WILL TAKE ‘LESS THAN 90

SECONDS’

.

Basically, it sounds like Microsoft is keeping a separate partition which has the updated OS installed to it. Then at boot it can just switch to that partition and the next update can be applied to the old partition. Android has this capability, and it’s another example of Windows 10X taking a good mobile idea and applying it to Windows. ┏ MICROSOFT’S NEW WINDOWS 10X EMULATOR LETS ANYONE PLAY AROUND WITH THE DUAL-SCREEN OS

.

You can play around with it yourself, but it takes some doing. ┏ MICROSOFT BACKTRACKS ON PLANS TO FORCE CHROME DEFAULT SEARCH TO

BING

.

Good. The more I thought about the angrier I got. Microsoft was using Office 365 (its popular, widely used software) to change the behavior of an unrelated app it doesn’t even make (Google Chrome) to use Bing (its unpopular, little used search engine). Zero parts of that chain of causality are appropriate.

MORE FROM THE VERGE

┏ THE HIGH COST OF A FREE CODING BOOTCAMP

.

Important story from Zoe Schiffer and Megan Farokhmanesh. I think I might actually like the idea of an Income Sharing Agreement instead of tuition for certain types of schooling, but only if it protects students at least as much as it protects the schools. The power imbalance here is a big problem, so when the classes ended up being a mess there was little the students could do. ┏ NVIDIA’S GEFORCE NOW IS LOSING ALL ACTIVISION BLIZZARD GAMES, A BAD SIGN FOR CLOUD GAMING

.

Like me, Sean Hollister draws a connection to the fights cable channels have with cable networks all the time. Bummed that my vague fear this is coming to streaming games so quickly became a reality. > It makes me wonder if we should expect nasty carriage negotiations > to play out regularly in gaming like they already do in the pay TV > world, holding our favorite programs hostage until one party or the > other provides a slightly bigger piece of the action. AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MORECoronavirus data from outside the outbreak epicenter is just as valuable as from the inside

NEXT UP IN TECH

GOOD DEALS

*

Dell’s XPS 13 with a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor is $400 off

Starting at $799

*

Samsung’s Galaxy S10E, S10, and S10 Plus are $150 off Last year’s phones are still a smart investment

*

Microsoft’s Surface Go is more affordable than ever today Plus, there’s another chance to save on the Pixel 4 and Jabra Elite 65t

*

This weekend, save on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, truly wireless earphones, and the PS4 Pro The best deals we’ve seen all week

*

Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is discounted at Best Buy If you prefer Windows 10, HP and Alienware laptops are cheaper, too

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