LG hints strongly at 5G foldable phones for 2019

In its recent financials, LG dropped in a tantalising morsel for the future of its smartphones in 2019: phones that come with 5G and could very well be foldable.

We've heard rumor of a flexible smartphone from the South Korean brand for a while now, with the first thoughts being that it would arrive at CES this year, but it seems that it's tipped for later in 2019.

In the latest financial results, LG believes it will have a strong year for its mobile division thanks to pushing ' 5G products and smartphones featuring different form factors'. That's likely to be on top of the more 'normal' LG G8 we expect to see at MWC 2019 in a few weeks' time.

• Here's what we know about the Galaxy S10 so far
• Will a new flexible phone help LG return to our best smartphone list?
• Here are all the 5G phones we're expecting this year

While it could be argued that 'different form factors' could be a mere flip phone or smaller 'standard' smartphone, flexible handsets are set to be the headline devices of this year, offering new form factors that bring real differentiation to the market.

If LG were to just be reinventing the normal black rectangle, it's hardly likely to believe that this would help propel it back towards growth.

With Samsung's Galaxy X / F handset rolling towards production, it's seems almost certain that LG will unleash something to compete, especially since it's been so vocal in proclaiming its own flexible displays in the past (and was one of the winners of CES this year with a rollable TV).

Still work to do

LG still has something of an issue in that, despite posting a group profit, the mobile division reported higher losses year on year as the brand continues to struggle in a competitive smartphone landscape.

The full-year operating loss for the mobile arm grew to $700m, where the overall business posted an operating profit of nearly $2.4bn.

It remains to be seen whether these losses can continue to be carried within the business, but having a mobile division and demonstrating innovation in this category is still an attractive move for an electronics firm, offering a demonstration platform for its other technologies in things like audio and the connected home.

That said, LG will really need to step up and offer some true differentiation in the smartphone market in 2019, as while it's got strong heritage in screen technology and audio quality, for instance, the likes of Samsung and Apple still maintain a healthy lead in the overall market.

Newer Chinese brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi and Honor are offering cheaper phones with high spec, while Huawei has rapidly moved up the smartphone charts by fusing strong performance in its flagship smartphones with hefty marketing campaigns.

With that in mind, LG really needs both a truly innovative handset and one that's marketed appropriately to start to head back towards growth for its mobile division, so it will be interesting to see if it throws both 5G and flexible technology into something new this year.

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Asus announces ZenBook 13, ZenBook 14 and ZenBook 15 notebooks in India

Asus has introduced three new additions to its ZenBook series in India, the ZenBook 13, ZenBook 14 and ZenBook 15. The three laptops are fairly lightweight and are targeted at users looking to upgrade to a very portable notebook which doesn't lack in performance. While it took Asus a couple of months to bring the new ZenBooks to India, now that they are, let's take a look at the specifications and prices.

Asus ZenBook 13: specifications, price

Claiming to be the world's smallest 13-inch laptop, the Asus ZenBook 13 is 16.9 mm thin and features a 13.3-inch Full HD display with NanoEdge design that makes way for a 95% screen to body ratio due to fairly thin side and bottom bezels (2.8mm - 3.3mm). The display is optimized for wide-viewing up to 178-degrees and has a 100% sRGB color gamut. 

The ZenBook 13 is available in two variants- with Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor clocked at 1.8GHz and with 8th gen Intel Core i5-8265U processor. Backing up the graphics is the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and discreet 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 to boot. Users can choose between 8GB or 16GB RAM and SSD storage options that include 256GB, 512GB and tops out at 1TB. The notebook is said to last 14 hours on a single charge.

Asus ZenBook 13 also features a digital NumberPad on the glass-covered touchpad. The base model of the ZenBook 13 starts at Rs 71,990 in Royal Blue, Icicle Silver color options.

 Asus ZenBook 14: specifications, price 

The Asus ZenBook 14 is 0.63-inches thin and weighs around 1.09kg. It features a 14-inch Full HD display with 92% screen to body ratio courtesy of 2.9mm and 3.3mm thin side and bottom bezels. The ZenBook 14 comes with Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor and Intel Core i5-8265U (8th gen) processor and based upon the variant you choose, the price starts at Rs 72,990.

Like the ZenBook 13, the 14-inch version also has the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card. Asus claims that the ZenBook 14 is able to last for up to 13 hours on a single charge.

  Asus ZenBook 15: specifications, price  

The top-end variant in the ZenBook series, the ZenBook 15 has a big 15.6-inch Full HD display with upto 92% screen to body ratio. Asus is offering the ZenBook 15 with  Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor and Intel Core i5-8265U (8th gen) processor. This is backed by the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discreet graphics card. There's an option to configure the RAM and storage options between 8GB/16GB and 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD storage.

The price of Asus ZenBook 15 starts at Rs 1,39,990 and it comes in Royal Blue, Icicle Silver color options.

• Also Read: POCO F1 secures a "respectable" DxOMark score of 91 points

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Optus announces plans for 5G home broadband with NBN speeds

With the NBN rollout expected to reach completion some time in 2020, Optus has announced it’s already planning an alternative high-speed internet option that uses its soon-to-be-available 5G technology.

The Australian telco has revealed it will be launching 5G Home Broadband in certain suburbs in Australia and has set a way for users to register their interest.

Although customers can already sign up for more info, the bulk of the 5G devices aren't scheduled for delivery until mid-2019, however Optus also states that “a limited number of customers may get a device sooner”.

• Best NBN & broadband plans in Australia compared

Plan details

So far, there is only one plan on offer, which will cost $70 per month on a 24-month contract and provide unlimited data at a minimum guaranteed speed of 50Mbps. If customers aren’t able to achieve this minimum speed, they can cancel the contract without any extra fees.

This minimum speed guarantee is likely in response to the penalties that the ACCC dished out in regards to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) falsely advertising their NBN speeds.

Optus has also announced some month-to-month plan options, but no further pricing details are available at this point. Considering Optus’ other plans of this nature, they will likely incur an upfront cost that includes the purchase of the 5G device.

As far as pricing is concerned, this $70 plan costs the same as the 50Mbps NBN plan also offered by Optus, however the NBN plan doesn’t have anything in the way of speed guarantees and only offers typical busy period speeds of 40Mbps.

• Australian NBN users could be entitled to a refund – here’s how to check

Limited launch

At present, only customers living in certain suburbs are able to apply, with residents outside these areas being told to check back with Optus regularly to see if it’s become available in their region.

NSW

• Bidwill
• Blackett
• Bonnyrigg
• Daleys Point
• Dharruk
• Emerton
• Glendenning
• Koolewong
• Lethbridge Park
• Minchinbury
• Niagara Park
• Phegans Bay
• Richmond Lowlands
• Shalvey
• Springfield
• St Huberts Island
• St Johns Park
• Tascott
• Tregear
• Warriewood
• Warwick Farm
• Woy Woy Bay
• Yattalunga

QLD

• Auchenflower
• Bellbird Park
• Brookwater
• Burpengary
• Camira
• Clayfield
• Gailes
• Goodna
• Kallangur
• Kenmore
• Kenmore Hills
• Macgregor
• Newmarket

ACT

• Barton
• Campbell
• Dickson
• Franklin
• Harrison
• Mitchell
• Russell
• Wanniassa
• Weetangera

SA

• Old Reynella
• Reynella East
• Trott Park

WA

• Bellevue
• City Beach
• Eden Hill
• Henderson
• Hilton
• Kiara
• Lockridge
• Midland
• Mosman Park
• Orange Grove
• South Guildford
• Wattleup
• White Gum Valley

These select suburbs are only in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT at the moment, with other states and territories being told that “5G is not currently being rolled out” in their respective area and to "check back" later.

• The fastest NBN plans in Australia

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Apple takes action against Facebook following latest privacy scandal

Despite the odd hiccup, over the last couple of years Apple has become a strong proponent of safeguarding user privacy. Facebook, it seems, didn’t get the memo.

Immediately following the news that the social media giant paid users to install a “research” app that tracks and records phone and web activity, Apple revoked Facebook’s enterprise developer certificate. This countermand means Facebook’s internal iOS apps, including those used by employees for food and transportation, have been blocked.

The Verge reports that beta versions of Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp have stopped working, and that “Facebook is treating this as a critical problem”.

More than a slap on the wrist

This isn’t the first time Facebook has done something underhanded. Hot on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica scandal came the news that Facebook’s Onavo Protect VPN app was collecting user data, something that has been against Apple’s guidelines since last year. Apple banned the app in June 2018 and, by August, it was removed from the App Store. 

Despite being warned, Facebook decided to circumvent the App Store to distribute the “Project Atlas” research app (as first reported by TechCrunch) by taking advantage of Apple’s Developer Enterprise Program which allows business partners to test and distribute apps to their own employees without any review from Apple.

In a statement, the Cupertino firm said that the Program was designed “solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organization”. 

“Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which is what we did in this case to protect our users and their data,” the tech giant added.

Crippling effect

The internal versions of Facebook apps used by employees carry bits of code for updates or new features that aren’t available to the public. By revoking Facebook’s enterprise developer certificate, Apple has stopped these apps from even launching on employee handsets, thereby severely limiting Facebook’s ability to create new apps or update existing ones for iOS.

Facebook is currently trying to negotiate with Apple to get the apps working on employee devices, but there seems to be some chatter about Apple completely removing Facebook-owned apps from the App Store.

However, Facebook isn’t the only company guilty of violating Apple’s Developer Enterprise Program. TechCrunch found that Google’s ScreenWise Meter app is also guilty of doing the same. Google, however, has told TechCrunch that it will remove the app from the Program and disable it on iOS devices.

• How to delete Facebook

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Mysterious bug bricked Xbox One consoles for a few hours on Wednesday

Some astronomical anomalies happen so fast that, by the time you look out your window, they’re already over. Such was the case on Wednesday when a mysterious error stopped Xbox One consoles from booting up properly, instead displaying a permanent black screen, or failing to log into Xbox Live for folks who managed to get past the startup screen.

Reports started coming in Wednesday morning EST that gamers couldn’t get their Xbox One to properly boot up despite restarting the console multiple times and were reaching out to Xbox Support for solutions to the problem. 

Xbox Support acknowledged the issue around 1pm EST in a tweet and pointed concerned parties to the Xbox Live Status Page that allows you to see which services are operational in real time.

Unfortunately, and somewhat comically, the status services page was down, too. 

By around 3:30pm EST Xbox Support had confirmed on Twitter that the issue had been resolved and gamers could get back online – though Xbox Support didn’t elaborate on what, exactly, caused the errors in the first place. (Major Nelson tweeted that it was a service update that needed to be rolled back.)

A bad day for an outage

While outages occur fairly regularly on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, this error was particularly bad as it completely prevented people from playing their games – both online and offline.

The outage occurred just as America was going through a severe cold spell and gamers weren't all that happy that the error prevented them from partaking in some snow day gaming.

In the end, despite the amazing memes and a few threats to join PlayStation Nation, all things were resolved and all battle stations are operational.

• These are the best Xbox One games

http://bit.ly/2Sfh6gn

Chromebooks are Windows’ greatest enemy, Microsoft earnings reveal

Microsoft just posted its second quarter 2019 financial results and almost everything across the board looks positive.

The company reported revenue of $32.5 billion and net income of $8.4 billion, which are both sharp increases over the company’s $28.9 billion in revenue and $7.5 billion net income from last year. 

Since last year, Microsoft reports that its Surface revenue has grown by 39% and gaming by 8% with a total 64 million active Xbox Live users during the holidays. On top of that, Intelligent Cloud revenue went up by 20%.

The only red spot on Microsoft’s earnings reports was a slip in revenue from Windows licenses. OEM Pro revenue went down by 5% this quarter and consumer licenses brought in 11% less revenue as well. 

Who's stealing Microsoft's business? The Chrome Caper

The software maker laid blame on continued pressure from the entry-level category, which we assume would be Chromebooks.

Considering Microsoft just released the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2 and Surface Headphones just last quarter, we imagine and hope Microsoft will introduce another affordable product like the Surface Go. 

There’s a definite hole in the company’s product family for a truly affordable laptop and it could be what it just needs to fix the biggest weakness of its latest financial report. 

• Could Window Lite be Microsoft answer for Chrome OS

http://bit.ly/2UymMzT

iPhone 11 may get a triple-lens camera, but not iPhone 12's laser 3D snappers

Apple's iPhone 11 will have a triple-lens rear camera, but it's the iPhone 12 that will include space-sensing laser-powered 3D snappers, according to a new report today.

Everything about the 2019 iPhones, what we're calling the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max today, focuses on the rear cameras, as detailed in a scoop by Bloomberg.

The triple-lens camera is said to add the ability to take wide-angle photos and videos, something that the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and LG V40 can do, but not an iPhone.

The iPhone 11 Max seems destined to get the triple-lens rear camera first, while the standard iPhone and iPhone XR may get the three-camera hardware "eventually."

More camera tricks await, apparently. An increased pixel count may lead to software that can repair a video or photo if the intended subject gets cut out of the frame.

Other iPhone 11 upgrades planned

Live Photos, first introduced with the iPhone 6S in 2015, could get its first upgrade in four years. Instead of capturing motion three seconds before and after a photo is taken, Apple's plans are said to be double this, bumping it up to six seconds.

Today's report weighs in on the on-again, off-again rumor that the iPhone 11 will include USB-C instead of the traditional Lightning connector. Apparently, Apple is testing some versions of this year's iPhone with a USB-C port.

We've seen alleged iPhone 11 prototypes claiming that Lightning is staying put and others indicating that USB-C will be the new charging method. It sounds like Apple isn't even sure yet.

No-brainer upgrades are said to be coming to Apple's processor, likely the A13 chip, and Face ID sensor. iPad Pro 2018, you may recall, got an upgraded Face ID camera.

iPhone 12 with laser-powered 3D camera?

It's never too early to begin talking about the 2020 iPhone, or what we're calling the iPhone 12 for now. It's destined to include some nifty new technology, too.

Apple is said to be bringing its 3D camera technology to the rear-facing camera, but unlike the TrueDepth camera's dotmatrix projection technology, it'll use a laser scanner.

The iPhone 12's laser-powered 3D snapper would be able to work up to 15 feet away, whereas a dotmatrix projection works at distances of 25 to 50cm, suitable for Face ID.

Apple may have more ambitious augmented reality (AR) plans in 2020, with talk of more accurate depth perception and placement of virtual objects in today's report.

Where will Apple's 3D laser camera land first?

Apple's laser-powered 3D camera was destined for the iPhone 11, say Bloomberg's sources, but the tech was delayed. Expect a triple-lens camera this year sans lasers.

However, we could see the idea in an iPad Pro a bit earlier than the iPhone 12. The report suggests that the next iPad Pro could debut in the early part of 2020.

Apple tends to wait a little longer than a year to refresh its iPad Pro line. The iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 launched last November, so the timing on this rumor makes sense, and it means you shouldn't expect a new iPad Pro in 2019.

• Best iPad 2019

http://bit.ly/2B9Yk0s