Vivo X Note 評測：稱「大」王

自華為的 Mate 20 X 以後，手機行業基本就沒再有過真正旗艦定位的超大尺寸手機，實際上隨著越來越多裝置靠變長來增加螢幕吋數，觀感上真正顯大的產品也越來越少，而 Vivo X Note 的出現打破了這一情況。…

Google makes it easier for your stuff to sync between Android phones and Chromebooks

Google is rolling out Chrome OS version 103, which includes features that will make it easier for users to share things between Chromebooks and Android devices. For one thing, as the company announced at CES, Phone Hub is getting an upgrade. From your …

Polestar adds Apple CarPlay support to its EVs

Polestar promised Apple CarPlay support for its EVs two years ago, and it’s finally delivering. As The Vergeexplains, the car brand has released an over-the-air update for the Polestar 2 that makes CarPlay available on the Android Automotive-based sedan. If you’d rather use Apple Maps instead of Google Maps or prefer to talk to Siri in lieu of Google Assistant, you now have that choice as long as you connect your iPhone.

In 2020, the automaker expected to deliver a CarPlay update in January 2021. It’s not clear what prompted the delay (Polestar cited “various factors” last fall), but the wait isn’t completely surprising. Android Automotive is built around Google’s operating system, and often its services. iPhone support was always going to be a lower priority, particularly when you don’t need an Android phone to use Polestar’s built-in functionality.

You still can’t find CarPlay on numerous other Android Automotive cars, including newer Volvo models as well as Rivian’s R1T. You won’t have to wait long in some cases, though. Volvo expects to add the interface within weeks, and it will eventually support iOS 16’s next-gen CarPlay interface. In that sense, Polestar is just a vanguard for its sibling brand.

Nothing’s transparent Phone 1 won’t be coming to North America

Nothing’s debut Phone 1 smartphone won’t be coming to the US, the company confirmed to PCMag. “While we’d love to bring Phone 1 to the entire community around the world, we’re focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe,” the company said in a statement. However, it added that “a limited number of our private community investors” could get one in the US through a closed beta program. 

Nothing showed off the device for the first time last week on Twitter following a tease by founder Carl Pei. The most noticeable feature is a transparent back, revealing a wireless charging coil and a mysterious pattern that lights up. The company has also promised “an open and diverse product ecosystem” and the pure Android Nothing OS. 

The company further explained that “it takes a lot to launch a smartphone… from ensuring the handset is supported by the country’s cellular technologies to carrier partnerships and local regulation, and as we’re still a young brand we need to be strategic about it.” Even folks in the closed beta program are likely to have issues with coverage and a lack of support of features like voice over LTE, according to PCMag. A similar disclosure was given by Nothing when the first 100 phones went up for bid on StockX.

Still, Nothing does have North American ambitions. “We have big plans to launch a US supported smartphone in the future,” the company wrote. The Nothing Phone 1 is set to debut in London on July 12th — you can catch it via a livestream if you RSVP in advance. 

Android users can now add Google Password Manager to their home screen

While Google has long included a password manager among its account perks, accessing a native version of that tool on your Android phone or tablet hasn’t been straightforward. Before a recent Google Play Services update, you had to navigate to the “Pri…

The Engadget guide to the best midrange smartphones

A great smartphone doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Years of commoditization have brought features once exclusive to high-end devices – including big batteries, multi-camera arrays and high refresh rate displays – down to their more affordable siblings….

Apple faces another iPhone ‘Batterygate’ legal claim, this time in the UK

Back in 2017, Apple admitted that it released an update to slow down older iPhones with aging batteries to prevent them from suddenly shutting down. It’s been five years since then, but Apple still isn’t done dealing with its repercussions. According to The Guardian, the tech giant is now facing a legal claim in the UK filed by a consumer rights campaigner named Justin Gutmann at the Competition Appeals Tribunal. Gutmann argued that Apple didn’t disclose that it was going to deliberately throttle users’ phone before it did so and that the company didn’t give them the option to disable the setting. 

The complaint covers the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X models. If you’ll recall, the company originally released the update that intentionally slows down devices for the iPhone 6, 6s and SE before it expanded the feature’s reach to more devices. Guttman’s complaint said Apple introduced the slowdown feature to disguise the fact that older batteries could no longer cope with new OS updates. “Instead of doing the honourable and legal thing by their customers and offering a free [battery] replacement, repair service or compensation, Apple instead misled people by concealing a tool in software updates that slowed their devices by up to 58 percent,” Guttman said. 

If Guttman wins, Apple may have to pay damages totaling up to £750 million to over 25 million people who purchased the affected phones in the UK. The company was previously fined €10 million in Italy over the same issue and for failing to provide customers with the necessary information for maintaining and replacing batteries. In 2020, it also agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle one of the US lawsuits it faced over the iPhone slowdown, which earned each claimant who took part up to $25. 

In a statement sent to The Guardian, Apple said:

“We have never – and would never – do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.”

Samsung merges Pay and Pass into a single Wallet app

Samsung is making it easier to store your credit card information and other digital data on your phone. On Wednesday, the company announced the merging of its Pay and Pass apps into a single Wallet platform. With the change, you won’t have to use two d…

This is what the Nothing Phone 1 will look like

Even though the Nothing Phone 1’s launch is still about a month away, the company has already begun showing what the device will look like to help generate hype. From afar, the device appears to be a blend of the iPhone X’s back (with its pill-shaped dual-camera island) and the iPhone 12’s flat edges. However, the back cover here is transparent, revealing a big wireless charging coil, several screws (something you don’t really see on phones these days) and a mysterious pattern teased earlier by founder Carl Pei.

Nothing didn’t provide any further detail in these teaser posts, but we imagine the company still has a few tricks up its sleeve — particularly, how Pei will enable “an open and diverse product ecosystem” with this device. So far, we know that the Phone 1 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset — Engadget understands that it’ll be a mid-tier processor — and the pure Android-like Nothing OS with some design flair. Nothing’s design team is led by former Dyson lead designer, Adam Bates, who joined the company in early 2022.

The Nothing Phone 1 will be launched in London at 4PM BST/11AM EST on July 12th. There will be a livestream available, but you’ll have to RSVP in advance.