Apple’s folding iPhone may automatically shut to protect itself from drops

While every other major tech player like Samsung, Motorola and OPPO has already launched its foldable devices, Apple has been working on its version of the same for quite a while. However, it is expected that the wait for a foldable iPhone or iPad by Apple will be coming to an end as soon as 2025. Apple has been hard at work with the next-gen iPhone and iPad lineup with foldable capabilities and a recent patent for a new technology hints that the company is aiming to bring only the best product to the market. Reports suggest that the new technology patented could protect foldable iPhones and iPad from getting damaged even when dropped from a height.

New technology for foldable iPhone/iPad

Patently Apple was the first portal to spot the patent filed by Apple from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which hints at new safety features for the screens of the iPhone and iPad units in the future. The patent is titled ‘Self-Retracting Display Device And Techniques For Protecting Screen Using Drop Detection’. This refers to a motorised folding device mechanism that could either partially or fully close a foldable device before it hits the ground in the event of a drop.

This is a crucial development in the foldable device arena as rollable and foldable displays are made out of ultra-thin glass which is vulnerable to falls. The new technology could help solve a major issue in foldable devices and protect them from unexpected drops.

The patent application read “Mobile devices with foldable and rollable displays can use a sensor to detect vertical acceleration (e.g., acceleration with respect to the ground) to determine if the mobile device has been dropped. If the sensor detects that the mobile device has been dropped… the foldable device can retract at least partially to afford protection from the fragile display from striking the ground”

iPad Mini to not be replaced by the foldable iPhone

Since the past year, the rumour mills have been churning out details about the much anticipated foldable iPhone. However, there haven’t been any concrete leaks around the same. The world of leaks is full of bluffs and it is easy to fall prey to leakers pulling stuff out of thin air but the past few weeks have been hot for iPhone 15, the upcoming iPad series, and the inevitable foldable iPhone leaks. Several reports doing the rounds on the internet claimed that Apple would be discontinuing the iPad Mini series to fit the foldable iPhone in the lineup. Now, a new report from popular Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has presented a different picture.

iPad Mini to be discontinued?

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a set of tweets has rubbished the rumours about Apple discontinuing its iPad Mini lineup. Recent reports had suggested that the iPad Mini lineup will be cut off by Apple to accommodate the foldable iPhone lineup in 2025. However, Kuo believes that the eventual foldable iPhone will not replace the Mini lineup as doing so is not reasonable. One can simply understand that iPads and iPhones have a different customer bases thus replacing one with another could create conflicts in the market. Whereas, Kuo also revealed that the price point at which the foldable iPhone launch will be much higher than that of the iPad Mini.

Ming-Chi revealed furthermore that Apple is currently working on a new iPad Mini with a new processor. According to the analyst, the new processor will be the selling point of the upcoming iPad Mini which could start shipping by the end of 2023 or the first half of 2024. On the other hand, reports are suggesting that Apple will be working with notable companies like Samsung and LG in order to build a foldable 20.25-inch display. It will be interesting to see if Apple surpasses the previous foldable devices launched by major tech players.

Best Tablets of 2022 – Performance Galore!

While smartphones cater to your everyday needs and laptops cover your functionality and professional needs, tablets are a different ball game altogether. Not everyone needs a tablet but can surely benefit from one. One really does not need to blow up past the 1 or 2 lakh price point in today’s age in order to get the best performance from a computing device and tablets are definitely the optimum choice. Lighter than a laptop and a larger screen as compared to your mobile devices, tablets sit at the sweet middle point between the two device categories. 

The trend of work-from-home and homeschooling might have come to an end as a sense of normalcy returns to the world post-pandemic. However, tablets have continued to go from strength to strength offering power-packed performance at a relatively low cost. Here are the best tablets of 2022 – 

Xiaomi Mi Pad 5

Starting off with what I believe to be the best value-for-money tablet in 2022, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5. This tablet packs an 11-inch 2K LCD display, 6GB of RAM, and the powerful Snapdragon 870 processor all at a price of just under Rs 30K. The Mi Pad 5 also comes with a 13MP primary camera and an 8MP front camera that is good enough for your video call needs. It packs a massive 8720 mAh battery and fast charging support to juice up the device in no time. The base variant sports 128GB of storage which cannot be expanded via an SD card. The only gripe with this tablet is the missing a 3.5 mm audio jack. The Xiaomi Pad 5 is priced at Rs 26,999 for the base variant. 

Snapdragon 860
11-inch IPS LCD 2K display
13MP Primary & 8MP Front Camera
120Hz refresh rate
8720mAh battery

Apple iPad Air 2022

One cannot talk about tablets and miss out on Apple’s iPad offering. The Apple iPad Air 2022 is no less than a powerful laptop as it comes with the Apple M1 chip that powers the company’s flagship MacBooks. Besides a powerful chip, the iPad Air 2022 comes with a 10.9 inches IPS LCD screen coupled with a 12MP primary and 12MP front camera. While it supports USB Type-C charging, it does not come with fast charging which could be a deal breaker for many. The cellular variant of the Apple iPad Air 2022 comes with 5G support. The Apple iPad Air 2022 is priced at Rs 52,999 for the 64GB Wi-Fi-only variant. 

Liquid Retina IPS LCD Display
Apple M1 chipset
8GB RAM
Fingerprint sensor
USB Type-C charging

Realme Pad X

The Realme Pad X was yet another gem in this year’s best tablets. This tablet is powered by the capable Qualcomm 695 chipset which is 5G-capable. It packs a massive 10.95-inches TFT LCD full-view display and an 8340mAh battery that can be charged up with a 33W dart charger. It features a 105-degree wide-angle camera that is powered by machine-learning algorithms that keep you in the centre of the frame during video calls. The 6+128GB variant of the Realme Pad X is priced at Rs 27,999. 

4/6GB RAM options
64/128GB storage options (Expandable up to 512GB)
10.95-inches 2000 x 1200
8340mAh battery with 33W Dart Charge
Reverse charging support

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8

Samsung has also established its strong footing in the tablet market with its Tab S series. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 builds upon a successful lineup of tablets by offering the best Android has to offer. It houses a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that is more powerful than you need for your daily digital activities. It also houses a 12MP camera with 4K recording capabilities to shoot crisp videos for your YouTube vlogs. Your entertainment will be taken care of effectively with the Tab S8 as it comes with a quad-speaker setup with Dolby atmos and a vibrant 2560 x 1600 LTPS TFT screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The 128GB Wi-Fi + 5G variant of the Galaxy Tab S8 is priced at Rs 75,890. 

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8GB RAM
11-inch 120Hz refresh rate
13MP + 6MP dual primary camera
12MP front camera
8000mAh battery

Special mentions – 

Nokia T20 Tab
Realme Tab 4
Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus Tablet

Instagram has no plans to build an iPad app

Being an iPad user and operating Instagram has always been a frustrating experience. Once you’ve bought the iPad you expect it to be compatible with all the applications present in the iPhone with an even better experience. While that is indeed true for most applications out there, the same cannot be said for Instagram. Being an iPad user myself, it gets frustrating to operate Instagram on a small vertical screen without proper integration of the iPad’s widescreen. Well, it looks like the pains of iPad users are not going to be fixed by Instagram, but there’s a silver lining to this cloud!

iPad Instagram web interface gets better

Our friendly neighborhood tech enthusiasts at The Verge were one of the first people to notice the changes in the web interface of Instagram on the iPad. While there is no specific app design for Instagram on the iPad, a slightly redesigned version of Instagram on the web can be seen. This new design includes a navigation sidebar with links to options like search, explore, notifications, and messages. These options were previously placed unlabelled at the top of the screen.

The Verge received a statement from Meta spokesperson Christine Pai where it was revealed that the company is working on improving the instagram.com web experience for users. The recent changes have been described as updates to ‘modernize’ Instagram web with the inclusion of improved navigation, optimization of video experience, and the introduction of a more ‘immersive’ way to DM.

This surely does not fill the shoes of having a dedicated application designed for the tablet experience but it’s a step in the right direction nonetheless. It was only back in February when Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram had written that creating an iPad-specific Instagram app was not on their priority list. It looks like nothing has changed since then!

Apple March 2022 Event Highlights – iPhone SE 3, iPad Air 5 and Apple M1 Ultra Chip

February 2022 was a month of smartphone launches, but sadly Apple didn’t launch anything in the month, which was a little disappointing. However, yesterday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Apple unveiled several products, including iPhone SE 3, iPad Air 5, Mac Studio, Apple Studio Display and Apple M1 Ultra chip. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

iPhone SE 3

Apple unveiled iPhone SE 3 at the event, which looks the same as the iPhone 6 design but offers much more. The new iPhone SE (2022) runs on an A15 chipset, the same as the iPhone 13 series. The display and storage options remain the same as it was on the previous model – 4.7″ and 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The smartphone has an enhanced battery, superstar camera, an incredible water resistance feature, and of course, a home button, which some of us love while some don’t.

iPad Air 5

The newly launched iPad Air 5 stands firmly between the cheap iPads and expensive iPads. It has Apple’s M1 chipset and optional 5G support with eSIM, but the base model is Wi-Fi-only. The M1 chip allows the iPad Air 5 to match the iPad Pro in performance. 

The Air 5 also features the new ultrawide front camera with Center Stage, which automatically pans during video calls. The iPad Air 5 features a 10.9″ Liquid Retina display, landscape stereo speakers, Touch ID, and on the back, it has a 12-MP camera.

Along with these two, Apple also launched a supercharged Mac mini with an M1 Max chip and a 27-inch studio display with 5K resolution and 600 nits, which also has a 12-MP camera and powerful speaker system. Lastly, Apple announced its most powerful ARM-based custom processor, the Apple M1 Ultra chip, which packs a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU and 32-core Neural Engine.

 

iOS Users Can Now Transfer Their WhatsApp Chat History To Samsung Devices

People were and still are fascinated about buying an iPhone one day, and with more and more EMI options and discounts, the dream of getting an iPhone has become an easy ride now. However, at the same time, there are a considerable number of people who are moving from iPhones/iPads to Androids, or particularly to Samsung smartphones, and they’ve their reasons which we’re not going to discuss here.

If you’re one of those people who want to shift their primary device from iOS to Samsung but are worried about how to transfer your WhatsApp account information, profile photo, individual chats, group chats, and settings, then calm down, WhatsApp has unveiled plans in a blog post to support moving chat history from iOS to Samsung devices running Android 10 or 11, but you can only migrate your details during the initial setup of your new Samsung device.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, and for the very first time, the Facebook-owned company has offered an option to transfer chats from one device to another even if they’re based on diverse operating systems. The recently added transfer feature has been live now, and the entire process is secured by end-to-end encryption by WhatsApp, which means your voice messages, photos, and videos stays completely secure.

There are certain things that you will need to transfer your WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to a Samsung phone. First, you must use the same phone number on the new device as the old device and secondly, you will need to have a USB-C to Lightning cable as the transfer process requires it.

Then, you should have an iPhone with WhatsApp iOS version 2.21.160.17 or greater and a Samsung device with WhatsApp version 2.21.16.20 or greater to transfer the chat history without any hassle. All the details you need to transfer WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to Samsung are here. According to WhatsApp, the transfer feature will soon be available for more Android devices.

Top 10 iPad Tips & Tricks

Apple’s iPad and iPad Pro models have evolved into incredibly flexible devices since their first generation. With every other launch, they’ve pushed mobile working and entertainment to the limits and managed to take the place of your laptops but are you making the most of your new iPad? If yes, that’s brilliant; otherwise, just go through the following tips.

Multitasking:

You can switch from one app to another in a brief span and have one floating app window on top of your main app in iPadOS. Just slowly slide up from the bottom of your iPad’s screen until the Dock appears > Take your finger off the screen > Tap and hold the app icon you want to load > Drag and drop it from the Dock onto the screen, and the secondary app will appear on top of the main app you were already on.

Say No To notifications:

Almost every app wants you to enable notifications, and some of them go even further to take advantage of your trust by using your personal information without even asking for permission, but with iPads, you can have control over them by going onto Settings > Notifications, where you can customize app notifications and silence specific apps.

Password Warnings:

If the date of your last password update is older than the date when the site was pwned, then you’ll see a warning from Safari. In such cases, you can skip login details on sites that support Sign in with Apple, which lets you set up an account without sharing personal data and offer to log you in using Face ID or Touch ID directly.

Text Shortcuts:

iPads care about your valuable time and offer you a feature that will help you when you’re in a hurry or running out of time. The text shortcuts feature works like a customized message; if you prefer to repeatedly use the same blocks of text, be it for a workgroup or any other place. Just set the text as Text Replacement items in Settings > General > Keyboards, enabling you to create shortcuts.

Floating Keyboard:

The default iPad keyboard takes a lot of space, especially in landscape mode. If you want to make it smaller, press and hold on to the keyboard icon at the lower left of the keyboard and then slide your finger over Float, and the keyboard will turn smaller, and you can reposition it by moving its bottom edge. You can restore it to the default size by pinching it out with two fingers.

Change The Accent:

If you’re getting bored with Siri’s default voice and don’t want to hear it anymore, you can change her accent by tapping in Settings > Siri & Search. Here, you’ll see several other accent options, Depending on where you live.

Create PDFs:

We often find something important while reading random articles over breakfast time and save or bookmark the pages in a browser but do you know you can now save or share such articles as a PDF right on your iPad. Just bring up the Share menu in Safari: it includes a Make PDF option. It’s handy for online articles that might not stay available, such as things you’re reading as part of a subscription. You can also take a screenshot of an entire webpage by tapping on the thumbnail after taking a normal screenshot and opening it in editing mode.

Finding A Lost iPad:

You can find your lost iPad easily if you have another Apple device; just open the Find My app > Tap on Devices at the bottom > Tap on your iPad from the list > You can then choose several options. For example, you can play a sound if you think you have lost your iPad in close vicinity or get directions to its last known location.

Mail Notifications Only For VIPs:

We all receive unnecessary mails, most of them are spam, and their notifications somehow distract us, but now on iPad, you can ask Mail to notify you only when a message comes from a Very Important Person and to have an inbox folder that only shows messages from those VIP persons. You can make someone a VIP by adding them to your Contact list and then to the VIP mail list.

Open Safari Tabs Across Mac, iPhone & iPad:

You can share open Safari tabs with your other devices, be it a Mac, iPhone or iPad. To do it from a Mac, go into System Preferences > iCloud and make sure Safari is switched on, and to do it from iOS devices, go into Settings > Your name > iCloud and again, check Safari is switched on.

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