On the left is the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and on the right is the Note 20 Ultra.
In a virtual event on Wednesday, Samsung released a small army of new products, including an in-depth tease of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 complete with an appearance by the group BTS. But it’s the new Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra that really caught my eye. As Samsung rattled off the small novel of new features for each phone, I longed to see some of them come to the next iPhone aka the heavily rumored iPhone 12.
I want to say this upfront, that the design and hardware features for the next iPhone have likely been locked in months ago. But that doesn’t mean we can’t wonder how nice it would be to see some of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra features on the iPhone 12 or even an iPhone 13 — too soon?
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There are five features in particular that I think Apple should consider adopting. That said, we know that Samsung loves to cram in as many new features as possible into its phones. Apple introduces new features to solve a problem or improve your experience using an iPhone. That difference is significant, and I doubt Apple would add any of these features just to add them.
In February, Samsung released the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, which has 13x optical zoom and 100x Space Zoom (aka digital zoom). The new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 5x optical zoom with 50x digital zoom. The iPhone 11 Pro has 2x optical zoom. I’m not saying that the iPhone 12 needs Space Zoom — no phone does, really. But having a 3x or 4x optical zoom on the next iPhone would be welcomed.
This is the gigantic camera bump on the back of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Currently, Apple offers the best overall camera system for photos and videos on any phone. However, many high-end Android phones offer a better zoom range.
But who knows if Apple would solely rely on hardware to give the iPhone 12 a better zoom range? It could follow in Google’s footsteps and implement a software-based zoom that uses machine learning to improve the results like on the Google Pixel 4.
Every time a new iPhone is released, our team of expert droppers tests the new devices to see how durable they are. The iPhone 11 Pro proved to be one of the most durable iPhones CNET has ever tested.
But those drop tests were conducted before the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and its Gorilla Glass Victus body came out. The new Gorilla Glass is twice as scratch-resistant as Gorilla Glass 6 and can survive drops from 2 meters versus 1.6 meters. In theory this means a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra could survive a drop when you’re holding it up to your ear on a call.
For years, Apple worked with Corning, the manufacturer of Gorilla Glass, on a custom version of Gorilla Glass for the iPhone. And I’m hopeful we’ll see a version of Gorilla Glass Victus for the iPhone 12.
Obviously the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s biggest feature is the stylus aka the S-Pen. The latest S-Pen when used on the Note 20 Ultra has a latency of 9 milliseconds. Meaning from the time you touch the screen with the S-Pen to the time the screen/phone reacts is fast. In fact, it has the same latency as the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.
The iPad Pro has Apple Pencil support and it would be great to have it on the iPhone 12, especially a larger screen version.
But one dream many of us hope for is to be able to use the Apple Pencil on an iPhone, especially the larger Max version. My fingers are crossed, hoping that Apple Pencil support will come with the iPhone 12. I mean, iOS 14 brought picture-in-picture video from the iPad to the iPhone. So let’s keep that trend going.
The S-Pen being used on the Galaxy Note 20.
And who knows, maybe Apple would make an Apple Pencil Mini that’s roughly the size of a golf pencil?
I believe Samsung has the best approach when it comes to maximizing screen real estate and making room for the front-facing camera. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra sports a hole-punch screen that is both attractive and useful.
The iPhone 12 needs to find a way to revamp the iPhone notch, which seems large by today’s standards. Obviously Apple has more than just the front-facing camera to account for. FaceID has several components that are also on the front. So while I’d love to see a hole-punch display on the iPhone 12, I don’t think it’s possible.
Since the iPhone X, the notch on FaceID iPhones has remained unchanged. I hope it’s smaller on the iPhone 12.
However, if Apple found a way to make the notch smaller on the iPhone 12, that would be a significant aesthetic improvement.
Watch this:
First Look: Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra
6:05
The Note 20 Ultra display also has a high refresh rate. As opposed to the screen refreshing 60 times a second, the Note 20 Ultra is capable of refreshing its display 120 times a second. Similarly, the iPad Pro has a Pro Motion display with 120Hz. It’s time to see such a screen on the iPhone. Even if it was 90Hz, the iPhone 12 should have a high refresh rate. Apple Arcade games would look amazing. Animations in iOS would look super smooth. And if the iPhone 12 gets Apple Pencil support, that high refresh rate would be a must.
For more about the Samsung event and the products announced, read Samsung Unpacked: Everything revealed.
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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