The onslaught of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered flagship phone launches continues today, with the smartphone enthusiast favorite OnePlus stepping out officially in the US with its OnePlus 10 Pro. The China phone manufacturer previously announced the device for Asian markets back at CES in January this year, but is now commencing with its US debut. This new premium Android handset is the culmination of a bunch of solid evolutionary refinements and thoughtful feature adds, including a second generation Hasselblad-tuned camera system that really dials in color vibrance and accuracy. But before we dive into pixel peeping, let’s explore the OnePlus 10 Pro’s hardware setup, industrial design and software package.
OnePlus 10 pro: A Sleek, Well-Engineered Beauty With A Killer Display
What you’re looking at above is the OnePlus 10 Pro in its Volcanic Black finish, which is strapped with matte frosted texture on Gorilla Glass 5 for its rear backing. What’s great about this finish is that it not only feels smooth and slightly less slip-resistant in the hand, but it also completely resists fingerprints and smudging.
OnePlus 10 Pro Back Right Side Edge View With Its Screen Lock/Power Button And Its Silent/Vibrate … [+] Alert Slider Switch
Dave Altavilla
In fact OnePlus’ own black, textured rubber case for the device picks up more grime, almost tempting you to live on the edge and rock this phone without a case. Indeed the rear finish of this phone is that nice, and it also comes in an Emerald Forest green that sparkles, if that’s more your kind of jam. The rest of the design is an all metal, glass and ceramic affair that OnePlus claims is built to endure. The rear camera module of this phone is not only tastefully stylized and low profile but it’s also covered in ceramic that OnePlus notes provides 30% greater scratch resistance. Finally, above you can see the Alert Slider button returns here again, a thoughtful feature I personally find very useful, allowing you to drop the phone into Silent, Vibrate or Ring modes with ease.
Another great feature that returns for a second coming is OnePlus’ excellent LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) AMOLED display technology that affords the phone a 1Hz to 120Hz variable refresh rate; and it’s a beauty.
OnePlus 10 Pro 6.7-Inch Fluid AMOLED 120Hz Display
Dave Altavilla
OnePlus has consistently delivered great display technology in its flagship devices for generations now, and the 10 Pro takes things to another level with Dual Color Calibration at both 100 and 500 nits brightness (1300 nits peak). What this means is that it’s been dialed to deliver better color accuracy in varied lighting conditions and I’d have to agree the setup here is really nice. You get the usual deep contrast and punchy saturation of AMOLED here but right out of the box the color balance and accuracy seems perfect and in need of no adjustment. However, various tools and settings are there to tweak things, if you want to enable Eye Comfort low blue light support or Bright HDR Video mode, for example.
Regardless, this near-bezelless 6.7-inch QHD+ (3216×1440 resolution) display is simply fantastic and, strapped with Gorilla Glass Victus, is definitely a highlight feature of the device. It’s HDR 10+ capable and easily as nice as Samsung’s LTPO technology in the Galaxy S22 series, which stands to reason, as this panel is manufactured by Samsung as well. The design setup and display here is also the reason this phone is so size efficient in the hand. Comparatively, Google’s also 6.7-inch Pixel 6 Pro almost feels gargantuan and has a much more pronounced waterfall curve on its display. In short, OnePlus really nailed the visuals here.
OnePlus 10 Pro Keeps Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Cool And Performant
Under the hood of the OnePlus 10 Pro is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform SoC (System On Chip), along with 8GB of LPDDR5 memory and 128GB of UFS 3.1 Flash storage. I would have liked to see OnePlus offer a 256GB option in the US as well, but apparently that’s not in the cards. Regardless, OnePlus did go the extra mile with the 10 Pro’s cooling solution, resulting in better sustained performance over heavier, extended workloads. OnePlus notes the 10 Pro’s cooling system is the largest of any of its devices to date, and sports a custom vapor chamber with copper foil and copper carbon on both sides of the motherboard, with a new graphene cooling film as well. The result is that Qualcomm’s Snadpragon 8 Gen 1, with its new more powerful AI Engine and significantly faster Adreno GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), performs well in this phone and it holds up better over time than Samsung’s Galaxy S22 series.
OnePlus 10 Pro 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited Benchmark Results
HotHardware.com
In the graph above, the OnePlus 10 Pro slots right in the mix with other recently released Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 powered devices. You’ll note it’s also significantly faster than the Pixel 6 Pro, at least in gaming workloads. In terms of general CPU performance, the field of current-gen devices here will be much more closely matched, though Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon excels in AI-infused workloads like computational photography processing and gaming. That said, again, the OnePlus 10 Pro’s thermal solution seems to be a cut above as well…
3DMark Wild Life Stress Test Results
UL
Here, the 3DMark Wild Life Stress test shows the OnePlus 10 Pro maintains about 65 percent of its performance over a 20 minute continuous loop of the benchmark. It also maintained that performance up to the 8 minute mark and the bled off fairly gracefully, unlike we saw with the Galaxy S22 that bled off 50% of its performance and did so more quickly, starting at the 3 minute mark.
In addition, for gamers, the OnePlus 10 Pro also has features called GPA Frame Stabilizer and O-Sync. Frame Stabilizer works to monitor frame rates as well as CPU and GPU resources, such that if a frame rate drop occurs, it does so gracefully over time, instead of dramatically in a jarring way to the user. It seems to work fairly well actually, as evidenced in the chart above. O-Sync, as its name hints, synchronizes frame output from the Snapdragon chip to the 10 Pro’s variable refresh rate display, for a smoother, more jitter or tear-free experience, similar to the way variable refresh rate PC gaming technology works.
Side note, if you want the full benchmark gauntlet of data, head on over to HotHardware for Myriam Joire’s review that has copious runs on the OnePlus 10 Pro from all angles.
OnePlus 10 Pro Sub-6 5G Speedtest Results
Ookla Speedtest
In terms of 5G speed and connectivity, the OnePlus 10 Pro is up to the task, especially as Sub-6 networks speeds improve, as you can see on Google Fi here, which is strapped to T-Mobile’s network in our area. However, another omission that might be more of an issue for some is the lack of 5G mmWave (Millimeter Wave) support. Though Qualcomm’s chipset definitely supports multi-gigabit mmWave connectivity and speeds, OnePlus chose to save cost and thus the 10 Pro supports only Sub-6 5G connectivity on T-Mobile and Verizon. Also, if you’re on AT&T, the OnePlus 10 Pro will unfortunately only connect via 4G LTE as it’s not currently 5G certified on that carrier.
OnePlus 10 Pro Camera Performance: In A Word, Excellent
OnePlus 10 Pro Triple Camera Array With LED Ring Light
Dave Altavilla
In terms of camera performance, as my headline suggests, the OnePlus 10 Pro is a real delight. There are a ton of features going on here that would take a novel’s word count to detail, so I’ll spare you but the triple shooter camera array on board really delivers, in conjunction with even more refined Hasselblad color tuning. The primary shooter is a 48MP (megapixel) f/1.8 aperture camera with OIS and EIS (Optical and Electronic Image Stabilization), and is powered by the excellent Sony IMX789 sensor. The Ultra-Wide shooter on board is a Samsung ISOCell JN1 powered 50MP f/2,.2 aperture camera with an exceptionally wide 150 degree field of view. Finally, there’s a dedicated 8MP f/2.4 Telephoto camera with OIS, thankfully, and a 32MP fixed-focus selfie cam on board. All told, there’s a lot of solid hardware here that really delivers, in conjunction with well-optimized software and excellent color calibration.
OnePlus 10 pro Camera App With Zoom Settings
OnePlus
The OnePlus camera app is clean and intuitive, as is the rest of OnePlus’ OxygenOS 12 actually, that sports a very light skin over Android 12 and some interesting features. For example, there’s Medium Dark Mode setting you might want to check out and the OnePlus Shelf, a collection of widgets on a single panel that gives you quick access to weather, a step counter, storage and data use, a quick note taker, as well as other quick app access features. But enough chatter; let’s take a look at some camera samples…
OnePlus 10 Pro Portrait Mode Shot
Dave Altavilla
OnePlus 10 Pro Mixed Lighting With Intricate Detail Shot
Dave Altavilla
OnePlus 10 Pro 3.3X Telephoto Zoom Shot
Dave Altavilla
OnePlus 10 Pro 150-Degree Ultra-Wide Shot
Dave Altavilla
OnePlus 10 Pro Night Mode Shot
Dave Altavilla`
As you can see, from Portrait mode, to mixed lighting with a significant detail challenge and Night Mode shooting, the OnePlus 10 Pro renders excellent results with great color accuracy. Especially in the Portrait mode shot of the Les Paul guitar, with its rich antique gold sunburst stain and maple wood flame grain, colors are true and vibrant. The same can be said for the challenging Night Mode shot of the horse-drawn tanker wagon, with all of the nuances of the red tank, weathered wagon wheels and faded wood captured really well. It’s clear, the OnePlus and Hasselblad partner ship is beginning to pay off now with quality color science and calibration.
The Telephoto shot of the geese also shows solid image stabilization and low noise. Meanwhile, the 150 degree Ultra-Wide Angle shot, though barrel distortion is part of the deal, captures a cool looking effect, also with solid color reproduction and minimal noise. There’s also a Fish Eye lens shot mode as well, if you really want that stylized barrel view perspective. For video, all rear cameras OIS or EIS stabilized video at up to 4K 60FPS for the primary and telephoto cameras. The primary shooter also can capture video at 4K 120FPS and 8K 24FPS. You can also engage both the front and rear primary camera now in Dual View mode, for a composited video shot with you and your surroundings combined. This could be a very useful tool for business use or a lot of fun for friends and family.
All in, the OnePlus 10 Pro really impressed me with its computational photography prowess, and in fact I prefer it to the Pixel 6 Pro’s occasionally muted color reproduction.
OnePlus 10 Pro Battery Life, Charging And Final Thoughts
OnePlus 10 Pro 65 Super VOOC Fast Charger Comes In The Box
Dave Altavilla
In terms of battery life, I’m still putting the phone through its paces a bit but I would say, with its 5000 mAh battery, the OnePlus 10 Pro will get the job done nicely for all but the most demanding battery mongers. Anecdotally, I had no trouble getting through an active work day of fairly heavy on-off mixed use, and topping off with OnePlus’ ridiculously-fast 50 Watt wireless charging made battery life a complete non-issue.
And for its $899 MSRP, with the phone, OnePlus includes a 65W wired power brick that will top the phone off from 1 to 100% in just 34 minutes. In a day when big brands like Apple and Samsung have stopped shipping power bricks with their phones altogether, it’s refreshing and OnePlus’ price point here stands on even more competitive footing as a result.
All told, I’m pretty impressed with the new OnePlus 10 Pro. It’s a powerful, performant Android flagship with a great industrial design and robust cooling system. It’s camera system delivers great results that rival some of the best smartphone cameras on the market currently, and its value proposition with an included 65 Watt fast charger is strong. My only reservations would be the lack of mmWave 5G support, a missing 256 Gig storage option and the fact that AT&T users won’t currently realize 5G connectivity at all. However, short of any of those caveats resulting in a show-stopper for you, I’d easily recommend this new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered Android flagship. The OnePlus 10 pro is a great new premium Android phone with very few compromises and impressive all around performance.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
___
Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.
The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.
There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.
Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.
“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”
Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.
“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.
But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.
