The Best Features in Samsung's New Galaxy Note20 That Apple Should Adopt - MacRumors | Canada News Media
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The Best Features in Samsung's New Galaxy Note20 That Apple Should Adopt – MacRumors

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Samsung at the beginning of August introduced its new flagship Galaxy Note20 smartphone, which will compete with Apple’s upcoming iPhone 12 models. We’re going to do an in-depth comparison when the ‌iPhone 12‌ comes out, but for now, we thought we’d take a look at the new Galaxy Note20 to highlight some of its best features.

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Many of the Galaxy Note20’s best offerings are major Samsung features that have been used in prior Galaxy devices, but they’re what makes Samsung stand out as well as being features that we wouldn’t mind seeing in a future iPhone.

Displays with 120Hz Refresh Rates

Samsung’s Galaxy lineup, including the Galaxy Note20, is known for sharp, vibrant OLED displays with minimal bezels. The Note20, like some prior Samsung models, has a 120Hz refresh rate option that makes that super sharp OLED display even better. It’s super smooth, as people who own an iPad Pro might be familiar with because Apple has had 120Hz maximum refresh rates on the ‌iPad Pro‌ for a couple years now.


Samsung hasn’t quite perfected the higher refresh rate and it still presumably has a major impact on battery life, which is why it’s limited to Full High Definition resolution (1080p) and does not work when the phone is set to the higher QHD+ resolution (1440p).

Apple is rumored to be working on 120Hz display technology for the ‌iPhone‌, but as with Samsung’s phones, battery life is a concern. There have been a lot of mixed rumors on whether the ‌iPhone 12‌ lineup will support 120Hz ProMotion displays, but it may be a feature that Apple needs to wait to implement until there’s more battery efficient LTPO display technology available. It’s definitely a feature that’s on the horizon, but we may not get it until 2021.

Wireless Powershare

For the past couple of years, Samsung devices have offered a Wireless Powershare feature, which is also included in the Note20. With Wireless Powershare toggled on, the Note20 becomes a Qi-based wireless charger and can provide power to other smartphones, headphones, smart watches, and more.


It would be nice to have this feature in an ‌iPhone‌ for charging up the Apple Watch and the AirPods, or even sharing power with other iPhones. There were actually rumors in 2019 that suggested the iPhone 11 lineup would include bilateral charging functionality, but it’s not something that Apple ended up implementing.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculated that the charging efficiency of the two-way charging feature might not have met Apple’s requirements, leading to it being scrapped. Whether this is a feature that will pop up in a future ‌iPhone‌ remains to be seen, but we haven’t heard it rumored for the ‌iPhone 12‌.

Multitasking Windows

Samsung’s Galaxy devices have long offered a version of split screen multitasking, allowing multiple apps to be used at once, and the Galaxy Note20 is no exception. It’s a useful feature on the 6.7 to 6.9-inch displays offered in the Note20 and Note20 Ultra.


Apple has long had a split view multitasking feature on the iPad, but multiple app usage has never been brought to the ‌iPhone‌. That made sense when iPhones were smaller, but now that ‌iPhone‌ displays are getting larger and larger, many ‌iPhone‌ users would likely prefer to be able to use two apps side by side.

In iOS 14, Apple did add Picture in Picture support so you can watch videos or make video calls while doing other things on the ‌iPhone‌, but there’s still no true multitasking functionality.

S-Pen

The S-Pen stylus that comes with the Galaxy Note has long been what differentiates the Note lineup from the standard Galaxy devices. The S-Pen is pretty much akin to an Apple Pencil for the ‌iPad‌, with super low latency and some useful note taking features.


The S-Pen attaches right to the Galaxy Note20, and popping it out lets you automatically start writing a note even when the display is off. The S-Pen also lets you do things like create a note, write on the screen, select elements on the display, translate selected text, and more.

There’s been a rumor here and there over the years that Apple might add ‌Apple Pencil‌ support to the ‌iPhone‌ or develop an ‌Apple Pencil‌ specific to the ‌iPhone‌, but there’s never been any concrete suggestion that a stylus for the ‌iPhone‌ is the plan. It would be nice to have the option to use the ‌Apple Pencil‌ with the ‌iPhone‌, though, for those who already have an ‌iPad‌ and an ‌Apple Pencil‌.

DEX

Samsung devices have this neat feature called DEX that lets you dock a smartphone to a PC or a Mac to turn the smartphone into the computer, allowing for direct control with a mouse and a keyboard.


Early versions of DEX required a dock and an external monitor and keyboard, but now you can just plug a smartphone like the Note20 into a computer and finish working on something that you started on the phone.

Apple has Handoff and Continuity features that work in much the same way if you have multiple Apple devices, letting you start something on one device and pick it up on another, but that’s limited to Apple devices and it would be nice to just be able to plug in to access what you need without having to fuss with Continuity, or connect to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a MacBook-like experience on the ‌iPhone‌.

Would you like to see any of these Samsung features in the ‌iPhone‌? What’s your favorite Galaxy Note20 feature that you wish Apple would implement? Let us know in the comments.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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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.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

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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.

Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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