PlayStation CEO Labels Microsoft’s Call of Duty Offer ‘Inadequate on So Many Levels’

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has labelled Microsoft’s offer to keep Call of Duty on the platform “inadequate on so many levels.” Following the announcement that Call of Duty was joining Xbox Game Pass, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer reiterated that it would honour same-day release on PS4 and PS5 for “several more years.” But in an interview, Ryan clarified that the deal ...

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USB-C to A16 Bionic chip: iPhone 14 didnt include these new features

During their “Far Out” event, Apple went out and announced something for everyone who’s a part of their ecosystem. For the audio enthusiasts, there was the new AirPods Pro 2. For the smartphone aficionados, there was the usual suspect, the new iPhone 14 lineup. And for the ones who love to go out and about in the wilderness, there were the new Apple Watches, with the Ultra variant being the star of the show.

All of the newly announced products, including the iPhones, came with features that everyone’s been harping about on the internet. However, there were some things in the iPhones that we feel Apple skipped out on. The non-Pro iPhones were the biggest losers. So, here’s our list of three key features that we feel should have been there on the iPhone 14 lineup that Apple announced on September 7.

Apple iPhone 14 – No USB-C

The topic of Apple’s resentment to include a USB-C charging and data transfer port has been debated to death. Every year amongst all the leaks, the biggest one remains to be the inclusion of a USB-C port. However, this time around, the hopes were higher than before. Everything pointed towards Apple finally breaking down and ditching their beloved lightning port in favour of the more universally appealing USB-C port.

The most prominent reason was the recent legislation passed by the EU, which would require all personal electronic devices to have a USB-C charging port. Everyone thought that Apple would break down. But they didn’t. They went ahead and put in the lightning port, knowing they would soon have to leave that port behind. 

The second reason why everyone thought that this year’s iPhone lineup would have USB-C was the fact that literally every other handheld computing device that Apple sells, apart  from the base model iPad, has a USB-C port. Anyone remotely connected to the industry guessed that Apple might go the iPad route with the iPhones and ship the Pro models with USB-C while retaining the lightning port on the non-Pro phones.

However, it looks like none of it was enough to push Tim Cook and Co. to include a much-awaited USB-C port in their iPhones. The lightning port is slow in every respect and just old at this point. At this point, given the fact that they already have removed the sim tray in US iPhones, it looks more likely that they will announce a port-less iPhone the next time around. 

Apple iPhone 14 – Where’s the ProMotion?

We are talking about the non-Pro iPhone 14 here. Both the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus lack the higher refresh rate ProMotion display, which has already been a feature on the Pro models of last year.

In today’s market, it is hard to imagine a phone being sold for almost ₹80,000 and still lacking a feature as basic as a high refresh rate screen. It is not like Apple has no clue about high refresh rate displays. They already included it in last year’s iPhone 13 Pro models. So, given that they were carrying over the processor, which is clearly capable of handling a high refresh rate panel, they could have very well included at least a 75 Hz display on the non-Pro phones of this year. But, they didn’t, and no one was impressed by this move.

Apple iPhone 14 – Why the older chip?

Continuing on the topic of older generation iPhones and the transfer of their tech into the latest gen devices, let’s talk about the one thing that Apple did transfer over, which no one wanted. It is the processor. The non-Pro iPhones this year come equipped with the last-gen A15 Bionic processor, which was launched with the iPhone 13.

Why?

No matter how powerful the processor might be, it makes no sense, especially given the pattern iPhones have been following in terms of processor upgrades, for Apple to go with a last-gen processor on a newer device. Well, Apple did it. So anyone looking to upgrade will have to deal with it. The jury is still out on whether the new base iPhones are worth upgrading to or not. However, on paper, it looks like Apple may have missed the trick with this one. Especially given the other two things that are even more important additions if they would have been included in the new phones.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in

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You can now meet Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs at his first-ever online archive

San Francisco, Sep 8 (IANS) As Apple co-founder late Steve Jobs' 11th death anniversary inches closer, his friends and family have launched the first-ever Steve Jobs Archive online with his quotes, video/audio addresses and more.

Laurene Powell Jobs, his wife, launched the online archive at Vox Media's Code conference in the US on Wednesday.

"While we do have some artefacts and some actual real material, the archive is much more about ideas," she was quoted as saying.

The archive starts with a poetic email Steve Jobs sent to himself about his admiration for humanity.

"I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object-oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with. I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well-being," he wrote.

The online archive also has his famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford University in the US, along with other video and audio addresses.

"With respect for the past and excitement for the future, the Steve Jobs Archive offers people the tools and opportunities to make their own contribution," according to the website.

"We are building programmes, fellowships, collections, and partnerships that reflect Steve's values and carry his sense of possibility forward," it added.

The archive will "act as a repository of historical materials relating to Steve, some of which have never before been made public".

Steve Jobs worked closely with legendary designer Jony Ive to develop a line of products that had larger cultural ramifications, beginning with Apple Store, App Store (iOS), iMac, iPad, iPod, iPhone, iTunes, and iTunes Store.

In 2003, Steve Jobs was diagnosed with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour.

He died of respiratory arrest related to the tumour on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56.

In 2022, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in

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Satellite calling to no SIM card tray: iPhone 14s cool new features explained

On September 7, during their “Far Out” event, along with the new Apple Watch Series and the new AirPods Pro, Apple announced their latest iPhone 14 line of phones. There had been a lot of rumours doing rounds on the internet about the speculated specifications of these newly launched phones. 

All of them were put to rest when the official announcements were made. Some of these were underwhelming. However, there were some announcements that took many by surprise. Let’s look at what’s new in Apple’s latest and best-ever iPhones.

Apple iPhone 14 – New display

There were two sides to the coin to look at when it came to the changes to the display of the new iPhones. While the lower-end, non-Pro iPhones, the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus, retained the old and infamous notch from the iPhone 13 and before, the Pro models, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone Pro Max, were presented with refreshed displays.

As speculated, Apple went and ditched the notch on the Pro iPhones this year in favour of a new pill-shaped cut-out, which we at the Digit office are calling, the Morse Code notch.  While this new design does free up some real estate, the star of the show here was Dynamic Island. 

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max

We have covered it extensively in our article, so go check that out here. Basically, it is a mini-command centre that will morph into small widgets, if needed, giving you information about incoming calls, battery percentage, some music controls, etc.

The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max also saw an improvement in the panel that they will be sporting. The new display panels on these iPhones will have 1600 nits of peak HDR brightness and 2000 nits of peak outdoor brightness. 

Additionally, there was also the introduction of the always-on display on the Pro iPhones, which Apple executives spent a lot of time talking about. In its essence, it works the same as all other phones, with the only difference being the better battery optimisation by Apple, and selective screen dimming, allowing better reproduction of human skin tones if they are present on the lock screen wallpaper.  The cherry on top is ProMotion, which also saw a few improvements. However, much to the dismay of the fans, there was not much added to the displays of the non-Pro iPhones. 

Apple iPhone 14 – Same old tech for the non-Pros

When it came to the processors, there was again a divide clearly visible in the treatment given to the Pro and the non-Pro iPhones. The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max, as announced during the event, would come equipped with Apple’s latest and greatest, A16 Bionic chip.

The new A16 Bionic chip sports a 6‑core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a 5‑core GPU, and a 16‑core Neural Engine. These specs look impressive on paper, and if Apple’s claims are anything to go by, this is the “fastest chip ever in a smartphone”.

As for the non-Pro iPhones, they retained the last-gen A15 Bionic chip. This is a very interesting move by Apple. Because without a processor upgrade, there’s very little for the prospective iPhone 14 buyer to look forward to. If coming from the iPhone 13, then we don’t see any point for users to upgrade.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

Apple iPhone 14 – Better photos?

Apple’s iPhones are known for their cameras, and the folks are Cupertino understand this very well. That’s why they introduced new and improved camera tech on both the Pro and the non-Pro models of the iPhone 14. However, there was much more to talk about when it came to the Pro iPhones compared to their non-Pro brethren. 

Both the phones saw the introduction of a new Photonic Engine, which Apple claims will provide a significant improvement in the quality of pictures you take using your iPhones. The front camera also saw improvements in both models, with the introduction of the new TrudeDepth camera. It is a 12MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture and is capable of clicking photos  in Apple ProRAW, and 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps, along with Cinematic mode up to 4K HDR at 30 fps.

When coming to the upgrades to the camera system in the Pro models, we saw the introduction of a new mammoth 48MP main camera. The camera system on the Pro iPhones now comes with 4 zoom options. These were – 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x zoom. There was also the introduction of the Action mode, which would provide users with better stabilisation when shooting videos.

Apple iPhone 14 – All day battery

One of the biggest talking points for Apple across both the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Pro models was the improved battery life. The executives on stage left no chance to mention that the new phones would have a better battery that would last users all day. Both phones get better battery tech inside, ensuring that their battery life is better than what we have seen before. 

Apple iPhone 14 – Drop messages from the middle of nowhere

When the Apple executives were presenting the iPhones, no one expected that the Pro models would include satellite communication technology. It was announced that the new iPhones, both the Pro and the non-Pro variants, would sport “Emergency SOS via satellite”.

This new feature would allow iPhone 14 users to connect to a satellite in an emergency and establish contact with the first responders. The emergency communications service works using Apple’s own messaging protocol, which would compress messages to allow for better communication over the limited bandwidth of the connection to satellites. 

To ensure that maximum required information is transferred in the shortest time, Apple has made a set of pre-configured questions that would help the responders to gauge the severity of the situation in the best way possible, in the least amount of time. This would ensure better connectivity for iPhone users in remote areas, should they ever face an adverse situation.

Staying on the topic of connectivity, Apple also revealed that the latest iPhones would come without a sim card slot in the US. This move can be viewed from several different perspectives, with one of them dubbing this the last step before Apple’s iPhones go completely port-less. Apple’s already been making improvements to MagSafe. And, with the EU’s USB-C regulation looming and the lightning port being the last remaining slot on the iPhone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple introducing a port-less iPhone next year.

There was also the introduction of crash detection tech in the new iPhones. This feature would be triggered in the event of an iPhone user being involved in a car crash or a similarly adverse situation. It would prompt the device to contact the authorities – if needed.

Meet iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro. All that and more from the #AppleEvent

— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2022 Apple iPhone 14 – What’s the price?

In India, as per the listings on Apple’s web store, the base iPhone 14 will start at ₹79,900. If you are looking to go for the Pro models, then the base phone would set you back by ₹1,29,900.

During the one-and-a-half-hour-long keynote, Apple's executives took half the time talking about iPhones, and a lot more things were discussed. All of those, along with the features that we covered in this article, would be put to the test if and when the iPhones drop into the Digit Test Center.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in

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Xbox Elite Series 2 – Core Controller Announced, Launches September 21

Microsoft has unveiled its new Xbox Elite Series 2 – Core controller. Priced at Rs. 10,990, the controller is cheaper than the standard variant but offers less functionality in terms of customisation. Pre-orders for the Elite 2 Core controller are now live with the release date set for September 21. Neither Amazon nor Flipkart has it up on display though.

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What is Dynamic Island in iPhone 14: Heres how Apple has re-imagined the notch

Tim Cook and Co. took to the stage on Wednesday for the Apple September Event, which was called “Far Out” this year. There was a plethora of announcements, including new iPhones, Apple Watch Series 8, and the AirPods Pro 2. 

Dynamic Island in iPhone 14 – What’s the deal?

During the event, it was revealed that Apple, much to the joy of the fans, would ditch the infamous notch in favour of a new pill-shaped cutout on the Pro models. And, to make full use of this new, smaller cutout, they also announced Dynamic Island. This new introduction would serve as a small notification hub and add subtle quality of life features, enhancing the iPhone experience.The new iPhone Pro models, the 14 Pro (6.1 inch) and 14 Pro Max (6.7 inch), powered by the new A16 Bionic chip, will retail at $999 and $1099, respectively. While the basic design language of the phones remained the same, the biggest change was the introduction of the pill-shaped notch, which is home to the new Dynamic Island.

Meet iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro. All that and more from the #AppleEvent

— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2022 Dynamic Island in iPhone 14 – Changed form, improved functionality

Dynamic Island is Apple’s newest and, as they’d love to call it, the best-ever way to serve popups to iPhone users. It would be a shapeshifting black pill surrounding the pill-shaped cutout on the Pro iPhone 14 models, notifying users if they are receiving a call and acting as a mini control centre, giving them access to essentials such as music controls and battery percentage information. 

Talking about the functionality of Dynamic Island on their website, Apple wrote, “Dynamic Island blends fun and function like never before, consolidating your notifications, alerts and activities into one interactive place. It’s integrated throughout iOS 16 — and can work with all kinds of apps — to seamlessly surface what you need, right when you need it.”

Dynamic Island in iPhone 14 – New and improved hardware too!

Inside the Dynamic Island, Apple has included a 31 per cent smaller TrueDepth camera system and a re-engineered proximity sensor. Additionally, Apple’s also introducing a host of new animations and algorithmic additions, which they promise would improve the display’s touch sensitivity around the island. All these new features were demonstrated during Apple’s presentation.

Apple’s touting the new Dynamic Island to be “This is the biggest change to the face of iPhone since we went all screen,” which is true. However, the actual functionality of this new addition would actually be determined when it ships out to users, who put it to test and see if Apple’s claims stand true or not. 

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God of War: Ragnarök Gameplay Reveals Dwarven Realm Svartalfheim, Environmental Puzzles

God of War: Ragnarök revealed some new gameplay footage, courtesy of GameInformer. The snippet video offers a first look at the Dwarven realm of Svartalfheim, as Kratos and son Atreus solve puzzles in the technologically advanced burrow. Traversal will mainly be based on foot or canoe, though other modes of transportation are also teased in the gameplay footage. God ...

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