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- How to Edit Nearly Any File on Your Phone or Tablet - Gizmodo
- Honor's 'hole-punch' View 20 will get a Moschino edition - Engadget
- Our favorite (and least favorite) tech of 2018 - Ars Technica
| How to Edit Nearly Any File on Your Phone or Tablet - Gizmodo Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:30 AM PST  There might be occasions when you need to take a break from the usual phone and tablet tasks—emailing, social networking, gaming, messaging—and actually do something productive. If you need to edit files on the go, whether it’s audio from an interview or a PDF sent from the office, these are the apps you need to have on hand, or the websites you’ll need to navigate your phone or tablet’s browser to. Office files You may well get other people sending you files saved in the popular Microsoft Office formats—so .docx for Word, .xlsx for Excel, and .pptx for PowerPoint—and this can cause a problem if you try and open them up on your phone without an appropriate app. The Apple Mail client for iOS, for example, can open basic versions of them, but will mess up the formatting and won’t allow edits. Gmail on Android and iOS will cope better at previewing them, but again isn’t going to allow you to make any changes—instead, it will point you to the official Microsoft apps (as will Dropbox, by the way, if you try and open Office files in that app). The mobile versions of Word (Android/iOS), Excel (Android/iOS), and PowerPoint (Android/iOS) are obvious apps to call on if you get a lot of Office files sent to your phone or tablet. They’ll give you perfect previews of your files, and assuming you’re on a device with a screen less than 10.1 inches in size, they let you make edits too, as long as you have a free Microsoft account. Advertisement If you have a large tablet, or don’t want to set up a Microsoft account, all is not lost. You can use Apple’s own Pages, Numbers, or Keynote apps for iOS to import and edit office files, though you might get some formatting quirks along the way. Likewise, Google Docs (Android/iOS), Sheets (Android/iOS), and Slides (Android/iOS) will have a stab at opening and editing Microsoft Office files, though the formatting and layout might not be perfectly preserved. PDFsAdvertisement Sticking with the theme of office files, you may well get PDFs sent to your phone or tablet that need editing or working on in some way before you can get access to a computer. iOS wins here, allowing you to make annotations, edit text, insert signatures and more into PDFs right from your inbox or iCloud Drive without any other apps being installed—just tap the pen icon in the top right of the preview screen. Android will let you view PDFs easily enough from whatever app you’ve received them in, but in terms of actually making edits you’ll need another app. One of the top options here is Xodo for Android and iOS (free), which covers just about everything you’re going to need: annotations, PDF form filling, digital signature support, easy integration with cloud services, and so on. If you want another option then we can also recommend Foxit MobilePDF for Android and iOS (free). It doesn’t have quite as many features as Xodo, but you can annotate, stamp, and sign PDF documents using the app, as well as convert files between PDF and several other popular file formats. Advertisement AudioIf may not happen as commonly as with office files, but there might well be occasions when you need to edit an audio file using your mobile device. The freemium MP3 Cutter for Android is an obvious choice, if you’re on Android and you’re dealing with MP3s—it boasts an easy-to-use layout, straightforward trimming tools, and a built-in option for setting a file as a ringtone. Advertisement Over on Apple devices, Hokusai Audio Editor for iOS (freemium) has earned a lot of fans. It includes multitrack editing, filters and special effects, a choice of import and export options, and integration with various cloud services (including iCloud and Dropbox). It’s just about as advanced as audio editing gets on a phone or tablet. TwistedWave Audio Editor for iOS ($10) is also worth a mention: It’s packed with features and effects, though isn’t as intuitive to use as Hokusai. In terms of cross-platform apps, we like WavePad Audio Editor for Android and iOS (freemium), which largely sticks to the basics of audio editing and effects but does them well, and Lexis Audio Editor for Android and iOS (freemium), which isn’t the most sophisticated of options but makes simple edits very easy to do. ImagesAdvertisement You’re likely already familiar with editing images on your phone, even if it’s just with the default Photos (iOS) and Google Photos (Android) options that come with your handset. Apple and Google have gradually added more and more features to these tools, and they’re now good enough that most users probably don’t need a third-party app. If you do want to take your mobile image edits to the next level, Adobe Photoshop Fix for Android and iOS (free) lets you do everything from warping objects in images to brightening up shadows, all with a few taps. You don’t have to be a Creative Cloud subscriber (Adobe’s subscription service) to use the app, but you can save files to the cloud if you are. The Google-developed Snapseed for Android and iOS (free) is another excellent image editor for mobile, bringing together a host of editing and adjustment tools for your photos while staying relatively simple to use. Afterlight for Android and iOS ($3) is among the best options here too, with everything from Instagram-style filters to advanced color curve management available to help get your photos looking their best. Advertisement VideosIf you just need to trim videos, you can do this via the editing options that pop up in both Photos for iOS and Google Photos on Android. Getting unwanted bits of the action chopped from the start or the end of your clips is as easy as dragging along the timeline using your finger on screen. Advertisement Those of you who are after a more advanced set of video editing features can try out Apple’s own iMovie for iOS (free), which lets you combine clips, trim and cut footage, add filters and text, and so on, or GoPro’s Splice for iOS (free), which covers a lot of the same ground in an interface that’s slightly friendlier and easy to get around. Neither of those options are available on Android, unfortunately. Among the best cross-platform options we’ve found is Adobe Premiere Clip for Android and iOS (free), which packs a surprising amount of functionality into a lightweight and intuitive interface. We’d like to give a mention to FilmoraGo for Android and iOS (freemium) too, which can be restrictive in what it allows you to do but is also capable of getting some great results quickly. |
| Honor's 'hole-punch' View 20 will get a Moschino edition - Engadget Posted: 26 Dec 2018 07:02 AM PST Honor's recent teaser event gave away pretty much all the secrets of its new View 20 smartphone: It has a 25-megapixel punch-hole front camera, a 48-megapixel rear camera plus "Link Turbo" function for automatically switching between WiFi and LTE -- or using both, even -- for optimal connectivity. Still, there was no word on the device's other features, appearance nor price; Honor clearly just wanted to announce its "hole screen" technology before Samsung and Huawei. Now that the competition have done their part, Honor has finally done a full unveiling of its View 20 in China earlier today, and it actually looks rather sharp. To quickly recap: The View 20 sports a 6.4-inch 2,310 x 1,080 LCD garnished with an in-screen 25-megapixel f/2.0 front camera, and it's powered by Huawei's flagship Kirin 980 7nm chipset. We now know that the phone comes with up to 8GB fo RAM and up to 256GB of storage space, plus there's a generous 4,000mAh battery supported by 4.5V/5A fast charging. For the sake of better reception, the View 20 houses a triple WiFi antenna so that your hand is less likely blocking the signal, thus solving a common pain point for online gamers. On a related note, there's also a liquid cooling tube that helps suck the heat away from key components like the chipset, camera and power management chip. According to Honor's internal tests, the View 20 is able to stay at cooler temperatures than Xiaomi's Mi 8 and the OnePlus 6T in most tests, especially when streaming online videos while charging. On the back, we already know of the 48-megapixel (f/1.8) main camera with Sony's IMX586 sensor, but what's new is the neighboring time-of-flight 3D camera. Honor claims the latter is rated with millimeter accuracy, and it offers quick AR measurements, optimized action shots plus full-body skeletal tracking -- this lets you slim your entire body down, because facial beautification is so last year already. When the phone is docked with a larger display (and with the 3D camera pointing towards you), it can even run motion tracking games to let you dance or ski along (remember the Xbox Kinect?), though it's unclear how reliable this is. As for the phone's looks, the View 20's rear side features several gleaming "V" shapes etched with nanolithography, thus giving the aurora texture which changes appearance when viewed from different angles. It's a nice change from the gradient or wavy designs that have become rather common amongst Chinese smartphones this year. The phone comes in either blue, red or black, with a Moschino special edition due to arrive at a later date. Honor is currently offering the View 20 in China starting from 2,999 yuan (about $435) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage version, with the 8GB RAM version going for 3,499 yuan (about $510). For the rest of us, don't worry, this is one of the few Chinese phones that already have global ambitions -- stay tuned for the global launch in Paris on January 22nd. |
| Our favorite (and least favorite) tech of 2018 - Ars Technica Posted: 26 Dec 2018 04:00 AM PST  Enlarge / The Apple Watch series 4. Farewell, 2018. You brought us Facebook scandal after Facebook scandal, vastly more devices with Alexa and Google Assistant than anyone needs, a nosedive for net neutrality, endless political and regulatory challenges for Chinese smartphone makers, and oh so many notch-equipped smartphones. We're ready for about two months of accidentally writing "2018" every time we're supposed to write 2019 in our first drafts—the adjustment always takes a while. And since our minds aren't quite out of 2018 yet, let's take this opportunity to look back on the year—specifically, our favorite and least-favorite products from the year. Every member of the Ars Technica reviews team—Ron Amadeo, Peter Bright, Jeff Dunn, Valentina Palladino, and Samuel Axon—chimed in with personal picks and a little bit of explanation for why we picked what we did. One of those words is key—these are our personal picks. Sometimes there is a difference between the objective best for most people and what we like the most ourselves. And that's OK. They might overlap sometimes, anyway. Let's begin! Ron AmadeoFavorite: All Nokia smartphones
Last year I picked the OnePlus 5T as my favorite device thanks to the slick design and aluminum, and while I could easily pick the OnePlus 6T this year as one of the best Android phones, I have to give a shout out to HMD's Nokia smartphones. HMD—a Finnish company created specifically to be "the home of Nokia phones"—started producing smartphones about two years ago. At first I was reluctant to recommend a brand-new company with no track record, but over the last two years HMD has proven itself to be, hands down, the best Android OEM. HMD has been such a breath of fresh air—it regularly pumps out devices with stock Android, no crapware, fast updates, handsome designs, and at a range of price points that no one else in the industry will touch.HMD has phones that feel like they would wipe the floor with the competition, but oftentimes there just isn't any competition! The Nokia 6.1, which MSRPs at $269, is the best $269 phone you can buy. The Nokia 7.1 at $349 is the best $349 phone you can buy. I don't think I would recommend a sub-$200 smartphone, but if you really need one, the Nokia 3.1 at $140 is the one you want. HMD should be commended for tackling the sub-$500 market, but if I have any criticism for the company, it's that I would like to see higher-end devices, too. Internationally, there's a Nokia 8.1 that goes up to $477, but that's not available in the US. Really, I would love to see what the company could do if it tried to make a real flagship smartphone. There are continual rumors of a crazy five-camera "Nokia 9" out there, but a product has never materialized. Nokia phones are awesome, and I just want more. It's only been two years, though, and while other companies crash and burn in the market in that amount of time, HMD has made incredible progress. HMD is my favorite Android OEM, and any time it announces anything, you should be paying attention. Least favorite: Google’s Wear OS Enlarge / Wear OS seems nice, but it lacks apps and decent hardware. Ron Amadeo My least favorite product would have to be Google's smartwatch platform Android Wear—excuse me, "Wear OS." That new name still hasn't stuck with me. Wear OS is a dead, stagnant platform on pretty much every front. Qualcomm refuses to make a good smartphone chip, so all the hardware is thick and slow, and it has poor battery life. Google's recent release of Wear OS 2.0 seems like an improvement, but a lot of the basic functionality—like voice commands—is too slow to be useful, probably thanks to the awful hardware it has to run on. The app ecosystem is dying, too, with little support from Google or third parties. Wear OS is my "least favorite" piece of tech this year not just because it's really bad, but also because I want a good smartwatch, and Wear OS doesn't fit the bill. It would be fine if Wear OS was just bad and there was some other competitor I could pick from. But it's not like you can be an Android and Google ecosystem user and use an Apple Watch. The problem starts with Qualcomm, but it's a chicken-and-egg scenario: Qualcomm won't invest in Wear OS because there isn't much of a market, and there isn't much of a market because Wear OS devices are terrible, mainly thanks to the obsolete SoCs Qualcomm is saddled with. This situation doesn't look likely to ever improve. If an Apple Watch worked with Android, I would buy one and never look back.Samuel AxonFavorite: Apple silicon
Apple's A12 system-on-a-chip for iPhones and its A12X for the iPad Pro aren't just fast and efficient—they are the fastest, most efficient mobile chips on the market by a huge margin. When I reviewed the new iPad Pro, it outperformed every MacBook Pro I tested except for the very latest model with the highest-end, Intel Core i9 CPU. That's just remarkable. And with the A12, the A12X, and the T2 chip introduced late last year in the iMac Pro (which is now making its way into all kinds of new Macs), Apple has developed some elegant architectures not just for the central processing unit but for things like SSD controllers and security. No one else in the market is even close to what Apple has accomplished in mobile devices, and the early efforts on the Mac are promising, too.There are sometimes debates in the Ars team Slack about Apple's likely switch to making its own CPUs for Macs. Some feel it would be catastrophic for Apple to leave Intel. For a lot of us—like Lee Hutchinson and myself—the switch to Intel was the catalyst for our fully buying into the Mac ecosystem. But when I benchmarked the iPad Pro and examined its architecture to learn Apple's priorities, it became clear to me that Intel cannot possibly give Apple what it needs to satisfy users and developers moving forward. Macs need to switch to Apple silicon, and the iPad Pro's A12X shows that it's not just possible but desirable. If only the iPad Pro had the software to match its internal hardware in the meantime. Least favorite: PlayStation Classic
When the SNES Classic was announced, my Twitter feed devoted to games- and tech-loving friends went bonkers. People's nostalgia for the Super Nintendo (and Nintendo platforms in general) is fierce. But as much as I appreciate Nintendo today, I don't have those feelings, because I did not grow up on Nintendo. For the first decade-and-change of my life, I was strictly a PC gamer. That changed on one of my birthdays in the mid '90s when the Sony PlayStation came out. The PS1 became my platform of choice, followed by the PS2, up through college. So when Sony announced the PlayStation Classic this year, I finally understood the feelings SNES fans had with their classic console. Then it came out. The PlayStation Classic's quality of emulation left something to be desired. That's an understatement, really; several of the games were the 50Hz PAL versions, but they shipped on a console for US TVs. That was the biggest of many problems, and everything about the experience suffered. I'm not as critical of the games lineup as some folks were—I think that criticism is just inevitable, since the PlayStation was such a dynamic console with an extraordinarily wide range of games. The Classic would have needed to include at least 100 games to fully represent the breadth of what the original offered. But it has become clear, with discovery after discovery, that Sony gave the PlayStation Classic the bare minimum of effort. Fans deserved better. The PlayStation deserved better. Peter BrightFavorite: Nvidia's ridiculous new video cards
OK, I haven't actually used these cards. They're expensive, and since I still game at 1080p, they're for the most part overkill for my gaming needs. But what they represent—well, that's something a little special. 2018 marked the year that real-time raytracing made its way into commodity consumer hardware. Granted, it's early days yet. These cards aren't being used to provide all-raytraced graphics—rather, they're just being used to provide additional lighting effects on top of traditionally rendered images. Sometimes these effects can be quite subtle, too. But the promise, at least, of vastly more realistic and varied lighting, shadows, reflections, and more? It's now tantalizingly close. Least favorite: The SESTA/FOSTA ActFor all its dysfunction, the US Congress managed to come together to pass a bipartisan bill. It was called the "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act" (SESTA) in the Senate and the "Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act" (FOSTA) in the House. The alleged purpose of these bills: to enable prosecutors to go after websites that "knowingly" assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking and to remove Section 230 safe-harbor protection (which protects online services from being prosecuted for the actions of users of those services) in cases involving sex trafficking. The problem? It's terrible law. To be clear, I am not in favor of sex trafficking. Transporting adults and children so that they can be forced to work as prostitutes is a bad thing. The traffickers should face criminal charges and receive jail time for their involvement in such schemes, and law enforcement officers should work to disrupt and destroy the criminal gangs that perform such trafficking. SESTA/FOSTA has had a chilling effect on free speech. Sites such as Craigslist completely killed off their personals sections because the risk of operating those sections—containing, as they did, a mix of paid sex workers and entirely legal, unpaid, would-be daters—became too great. Many other discussion forums and classified ads sites made the same decision; with SESTA/FOSTA, it was no longer sufficient that such ads were banned (and routinely removed). Online services could still be claimed to "knowingly" allow such activity. The ads for legal hookups, dates, one-night stands, and relationships that sites like Craigslist enabled have all been silenced. The law has also put a group already operating at the margins of society—full-service sex workers—at further risk. Backpage allowed a certain safety; it allowed sex workers to perform some level of vetting of their customers, for example. Robbed of this advertising, many have been forced into street prostitution—a much riskier activity, as there's no vetting possible when getting into a client's car. Around the country, pimps are reported to be taking advantage of the situation: they promise some level of "protection" on the street, in return for taking the lion's share of the money. Traffickers are continuing to traffic, but they now do so without any of the visibility that Backpage previously gave them. And perhaps the most fundamental flaw of all: a law that was passed to make prosecuting sex traffickers easier has had the reverse effect. SESTA-FOSTA does not aid in such police work. In fact, it has already been found to greatly hinder it: it makes sex traffickers harder to find and arrest and their victims harder to rescue. |
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