Technology - Google News

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite details and more announced - Polygon
Next iPad Rumored To Keep Headphone Jack, May Have Brilliant, Surprise New Design - Forbes
The first Android Q beta is launching soon, and it’ll be compatible with even more devices - BGR

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite details and more announced - Polygon

Posted: 11 Mar 2019 07:38 AM PDT

Niantic has fully unveiled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, its next licensed game following the Pokémon Go phenom. A co-production with Harry Potter-centric publisher Portkey Games, the mobile game will allow players to venture the real world as wizards and witches, casting spells and entering special challenges to protect the world from Muggle eyes.

Here’s how Niantic describes the underlying storyline for Wizards Unite, in which players are a member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force — a group that works to protect the Ministry of Magic’s law that wizards cannot tell Muggles (aka non-magical humans) that magic exists.

A calamity has befallen the wizarding world, causing artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories to mysteriously appear in the Muggle world. Witches and wizards from across the globe must come together to solve the mystery of The Calamity, overcome the confounding chaotic magic that surrounds these “Foundables,” and return them to their rightful place, keeping them safe from Muggle eyes.

Your journey begins as a new recruit of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, established by the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards for the purpose of investigating and containing The Calamity.

In order to contain the Calamity, players must go around the world to find traces of magic and magical items called “Foundables.” These can be located at myriad “Muggle locations” around the world, sort of like PokéStops in Pokémon Go. Collecting items at these locations will help to refill Spell Energy so that wizards and witches can continue to do their thing to protect the important Foundables.

It won’t just be all Muggle mainstays like Starbucks and that bank outside your office, though; players will have the chance to experience AR versions of actual Harry Potter locations like Ollivander’s Wand Shop. (No word yet on Hogwarts appearing.)

The game will also launch with multiplayer Wizarding Challenges that allow friends to group up and take on Death Eaters, Dementors, and other magical villains. It’s like trainer battles, in a sense, although friends will work together, not against each other. (Everyone will also be able to choose a magical profession on top of their Task Force duties to aid them in these challenges.)

Pre-registration is open on the Google Play store for Android devices. A release date has still not been announced.

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Next iPad Rumored To Keep Headphone Jack, May Have Brilliant, Surprise New Design - Forbes

Posted: 10 Mar 2019 04:00 PM PDT

A new rumor suggests the iPad imminently expected will keep a lot of the features of the current one. But I think there’s a possibility which hasn’t yet been considered. If true, it’ll be just tremendous.

Apple iPad 2018 and Apple Pencil. What will 2019 bring?Apple

Later this month, it seems Apple will launch a new iPad, an iPad mini, the first new iPod for years and the long-awaited AirPower charging mat and an updated version of AirPods. The new AirPods may even come with super-fast wireless charging.

Such a lot of hardware justifies one of Apple’s big, show-stopping events, right?

Maybe not. Although there’s not long to go before an expected Apple event in Cupertino later this month, probably on March 25 or 26, it increasingly looks like this will be a star-studded event to spotlight the new Apple TV and Apple News subscription services. The company may not want to distract from such a big new service announcement.

Apple iPad 2018.Apple

If that’s right, then the latest rumors suggest that Apple will reveal the new hardware separately, perhaps a few days before the Steve Jobs Theater shindig.

A new rumor has come to light from the supply chain. It was revealed by Macotakara and picked up by 9to5Mac and it makes for interesting reading.

Headphone jack to stay

The latest iPad Pro models released last October did away with the headphone jack at all. But the supplier sources say that the next model will keep the 3.5mm headphone jack in its place.

The iPad Pro 10.5in, left, and iPad with 9.7in display (2018).David Phelan

Touch ID also remains

No switch to Face ID is another conclusion. This makes sense. We’re talking about an entry-level product. The current iPad is outstanding value ($329 and up) but Face ID is a pricey, premium component and it would be a surprise to see it on the least expensive tablet. After all, it’s not even on the iPad Pro 10.5in, which sells for around twice that, $649.

So, will the design change at all?

There has been a persistent rumor that Apple would increase the size of the new iPad display to 10in from the current 9.7in. Some sources have said it will be bigger than that, perhaps around 10.2in. Note though that one of the suppliers thought that the screen size won’t change at all.

If there is a bigger display size, then that means a new design, for sure. Or does it?

Apple's iPad Pro 10.5.Apple

How about a 10.5in display?

Apple is extraordinarily canny about recycling its designs, something it does to great effect. Look no further than the iPhone 5s design which gained new life as the iPhone SE. Or the design of the current iPad which is a dead ringer for the original iPad Air.

In both cases, Apple took a design it had introduced with its flagship product a couple of years previously, and later re-imagined it for an entry-level machine.

It’s a real win-win for both Apple and us: there’s no significant design cost for Apple, and consumers are delighted to get a previously top-price look for much lower cost.

So, my guess – and for now it’s no more than that – is that when the next iPad is released it will either look identical to the current model or, and this is the more exciting possibility, will take on the shape, design, size and bigger screen of the current iPad Pro 10.5in.

After all, it’s the only iPad Pro with Touch ID and a headphone jack so it fits with the other rumors. And, to be frank, it does look a little out of place in the iPad Pro line-up.

iPad Pro 10.5, left, 2018 iPad, right. Note the more delicate antenna break on the iPad Pro - and that it's nowhere near the base of the tablet.David Phelan

Just imagine if the entry-level iPad traded up to a 10.5in display, plus the thinner bezels and altogether more premium look of the iPad Pro 10.5in such as the elegant antenna design on the Pro. Again, there are limited design costs for Apple, and it would make for a sensational entry-level tablet.

It’s true, Apple would have to retire the current iPad Pro 10.5in from the range, which it might not want to do just yet. After all, the company has kept the old MacBook Air in the current range alongside the new one.

Side by side: iPad Pro 10.5, left, and iPad (208), right.David Phelan

So, what will happen?

This is far from certain. But it does tick all the boxes rumored elsewhere: Touch ID, headphone jack and a slightly larger display.

I’ll stick my neck out and say I think the suggestion of a 10.2in screen is wrong, as that would require a whole new design and that’s not Apple’s way with its most affordable products.

Right now, I’d say there’s just as big a chance that the next iPad will look identical to the current one, but with a beefed-up processor and so on. Given the price it sells for, this is still amazing and offers value no other tablet maker can match in terms of power, screen quality, build quality and so on.

But even more exciting would be a new iPad with a 10.5in display.

My guess is we’ll know in the next week or two, before the rumored Apple event with an expected release date of later this month, for the same $329 price as present. Then, expect the new iPad to be referenced at the keynote as the ideal way to read Apple News or watch Apple TV subscription programming.

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The first Android Q beta is launching soon, and it’ll be compatible with even more devices - BGR

Posted: 11 Mar 2019 03:50 AM PDT

You may be waiting for Android Pie to reach your mobile device, but the next major Android update is already around the corner. And Google may drop the first Android Q beta as soon as Monday according to a discovery. Furthermore, the Android Q beta will be available on even more devices that Android P, a Googler confirmed.

First found by xda-developer’s Mishaal Rahman, the bug tracker for Android Q is already online.

As Android Police explains, the Issue Tracker search has a date filter for March 11th, which suggests that only reports made after Monday can be seen. This is apparently a confirmation that the beta will drop on March 11th.

Separately xda-developers relayed a comment that Android Developer Illiyan Malchev made during the Android Developers Backstage podcast about the number of Android smartphones that will support the upcoming beta. We’re looking at even more handsets than last year, although no specific models were named.

Q: I noticed that when we announced the Android Pie preview at last year’s I/O, there were several devices that were announced at that time, which I thought was new to have that many different devices coming out. I assumed that was in part due to Treble, making it easier for those devices to be….

Illiyan: Yeah, in fact it was fully due to Treble. We had, I believe, eight OEMs including Pixels, so seven OEMs other than Pixel. And I think it was for the first time we had all of these companies line up to do developer previews and betas for Android Pie well ahead of the AOSP publication date. For reference, we tend to release the new version of Android sometime in August. So at Google I/O [2018], when we did the first beta, we had all these companies lined up, and that was really that amazing. The number is bigger for the upcoming Android release, which I am very happy about. I cannot share the exact numbers yet. But the trend is positive and strong, and I am very happy about this.

That should be exciting news to anyone looking to test the new version of Android, whether they’re developers or not. When Google released the first Android P beta last year, it supported a variety of devices not just the Pixel 2. The list included several brand new Android handsets, even devices that were not available in stores: Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Nokia 7 Plus, Oppo R15 Pro, Vivo X21, OnePlus 6, and Essential PH‑1. It’s likely that the first Android Q beta will be available on some of this year’s hottest flagships, in addition to the Pixel 3 series.

Image Source: Google

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