Technology - Google News

Report: Google Quietly Ditching Stadia - Kotaku
Chrome gets its first new logo in 8 years — come spot the differences - The Next Web
What to Expect From Apple's Upcoming 2022 iPhone SE 5G - MacRumors

Report: Google Quietly Ditching Stadia - Kotaku

Posted: 05 Feb 2022 10:25 AM PST

Google Stadia has since responded to the report, posting a Twitter thread explaining that the Stadia team is "working really hard on a great future" for the streaming service. It pointed towards 100 games added to the service in 2021, as well 50 games being offered to Pro subscribers, as proof it was far from over. It also vaguely promised more features coming soon, but didn't elaborate on what to expect or when. While it's unlikely that Google will pull the plug on Stadia anytime in the near future, it's become more and more apparent that Google's gaming bet didn't pay off as they had hoped. Over the course of the last two years, Stadia has faced multiple lawsuits, made the decision to shut down its main first-party development studio with little warning, ran into issues with indie devs, and has seen key folks leaving the company. It was also revealed last year that after spending "tens of millions" of dollars to secure ports of big AAA games, like Red Dead Redemption II, Stadia underperformed at bringing in new subscribers and users by "hundreds of thousands." Google switching Stadia into a more commercial-focused product—one which is integrated into different experiences and demos for other companies—is probably a smart idea and a way to salvage all the tech and resources poured into the service. However, I'd recommend not buying any games on Stadia as that particular Google service now seems more destined for the graveyard than ever before.

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Chrome gets its first new logo in 8 years — come spot the differences - The Next Web

Posted: 04 Feb 2022 05:04 PM PST

Google Chrome has a new logo, which was recently rolled out with the latest developer builds of the browser. Behold, the dramatically modified icon that will soon grace your devices:

Whoops. I must've uploaded the wrong image. Let me try again. Enhance!

Hmm. *Types away at keyboard.* Okay, that is new-chrome-logo-2022.png.

For reference, this is old-chrome-logo-2014.png:

So yeah, it's Chrome's first new logo in eight years, but not that much has changed.

Not to say that's a bad thing, really. The Chrome logo is pretty iconic, and everyone knows what it is. Google probably doesn't want people to panic when they suddenly can't find their browser because of some newfangled logo. Instead, the new logo will probably just give some people that weird "hmm, something's different" feeling, like when Spotify changed its shade of green and people revolted, presumably including Neil Young.

Now's your last chance: can you spot the differences?

…

Okay, time's up. Here's what's officially changed, according to Google designer Elvin Hu.

The icon has been simplified/flattened by removing the shadows.
The colors are brighter, making that fancy screen of yours pop.
The proportions are different, making the big blue ball in the middle noticeably bigger.
There's a slight gradient on the colors because "placing certain shades of green and red next to each other created an unpleasant color vibration."

Design is about the details, after all. But wait, there's more!

Google is actually making the logo subtly different for various platforms in order to better blend with their individual aesthetics. Per Hu, on Windows 11, the logo has a more graduated look to match the OS' aesthetic.

But on Chrome OS, the colors are more solid, because that's the way Google's design leans these days.

Meanwhile, the Mac version comes out of left field with a slightly 3D icon that somewhat matches native Apple icons.

On the whole, it's a change that most people won't notice, and that's probably just fine. That said, part of me wishes Google had gone bonkers and made an altogether new logo (Google apparently considered bigger changes but decided against them). I mean what if the Chrome logo was actually, you know chrome? Now that's a bright and shiny idea.

Some of you might have noticed a new icon in Chrome's Canary update today. Yes! we're refreshing Chrome's brand icons for the first time in 8 years. The new icons will start to appear across your devices soon. pic.twitter.com/aaaRRzFLI1

— Elvin 🌈 (@elvin_not_11) February 4, 2022

The new logo will be rolling out across various platforms 'soon.' If you want to read more about what's new, I recommend reading Hu's Twitter thread detailing the changes here.

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What to Expect From Apple's Upcoming 2022 iPhone SE 5G - MacRumors

Posted: 04 Feb 2022 02:08 PM PST

Apple is working on an updated version of its most affordable iPhone, and the new 2022 version of the iPhone SE could be coming out within a matter of weeks. While not the most exciting refresh, there are some features that are going to be great at the $399 price point that the ‌iPhone SE‌ sells at.

iPhone SE 2022 Red Feature
This guide covers everything that we know about the upcoming ‌iPhone SE‌ based on rumors and past release history.

Design

We are not expecting any design changes for the next version of the ‌iPhone SE‌. It's going to continue to look like the current 2020 ‌iPhone SE‌, which is modeled after the ‌iPhone‌ 8. The current ‌iPhone SE‌ is available in black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED, so we could see similar color options for the new model.

It will feature a 4.7-inch LCD display with thick bezels and a Touch ID Home button, making it Apple's most modern ‌iPhone‌ that still offers ‌Touch ID‌. All other iPhones have transitioned to Face ID, and there are rumors that future versions of the low-cost ‌iPhone‌ will do so as well, but not at this time.

The back of the device will be made of glass to facilitate wireless charging, but it won't include MagSafe technology. Like old models, the new ‌iPhone SE‌ will feature IP67 water and dust resistance. We're also not expecting changes to the battery life given the lack of design updates, so battery life will likely be the same.

5G Speeds

5G connectivity will be the major selling point of the new ‌iPhone SE‌, with Apple bringing 5G speeds to a much more affordable ‌iPhone‌. At the current time, Apple's cheapest 5G iPhone is the $599 iPhone 12 mini, but the ‌iPhone SE‌ will be a good deal cheaper if the rumors are accurate.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said it will be the most affordable ‌5G iPhone‌ available, and in terms of connection speeds, it could be on par with Apple's iPhone 13 and 13 Pro models. It's worth noting that with the ‌iPhone 13‌ models, the fastest mmWave 5G speeds are limited to the United States, and that's likely to be the case with the ‌iPhone SE‌ as well should it support mmWave speeds.

We haven't really heard either way if Apple plans to limit the more affordable iPhones to sub-6GHz networks, but it seems unlikely.

Updated Processor

The current ‌iPhone SE‌ has an A13 Bionic chip, and the 2022 model is expected to get a newer, faster chip. Apple could opt to go with the A15 chip, putting it on par with the ‌iPhone 13‌ models, though we've also heard a rumor about the A14.

When the 2020 ‌iPhone SE‌ was released, it included the same A13 chip that had been used in the iPhone 11 models the prior September, so we could see the same situation in 2022 with the new ‌iPhone SE‌ adopting the A15.

Battery Life

The current ‌iPhone SE‌ lasts for 13 hours when watching videos, eight hours when streaming videos, and 40 hours when listening to audio, and it is capable of fast charging and can charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes when using an 18W power adapter or higher.

Cameras

The ‌iPhone SE‌ is expected to feature an updated camera, and it could adopt the latest Wide-Angle camera from the ‌iPhone 13‌. We don't know specifics at this time, but camera improvements are planned.

The current ‌iPhone SE‌ features a 7-megapixel front-facing camera and a single-lens 12-megapixel rear camera.

Naming

Apple could call the new ‌iPhone SE‌ the ‌iPhone SE‌ 5G to differentiate it from the 2020 version, but it could also just stick with the standard ‌iPhone SE‌ name.

Display analyst Ross Young has said that the ‌iPhone SE‌ could be called the "‌iPhone SE‌ Plus" even though it's not getting a larger display, but that seems unlikely because historically, the "Plus" naming has denoted a larger screen size.

Pricing

The 2022 ‌iPhone SE‌ is expected to be priced starting at $399, which is the same asking price as the current 2020 model.

Release Date

Apple is planning to hold an event in early March, likely on Tuesday, March 8. This event will focus on the ‌iPhone SE‌, the iPad Air, and at least one new Mac with an M1 Pro/Max chip, likely the Mac mini.

A Future iPhone SE

We've heard rumors of another low-cost ‌iPhone‌ possibly in the ‌iPhone SE‌ family that features an all-display design, and this ‌iPhone SE‌ with a larger display and no Home button is expected to come out in 2023 or 2024.

Display analyst Ross Young believes that Apple is working on a version of the iPhone SE with a larger 5.7 to 6.1-inch display and a hole-punch camera slated. Apple analyst ‌Ming-Chi Kuo‌ has also said that a larger version of the ‌iPhone SE‌ will launch in 2023, featuring an updated, bigger display and 4GB RAM.

Back in 2019, Kuo said there would be an "‌iPhone SE‌ Plus" with a full-screen design, no Face ID, and a ‌Touch ID‌ fingerprint sensor built into the power button on the side of the device, but such a device did not surface. It's possible Apple was working on this ‌iPhone SE‌ for an earlier launch, but pushed it back.

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