Monthly Archives: September 2024

Honor solves a major folding phone problem with the Magic V3

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As great as they can be, folding phones can be a blight upon our pockets when wearing something tight. After all, these devices feel like you’ve got two phones in your pocket instead of the one you actually own. It’s not just the hardware, either, but the necessary hinges and joints that keep the components from breaking. So it was to my surprise that Honor’s new Magic V3 felt almost svelte in my jeans compared to its predecessor.

The company has spent the last year removing 0.7mm from the Magic V2, making the new model just 9.2mm thick. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s enough to make the whole thing feel noticeably thinner. It’s emblematic of the work Honor has put in to refine its flagship foldable in the hope of making it easier to live with day to day. So while the list of eye-catching new features is non-existent, a lot of small tweaks add up to a lot.

Image of Honor’s Magic V3, the company’s third-generation folding phone.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

For instance, the display isn’t much changed beyond boosting the brightness of its backlight which helps readability in strong sunlight. You’ll also notice the company making a big deal about its AI defocus technology to help reduce eyestrain. The battery, too, gets a meager bump from 5,000mAh in the V2 to 5,150mAh here, but you can now charge it wirelessly. Similarly, work has been made to keep the V3 running cooler for longer under heavy load.

On the imaging front, there’s a 50-megapixel, f/1.6 wide camera paired with a 50-megapixel f/3.0 periscope telephoto lens with optical image stabilization (OIS) and LIDAR and a 40-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera that also comes with OIS. There are also two 20-megapixel cameras for selfies embedded in both the cover display and the internal display, should you need them.

Image of Honor’s Magic V3, the company’s third-generation folding phone.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

Honor is also throwing a kitchen sink’s worth of AI features at this thing which I’ve not yet been able to test. That includes the Google-powered AI Eraser to paint out unwanted nasties in your photos and face-to-face translation services. Honor’s Magic Portal, too, will offer hooks into Google search and try to throw up recommendations as and when you need them.

Of course, we don’t yet know how much this thing will cost you or when it’ll be available, but we hope that it’s priced smartly enough that it keeps its rivals on their toes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/honor-solves-a-major-folding-phone-problem-with-the-magic-v3-130026967.html?src=rss

The DJI Neo Is Lightweight, Compact, and Ready to Capture Everyday Moments

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The DJI Neo is the company’s lightest and most compact drone, weighing just under 5 ounces (135g). Designed for casual creators, adventurers, and anyone wanting to capture everyday moments, the Neo combines portability and powerful features, making it ideal for those seeking a simple, efficient way to document their experiences. Its compact form factor means it’s easy to carry and use on the go, offering creators a versatile tool for capturing life’s moments.

Designer: DJI

Unlike many drones, the Neo does not require a traditional remote control. Instead, users can take off, fly, and land the drone using a single button. For added convenience, voice commands allow for hands-free operation, making the drone easy to control even in dynamic situations. The drone can be launched and landed directly from the user’s hand, making it highly intuitive for beginners and experienced users. With an 18-minute flight time, the Neo provides ample opportunity to capture spontaneous moments indoors or outdoors, while its compact size means it fits comfortably into any adventure.

The Neo’s camera capabilities ensure high-quality footage in any situation. Equipped with a 12MP camera, the Neo can capture crisp still images, while its ability to shoot 4K stabilized video adds a professional touch to even casual content. Whether documenting a family day at the park or recording an outdoor adventure, the Neo provides the tools to capture sharp, clear footage quickly.

The AI-powered subject tracking feature allows users to focus on their shots without manually adjusting the drone. Whether cycling, skateboarding, or hiking, the Neo’s advanced AI tracking system keeps the user perfectly framed, ensuring smooth, dynamic footage every time. The drone’s six QuickShots modes—Dronie, Circle, Rocket, Spotlight, Helix, and Boomerang—allow users to create cinematic content with just the press of a button. These pre-programmed flight paths and camera angles simplify the creative process, ensuring professional-looking results without the need for advanced piloting skills.

Safety is also a key design focus of the DJI Neo. The drone’s propellers are fully wrapped, protecting it and its surroundings and making it safe indoors and outdoors. The Neo’s 22GB of internal storage allows users to record up to 40 minutes of 4K video at 30fps or 55 minutes at 1080p/60fps. With built-in Wireless QuickTransfer, users can send their footage directly to their smartphones for easy editing and sharing, streamlining the post-production process and eliminating the need for external memory cards or additional cables.

In addition to its camera and safety features, the Neo is equipped with a single-axis mechanical gimbal, ensuring smooth and steady footage even during rapid maneuvers. DJI’s RockSteady and HorizonBalancing technologies further enhance stabilization, reducing shake and ensuring the horizon stays level even in dynamic or fast-moving scenarios. The Neo also uses infrared and monocular vision positioning systems, allowing it to hover steadily and maintain stability in various environments. Users can focus on capturing content, knowing the drone will stay steady without needing constant manual adjustments.

The Neo includes an Automatic Return to Home (RTH) feature for added convenience. This ensures that the drone safely returns to its takeoff point with a single command, providing peace of mind for users who are new to flying drones. Whether capturing footage in open spaces or more challenging environments, the RTH feature ensures the drone’s safe retrieval, adding an extra layer of security to the flying experience.

DJI NEO FPV Control

Charging the Neo is made easy with its Type-C charging port, which allows for quick recharges between flights. For extended use, DJI also offers a Two-Way Charging Hub that can charge up to three batteries simultaneously, reducing downtime and ensuring users can stay in the air longer. The Neo’s flexible design also makes it compatible with the DJI Fly app, traditional remote controllers, DJI Goggles, and RC Motion, giving users a range of options for controlling the drone based on their personal preferences.

The DJI Neo is designed to make aerial content creation accessible to everyone. Its lightweight and compact form, advanced features like AI-powered tracking, QuickShots modes, and high-quality video capture make it a versatile tool for capturing life’s moments. Whether you’re documenting family outings or outdoor adventures or simply looking to add a cinematic touch to your daily experiences, the Neo provides the perfect balance of portability, performance, and ease of use.

The post The DJI Neo Is Lightweight, Compact, and Ready to Capture Everyday Moments first appeared on Yanko Design.

All The New Apple AirPods Launching at the iPhone 16 Event

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Apple AirPods

Apple enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the upcoming iPhone 16 event, where the company is expected to unveil a range of new AirPods models. The event, scheduled for September 9th, will showcase the fourth generation of standard AirPods, AirPods Pro 3, and potentially AirPods Max 2. These new models will feature various updates and improvements, catering […]

The post All The New Apple AirPods Launching at the iPhone 16 Event appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Honor’s new laptop has a detachable webcam

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If you’re the sort who’d fling yourself on a fainting couch at the thought of an unsightly laptop bezel, there are kindred spirits working in Honor’s design department. The Chinese company has rocked up at IFA 2024 to show off the BookArt 14, with a uniform 2mm display bezel on the top three sides. Where then, you may ask, is the webcam? It’s hidden in a recess on the laptop deck, and when required will magnetically attach to the top of the lid with pogo pins.

The BookArt 14 is the latest in Honor’s attempts to produce a machine that it hopes will best a MacBook Air in a smaller body. That, as usual, means a smaller footprint and a far broader range of connectivity options including two USB-C, HDMI-out, 3.5mm jack and a USB-A port. Similarly, the 14.6-inch, 3.1K OLED display has a peak brightness of 700 nits and will come specced with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 when it drops at some point in the near future.

Image of Honor's BookArt 14, close up on the left side of the deck where the pop-out webcam sits.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

But more on that webcam, which looks like a single piece of flat chewing gum that sits in a push-in cavity on the right of the deck when not in use. When required, you can pop it out and it’ll nestle onto the magnetic pogo pins on the very top of the lid, only connecting when in place. (There’s no wireless connection, so you don’t have to worry about the webcam being used for anything dodgy when it’s not sitting on the pins.) You can connect it facing you or, if you so require, you can flip the view for conference calls in bigger rooms.

Of course, this isn't the first Honor laptop with a wacky webcam: Aping Huawei's MateBook X Pro, several of its machines, including the MagicBook Pro 16, had the camera mounted in a recess in the middle of the function row. That was great from a privacy perspective, but less than ideal when your video chats were looking up your nose.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/honors-new-laptop-has-a-detachable-webcam-130006729.html?src=rss

Honor’s high-end MagicPad 2 offers elegance and style

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Honor rocked up at IFA 2024 with a plethora of products to show off, including its latest crack at building an iPad Pro killer. The MagicPad 2 is a 12.3-inch slate with a 3K, 144Hz OLED display that, the company says, will work harder than most to reduce eye strain. It’s a far cry from the LCD version its predecessor, the Magic Pad 13, shipped out with at the same time last year.

Understandably, Honor emptied a truck full of specs into this thing in the hope of making it a compelling purchase. There’s a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 paired with an Adreno 735 GPU and 12GB RAM, plus your storage option of choice. There’s a 13-megapixel, f/2.0 rear-facing camera and a 9-megapixel f/2.2 selfie unit which is on the “top” of the device in landscape mode. But Honor is more proud that, when laying on a table, it stands 5.8mm tall, a millimeter less than the iPad Pros it’s measuring itself up against.

Certainly, the hardware oozes austere charm, with a nicely-machined edge and rounded corners that you’d expect from a pro device. I’m not sure we can separate this from the products it apes but you have to give some small credit for making it look good. Especially given the usual risk of hewing too close to your inspiration and looking all the more inferior for it.

Honor MagicPad 2 side image
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

Whereas the keyboard on the MagicPad 13 connected to the tablet with pogo pins, this time out the Smart Bluetooth Keyboard is all wireless. I’m a fan of the keyboard folio, which uses chiclet switches with 1.6mm of key travel and is perfect for working on. Sadly, it does have that slightly agricultural feel that comes from a lot of third-party tablet case manufacturers, but that’s a small crime. Certainly, when flipped down in tablet-only mode, I was surprised at how few times I was able to trigger a mis-key, even when holding the slate in my arms.

It, like the Magic Pencil 3, attaches to its parent with magnets and draws power via close contact with the slate. If there’s one downside, it’s that the documentation is, as usual, woeful, and the magnets that run along the tablet's “top” bezel are strong enough that you can mount the Pencil in the wrong place. Which leads to the risk that you won’t sit it over the charging coil, leaving you in the lurch when you need to jot something down. As for the stylus, it’s very Apple Pencil v1, but the slate is responsive to inputs and palm rejection works perfectly.

Honor MagicPad 2
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

Of course, much of what Honor is selling with this device isn't the hardware so much as the AI insights it promises to conjure up. Like being able to recognize handwritten mathematical formulas and writing, turning them into text with the promise of fewer "Eat Up Martha's." I was impressed by the speed at which I could scrawl "Hello, I am looking for a new housekeeper" in Honor Docs and it instantly translated it —- albeit to "Hello, I am looking for a new horsesleeper." 

My brief sojourn with the Magic Pad 2 won’t offer generous insights into its longevity but that 10,050mAh battery seems fairly sturdy. I spent an hour or more browsing the w… — okay, obsessively scrolling through Reddit – and watching a 25-minute YouTube video. But even that activity only managed to knock the battery life figure down by three percent and I’d be surprised if it didn’t offer more than a whole day’s worth of life, depending on how aggressive you use it.

Of course, like many products in this pantheon, the big question is how compelling its price will be. If Honor is expecting to charge the same sort of price as an iPad Pro, then you can imagine only the most diehard of Android fans will opt for this. But if Honor can keep the price at a level that’ll ensure only positive comparisons, then it may be on to a winner.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/honors-high-end-magicpad-2-offers-elegance-and-style-130004154.html?src=rss

Thumby Color programmable pocket games console

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Thumby Color games console

Imagine having a powerful, portable game system right on your keychain. With Thumby Color, you can dive into a world of gaming and game development wherever you go. This next-generation device is not just a game console; it’s a gateway to creativity and innovation, designed for both beginners and experienced developers alike. Thumby Color Key […]

The post Thumby Color programmable pocket games console appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

YouTube will limit fitness and weight video recommendations to European teens

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YouTube has introduced additional safeguards for teens on its website, which includes limiting the content they see that could lead them to form negative beliefs about themselves. As the Google-owned video sharing platform explains, teenagers are more likely to be critical of themselves if they see repeated messages about ideal social standards. In response, YouTube is now limiting repeated recommendations of videos featuring specific fitness levels or body weights, as well as those that display "social aggression in the form of non-contact fights and intimidation" for European users. As The Guardian notes, this rule is already being enforced in the US.

The website said it decided on those video categories after reviewing which ones "may be innocuous as a single video, but could be problematic for some teens if viewed repetitively." In addition, it has deployed crisis center panels across Europe that will give teens a quick way to connect with live support from recognized crisis service partners. A panel could show up on younger users' interface if they watch videos related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, among other sensitive topics. It could also pop up in their search results if they look for topics linked to specific health crises or emotional distress. 

Aside from limiting potentially harmful recommendations, YouTube is adding a new parental control feature that would let parents link their accounts to their teens' for users in the US and other regions. Parents or guardians will see their child's channel activity, such as the number of comments, uploads and subscriptions, in the Family Center hub. YouTube will also send them an email if their teen uploads a video or a Short, and if they start a livestream, even if they're set to private.

The website told TechCrunch, though, that the alerts the parents receive will not include information on the content of comments and uploads. Parents will also not be able to change their kids' age on their accounts. This feature is a further expansion of the parental controls YouTube introduced in 2021. Back then, the website opened a public beta for supervised accounts that allowed guardians to control the kinds of videos their kids can see. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtube-will-limit-fitness-and-weight-video-recommendations-to-european-teens-123003587.html?src=rss

Excel Pivot Table features you should know

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how to use Excel Pivot Tables

Ever found yourself wondering if there’s a more efficient way to handle your data in Excel? If you’ve been using Pivot Tables but feel like you’re only scratching the surface, you’re in for a treat. This guide by Leila Gharani dives into several underutilized features of Excel Pivot Tables that can significantly enhance your data […]

The post Excel Pivot Table features you should know appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

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Everything You Need to Know About the New Photos App in iOS 18

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Photos App iOS 18

Apple will bring a significant update to the Photos app in iOS 18, bringing a host of new features and improvements designed to enhance your photo management experience. The video below from Proper Honest Tech provides an in-depth look at the key changes and how they can benefit you in the updated photos app. Redesigned […]

The post Everything You Need to Know About the New Photos App in iOS 18 appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

The best horror games to play in 2025

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Are you tired of feeling safe and happy all the time? Is your daily life overrun by feelings of security, contentment and peace? Do you want an escape from all of the oppressive niceness around you? Well, look no further — these are the games for you.

Here, we’ve collected more than a dozen of the most evocative and disturbing horror games in recent memory. These selections cover a wide range of genres and styles, but each one comes with at least a tinge of unsettling terror. So take a peek, find your game, and prepare your skeleton for some fresh air because you’re about to jump out of your skin.

Check out our entire Best Games series including the best Nintendo Switch games, the best PS5 games, the best Xbox games, the best PC games and the best free games you can play today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/best-horror-games-120029388.html?src=rss