On Wednesday, TCL unveiled several mid-range replacement phones, but we are going to focus only on its latest prototype. Nicknamed the Fold ‘n Roll, it combines two mobile technologies that no one has been able to use very well.
TCL
The Fold ‘n Roll starts out as a fairly conventional smartphone with a 6.87-inch display, but it unfolds the Mate X style into a small, square tablet with an 8.85-inch diagonal display. Then that screen can deploy even further away from its case, bringing its final size to 10 inches.
Is this concept feasible, or even necessary? The answer to that isn’t clear, and since it’s likely to follow the path of TCL’s first tri-fold tablet prototype, we’ll likely never know.
– Richard Lawler
If you can afford one.
LG
And speaking of rollables, two years after its CES debut, LG’s OLED R TV is finally available in the US – or, at least, there’s now an Inquire to Buy button on the OLED R product page for US residents. There is no mention of US prices on the website, but in South Korea it costs KRW 100 million. At the current exchange rate, that’s about $ 89,000.
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Two years after the start of his experiments.
For Instagram’s latest test, users in the beta group will have the option to either hide as counts from their own posts (so their followers don’t see them), or hide as counts from everyone’s posts. (by effectively removing the feed counts entirely). Users can also continue to display likes normally, which could be a response to widespread criticism when Instagram briefly and “unintentionally” enabled the feature for many more people last month.
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It also includes security fixes, so update ASAP.
In March, Google announced that Chrome would default to HTTPS from version 90, claiming it was the most widely used protocol, improving privacy and security – wouldn’t want anyone to spy on browsing habits without using built-in FLoC technology to do so – and improves initial load speed of sites that support it.
Version 90 is now here, and with the default HTTPS, it also adds a new AV1 video encoder which could improve the quality of your video conferencing calls.
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And I mean a literal – one – book.
Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen is known for its unique designs in its audio equipment. With its latest product, the company took inspiration from something that is already on your shelves: a book. The Beosound Emerge is a slender smart speaker with all the features and connectivity you could ask for, including support for Airplay 2 and Chromecast. In true B&O style, the device is made with high-end materials, such as oak, knit and aluminum.
Its price also matches that of LG’s new rollable OLED: the Gold Tone version of the Beosound Emerge is $ 899 (€ 749 / £ 669) while the Black Anthracite model is $ 699 (€ 599 / £ 539). Both will be available online and in B&O stores in select European markets on April 15, with a global launch slated for this fall.
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Lots of camera stuff.
Sony
Last year’s Xperia 1 II might have become a mobile photographer’s dream, but it was far from perfect – it didn’t have 5G in the US, to begin with. While there is a range of imaging sensors in play, the 12-megapixel telephoto lens might be the most impressive thing Sony has done this year.
The company claims that the 1 III is the world’s first phone with “real” optical zoom – that is, it actually moves the telephoto elements inside the phone rather than rely only on the deception of digital zoom. New to the Xperia 1 line this year is full-fledged real-time object detection, which relies on this time-of-flight camera and some handy algorithms to better track moving subjects. The big question remains: how much will Sony’s latest smartphone cost?
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Lots of camera stuff.
The Sony A1 is the most powerful mirrorless camera ever built and is expected to cost $ 6,500. It’s also an impressive display of Sony’s technological prowess, giving us a taste of what’s to come with its future mirrorless line. But for $ 500, you can buy both a Sony A7S III and an A7R IV. The camera is shamelessly aimed at professional shooters, but as Steve Dent explains, there’s enough 8K power to make high-resolution video a possibility as well.
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