It’s time for another Apple event – that time being next Tuesday, March 8, to be exact – and I’m excited. Not just because we’ll probably see the new iPhone SE, Apple’s sleeper-hit of a phone, but because Apple could finally put some meat on the bones of its plans for VR/AR glasses.
Talking of the tech industry’s worst-kept secrets, we also finally got word from Samsung that its Galaxy Note range is officially dead – and I’m very happy about that, for reasons I’ll explain below.
Elsewhere, could the end of the GPU shortage finally be in sight? Oh man, I hope so… Anyway, there’s a lot to flip through this week, so let’s get cracking.
Apple cordially invites you to its first launch event of 2022 (Apple)
So we now know that the first Apple event of 2022 will take place on March 8 – and we're fully expecting to see a new iPhone SE.
I have high hopes for the new affordable iPhone. Even if it does still come with the Touch ID fingerprint scanner and a design similar to the aging iPhone 8, a more powerful chipset should do wonders for the performance – combine that with a significantly lower price than the flagship iPhones, and I think this can be a winner.
It may not be the most interesting new device on show, however – the inclusion of the word 'peek' in an invite shared by an Apple exec on Twitter hints that we could see our first glimpse of Apple's augmented reality glasses, which would be quite the surprise.
Sadly, though, I can't see that happening – it's too early, and we're probably not going to see the Apple glasses until 2023. But if we get more information on Apple's AR plans, then it will at least suggest there's a decent chance of Apple-powered glasses appearing in the relatively near future.
Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra (above) were its final Note devices (Future)
I've never really liked Samsung's Galaxy Note lineup of phones. There's nothing much wrong with the phones themselves, and it's a record-breaking series – although I've never got on with the S-Pen stylus; the screen doesn't feel like paper, it makes my handwriting even worse than it already is, and I can't sketch on it.
The bigger issue is that I never really liked there being two separate Samsung flagship phone launches in the year, and Samsung finally noted (no pun intended) that Note sales were starting to have an impact on sales of its Galaxy S-series phones.
So the news that the Note series has officially been discontinued is welcome, as far as I'm concerned. The DNA of the Note and the Galaxy S lines has been fused to create the S22 Ultra, complete with S Pen, and that leaves Samsung's August launch spot clear for its next range of foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Z Fold 4 – which are intriguing, and hugely distinct from the Galaxy S line of devices.
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The notch has been a feature of the last few generations of iPhone (Future)
From Samsung's flagships to Apple's, and I've been wondering about the iPhone 14 for a while now – what will it bring that's different? The answer may be 'quite a lot', if a newly leaked design for the front-facing camera is anything to go by.
I've struggled to believe that Apple would actually do away with the notch, but we're hearing more and more rumors that the brand will go for a 'pill and hole' approach, with the camera and sensors housed behind two apertures, one pill-shaped and the other a punch-hole.
This is a design that's been used by other brands, but it's not something that looks particularly elegant. Yes, you'll get more screen real estate, but I don't think the notch has harmed iPhone sales that much – and this design would arguably make the screen look worse.
So until Apple can find a way to make the cameras invisible by putting them under the display without that significantly impacting on image quality, my hunch is that it'll stick with the notch.
POLL QUESTION:
What should Apple do with the cameras on the iPhone 14?
Graphics cards are starting to become more affordable again (Shutterstock)
If you're hoping to bag yourself a cheap graphics card in the near future, your chances of doing so may be starting to improve.
The chip shortage of the last year or so has been well documented, with everything from PC components to new cars in short supply as a result – but new data shows that GPU prices are starting to return to reasonable levels, and our computing writer Jess Weatherbed has done an excellent job of explaining why things are starting to look a lot rosier.
We’re still a long way from seeing truly ‘cheap’ graphics cards become widely available again, but at least you won’t have to remortgage your house to buy an RTX 3090 Ti this year.
Are you cheating at Wordle? We won't tell… (Shutterstock / Gina Hsu)
Dear reader, I've got caught in something of a loop. I now have to solve the daily Wordle challenge as part of my job – each day at 7am I'm updating our 'Today's Wordle answer' page.
I've definitely noticed an increase in the numbers of people looking at it over the last week, which ties in with this story that claims the numbers of people who may be 'cheating' because they don't want to blow their streak are going up and up.
However, I don't think it's because – as the article suggests could be the case – the New York Times has bought the platform, as the answers certainly aren't getting any harder. I think it's more likely a combination of an increase in the numbers of people playing, and a general sense of brain-ache from trying to get the answer every day.
It was worth it – while I've never listened to the album (if you saw my Spotify playlists, and how much Scooter is on there, you'd understand why), I got a very strong sense of what it would be like to slip on a pair of very expensive headphones, lean back, and get lost in the music.
Being able to stream your favorite tunes in this kind of quality on your phone is pretty cool – let Liv take on you a sonic journey, and see if you don't feel the same.
Boxing clever: there's a good reason why your cat loves the cardboard (ALFSnaiper via Getty Images)
My cat used to love boxes. Or getting under a chest of drawers. Or hiding in a wardrobe.
And in the latest edition of LIfe's LIttle Mysteries from LiveScience, we discover why: it's because they love the feeling of pressure on their bodies, which gives them a sense of comfort and safety, which is something cats have evolved to crave.
But I love cats, and this is one of those stories that made me a little bit happier inside.
This is from the editor
And that’s me done for another week. It’s time for myself and the rest of the team to start gearing up for Tuesday’s Apple event – I think it’s going to be a humdinger.
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