Welcome back, TechRadar friends. It’s been a week of recovery for me – after a whirlwind 5 days at CES, I came back with Covid. I’m fine, but I did slow down enough to reflect on that big event and, while Managing Editor Matt Hanson caught you up on most of it last week, I thought I’d add some of my observations.
First of all, in-person events are really back. CES was as vibrant and exciting as ever, with a huge variety of hardware, software, services, and mobility (so much EV) technologies. There was also a heavy emphasis on VR and AR – even if you’re not yet hanging out in the metaverse everyday, the tech industry believes you soon will.
The good news is that the state of the art in AR and VR is so much better than it was just a few years ago. I was lucky enough to try the new HTC Vive XR Elite and Magic Leap 2. Both headsets offer AR experiences, and the former is capable of a very immersive VR one. Meanwhile, my colleagues, Matt Bolton and Jeremy Kaplan tried out competing AR glasses from TCL and Vuzix – and apparently seeing is believing.
I definitely had my share of weird and wild experiences, including getting shocked by a haptic shirt, but I think Allisa James really captured the spirit of CES’s weird side in this piece.
While I was at CES I posted like a fiend on Twitter, but I also avoided reading any of Elon Musk’s tweets, which gave me a nice respite from all the drama. Maybe it’s calming down… or maybe we’re giving up. Muskaan Saxena’s piece about our collective failure to permanently adopt Mastodon and leave Twitter behind is almost poignant. As she writes, “[Mastodon] doesn’t feel as fulfilling as Twitter does, but definitely feels more complicated, which is probably a huge reason why so many people have left the site.” It’s clear that Twitter is the one platform we just can’t quit, despite what Musk is doing to it.
Post CES, early January is supposed to be a sleepy time in the industry, but it doesn't feel like that to me. A lot is happening, or is just about to happen, so let’s dive in – but not before I remind you that today is Friday the 13th. Try not to break any mirrors, and do remember to drop me an email with your thoughts, including NEWSLETTER in the subject line.
The date is set and the invites have gone out (Samsung)
The first big product launch of 2023 is now in sight. Earlier this week, Samsung made its first Unpacked event date official: it’s holding a splashy event in San Francisco on February 1.
Everyone expects the company to launch the Samsung Galaxy S23 range, though the company has yet to confirm the names of the phones, or even how many phones it might launch.
Naturally, we have a lot of thoughts about the anticipated S23 series, which we've collected in a nice big hub. While we expect few design surprises, the cameras could be something special, with a 200MP sensor rumored to be the highlight. If Space Zoom blew our minds last year, our souls might leave our bodies this time.
Meanwhile, our US Mobile Editor Phil Berne thinks that all Samsung needs to do to change the game is make the Galaxy S23 more durable. As Phil writes, “Durability should be a requirement not a feature.” Amen to that.
The bad news is that whatever Samsung delivers, it’s likely to be more expensive than what came before it. Yes, inflation comes for everyone and everything.
There are some wild cards too, in terms of what other products Samsung might unveil. At this time of year, it’s not unusual to see oddball cameras (remember the Gear 360?), and talking speakers (the never-released Galaxy Home smart speaker). We’ve put together a comprehensive guide to what we do, and don’t, expect to see.
Touchscreen Windows devices have been around for several years – will Apple finally follow suit? (Future)
Five years ago I sat down with Apple’s Phil Schiller to talk about the Mac Pro. Apple had messed up an earlier launch, and wanted to redesign and relaunch the Pro computer, which it eventually did. During the discussion, though, the conversation turned to touchscreens. I was curious as to Apple would ever consider adding a touchscreen to the iMac (and I secretly wondered about MacBooks, too).
Schiller, who was then Global Head of Marketing, was unequivocal: “No,” he said. After a rueful headshake, he added that Pro customers had not, in 2017, requested it, and that when they talked about “things they're most interested in, this doesn't even register.”
His comments echoed a now dozen-years-old sentiment from Apple co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, who famously said touch doesn’t belong on a vertical screen.
So Apple won’t do macOS touchscreens… or will it?
A new rumor has the company at least testing the concept on MacBooks. It’s an exciting possibility, and, of course, Matt Hanson is totally here for it. He notes that the world of laptop technology is quite different than it was when Jobs put the kibosh on the touchscreen idea. He even says Jobs misunderstood how people would use a touchscreen laptop (I know, heresy).
This, though, might be his best argument: “With young people now becoming accustomed to using touchscreen devices from an early age, offering touch capabilities is even more important than before.” Exactly.
New to Wordle? Our comprehensive guide is a great place start (Getty Images)
If you know me, then you’ll know that I still Wordle every single day – which is why I’m so excited about our new Wordle guide and FAQ article, written by our UK Editor-in-Chief (and my partner in crime) Marc McLaren.
Finally, a one-stop-shop for all things Wordle. Marc covers the rules, strategy, Hard Mode, Wordle Bot (try it, you’ll like it) and the many competitors and imitators. It’s a good place to start if, by some miracle of isolation, you’ve never played Wordle; and even if you have, it’s a great way to remind yourself of all the things you forgot (like Wordle Bot and the Archive).
Speaking of which, I saw the New York Times Wordle Editor on TV the other day, and I was surprised to learn that she does, sometimes, schedule words to coincide with certain dates. ‘Feast,’ for instance, was set to be the Wordle over last Thanksgiving (which matters to the US but not the rest of the world). She also revealed that she works about five weeks ahead; so that Wordle you solved this morning is one she came up with last year.
Wordle is one of the rare puzzle phenomena that hasn’t faded away. Sure, the mania has died down, and it’s now moved on to a sort of NYT crosswords status, but there will always be a core set of people who Wordle every day – myself among them.
Microsoft has officially ended security updates for Windows 8 (Hadrian via Shutterstock)
Microsoft is finally ending support for the beloved Windows 7, and the much maligned Windows 8. In both instances it’s the right thing to do. I asked in a Twitter poll recently which version of Windows people were running, and to my surprise, most said Windows 10 or 11. Almost 9% said Windows XP – but I think they were pulling my leg – 1.3% said Windows 8, and almost 2% said Windows 7.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s still too many people running outdated software. Why is this bad? It could put your computer at risk. But now, with Microsoft ending security support, these laggards will have no choice but to upgrade… or maybe not. Apparently, Microsoft might have left the door open for a little Windows 7 support.
But at least Windows 8 really will be dead and buried, and not before time – because it was terrible.
When someone says Walkman I instantly think of a boxy cassette player and those iconic orange foam earphones; and with the advent of smartphones and wireless earbuds, I thought the era of standalone portable music players was over.
I was wrong. Sony just released the NW-A306, a Walkman that looks a lot more like a smartphone than it does an audio device. In a way, it is a phone – an Android device without cellular capabilities. What it does have, according to our report, is very high-quality audio performance, and a ton of storage space for a complete library of songs.
To be honest, though, I’d be shocked if it sold very well in the US. We’re all too tied to our phones – and who would want to carry around another device just for music?
Elsewhere in Sony world this week, I wrote about a new patent filed by the company, for technology that would enable you to skip commercials by shouting at your TV. The patent was shared on Twitter, but without much detail, so I decided to investigate further – and I ended up going down a patent-world rabbit hole. It turns out there's more to this story than meets the eye…
POLL QUESTION:
What you like to get your technology to do by yelling at it?
Look familiar? An artist's depiction of the exoplanet planet TOI 700 d (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA))
Is there life out there in the universe, or are we completely alone in the vast chasm of space? This is the kind of stuff I think about all the time; and when I hear about a new Earth-sized, and maybe even Earth-like, planet being discovered I do get excited – even if it is 100 light-years away.
According to our pals at Space.com, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has found four planets circling a red dwarf star. Two of them are too close to the star to be habitable, but two others, TOI 700 d and TOI 700 e, are not; and TOI 700 d in particular might be habitable.
Now, I’m not thinking about relocating there, mostly because I’d be nothing but dust by the time I arrived, but the orb’s existence holds out the tantalizing possibility that sentient life could inhabit the planet; in other words, maybe we’re not alone.
If we’re not, I hope the good folk of TOI 700 d have discovered light-speed travel – and that, once they realize we’re looking at them, they’ll drop in on us.
The Sign-off
That’s all for this edition of Week in Review. I hope your new year is off to an excellent start, and that 2023 treats you right. Remember, if you have any comments or suggestions – or you just want to compare Wordle scores – do drop me a line.
Have a great weekend!
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