How a simple whiteboard can supercharge your productivity

I’ve been reading about all sorts of digital tools we’re meant to change the way we think, plan, and work for years. But none of them have actually come close to making me more productive. While many of my peers swear by productivity-focused apps, I like to keep my iPhone and work life separate for a hint of work-life balance. So even though I wholeheartedly embrace the digital times we live in, I find myself increasingly resorting to more, ahem, analogue methods. Having spent some time wondering how I could improve my organizational skills, the solution appeared when I was…

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Apple to cough USD 500 million over slow iPhones case

Apple Inc. is set to cough up USD 500 million (around PHP 25.3B) to settle the lawsuit, accusing it of intentionally slowing down older iPhones to entice consumers to buy its newly-launched models. 

File photo: iPhone XS

Apple to settle "slowing down of iPhones" case

According to a report from Reuters, the preliminary proposed class-action settlement demands the American firm to pay consumers USD 25 per iPhone. Depending on the number of iPhones, the amount may be lower or higher.

The settlement covers US owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE that ran the iOS 10.2.1 or later operating system. 

US owners of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus running with iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017, are also included. 

While Apple already committed to paying the half a billion-dollar settlement, the company stressed it did not do such move, the court paper read. It also noted settling the issue was to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation. 

Apple argued the problems stemmed from temperature changes and high usage, but it assured its engineers are addressing the issue. Industry sources refer to the slowing of iPhones as "throttling". 

Source: Reuters

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Google Assistant will soon stop serenading you in John Legend’s voice

Google

Update, March 6, 2020 (3:05AM ET): After a cameo that lasted for almost a year, Google is pulling the voice of John Legend from the Google Assistant. The company made the announcement through its Twitter handle, saying that the singer’s Assistant voice will not be available after March 23.

“#HeyGoogle, serenade me one more time.” Enjoy @JohnLegend’s cameo Google Assistant voice before it comes to an end on March 23. https://t.co/C4vAzyl3x7

— Google (@Google) March 5, 2020

You still have a couple of weeks before this happens, so make the most of Legend’s serenading voice, that is, if you’re a fan. If you want a celebrity Assistant voice after Legend’s is gone, you can also try comedian Issa Rae’s Assistant voice, although it’s unclear if this will be pulled at some point too.

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Original article, April 3, 2019 (10:36 AM ET): Chatting with Google Assistant is going to be smoother than usual if you live in the U.S. Starting today, you can give the Google Assistant the voice of John Legend.

Google first announced that Legend would appear as a voice for Google Assistant users nearly a year ago at Google I/O 2018. The company used a new AI technology called WaveNet to create a virtual version of Legend’s voice pattern, based on taking recorded samples of his real voice.

How to hear John Legend in Google Assistant

If you live in the U.S. and want to hear John Legend respond to some of your requests, just ask your Google Assistant-powered device — whether that be a Google Home or your Android phone — and say “Hey Google, talk like a Legend.” You can also go into the Assistant’s settings menu, select “Assistant voice,” then select John Legend’s voice.

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You should now start to hear Legend’s voice — or rather a great simulation of it — respond to simple questions or commands like “What’s the temperature outside?” or “Tell me a joke.” Most responses to questions will still come from a normal Google Assistant voice. However, Google promises that there are a few Easter eggs when it comes to Legend’s voice responses. They suggest saying “Hey Google, serenade me” or “Hey Google, are we just ordinary people?” to elicit some custom answers or commands from Legend. You can also ask Google Assistant things like “Are you John Legend?”, “What’s your favorite type of music?”, or “Who is Chrissy Teigen?”

Google says this Assistant cameo for Legend’s voice will be available for a “limited time” but did not specify when his voice support will end.

This is not the first time Legend has teamed up with Google for a unique promotion of its products. In April 2018, he filmed a music video for his song “A Good Night” entirely on a Google Pixel 2.

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America isn't ready for 5G, even if our phones are

A messy rollout doesn't seem likely to resolve soon, as structural issues surface

5G will be the cause of transformative, disruptive changes across our world. At least, that was the promise. As fifth-generation wireless networks begin rolling out across the globe in 2020, though, the world's richest economy feels further behind than ever in the race to deploy new spectrum and networks to accommodate this major technical shift. And that trend shows few signs of letting up for years to come.

While American telecom operators AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint all have grand visions and big plans for 5G here in the US, none currently have the ability to deploy broad 5G networks that will be both comparable in size to and significantly more performant than their existing advanced 4G LTE networks.

Read More

America isn't ready for 5G, even if our phones are was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Reasons why realme C3 is the best gaming smartphone for the price yet?

The recent announcement of the realme C3 shook the entry-level price point due to its bang-for-the-buck specs and features for gamers on a budget.

Realme C3 can run heavy games like NBA 2K20 with ease

Reasons why realme C3 is the best gaming smartphone for the price yet

1. Gaming-ready with Helio G70 - Realme C3 is the first entry-level phone in the world to be fitted with the MediaTek Helio G70. This chip is aimed at gaming devices on a budget. It is a 12nm octa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A75 2.0GHz power cores, 6x Cortex-A55 1.7GHz efficiency cores, and Mali-G52 MC2 GPU.

Immersive screen

2. Large and tall screen - For an entry-level device, realme C3 has a large and tall IPS screen. It has a 6.5-inch screen which is plentiful for gaming purposes. It also has 10 multitouch points so it is responsive in terms of controls.

The HD+ resolution serves the realme C3 great in terms of performance as it enables it to run games such as NBA 2K20 at max settings smoothly. 

Quality-wise, it is one of the nicer looking HD+ screens in the market with great color reproduction and strong brightness levels.

You can enjoy gaming for hours and hours

3. 5,000mAh battery - A 5,000mAh battery will go long a way for realme C3 especially since it has an HD+ IPS screen. It is also not common to find this big of a battery cell in an entry-level device since this is one of the common cutbacks you can expect.

You can game on extended periods of time without worrying about draining your battery quickly.

The charging experience is not super fast, but at least battery life is really strong. Even in Competition Mode, it can last for around 11 hours.

Game Space

4. Software optimizations - Realme C3 has a feature called Game Space. On the surface, it looks like a typical game launcher that puts all your games in one place. However, it has a lot of features that make your gaming experience better.

Game Engine optimizes your phone's resources to make sure that it runs the games optimally.

It also has network protection to make sure your ping is not affected by background apps. There are also three modes to choose from namely, Competitive, Balance, and Low Power Mode for different scenarios. It also allows you to manage calls and notifications with ease.

In our experience, the Competitive Mode significantly reduced frame rates for long hours of gaming. Heating is not an issue at all as well.

Realme C3 Specs

Display: 6.5-inch 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3 protected IPS (LTPS) screen w/ HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution at 269 ppi
CPU: 2.0GHz 12nm Helio G70 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G52 MC2
RAM: 3GB
ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB
Back Camera: 12MP f/1.8 + 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro + 2MP f/2.4 depth + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 5MP f/2.2
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 10W charger
OS: Android 10.0 w/ realme UI 1.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, FM Radio, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, splash resistance, Dirac HD Sound, Colors: frozen blue, blazing red
Dimensions: 164.4 x 75 x 8.95 mm
Weight: 195 g
Price: PHP 5,990

With these specs and features, you will be able most games smoothly which is previously unheard of at this price point.

For our full review, read here.

What do you guys think?

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