Android 11—The Ars Technica Review

Enlarge (credit: Google) Android 11 has finally arrived after a lengthy beta process that started approximately three years ago in February 2020. This is the 30th release of Android, if we're counting by API levels, and in a year when it seems nearly everything has been delayed or canceled, Google has managed to turn in one of the smaller Android...

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Traders set to don virtual reality headsets in their home offices

Enlarge (credit: Thomas Barwick / Getty Images) Spare bedrooms and living rooms could soon become part of vibrant trading floors as one of the world’s biggest investment banks considers providing staff with augmented reality headsets. UBS has experimented with issuing its London-based traders with Microsoft HoloLenses, which would allow staff to...

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The Android 11 interview: Googlers answer our burning questions

(credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images) We've established a bit of a tradition here at Ars. Every year at Google I/O, we have a sit-down talk to learn more about Android directly from the people that make it. Of course, this year, just about every major event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, nothing is really normal, and Google I/O never...

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Companies can track your phone’s movements to target ads

Enlarge (credit: Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images) Google and Apple have taken steps this year they say will help users shield themselves from hundreds of companies that compile profiles based on online behavior. Meanwhile, other companies are devising new ways to probe more deeply into other aspects of our lives. In January, Google said it...

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The Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, and 8th-gen iPad hit store shelves

The new Apple Watch in Blue and Red Aluminum. [credit: Apple ] Three days after they were all announced in a livestream on Tuesday, three new Apple products are arriving at consumers' doorsteps and available at retail: the Apple Watch Series...

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iOS 14 on the iPhone 6S and SE: Performance is fine, other stuff is not

Enlarge / The iPhone 6S (left) and first-generation iPhone SE (right) running iOS 14. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) It’s September, and you know what that means: shorter days, the first tentative tinge of chill in the night air, Halloween candy at the grocery store, and—most relevantly for us—a new version of iOS. Apple supports its own phones with...

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Hands-on with Intel’s i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake prototype laptop

Enlarge / This MSI-built reference system is powered with a Tiger Lake i7-1185G7, the highest-end CPU in Intel's upcoming lineup. (credit: Jim Salter) We've been very interested in Intel's upcoming laptop CPUs, codenamed Tiger Lake, since the company's Architecture Day event in August. Tiger Lake's official launch event earlier this month didn't...

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Sony Xperia 5 II is a $950 flagship smartphone with a headphone jack

The Xperia 5 Mark II. It's named after Sony's camera line. [credit: Sony ] Sony's next flagship smartphone, a followup to the Xperia 1 II released earlier this year, is the Xperia 5 II. Like the previous phone, the 5 II is a top-tier flagship...

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F5 for PS5: All your PlayStation 5 preorder links in one place

Enlarge / To call Sony's PlayStation 5 in-demand would be an understatement. PlayStation 5 pre-orders are open, but the situation is a bit of a disaster. When Sony announced pricing details for its next-generation game console on Wednesday—confirming that the standard PS5 would cost $499, while a Digital Edition without a disc drive would cost $399—it...

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We found out who makes Walmart’s new Gateway laptops, and it’s bad news

Enlarge / Fun colors—but we're waiting to see what the innards look like. (credit: Gateway) Back in 2007, Taiwan-based PC manufacturer Acer bought the once-iconic Gateway brand in order to stick a thumb in the eye of rival OEM Lenovo and increase its US market presence. In the 13 years since, the Gateway brand has languished largely unused, while...

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