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The Kensington StudioDock

There are a lot of iPad keyboard cases out there that aim to turn Apple’s tablet into a laptop, but the Kensington StudioDock is something altogether different: it turns your iPad Pro into the world’s tiniest iMac.

This is a serious accessory for people who are serious about iPad productivity. (Yes, they exist.) It’s a dock that lets you use your USB-C-equipped iPad Pro or Air in portrait or landscape orientation while giving it a whole lot more connectivity. Basically, if you ever sit down and work at your desk with an iPad Pro, the StudioDock could be for you.
Well, if you’re happy to spend $399. Buy here

TheThe StudioDock is mostly made from aluminum and is sturdy enough that you can adjust the iPad’s position without it moving on your desk, making it easy to switch between portrait and landscape modes or tilt the vertical viewing angle.

An iPad Pro in a StudioDock in portrait mode is a great Zoom device, for example.The build quality of the stand itself is solid, though the plastic back panel does feel a little low rent.

On one side of the dock you’ll find a USB-C port and a power button, while the other has an SD card slot and a headphone jack. Around back there’s a barrel connector for power, three USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. There are also two 7.5W Qi wireless chargers integrated into the stand’s base, and (of course) two Kensington security locks. The iPad Pro connects over USB-C and slots

a magnetic plastic panel that helps support the jack; the dock is available for 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPads, though the size of the magnetic panel is the only thing that’s different between the two versions.

By abenezer ( xspherstech@gmail.com )

Resolutioner provides a simple way to calculate, save and scale resolutions.

Resolutioner is a new app, created by developer Dylan McDonald. It provides a method for calculating resolutions based either on aspect ratios, or scaling resolutions up or down, and then saving them with a click of a button, for future reference.

You first set a ratio for the resolution, for example 16:9, and then by entering one side of the resolution, the app calculates the other side for you, on it’s own. After this, you can scale the output resolution up or down, and it will scale linearly according to the aspect ratio set.

The app is available on iPhone, iPad as well as Mac on the App Store, with the download link provided:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/resolutioner/id1563852783

Follow Dylan McDonald on twitter:

https://twitter.com/DylanMcD8

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so, you’ve probably heard of clubhouse, an innovative audio-only communication app created by Keven Tewe. Clubhouse now recently has launched on Android, after a whole year of being on iOS. However, this isn’t a happy celebration, as there are some seemingly gloomy reasons on why it was launched on Android at this time.

Introduction

When first launched, Clubhouse was a massive success, with 10 million downloads in February 2021, a practical year after it was released. This was helpful for everybody, to have nice chats, educate, and entertain. Many people were calling this the new age of communication.

It always was perfect for everyone, the only small issue was that it wasn’t available for Android users,
but even still the app continued to prosper. The last few weeks for Clubhouse, haven’t exactly been prosperous though. Due to some enormous competition with a few similar ideas like Twitter Spaces and Discord Stages. It’s fell from its throne of audio-only communication.

Making audiences wonder whether this was a release to further allow more users to access Clubhouse, or just a desperate attempt of hypothetical necromancy to what seems like a potential dying company.

Clubhouse’s Plan and Reasoning with Expanding to Android

According to the company, its app has been the most requested on Android. This comes as no surprise seeing that a large number of people were complaining about the incompatibility with Android.

Recently Clubhouse has been marketing towards creators too with their accelerator program, which is planning to fund 50 audio shows(the verge). This overall is terrific considering the number of new creators exposed to clubhouse, due to its entrance in the android market.

Also considering that many creators have reviewed and properly showcased their thoughts and feedback on Clubhouse. Making Clubhouse gain members, Creators gaining a good experience obtaining information through the talks, clubhouse improving their app from the feedback, causing creators to have an even better experience obtaining information. And so on and forth with more creators, leading to an overall light circle of mutualism where everyone gains something positive.

The app will stay on an invite-only platform though, where users will need to get invited by other members of the app to join. These invites can be obtained the more active you are in clubhouse. The reason for this, their words being “We’ve always taken a measured approach to growth, keeping the team small, building in public, and getting feedback from the community along the way. When you scale communities too quickly, things can break(hollywoodreporter)“.

Their measured growth methods from the quote are to getting feedback and slowly being able to collect data and as the popular metaphor goes slow and steady wins the race. Revealing the main reason they started their application on iOS, to go slow and steady and not increase their member amount too quickly by launching on all platforms. An impressive way to keep track of everything and enhance their development.

An Act of Desperation?

Although it’s obvious that clubhouse will attract new users, their launch may have been too late. All the surrounding excitement may have diminished for some users since clubhouse doesn’t have anything new to offer due to alternatives like twitter spaces, discord stages and etc, have already satisfied the currently most popular OS. Trevor L, on a post by tech crunch, says in a quote “Clubhouse has seriously squandered any hype they had. Still invitation-only because they can’t expand properly, took a year to launch an Android app, and even now it’s a beta that’s region-locked”(Techcrunch comment). Showing that many users were sick of the wait and just moved on like you would in a toxic relationship.

Clubhouse gave an exclusive experience, which you couldn’t get anywhere else. It’s old factor for success, but nowadays, clubhouse has massive competition in quantity and quality. Twitter Spaces and Discord recently have released a very similar concept in their software. And are thriving with the additional features each of their services provide. Adding to the fact that Facebook, Spotify, and LinkedIn are all working on their own clubhouse alternatives. What used to be something you could only get in clubhouse, is now something you can get nearly anywhere else. A major reason why the number of downloads for the app has detrimentally decreased. Like an empire, the small space clubhouse had on iOS wasn’t fulfilling anymore, so expanding their so-called area to Android seemed like a way to take over more space, but was that space already occupied by other empires?

Conclusion

Clubhouse has had its peaking highs and recent lows. but there’s no doubt that the release on Android will be big. Launching a highly popular app on the most used SmartPhone OS, will be terrific for many users and overall expand the number of people on Clubhouse. Making this an enormous launch for everybody, whether it was or not a face-saving attempt. Overall this launch will bring a large amount of news to everybody, just like subscribing to the KineTech Blog will give you a lot of news.

Apple is reportedly doing away with the iconic wedge-shaped design.

The MacBook Air is set for a redesign with the next generation. This information comes courtesy of prolific Apple leaker, Jon Prosser, who shared details of the new design.

This redesign will mark the very first time Apple has abandoned the iconic wedge-shaped design that the MacBook Air first debuted with.

Above are some renders that we’ve made to showcase the new design, accurate to the details provided by Prosser. No timeframe has been disclosed by Prosser and the release date, price and specs remain a mystery.

You can watch the Jon Prosser’s Youtube video with the link provided.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KValV-drXw0

By – Apple Tomorrow

Krafton, the PUBG Corporation’s parent company has announced that PUBG Mobile would be returning to India under the alias Battlegrounds Mobile India, a game made for and only available in India.

Krafton has revealed that Battlegrounds Mobile India pre-registration will go live before launch. There is no date for pre-registration yet but with the game now being officially announced by the company, we expect to hear something soon.

The critically acclaimed mobile Battle Royale game, PUBG Mobile had racked up quite a following ever since its debut in India in 2018. But over the years it’s popularity took a turn for the worse as stories of kids playing the game and losing self control and acting strange popped up left and right. Adding to this reputation was the misconception that it was a Chinese game led to the Indian Government banning it along with many popular Chinese apps in 2020.

Ever since it was banned, there was word around the streets that it would eventually be reinstated in the App Store and the Play Store, but for a long while it just seemed like desperate fans, hoping for the best. But now it seems, those rumours were, in fact very much true, and we can’t wait to get our hands on this “Made For India” game.

Thanks for reading!

About the Author:

Pranav is a Film-maker who makes Tech Videos on YouTube.

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The highly rumoured Exynos SOC’s with AMD Radeon GPUs, initially thought to be featured in one of Samsung’s flagship smartphone lines, has now been speculated to find its place on a lot more devices of varying form-factors.

This chip, speculated to be referred to as the Exynos 2200, is meant to be used within both the Laptop range and Smartphone lines that Samsung produces.

According to the report, Samsung will use 5nm fabrication process for this chipset.

“The new Exynos will offer improved functions, including extraordinary computing power and battery efficiency, by utilising a 5-nanometer processing technology. It’s good for both laptops and smartphones,” an industry source was quoted as saying by The Korea Economic Daily.

Now, whilst not the first company to experiment with ARM Processors for desktop computing needs, we hope that Samsung can produce a chip, that can, at least stand a chance against Apple’s M1 SOC. Now this has more to do with Microsoft optimising Windows on ARM to run better and having a proper implementation of x86 Emulation, but we can only hope for things to get better as time passes.

Thanks for reading!

About the Author:

Pranav is a Film-maker who makes Tech Videos on YouTube.

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The MacBook Air with M1 came out exactly six months ago, on November 10, 2020! At the time of writing, it is May 10, 2020! I have used it for about six months, so here are my honest thoughts!

(Quick Thing: If you want a video form of the review, here it is! But, keep on reading!)

Design

The MacBook Air with M1 has the same overall design as the previous Intel MacBook, except for a few keys. The changes on the keys are for F4, F5, and F6. Those are now Spotlight, Dictation, and Do Not Disturb, respectively.

M1 Processor

The new chip inside the MacBook Air has an SoC Design, which is System on Chip. Basically, the computer can really really fast because all of the internals can communicate with each other efficiently. This lets the computer not get too hot. It doesn’t even have fans! Also, you may have to use a program called Rosetta 2 to make some apps work on the Apple Silicon Chip.

Battery Life

Battery Life is significantly better than the previous Intel version. It gets less hot and intensive tasks can be done without the user having to worry about battery life. On average, I got 12 hours with a few apps being used and around 15 with a couple of apps being used.

Keyboard, Trackpad, and Display

These three things have not been changed that much and still work super well. The keyboard has a scissor-switch mechanism and is a joy to type with. The trackpad still has the gestures and force touch capabilities that make using the MacBook very smooth. The gestures really increase productivity for me! The display is not the best in class, but still works really well and is perfectly fine. Here is are the specs, too!

Speaker, Microphone, and Camera

The camera is still a 720p webcam which is not the best. Though, the ISP is better and can make you look nicer on video calls, for example. The speakers and microphones are basically the same and work pretty well. The sound is clear and the speakers are pretty strong for a MacBook Air.

Configuration

The base configuration is very powerful and for under $1000, this is a superb MacBook. The macOS Big Sur Operating System is very smooth and is super awesome to use!

Final Thoughts

The computers with the M1 chip are awesome and I really like the speed over the previous ones. they have the goodness of macOS and the premium Apple design. So yeah, after 6 months of using the MacBook Air with M1, it is still a great computer for under $1000!

Thanks for reading!

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DISCLAIMER: All images used were from the FourCornerTech YouTube Channel or Apple!

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About the Author:

FourCornerTech is a tech enthusiast who writes and makes videos about tech. Check out all of his socials here!

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Introduction

The Vivo X60 Pro seems to be the most value for money flagship in 2021. Whilst not missing out on any critical feature, it still manages to keep its price down. But is it worth it?

To view our video on this

Build

This phone not only looks stellar but feels premium in-hand too! Glass adorns both the sides, with the rear panel having a matte finish. Unfortunately, the beautiful design elements won’t stay pristine for long, as the both the glass panels are extreme fingerprint magnets. The phone feels strong and dense, but don’t be fooled by this as it is a Glass Sandwich device, and would shatter if dropped from a height.

As this is still a relatively new device, there aren’t many 3rd Party cases on the market for it, but thankfully, Vivo does provide a TPU case in the box. Similar to other in-box cases, it is not adequate to protect the phone, but hey, something is better than nothing.

The front has the beautiful 6.5 inch 1080p 120Hz AMOLED panel with a very tiny punch-hole where the front camera resides.

The rear is home to the amazing Zeiss co-developed Camera Module, which protrudes quite a lot from the rest of the back panel. This means that a case is a must-have, especially if you tend to place your phone on flat surfaces.

Display

This phone calls home to a 6.55 Inch 1080p 120Hz AMOLED Display, and if the technical specifications are to indicate anything, it is that this is an amazing display.

In typical AMOLED fashion, it reproduces variations in brightness and saturation in such pristine quality. The contrast ratios are simply out of this world. If you tend to consume a lot of media on your phones, this would not leave you wanting more.

Out of the box, the device comes set up in the “Normal” colour mode, which is typical AMOLED colours. But, for the purists, it also has a “Professional” mode which makes the colours very accurate and the contrast is a bit dialed down.

The 120Hz refresh rate is buttery smooth, and small things from scrolling through Twitter to gaming feels better than ever before.

The phone also sees a punch-hole on the top of the screen, where the 32MP front camera resides. The punch-hole itself is not that distracting and is pretty tiny when compared to other phones with the punch-hole setup.

The In-Display Fingerprint scanner is of the optical variety, and while not being the fastest on the market, it is very accurate, consistently unlocking the phone without throwing up an error.

Performance

This phone is powered by the Snapdragon 870 SOC with the Adreno 650 GPU. The variant we tested was equipped with 12Gb of RAM and 3Gb of “Virtual RAM”.

As the specs suggest, this phone is a beast. When it comes to daily tasks like browsing through social media applications and media consumption, it does not even break a sweat.

The phone opens apps, even before the animation of the app opening finishes playing, and things like that make your experience truly amazing.

Even when tasked with much more intensive workloads like long term camera usage and heavy gaming, it keeps its cool, literally.

The phone did not heat up significantly and the performance did not seem to degrade with time. Demanding tasks were accomplished with ease and the phone felt home doing such activities.

Cameras

Every phone has its USP, and the cameras are this phone’s USP. Needless to say

it performs amazingly well.

The phone has a triple camera set up on the back which comprises a

• 48 MP Sony IMX 598 with an f/1.5 Aperture equipped with the Gimbal Stabilisation technology.
• 13 MP Telephoto Sensor with an f/2.5 Aperture (50mm equivalent)
• 13 MP Ultrawide with f/2.2 Aperture.

Only the Primary sensor has any sort of stabilisation tech.

The Gimbal Stabilisation involves using small motors to counteract your movements to try to keep the camera stable, and it works like a charm. Everything from Photos to Videos captured on the main sensor are buttery smooth.

The images and the videos that this capture are in typical smartphone fashion. The colours and the contrast are hyper-real while still looking tasteful.

The images produced by the different sensors are not consistent though. The Primary sensor captures cooler images with lots of quality whilst the other sensors capture often oversaturated and over-sharpened images.

The videos that this phone shoots are also nothing ground-breaking, with decent dynamic range and colour reproduction. It does not shoot any form of 10-bit HDR Videos and 8k resolution videos.

Battery

This phone is equipped with a 4200Mah Battery. Considering the hardware it packs, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that this phone wouldn’t last very long. But you would be fooled if you do so.

Even with heavy usage the phone lasted me an entire day and the included 33W Fast Charger makes sure that in the event of the phone about to die, it would be able to be used again in no time.

Software

The phone came out-of-the-box with Android 11 installed with Vivo’s FunTouch OS 11.1.

It is a mix of both stock android and stylised skins, with some apps having a near-stock UI and other’s having Vivo’s Material Design style. It uses lots of Google Integration like the QuickStep Launcher and Google Calendar. But that is not to say that it does not have any Vivo specific apps.

It has apps like Vivo Cloud, Vivo.com and two bloatware folders called Hot Apps and Hot Games. In such an expensive phone it is saddening to see such cheapening software, but overall FunTouch is very very good.

The UI is not consistent but it has a lot of customisation, so we recommend spending a bit of time with the phone to familiarise yourself with it before drawing any conclusions.

Conclusion

The Vivo X60 Pro is an amazing device. From its build to the display to the cameras, everything is just perfect. The only thing that is not up to the mark is the software, and we can only hope it gets better with updates.

For those comfortable with the video format:

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About the Author:

Pranav is a Film-maker who makes Tech Videos on YouTube.

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Overview

WrapCart is a company that offers skins for about every tech-related product in the market. They are essentially carefully cut vinyl wraps that are applied to a device for customisation.

The Buying Process

They provide skins for smartphones, credit/debit cards, laptops, iPads and much more.

Unfortunately, they don’t use shipping tracking, and can only provide an estimate as to when it would arrive. I had to wait for about 4-5 days before getting my WrapCart skins for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 mini.

Shipping is absolutely free. You only pay for the skin.

Application

While applying the skin, it took me quite a bit of tries to get that perfect fit. The iPhone 12 series skins are more easy to apply than other smartphones because of the boxy edges, so experience may vary.

After about 30 minutes of applying, removing, and reapplying, I managed to get it on with quite the precision. Once a WrapCart skin is applied, they stay on basically until force is applied to remove it.

They stick through heat and are resistant to water, so they are quite durable.

Usage

The grip on my iPhones has vastly improved with these WrapCart skins. Fingerprints are now gone, while also making my phone more aesthetically pleasing. As tempting as it is to go caseless, I am too afraid to do it.

I removed the skin after 2 months of use on my iPhone 11. I would say the only downside is removing these skins. They smudge the back of the phone but were easily washable because of the glass back.

Pricing

Most WrapCart Skins are priced at ₹250 but you can avail an exclusive discount of ₹50 using the code below:

Apple AirTags pulled from sale by Australian stores, will we be seeing a recall?

Apple announced their Apple AirTags at the Apple spring event on the 20th of April 2021. The AirTag is a device that can track your valuable items, keys, backpacks and other stuff. So just after 2 weeks, the Apple AirTags have been pulled down from Australian shelves.

Massive stores like, JB-HI-FI and Officeworks have removed the AirTags from shelves because concerns were raised about the small button battery.

The AirTags are around the size of a 20 cent piece and to replace the button battery all you have to do is pop and twist the top, and out pops the battery. It is a single CR2032 and is really small. People are saying that the battery is too easy to pop out and little toddlers can easily swallow the battery and could even lead to serious injury or death.

According to 9News Officeworks said they would not be stocking the product “until further guidance is provided from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission”.

You can still buy the Apple AirTag on Apple’s official store either online or in-store. So there is no confirmation as to whether the AirTag will be officially recalled by Apple.