Microsoft Surface Pro 8 listed by dealers in Europe, expected to launch by early 2021

The Surface Pro 8 is expected to launch very soon as the upcoming tablet has been spotted by various retailers in Europe. The new portable Windows machine will be available in standard Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE model options, suggest certain databases of European retailers. It is also expected that Microsoft will offer up to 32GB of RAM, although that might only be offered with the non-LTE variant.

The report comes from Winfuture, which suggests that the Surface 8 Pro, apart from offering support for the Surface Pen and the Surface Type Cover, will now come in a new Black color option alongside Platinum Grey. Microsoft had introduced this color on the Surface Pro X last year, and it seems that it might expand it to the regular Surface Pro lineup. Notably, the Black color option will not be offered with the LTE version.

There is also confirmation that the LTE version of the Surface Pro 8 in Europe will feature a wireless module and antennas integrated directly from the factory. Don’t expect a 5G variant anytime soon, and to be honest, it doesn’t make a lot of sense considering the limited availability of the network around the world. The base variant of the LTE version of the Surface Pro 8 is expected to arrive with an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Xe graphics, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of internal storage. There doesn’t seem to be a Core i7 option available with LTE, which means that regular customers can only look at a maximum of 16GB RAM and 256GB storage. According to an alleged image of the Surface Pro 8, the memory is going to be clocked at 4267MHz. Also, while it is not mentioned, the display is expected to be similar to last year’s model having a 12.3-inch dimension with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 2736 x 1824 pixel resolution.

The non-LTE Surface Pro 8 is expected to be offered in a high-end variant with 32GB of RAM,  an Intel Core i7-1165G7 quad-core processor with a turbo clock speed of 4.7GHz, and a 1TB SSD. This variant is expected to be priced around €3000 ($3,650 approx).

The new Surface Pro 8 is expected to launch in January 2021. During the same launch event, Microsoft is also expected to launch the Surface Laptop 4, which would be more of a bump to the internals rather than a new design just like the Surface Pro 8. However, it is speculated that the new Surface Laptop 4 could launch in a separate AMD version, just like last year. Speaking of which, AMD is expected to launch the new Ryzen 5000 mobile chipsets at CES 2021. Will Microsoft make use of the new chips? Time will tell.

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Facebook to shift UK to US user agreement after Brexit, with more countries to follow

Facebook has announced that its United Kingdom customers will be migrated to a US user agreement in 2021. The move is a response to the end of the Brexit transition period on 31st December, after which time the country will no longer be covered by EU laws. Until recently, customers in Blighty were covered by agreements with Facebook’s European headquarters in the Republic of Ireland, in order to comply with European Union data protection laws, including GDPR. When customers are migrated back to Facebook’s California base, they will no longer have the same protections, although the company will have to meet the equivalent UK laws, which are expected to mimic GDPR, in the short to medium term.

Facebook has said that it plans to move all non-EU countries over to the US agreement and has hinted that it could consider moving EU residents too if it feels the regulations it is working under have become too unwieldy. The company has confirmed, however, that its GDPR-compliant security controls page will be rolled out globally. In a statement to Reuters, it purrs soothingly: “We apply the same privacy protections everywhere, regardless of whether your agreement is with Facebook Inc or Facebook Ireland,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said in an interview that it will apply GDPR rules globally “in spirit”. What that looks like in reality is a different matter, because Facebook has been clobbered with multiple fines from the EU and will doubtless be keen to find a way to duck its jurisdiction.

The news comes at a difficult time for Facebook, which is already under investigation under competition rules, which could lead to it being forced to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram, which, the case claims, it bought in order to stifle competition. Given that Britons voted for Brexit under the promise of ‘taking back control’ from the European Union, this is just one more slice of reality – it has taken back control, and handed it straight to the US. Not really what campaigners had in mind. Other big tech firms are already getting ready for the changes too, with LinkedIn moving all non-EU customers to Microsoft’s US base, whilst Google did the same thing in February when the UK “officially” left the EU and entered the current 11 month transition period which expires on New Year’s Eve.

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Instagram Lite is a 2MB app that removes Reels, Shopping, and IGTV for a clean, no-frills experience

At the “Facebook Fuel For India” event today, Instagram launched Instagram Lite, a no-frills version of its photo and video sharing service. At less than 2MP in size, Instagram Lite is primarily developed for users with limited internet bandwidth and low-memory phones (read Android Go edition phones). However, we believe it will have an equally strong appeal to those who have grown frustrated with the cluttered user experience on the main app as a result of continuous feature downpour over the past months.

Instagram Lite puts emphasis on speed, performance, and responsiveness. The overall experience of the app is similar to that of the full-fledged version, but it removes several key functionalities such as Reels, Shopping, and IGTV to offer users a clean and light experience. Depending on how you value those specific sub-functions, this app could either be a good or a bad thing.

The app is available in multiple regional Indian languages, including Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

“With the test of Instagram Lite, and the next edition of Born on Instagram, we’re aiming to democratize expression and creativity for a greater number of people in India. We’re also hoping to gain valuable insights before a global rollout of Instagram Lite.”

Vishal Shah, VP of product, Instagram, at the Facebook Fuel for India event

The Instagram Lite is only available in India at the time being, but the Facebook-owned company plans to bring it to global markets at a later date. Although Instagram Lite is officially limited to the Indian market, for now, you should be able to sideload it on your Android phone.

As per the official app listing, the Instagram Lite first became available for download on the Google Play Store on December 9 and already boasts 5 million+ downloads at the time of writing this article. The new Lite app comes after the company shut down the old Lite version earlier this year, which was available in markets like Mexico, Kenya, and the Philippines.

Instagram Lite (To be announced, Google Play) →

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Google acquires company that turns old PCs into speedy Chromebooks

Google has announced the purchase of Neverware, a software company which allows users to turn old PCs and Macs into Chromebooks. The company, which had already received significant Series B funding from Google, will join the Chrome OS team to make the company’s Cloud Ready OS an official Google product.

News broke on Monday with an announcement on the Neverware site:

“We’re pleased to share some very exciting news: Neverware and CloudReady are now officially part of Google and the Chrome OS team! We’re looking forward to sharing more details with all our CloudReady customers, users, and fans in the coming weeks and months, but for now, please review the following for answers to some of your anticipated questions”.

CloudReady OS is a fork of Chromium, the open-source version of Google Chrome. It has almost identical branding and capabilities, and because of Chrome OS’s lighter resource footprint, it can turn machines that are no longer capable of running a modern Windows or macOS deployment into zippy little Chromebooks (technically, Chromiumbooks until now, but let’s not be pedantic).

Google has now confirmed the acquisition with a statement of its own: “We can confirm that the Neverware team is joining the Google Chrome OS team. As we continue to support customers with their transition to the cloud, Neverware has offered a valuable solution, CloudReady, that allows customers to unlock the manageability, speed, and productivity of a Chrome device. Following our partnership over the past few years, we’re looking forward to working more closely with the team to support more customers in their transition to deploy Chrome OS.”

Google has said that, in the longer term, Cloud Ready OS will become based on Google Chrome, rather than Chromium. The company has worked on a freemium model, with the free home edition flanked by enterprise and education editions that come with paid-support.

Providing that the acquisition doesn’t become a victim of Google’s seeming corporate ADHD and end up in the Google Graveyard, the possibilities that Cloud Ready can bring for Google and potential users is immense, whether it’s resurrecting tired school computers, finding a low-cost way of deploying GSuite on a BYOD basis or just keeping computer waste out of landfill, it all means more Chromebook users for Google, at a time when it seems particularly keen to make Chrome OS a genuine Windows competitor.

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Google’s RCS-based Chat features are rolling out for some in the Samsung Messages app

Samsung and Google have been working together to ensure that their respective messaging apps “work seamlessly with each company’s RCS technology” since 2018. However, the Samsung Messages app currently only supports RCS through carriers and Samsung Galaxy users have to install the Google Messages app on their devices to utilize Google’s RCS-based Chat features. But that’s set to change soon as some users have started receiving support for Google’s RCS-based Chat features in Samsung Messages.

Earlier this year in April, Samsung announced that it was working with Google to bring “support for Google’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) to Galaxy smartphones” via the Samsung Messages app. But at the time, the company hadn’t shared a release timeline for the same. Now, according to a recent post from u/ChunkyLoverMark on Reddit, Samsung is finally rolling out support for Google’s RCS chat features with the latest Samsung Messages update.

As you can see in the attached screenshot, logging into Samsung Messages following the update brings up a new dialog that alerts users of the new functionality and presents them with options to enable the feature or continue using Samsung Messages without chat features.

Once enabled, the input box states, “Enter chat message,” highlighting that the user has started using Google’s RCS chat features. Messages sent using service appear in blue bubbles instead of green ones, and they also have a read receipt next to them. The app also includes a couple of additional Chat settings that let you customize auto-download behavior, enable/disable read receipts, select default messaging type, and more.

It’s worth noting that while Google’s RCS support in Samsung’s stock messaging app still isn’t widely available at the moment, adding support for Google’s chat features in Samsung Messages is expected to increase adoption of the RCS protocol and enhance interoperability between devices using Google Messages and Samsung Messages for RCS messaging.

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Samsung Internet 13.2 adds redirect protection, URL quick access, and better dark mode

After rolling out stable Samsung Internet 13.0 earlier this month, Samsung is now back again with a fresh beta of its popular browser, just in time for the holiday season. The new Samsung Internet 13.2 Beta debuts several nifty features to further improve the overall browsing experience, including the added protection against redirects, OS Settings integration, ARCore upgrade, and more.

One of the major improvements in the Samsung Internet 13.2 is Smart Protect, which warns users when a site tries to persuade users to download malware and shows a warning pop up to help them return safely back to the homepage.

The new beta now also makes it easier to quickly visit URLs stored in your clipboard. When you tap on the address bar, you will see a quick access menu that shows your copied URL, and you can simply click on it to visit that URL — without needing to hit the Go button.

Next up, the Samsung Internet 13.2 lets you quickly search for various in-app settings right from within the main Settings app. You don’t have to open the app and work your way through a myriad of menus to find that specific control or setting. For example, if you want to disable cookies, simply enter the keyword in the Settings search bar, and it will show you a shortcut to jump directly to the Cookies settings.

A recent ARCore update had broken the AR functionality in the Samsung Internet. The Samsung Internet 13.2 has fixed that issue, and AR experiences should now work as intended after updating to this version. Finally, this update also brings several improvements to the Dark mode, including the introduction of the prefers-color-scheme media query and the color-scheme meta-tag CSS property to give web developers control over how their sites look when the user has the dark mode enabled. Similar to Google Chrome, Samsung Internet now also lets users toggle a force dark mode called “Force Dark Behaviour” as an experimental feature under internet://flags.

Samsung Internet Browser Beta (Free, Google Play) →

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Amazon Luna cloud gaming service now available on these Android devices

Amazon is finally expanding its cloud gaming service ‘Luna’ to Android devices. A competitor to similar services from Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, Amazon officially launched Luna back in October and had made it available for Fire TV, Windows, Mac, and iOS users. Starting today, owners of certain Google, Samsung, and OnePlus smartphones can get access to the service at an early access cost of $5.99 per month.

The subscription offers you access to unlimited hours of play along with a library of AAA games, at 1080p/60fps with 4K/60fps in the pipeline. It also offers the ability to stream on two devices simultaneously. You can expect games like Resident Evil 7, Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee, The Impossible Lair, Iconoclasts, GRID, ABZU, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and more.

Hey @TheCodeB00K, as Raghu from Team Luna explains below, you won’t have to wait very long for Android support (or, like, at all). Play Luna with early access now: https://t.co/IU81kXZouU pic.twitter.com/aVDCbQcP64

— Amazon Luna (@amazonluna) December 15, 2020

Luna for Android will be accessible via a web app (similar to iOS) by visiting amazon.com/luna. It is recommended that you use Chrome browser and Android 9 or higher and there will be support for the Luna Controller along with other Bluetooth controllers as well as the Xbox One Controller, and the DualShock 4. Having said that, for some weird reason, the service will only be available on the following Android devices:

• Pixel 4 XL
• Pixel 4a
• Pixel 4a 5G
• Pixel 5
• Samsung Galaxy S10
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
• Samsung Galaxy S20
• Samsung Galaxy S20+
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
• OnePlus 7
• OnePlus 7 Pro
• OnePlus 8
• OnePlus 8 Pro
• OnePlus Nord
• OnePlus 7T
• OnePlus 7T Pro
• OnePlus 7T Pro

We are not sure as to why Amazon has made the service available to only a handful of Android devices, especially since Luna can run via a web browser. The whole point of cloud gaming is that it doesn’t require one to have high-end hardware and just stream games off the internet. Our guess is that Amazon is currently limiting the number of devices only for early access and more devices should be added to the list in the near future. You can check out the full list of supported devices and browsers over here.

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