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Sabtu, 22 Februari 2020

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra benchmarks: The new Android phone to beat - Tom's Guide

The Galaxy S20 Ultra still can't top Apple's latest iPhones for performance. But the gap between the leading Android phone and Apple's pace-setting flagships is more narrow than it was before Samsung's latest phone came along.

That's our takeaway after we had a chance to benchmark the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which is now available for pre-order in advance of its arrival in stores on March 6 along with the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Plus.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra, like the other members of the S20 family, runs on a Snapdragon 865 system-on-chip from Qualcomm. The Kryo 585 CPU in this new chipset promises a 25% performance improvement over last year's Snapdragon 855 along with a 25 percent boost in power efficiency. Qualcomm says to expect a 25% improvement in graphics rendering over the previous generation from the Adreno 650 GPU included with the Snapdragon 865.

Along with the faster processor, the Galaxy S20 Ultra also benefits from 12GB of RAM. Last year's Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus featured 8GB in their base models (though you could pay up for an S10 Plus with 12GB of memory if you wanted).

Our testing definitely shows that the Snapdragon 865-powered Galaxy S20 Ultra delivers the best performance ever in an Android phone, beating last year's pace-setting devices quite handily in most benchmarks. And while the A13 processor Apple uses in its iPhone 11 lineup still has the better numbers, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is at least in the same ballpark. (Previous Android phones were lucky to be in the parking lot outside the ballpark.)

Here's a closer look at our Galaxy S20 Ultra benchmarks.

Galaxy S20 Ultra benchmarks: Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5 is a good indicator for a phone's overall performance, and the Galaxy s20 Ultra turned in standout numbers on this test. Samsung's new phone tallied a single-core score of 805 and a multicore result of 3,076.7. Compare that to the Galaxy Note 10 Plus, which features a Snapdragon 855 processor while matching the S20 Ultra's 12GB of RAM — Samsung's older phone had a single-core score of 736 and multicore result of 2,691. That means the Galaxy S20 Ultra improved on those numbers by 9% and 14%, respectively.

	Geekbench 5 single-core score	Geekbench 5 multicore score
Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865)	805	3,076.7
Galaxy Note 10 Plus (Snapdragon 855)	736	2,691
iPhone 11 Pro Max (A13 Bionic)	1,334	3,517
Galaxy Z Flip (Snapdragon 855 Plus)	752	2,685

The performance gains are bigger when you compare the Galaxy S20 Ultra to a phone without as much memory. The Pixel 4 XL features a comparatively modest 6GB of RAM to go along with its Snapdragon 855 chipset. Google's phone produced a multicore score of 2,582, so the Galaxy S20 Ultra improved upon that result by 19%.

What the Galaxy S20 Ultra can't do is match the numbers produced by phones running on Apple's A13 Bionic processor. When we ran Geekbench 5 on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple's phone produced a single-core score of 1,334, well ahead of the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The iPhone 11 Pro Max's multicore score of 3,517 is nearly 13% better than the Galaxy S20 Ultra's numbers.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra's numbers didn't match the higher scores we got when we tested a Snapdragon 865-powered reference device in December, though we tested that device in a performance mode that prioritized performance over battery life. That phone got within 2% of the iPhone's Geekbench 5 score. We imagine Samsung did some tweaking to the chipset so that it could deliver solid performance while still managing to keep the 6.9-inch phone powered up.

The story here, though, is how much better the Galaxy S20 Ultra compares to the iPhone relative to last year's top Android phones. The OnePlus 7T, for example, produced one of the best multicore results we saw from an Android device in 2019 at 2,759, but the iPhone 11 Pro Max still outperformed it by 27%. The Galaxy S20 shortens that lag considerably.

Galaxy S20 benchmarks: Adobe Rush

We saw more evidence of the gains that Samsung has made in a real-world test we like to perform using Adobe Rush. In this test, we time how long it takes to transcode a 4K video to 1080p after applying an effect and transition.

Apple's phones historically smoke all comers in this test, with the iPhone 11 Pro Max taking just 45 seconds to complete the job. And that's not a number the Galaxy S20 Ultra can match, as it finished the process in 1 minute, 16 seconds.

Still, that's a solid result for the Galaxy S20 Ultra when you consider the track record of leading Android phones on our test. The Pixel 4 takes 1 minute, 31 seconds to transcode that video clip, while the Note 10's time is three seconds slower than that. So the newer processor and extra RAM in the Galaxy S20 Ultra helped it shave 15 to 18 seconds off the time of last year's flagship Android handsets.

Galaxy S20 benchmarks: Graphics tests

As in the rest of our benchmarks, the Galaxy S20 Ultra showed decent gains over last year's top Android phones, though the iPhone continues to be at the front of the pack. In GFXBench's Aztec Ruins Vulcan test (offscreen), the S20 Ultra produced 1,319 frames, or close to 21 frames per second. The iPhone 11 Pro Max was far ahead with 1,657 frames, or 25 fps.

Phone Processor	GFXBench Aztec Ruins Vulcan
Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon 865)	1,319 (20.7 fps)
Galaxy Note 10 Plus (Snapdragon 855)	1,058 (15 fps)
iPhone 11 Pro Max (A13 Bionic)	1,657 (25 fps)
Galaxy Z Flip (Snapdragon 855 Plus)	1,124 (17 fps)
OnePlus 7T (Snapdragon 855 Plus)	1,169 (18 fps)

But compare the Galaxy S20 Ultra's numbers to those from other Android flagships. Both the OnePlus 7T and Galaxy Z Flip use the graphics-boosting Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, but their respective scores of 1,169 and 1,124 frames were both behind the S20 Ultra's results. And the Note 10 Plus lagged the field with 1,058 frames, or 15 fps.

Outlook

You'd expect a new flagship phone to top last year's models quite handily, and on that front, the Galaxy S20 delivers. And while Samsung's phone is a better match for the top iPhone, some might have expected a $1,399 to narrow the performance gap even further — especially since the A14 chipset that's likely to power this fall's iPhone 12 models will set a new standard.

Still, the gains we've seen the Galaxy S20 Ultra make in some of our real-world tests are encouraging. And given the major camera improvements Samsung has introduced to the S20 Ultra, performance is just part of the picture for justifying this phone's four-figure cost.

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2020-02-22 07:00:00Z
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PS5 news: PlayStation 5 could get its own Amazon Alexa-style AI - Tom's Guide

If half the rumours and leaks are to be believed, the PS5 is set to come with a lot of cool stuff. From state-of-the-art controllers with haptic feedback to 8K graphics and silky-smooth framerates, the PS5 is going to be an incredible bit of hardware.

The latest brand new tidbit of information shows Sony is working on something special for its next-generation console: a smart speaker-style AI that you can address as "PlayStation", which will not only perform basic commands, but work across games to help you when you're stuck on certain parts of any given level. Consoles are about to get a whole lot smarter.

A patent filed by Sony and published last month on Patentscope shows what Sony is calling an "in-game resource surfacing platform". The platform takes the form of an AI, which can be seen in the diagram below. Players are shown asking "PlayStation, how do I defeat the boss?" and PlayStation will respond with strategies other players have used to beat the same level or skip past this point in the challenge.

This reveals several key features about the console. For one thing, connection will be as important to the PS5 as it was supposed to be for the PS4. In the age of live-streaming games and dedicated "share" buttons, it looks like all PS5s will be connected, and PlayStation is planning on harvesting data from all its new consoles, aggregating it and using it as a resource to help players through difficult portions of games.

PS5 AI — (Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)

However, there's two very troubling words on this picture: "buy now". All this information may be aggregated, but accessing it looks like it's set to cost money. Whether it's new weapons or equipment for a character or a cache of information about the game that will help you better navigate it, having it hidden behind a paywall sets a troubling "pay to win" precedent.

Last year, EA got into hot water over its Star Wars: Battlefront 2 microtransactions. EA set some of Star Wars' most famous characters, such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, as unlockable playable heroes. However, the points gamers needed to "earn" in order to unlock them were ludicrously high, but EA had a helpful "pay to unlock" system, which charged gamers real-world money to unlock part of a game they had already payed for.

The resulting backlash, including the most downvoted comment in Reddit history, forced EA to release an update to change the game, but the damage had already been done. We've seen this trend gradually increase with the rise of downloadable content over the last 15 years of gaming, but creating a "pay to win" environment would be the absolute worst thing Sony could do with the PS5. It could destroy gamers' trust for a generation.

Star Wars Battlefront PS4 — The Force was not strong with EA's lazy business decisions (Image credit: EA Games)

While all we can see so far is using the smart AI to recommend information like a smart speaker, a PlayStation interface like Amazon's Alexa or Microsoft's Cortana makes perfect sense to add to the console. With around eight months to go until its prospective "holiday 2020" launch date, it's also something that could feasibly be added to the console in time.

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Watch: Stunning PS5 render from ZoneOfTech

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2020-02-22 06:04:00Z
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Jumat, 21 Februari 2020

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip review: temper your expectations - The Verge

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2020-02-21 16:33:35Z
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Save on Samsung Galaxy S20 preorder bundles and Xbox One X consoles - The Verge

Preorders for Samsung’s latest phones, the Galaxy S20 series, went up at 12:01AM ET this morning. There are plenty of ways to secure a preorder, but new preorder bundles are popping up that might catch your eye — specifically, Amazon’s offer that includes a complimentary set of Galaxy Buds truly wireless earbuds and a Duo wireless charging pad along with your preorder.

Amazon’s pricing is just like every other retailer: $999 for the S20, $1,199 for the S20 Plus, and $1,399 for the S20 Ultra. Plus, you get a few extra toss-in items as a bonus (in addition to some other great preorder incentives). Each phone will work on any US carrier, though, of the three, the standard S20 won’t work on Verizon’s millimeter-wave 5G network. Verizon has its own version of the S20 coming in Q2 2020 that will, so your options include waiting for it or upgrading to one of the bigger, more expensive options below.

If you don’t need the latest generation of Samsung’s Galaxy phone, the Galaxy S10 from 2019 is down to $550 at Amazon. It’s still plenty capable, and this is the lowest cost that we’ve seen it sell at yet, beating the previous best price by $50.

For reasons unknown, the rose gold-colored Bose QuietComfort 35 Series II wireless, noise-canceling headphones are still $129 off. Amazon has hosted this deal since before Valentine’s Day, and now B&H Photo is jumping in. These usually run for $349, so it’s a big discount and worth the investment if you like the color of these headphones.

There are a bunch of Xbox One X console bundles priced down to $300 at various retailers. This console used to cost $500 by itself, but now you have a chance to save a lot of money and get a free game with your purchase. Coincidentally, Microsoft is hosting a big sale on digital Xbox games, so you can build a library without breaking the bank.

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2020-02-21 15:50:05Z
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OnePlus 8 launch will only take place online due to coronavirus concerns - 9to5Google

The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in China has impacted the lives of tens of thousands, but also directly affected many technology companies. The latest company that will be affected, apparently, will be OnePlus as we’re hearing from multiple sources that the OnePlus 8 won’t launch at a physical event.

To date, concerns and measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus have directly affected quite a lot of Android manufacturers. From shipping delays to closed offices to the entirety of Mobile World Congress being canceled, fears of this virus have had a huge effect.

OnePlus, traditionally, launches its first phone of the new year sometime in spring and, for the past few years, that’s come with a launch event somewhere in the world. Last year for the OnePlus 7 Pro, that event took place in New York City.

Now, though, we’re hearing that the OnePlus 8 launch won’t take place at any physical location. Rather, due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, OnePlus will opt to launch the device through an online event only. We’ve been able to confirm this with multiple reliable sources familiar with OnePlus’ plans. A Weibo post also backs up what our sources mention.

This wouldn’t be the first time OnePlus would host a launch event entirely online. The OnePlus 2 launch, for example, was hosted over a VR livestream. The OnePlus 5 launch event was hosted live online, though we’d hope OnePlus will make things just a bit more lively if they follow this same format.

However, given the fact the launch is at least a full month away — if not longer — it’s possible these plans could change. Though, it sounds like the virus outbreak may be affecting more than just OnePlus’ launch event plans for its next lineup of smartphones.

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2020-02-21 15:24:00Z
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The Pixel 4’s new Google Assistant is beginning to roll out for G Suite users - 9to5Google

One of the biggest additions and surprise packages at the Pixel 4 launch event was the newly packaged and redesigned Google Assistant. Unfortunately, the new Google Assistant didn’t work on Pixel 4 devices if you had a G Suite account logged in — that is until now.

After recently breaking free of US borders, the cut-down AI helper is now available in a number of regions. This is no doubt fantastic news for anyone that does utilize a G Suite account on their Pixel 4 and was frustrated that they were unable to access the new offline features and smaller UI on their Made by Google phone.

Reports have come from Reddit that Pixel 4 owners are now able to activate the new Google Assistant with a G Suite account logged in to their devices (via Android Police). It’s also worth noting that the official support pages for the updated feature still states that it won’t work with a G Suite account logged in.

To use the new Google Assistant, use a device with a personal Google Account. If you use a device with a personal account and a school or work account, you won’t get the new Google Assistant.

If you don’t have a clue what we’re talking about here, the minimal Assistant UI can do all of the same things, but supports continual conversations and can control far more of your Pixel 4 completely hands-free.

You should hopefully see support rolling out over the coming weeks. We’re not seeing the option yet on some of our devices, but should you see the option, be sure to let us know down in the comments section below.

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2020-02-21 13:04:00Z
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Google is cracking down on Android apps that track your location in the background - The Verge

Google is placing new restrictions on which Android apps can track your location in the background, with a new review process that will check whether an app definitely needs access to the data. The changes were announced in a blog post to Android developers earlier this week. Google says that from August 3rd all new Google Play apps that ask for background access will need to pass review, expanding to all existing apps on November 3rd.

Although location tracking is an essential feature for many apps and services, it can be pretty invasive when apps indiscriminately ask for location access. Background tracking is even worse, because it means that you might be completely unaware of which apps on your phone are tracking you at any moment in time. The new review process will force apps to justify why they need to use the feature, and have them limit their tracking when they can’t.

Google says that this review process will look at whether an app’s core functionality actually justifies this background location access. A social networking app that lets users opt in to continuously sharing their location with friends would be okay, Google says. However, it would be harder to justify this for a store locator app, since this would work just as well if it only got location access while the app is in use. Clearly informing the user will help an app’s chances of getting approved, Google adds.

The changes were announced as part of a wider crackdown on location tracking in Android 11, which follows in iOS 13’s footsteps by letting you grant sensitive permissions on a one-time basis. Apple’s operating system also offers reminders that apps are tracking your location in the background. However, these policies seemingly don’t apply to some of Apple’s own apps like Find My, in a move that’s been criticized by some developers.

In contrast, Google says that its policies will apply to its own apps, which is reassuring given the company’s less-than-perfect approach to location tracking in the past. Back in 2018 Associated Press found that turning off Google’s Location History setting wouldn’t stop all location tracking because of an additional Web and App Activity setting that would continue to track you. In response, last year Google introduced a new feature to allow you to automatically delete this location data automatically after a certain amount of time.

The announcement post also reminds developers that they’re responsible for any third-party SDKs and libraries they use in their apps. Last year, one study found that some apps were using these SDKs to track users, even when users had opted out of location tracking.

Although the review process isn’t due to officially start until August, Google says that developers can request feedback starting in May to see whether their apps will be able to justify background location tracking.

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2020-02-21 12:48:45Z
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