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Ted Lasso Review: Is Apple TV+ Original Ted Lasso Worth Watching?

Marty
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Ted Lasso Review: Is Apple TV+ Original Ted Lasso Worth Watching?

I’m catching up on season two of Ted Lasso and realised I’ve never written a review about it. This is bonkers because it’s quite possibly the best show on across TV and streaming services right now. It’s easily the best thing on Apple TV+. Here’s why it’s absolutely worth watching.

What Is Ted Lasso About?

Ted Lasso is an American comedy created for Apple’s entertainment streaming service Apple TV+. The show follows the progress of the fictional English Premier League team, AFC Richmond. Despite having zero experience in coaching soccer, and yes here in Ireland we refer to it as soccer, AFC Richmond installs the titular manager Ted Lasso for the new season.

The only experience Lasso has is in coaching a college American football team to a low-tier championship. He gets the job because the new owner of the club, Hannah Waddingham, takes the club over as a result of a divorce. Her goal is to run the club into the ground to destroy her ex-husband.

Why Is Ted Lasso Special?

There’s an emerging trend in sport lately. You’ve likely seen plenty of people comment online saying “don’t bring politics into sport”. This is said when anyone tries to use the platform of sport to fight racism, homophobia, or any other kind of social injustice. Ted Lasso, both the show and the titular coach, positions sport as secondary to the people. Lasso loves coaching but he loves his players even more. They come first at all times.

On the surface, Ted Lasso looks like it’s going to be something like Sky’s classic Dream Team or at least be a sitcom where football is at the very core of it all. But soccer takes a back seat to the people and their problems.

Sports People Have Opinions

I’m trying to steer clear of spoilers, but the third episode in season two is actually what made me jump up and start typing. One of the team wants to protest against the club’s shirt sponsor because of how they behave in his home nation. This feels so fitting given what we see in sports on a regular basis.

Formula One has plenty of skeletons in the closet when it comes to sponsorship and holding races in countries that freely support anti-LGBTQI+ laws and traditions. This is why it was great to see Sebastian Vettel take a stance at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Sportspeople are influential with powerful platforms and they should be allowed to use that to make the world a better place.

Without making the world a better place, sports means nothing.

Supporting English Footballers At Ted Lasso Premiere

Ted Lasso is played by Jason Sudeikis. At the season two premiere of the show, Sudeikis wore a black jumper with the names of the English footballers who missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final. These players, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukaya Saka ensured racist abuse online following the match.

This was a perfect real-world representation of what the show stands for. Speaking to British Vogue, Sudeikis said actually made the shirt himself, claiming “the idea struck me the day before our show’s premiere. he said. I just felt it was necessary to use the platform of our big, fancy ‘worldwide premiere’ to try and personify our show’s support of those three young men. Which is why I chose to put their three names on the sweatshirt. The names their parents gave them”.

Is Ted Lasso Worth Watching?

Yes. And I’ll go one further.

This review has been short because words can’t really do Ted Lasso justice. Apple TV+ is sparsely populated with shows, but what’s there is damn good. Ted Lasso alone is worth the subscription fee.

The first season of Ted Lasso is available to stream now. Season two is underway too with a new episode every Thursday.

Watch The Ted Lasso Trailer

Samsung Announces Two New Folding Phones At Unpacked

Marty
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Samsung Announces Two New Folding Phones At Unpacked

Ok. The article about OnePlus trolling Samsung was shorter so I wrote that first. Now for the really beefy news to emerge from Samsung Unpacked. We have not one, but two new folding phones from Samsung. They’ve refreshed both their fold and flip phones. Let’s take a look.

What Did Samsung Launch At Unpacked?

This used to be a time for a Samsung Note launch, but Samsung seems to have moved their flagship launch to January for some reason and bailed on Note completely this year. Now, the Autumn unpacked session is dedicated to folding phones. Today, Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.

What Is The Difference Between These Two Phones?

Flipping and folding? What’s what? Well, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 opens like the classic clamshell phone. We’re talking Motorola Razr flip to open and take a call style. This means it’s nice and small in your pocket but a full-sized smartphone when you need it.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 opens like a book. This is a full-size smartphone all the time, that folds out into a tablet when you need it.

There are some other differences but that’s the big one.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the bigger spec smartphone of the two and is aimed more towards productivity. I’m basing that purely on the fact this smartphone cum tablet supports Samsung’s S-pen technology. This might also be why we’re not seeing a new Galaxy Note. In theory, it could be the end of the line for Note completely although Samsung themselves hasn’t ruled out a new entry next year.

Folded up, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a 6.2-inch smartphone. Naturally, it’s substantially thicket because it opens but it will work just like a normal smartphone in one hand. The part starts when you unfold the phone to reveal a 7.6-inch display. As is usually the case with Samsung, it’s an AMOLED display so it’s going to be crystal clear. Perfect for watching movies after all that work gets done.

A few days ago, OPPO announced its new technology for placing cameras under the screen. In the tech world, these things never happen by accident as it was probably an attempt to steal Samsung’s thunder. Will no one give them a minute’s peace. Anyway, yes. Under the GalaxyZ Fold 3’s unfolded screen will be a 4MP camera. I’m really excited by this development for several reasons. The obvious use for this is calling loved ones and work meetings I guess. A camera below the screen means you might even get improved eye contact!

From a design point of view it, more importantly, means no notches so you can view your screen distraction-free. Though, I’m not sure when the last time I noticed a notch was.

All the other usual bits and pieces are there too. The primary rear camera is a 12MP+12MP+12MP configuration. When closed, you have a 10MP selfie camera and, as mentioned, you have a 4MP Under Display Camera.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

In the words of Monthy Python, “and now for something completely different”.

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is a totally different take on what folding phones should be. Well, it’s not a folding phone at all, it’s a flipping phone. The idea here is that you have a teeny tiny phone in your pocket that can be opened into a full-sized smartphone. It looks like Samsung nailed it with this fun design.

I always find the manufacturer’s websites interesting for launches. One of the first things Samsung discusses for the Flip is colour. This is a hint into who they are targeting with this. More fashion-conscious phone users looking for some style. When closed, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 measures just 4.2-inches. I totally get why this is appealing. I myself gave up on big smartphones, adopting the Pixel 5 and iPhone 12 over the past 12 months. So many will love this aesthetic approach.

But it’s also highly functional.

Closed, the front of the phone has a 1.9-inch display. Here you’ll be able to control music and preview messages and notifications. Open it up and you have a 6.7-inch display. Basically, just like any smartphone.

Camera-wise, you have a 10MP selfie camera and dual setup on the rear with 12MP+12MP primary cameras. The form of this phone lets you shoot some really clever shots.

the Take a selfie without even opening the Galaxy Z Flip 3

Take a selfie with the phone closed. Half-open the phone and it’ll sit on a flat surface for you to capture a group shot. This is also great for watching Netflix on the go.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 And Z Flip 3 Price

Right. That’s all we’ve really got to say for now. It’s early days and that’s probably enough to whet your appetite. It’s time for you to head off and rummage through the Samsung website to see what else you can learn. Before you go, let’s look at what these phones will set you back.

Buying from Samsung directly, means you’re buying SIM-free. If this is you, be sure to check out our SIM-only offers guide too.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 will set you back €1149. Dare I say, that’s surprisingly affordable. Well, as folding phones go anyway.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 weighs in at a wallet-busting €1999.

OnePlus Trolls Samsung During Their Unpacked Event

Marty
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OnePlus Trolls Samsung During Their Unpacked Event

Today, Samsung hosted their latest Unpacked event. The South Korean phone manufacturer released not one, but two folding smartphones. But it was OnePlus who kind of stole the limelight.

OnePlus Folding Phones?

Yesterday, OnePlus teased what looked like a folding phone on their US Twitter account.

The video ends with a date. The same date as Samsung’s Unpacked event. The tweet itself included 10am too. The exact same time as Samsung’s Unpacked event.

Twitter went into overdrive.

Out of nowhere, Samsung had new competition on their big day. A new and quite unexpected folding phone. It turns out it was a folding phone that didn’t even exist.

€50 Off The OnePlus 9

As the event got underway for Samsung, OnePlus tweeted again. This time it was the end of the teasing and time for the real deal. Literally, just a deal.

Yes indeed. There is no OnePlus folding phone. The video released yesterday was simply two OnePlus 9 smartphones sitting side by side. Some guerrilla marketing at its best. The message “half off” suggesting you only need half the screen space to have a good phone. To be fair, that’s subjective as the new Samsung range looks kind of cool.

But, the offer isn’t 50% off the price. Instead, you can save €50 when you but the OnePlus 9. Not bad. But hey, it got me talking about them right?

Save €50 when you buy the OnePlus 9 by using the promo code COOL50.

Veritable Smart Garden Review: Are Smart Gardens Worth It?

Marty
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Veritable Smart Garden Review: Are Smart Gardens Worth It?

Have you noticed that the walls of your home feel smaller than usual? A year of lockdown can do that. I live in a small Dublin City apartment so my walls have felt really tight lately. While we have a local park, there’s nowhere to grow plants or herbs which is something I’ve been keen to do. Sure, there’s the balcony but do you want to eat herbs that have been sitting in the air of rush hour traffic? A startup called Veritable seems to have the perfect solution and they’ve sent it over for me to test.

The Veritable Smart Garden

Made in France, the Veritable Smart Garden makes a bold promise. Once you buy their kit, all you need to do is sit back, relax and watch your plants grow. Then you can harvest them and then enjoy. They say “enjoy” because you can grow herbs, small vegetables, and even edible flowers in the Veritable garden.

The company positions itself as a leader in “indoor urban agriculture” so it did sound like exactly what I needed. Let’s break it down.

What Is An Indoor Smart Garden?

Simply put, an indoor smart garden simulates outdoor growing conditions. Depending on which smart garden you pick, you’ll get a varying amount of connected smart tech too. Veritable has another garden that sends details of growth and your plant’s needs to your phone. The garden I’ve tested out is aimed at being self-sufficient and low maintenance.

How Does A Smart Garden Work?

This particular model, the Veritable SMART 4-slot garden, is really simple. The garden itself has two lights, a two-liter water tank, and four slots for the pre-made Lingots (French for ingots). Once plugged in, this is more or less fire and forget. The height-adjustable lighting system has been specially designed to promote growth, automatically turning on for a period of 16 hours every day. I placed my quite a distance away from natural light and it worked perfected. I have video proof shot as a timelapse over a month.

Veritable even say the plants will grow in a room without windows. All you need to do is keep an eye on the water levels and research when to prune your crops. For the water, you should get three weeks from one fill. I was getting about a week because the apartment has been unusually warm.

Hydroponics

Ok, so the lighting tech is pretty cool but the entire system works because of something much older. Hydroponics dates back to the 1600s. Basically, while the traditional growing of crops requires soil, hydroponics depends on the roots of crops usually dangling into water. Because of this the growing process requires some additional nutrient management but the good news is that you don’t need to worry about that either because of the Lingot system.

Lingots (Ingots)

Beyond the smart garden itself, you’ll need what Vertable calls Lingots. The French word for ingot. Once you open the pack you’ll see what they use this term because they’re like a gold bar. The Lingot contains everything the plants need to grow, most importantly, without you needing to worry about anything when getting up and running.

You’ll get enough Lingots to fill the slots on your smart garden included with your first purchase. I got basil, thyme, parsley, and chives.

Is Buying A Smart Garden Worth It?

There are a few things to consider here.

Price Of Smart Garden

The Veritable smart garden I tested out isn’t what I would consider cheap. To buy the four-slot model directly from Veritable costs €200. That does include your first four Lingots too and these usually cost about €8 each. Understandably, Veritable doesn’t promote whether or not you can use your own soil and seeds, though I’m sure you can if you know what you’re at. In terms of energy use, to run for a year the garden will cost less than €10.

With the numbers laid out, the question remains whether or not buying a smart garden is worth it. For me, the answer is yes.

Yes. Worth It

In nearly every shop every week I pick up herbs. Sometimes I pick up full plants and they eventually die, despite my best efforts. That’s because the plants simply don’t like being indoors. Using a smart garden, particularly with the official Lingots means the plants get everything they need.

It’s not like this purchase doesn’t in some way pay for itself. Once set up, plants can be pruned from as early as four weeks. Each Lingot guarantees you regular harvests for four to six months and will likely go longer. Sure, it’ll probably take a few years to “pay for itself”, but it is possible.

There’s also the enjoyment side of things but this is subjective. I personally really enjoyed growing my basil and looking up when to prune it. When the time to harvest came I cooked some TikTok Pasta. You do grow a little attached to your plants and there is evidence that growing plants and herbs is good for your mental health.

My first basil harvest

It’s an incredible feeling to cook using herbs grown just a few steps from my kitchen. I’m looking forward to trying out something like the jalapeno Lingot but am happy to wait until my herbs fail.

Learnings From One Month With A Smart Garden

There are a few tips I have. You’ll probably need to get some sort of fly tape. Little critters seemed to really take a liking to my herbs but hell. That’s nature. Also, do some research on when to prune. The more expert amongst you will look at the time-lapse and spot the basil went a little leggy. That’s because I probably could have pruned a week earlier.

The good news is that even with my amazing ability to kill plants, it looks like this is one way, not even I can make a mess of it.

Buy the Veritable Smart Garden directly from the company for €200 with free shipping within the EU.

Messi Moving To PSG Could Ruin FIFA 22 Seasons

Marty
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Messi Moving To PSG Could Ruin FIFA 22 Seasons

Looking at the whole Messi debacle felt like being in the eye of a storm. With FIFA 22’s release date of October 1st still a while away, only now that Messi’s pen has officially hit above the line on the Paris St Germain contract that I realise this is a disaster for the next installment of FIFA. Even worse news, is that EA Sports has already ruined FIFA 21 Seasons by moving Messi early.

Is Ultimate Team Going To Be The Worst Thing?

I used to love FIFA Ultimate Team, lovingly referred to as FUT. In this game mode, you build a squad from absolutely nothing to take on the world. You match your players with their fellow teammates on a club or national level. The idea is that the better the match, the better the chemistry and the better your chances are to succeed.

It’s tough to find the best players for a couple of reasons. One being that, unless you pay new players are drip-fed out to you in tough to acquire “packs”. Opening these packs is very much like opening the old sticker collections was, hoping you find a “shiny” or a “number 1” Premier League logo sticker. As a result, opening packs has become a tense affair with some creators owing most of their streaming views to the opening of packs alone. Check out this video with over three million views along.

W2SPlays opens packs

But the Messi transfer to PSG brings a new, not exactly life-ending, problem for FUT players. He’s going to be on the same team as Angel di Maria. That’s Angel di Maria, the Argentine right-winger. Just like Messi, the Argentine right-winger. The amount of pack openings that will end in disappointment is going to be colossal. Why? Because in that moment of tense waiting, you’ll see the Argentine flag coming flying. You’ll see that RW flying at your screen. As you start to convulse you’ll see the PSG crest and just as you’ve convinced yourself you’ve bagged a Messi, you get a di Maria.

Anyway. One of the reasons I stopped playing FUT was that it felt like pay to play. It also felt like my teams would get worse unless I constantly added new blood. It just didn’t feel like FIFA. So I got stuck into seasons instead.

Messi To PSG Is A Disaster For Seasons Too

I play seasons online myself and I play with friends. In fact, I play better with a human teammate than I ever do myself. While my performance varies between the two seasons modes, one constant remains. 90% of the games I play are against PSG.

Picking the PSG team in seasons gives you a massive advantage. While the real-world team coughs and splutters outside their domestic league, it’s impossible to deny the team’s individual quality. When to translate the player stats to the world of FIFA seasons they become practically unplayable in the hands of an expert.

Messi’s FIFA card featuring in the February 21 LaLega Player of the Month

PSG is home to the FIFA 22 cover star, Kylian Mbappe. He’s got an overall rating of 90 in FIFA 21, including a whopping 96 pace. Playing alongside him is the Brazilian star Neymar. He’s rated 91 overall with high scores for dribbling and shooting. Should Messi’s deal be signed, sealed and delivered he’ll now round out the front three. With an overall rating of 93 he is second to none and the very best player in the game, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The rest of the PSG team is solid. A weak defense matters little when every game will be an onslaught to see who scores more.

Messi Moves Early In FIFA 21 Seasons

To make matters worse, EA didn’t even wait to ruin the online battles. In a somewhat unprecedented move, Messi has already been transferred for players to make use of in FIFA 21 Seasons. Yup, right now you can pick PSG and play online with Messi, Mbappe, and Neymar in attack. Since this update, I’ve played a ton of games against PSG and they are painfully good. But this still begs the question. Why has EA moved Messi early?

Lukaku remains at Inter. Ronaldo is still at Juventus (or Piermont I should say). EA doesn’t do final window transfer updates prior to the release of a new game. Why would they? FIFA doesn’t get a massive gameplay overhaul every year. Most people are simply paying for the updated teams. So why move Messi?

Perhaps it was to avoid gamers staying on FIFA 21 in protest. Maybe there’s some contractual agreement that Messi has with them. But the thing I find so odd is that whatever triggered such a quick update hasn’t also been triggered for Ronaldo.

Already, the internet is responding and this is the reason PSG vs PSG is trending on Twitter. Prospective FIFA 21 and even PES players are already committing to shamelessly playing with PSG in the all too likely event of coming up against PSG in online play.

Messi To PSG: Confirmed

If you were holding out hope that this was all just theoretical and maybe it wouldn’t happen. The only hope we have is that PSG has to offload someone else from their front three to balance the books. Because Lional Messi to PSG is a done deal.

What Is Apple CSAM? New Child Safety Protections A Double-edged Sword

Marty
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What Is Apple CSAM? New Child Safety Protections A Double-edged Sword

Apple has announced new Expanded Protections for Children which will roll out to their full estate of iOS, macOS, watchOS and iMessage. The very headline of the announcement would normally put it beyond question that this is a good idea. However, simply scratch the surface and you’ll find a plethora of data protection and privacy issues. A surprise considering Apple now markets itself as privacy first, stating “privacy is a fundamental human right“. So what’s going on?

Apple’s New Child Protections

A while back, Apple confirmed plans to implement new child protection measures across hardware like iPhone and, more importantly, their cloud storage service, iCloud. The details of this system to process child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) have now been confirmed. The American phone maker will release a couple of things but it’s the smart processing of images in iCloud that’s making headlines.

Apple plans to release software into their eco-system that will scan for content relating to the sexual abuse of children. In short, Apple retains a database of know child abuse images. Using this new technology, they will then look for matches in the iCloud Photos storage of users. Should a match be found, Apple will then be able to share information with the police to take the necessary steps to resolve any issues.

The Problem With Apple’s New Child Protection Measures

On the surface, how could you ever have a problem with anything that’s designed to stop child abuse? Well, there lies the problem. By releasing this software in an effort to stifle the horrendous proliferation of child abuse online, it’s very hard to question Apple’s motives. Indeed, I don’t think anyone, abusers aside has a problem with efforts to stop child abuse images. Yet, many are up in arms after hearing Apple’s plans because there are massive privacy concerns here.

How Else Could This Tech Be Used?

The concerns of privacy experts, myself and frankly most of Twitter from what I’ve seen is not what this tech will do. It’s what it could do. Take the child abuse out of this. One tweak in the algorithm and this same system could be used for any collection of images.

First of all, not all nations are a free or well-intentioned as the ones we find ourselves in. Sure, you might question that but other nations are outright corrupt. What’s to stop this technology from being used to find images or memes making fun of an unpopular political regime.

I’m no fan of WhatsApp. In fact, for privacy reasons, I quit the communications app completely. But even a WhatsApp head, Will Cathcart is concerned that “Apple built and operated surveillance system that could very easily be used to scan private content for anything they or a government decides it wants to control”.

We shouldn’t forget that Apple and Facebook really don’t like each other and all that, but still. His point is valid.

Apple’s Response To CSAM System Concerns

In response to the concerns around this processing system, Apple released a six-page FAQ. The document seeks to put some fears at ease, answering questions like will Apple scan all photos on an iPhone. The answer is no, this only applies to photos in iCloud Photos.

Apple also confirms that it is taking these steps in an effort to protect children while also protecting privacy, a goal that Apple claims this system helps achieve.

Apple On Security OF CSAM System

The really interesting questions surround security for the CSAM detection system in iCloud Photos and whether or not the system can be used to detect anything other than CSAM. This is one of those times where a simple “no” is the best answer. However, Apple includes a word that will do little too allay the fears of privacy experts; “process”. In answering this question, Apple says their “process is designed to prevent that [the system being used to detect anything other than CSAM] from happening”. This basically means that yes, the system could be tweaked to crosscheck any database of images against iCloud Photos.

Apple On Rogue Governments

So, could a government force Apple to use this system for their own benefit? You’ll have to take Apple’s word for it, but it says it “will refuse any such demands” from governments to add non-CSAM images to the database. Apple says it has “faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands. We will continue to refuse them in the future”.

Apple On False Alarms

Here comes that “process” klaxon again. Could Apple’s CSAM system be abused and falsely flag innocent people to law enforcement? Apple says no and that “the system is designed to be very accurate”. Now, that’s cool and all, but you’ll find smartphones were designed to not go on fire. Space shuttles were designed to not fail and explode. While Apple says they have taken steps to avoid false flags, it’s not impossible.

Apple concedes that “the likelihood that the system would incorrectly flag any given account is less than one in one trillion per year”. Accounts that get flagged will be passed to a human for review. Personally, I see this as the weakest part given humans have been known to be terrible error prone.

What About Other Services?

Many other cloud storage services already have systems in place similar to this. The problem with Apple is that it has been a privacy beacon of hope for a long time. This is a significant step back for people who want a privacy-focused phone. You can disable iCloud Photos but the beauty of Apple is the eco-system that works so well.

Although, I’ve had my fair share of tearing out hair because of iCloud.

Will Apple Launch iCloud Photo Scanning In Ireland?

Apple will roll out this use of what it’s calling Neural Hash later this year. It will launch in the United States first and this is an important side note. Apple has also confirmed that any additional markets for roll-out will be subject to local laws and regulations allowing for such a system.

While it remains possible Apple will roll out CSAM scanning in iCloud Photos here in Ireland, GDPR and the whole concept of processing user accounts in the EU from the US will likely delay things.

This is a really difficult topic to get your head around. Stopping child abuse at any cost, for me, is worth a loss of privacy. However, the technology could so easily be tweaked for utter evil that it terrifies me.

Update: This article was updated to include Apple’s response to concerns around their new iCloud Photos CSAM-detection system.

Is The Suicide Squad Worth Watching?

Marty
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Is The Suicide Squad Worth Watching?

Is it a sequel? Is this Hollywood admitting the first movie was so bad that we should just quietly accept it never happened? There’s a new Suicide Squad movie out. We’ve given it a gander to see if it’s worth watching.

What Is The Suicide Squad Movie About?

In short, The Suicide Squad is the follow-up movie to Suicide Squad, a 2016 movie with only a “the” in the difference. Well, a “the” and the fact this 2021 movie is a million times better. Both centre on the same “anti-hero” premise. A prison full of bad guys and gals are given the opportunity to undertake a mission. Success means a shorter sentence, failure means death.

That’s kind of where the comparisons between the two movies need to stop. The 2016 entry was awful, despite having Will Smith. The 2021 movie is great despite a lack of Will Smith.

This new Suicide Squad movie is all about a mission to the fictional island of Corto Maltese. A military coup causes the American Government some problems. Also, there’s a research facility that houses a giant alien starfish found in space. Yeah, sounds wild right? Anyway, the US Government sends in the Suicide Squad to blow the lot up. Havoc and comedy ensue. That’s pretty much the script. Oh, also. There’s copious amounts of violence. It’s at the very least on par with Deadpool.

Sylvester Stallone voices King Shark

The characters are genuinely brilliant. You can tell that the first movie was probably nearly finished by the time Dead Pool blew the anti-hero genre up but this new one forms most of the dialogue with tongue firmly in cheek. I’m not going to spoil anything, but in addition to Margot Robbie returning as Harley Quinn, we also get Sylvester Stallone as a shark and John Cena as Peacemaker. Idris Elba shows why he’s got the power to lead any movie. Honestly, I love them all.

Is The Suicide Squad Worth Watching?

The Suicide Squad takes itself just about seriously enough to be a brilliant watch.

The first movie was forgettable. In fact the only memorable thing about it was that watching it was regrettable. With a run time of over 210 minutes, a lot of people won’t be brave enough to invest time in The Suicide Squad. But remember. This was directed by James Gunn after he was kicked out of Disney/Marvel and before they brought him back.

He’s a great director for this genre. This entire film is a melting pot of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy style action with a healthy dash of comedy. The entire movie flew by and I found myself laughing a lot. That’s where this kind of movie needs to sit. So if you felt the original Suicide Squad let you down, do give this one a shot. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Where To Watch The Suicide Squad

All of those “proper critics” are focused on how much money this movie is going to make. Naturally, we’re still in a pandemic so that’s going to be impacted. Still, The Suicide Squad is the big movie in cinema right now. Well, that and Jungle Cruise which is also awesome. You can go to the cinema to watch this in Ireland but understandably, that might not seem all that appealing.

The Suicide Squad has also been released on HBO Max but that streaming service isn’t available in Ireland. Sorry. Your choices are cinema or wait for general release. Unless you’re wise to the way of the VPN of course.

The Suicide Squad Trailer

On the fence? Let’s see if that trailer does the business.

Google Reveals New Nest Security Range Coming To Ireland

Marty
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Google Reveals New Nest Security Range Coming To Ireland

Our homes have become like a fortress this past year. We’ve all spent so much time there that investing in a bit of work here and a gadget there made a lot of sense. Security is a constant in our minds too which makes Google’s announcement today really exciting. Nest, one of the many brands under Google and Alphabet, today announced a new suite of cameras for your home. We’re expecting review units to land in a couple of weeks, but in the mean time, here’s the skinny on what’s coming.

New From Google Nest

I’ve set a Eufy system up in the home I grew up in and it runs incredibly well. Eufy is one of the big challenger brands to the big two of Amazon’s Ring eco-system and Google’s Nest eco-system. At the heart of all of these home security these days are HD cameras and today Google announced a suite of Nest cameras.

Google Nest Cam

The big flagship camera is the Nest Cam. This works both indoors and outdoors, the latter being backed up with an IP54 weather-sealed rated. It’s your choice whether you permanently wire the camera up or rely on the built-in battery. Again, this is a similar concept to the system I set up at home. The need to recharge can be a pain and Google says that’ll need to be done every three months, but the flexibility of battery-power is a worthwhile trade-off in my opinion.

a google nest cam in the rain, fixed to a wall
Lashing rain but IP54 rated. Important the cameras can withstand that in Ireland.

The Google Nest Cam will shoot 1080p video at 30fps, offering a 130-degree field of view. This all links to your Google Home app for giving your full view of your home where ever you are.

Looking back at events is technically free. You can stream noted events from the past three hours. However, if you want more than that you’ll need to subscribe to Nest Aware or Nest Aware Plus. More on that later.

Google’s Nest Cam will set you back €199.

There is also another version of this camera that includes a floodlight. It’s important to note that you’ll need to wire this one in but even more important to note that it doesn’t appear to be coming to Ireland.

Google Nest Cam Indoor

Slightly more simplified is the Google Nest Cam Indoor. There are countless uses for the Nest Cam Indoor. Personally, I’m not sure why it wouldn’t make a great baby monitor but it certainly makes the grade for keeping an eye on your pets when away. If you’ve got a very smart home setup, you could also use a camera like this for monitoring your hallway when allowing delivery drivers remote access to your property. Considering online-shopping has grown so much and we probably will have to go back to the office sooner or later, this could be really handy.

Isnt’ that really cute

The big difference between the Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam is the lack of a battery and IP-rating. Neither all that much needed indoors right?

Despite the drop in spec, I can’t see this camera being any less attractive, particularly once you factor in the price of €139.99.

Google Nest Doorbell

This might be my favourite. Like I said, getting deliveries of online purchases is so common now and people simply aren’t home all the time. How amazing is it that technology now exists where a delivery driver can ring your doorbell when you’re off on holidays and you can answer him and tell him to drop the package into your neighbour. Love it.

This is exactly the scenario the Google Nest Doorbell aims to win at. I’ve got the Eufy doorbell at my home place, and Ring has also had a doorbell for many years. This is the first easy-install wireless doorbell from Nest. Like the camera, you’ll get about three months battery. Less if you live on a street that gets a lot of knick-knack-knockers.

The doorbell does what you’d expect and links into the Google Home eco-system. The built-in camera shoots 960 x 1280 video again at 30fps. Important too is the inclusion of night-vision and HDR. Storage remains the same as the Nest Cam. Three hours of event history for free but you’ll need to pay for more.

OPPO Cracks Under-screen Camera Technology

Marty
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OPPO Cracks Under-screen Camera Technology

It felt wrong being excited with that headline. “Crack” and “screen” rarely means anything good. But this is good, very good indeed! Our mobile phones are evolving. Once upon a time, removing the headphone jack would have been sacrilege. Pin-hole selfie cameras were unheard of. Well, selfies themselves were unheard of. Folding touchscreens are becoming practically mainstream. The next big thing is likely to be the in-screen camera. Back in 2019, OPPO revealed their first take on this concept and today they confirmed the next generation is ready.

OPPO’s In-Screen Camera Technology

So this is OPPO’s second take on in-screen camera technology. Their first shot at it was impressive, but it dead result in reduced pixel density around the area where the camera sits under the screen. OPPO’s new solution doesn’t do this and now the phone maker claims users will notice “almost no visual difference between the area [where the camera sits] and the rest of the screen during everyday use”.

To show what this might look like, OPPO released this image of a prototype, though I’ll reserve opinion until a real-world model is seen.

OPPO phone using under-screen camera technology. Notch-free.
An OPPO phone with an in-screen camera

OPPO has likely gone with this e-reader style demo of the screen given how difficult this would be to pull off convincingly. Again, I’m acutely aware this could just be a render and non-indicative of a real-life shot. However, if OPPO can live up to this expectation, it could finally be the end of the notch.

Shots From Within The Screen

It’s mind-boggling really. If you look through coloured foil, your world becomes that colour. Yet, OPPO has worked out how to take a shot through a screen of colour. OPPO’s next-generation under-screen camera uses AI algorithms to sidestep issues such as blur and image glare. This means the phone does all the work while users can capture clearer, more natural images. 

Check out these selfies which OPPO has provided

Do We Need Under-screen Cameras?

As I said at the outset, there was a time we thought we needed headphone jacks. A time we didn’t think we needed selfies cameras at all or maybe even smartphone cameras full stop. I’ve personally moved to the smaller iPhone 12 because I like the smaller form. In-screen camera technology means I can get more from my small screen. But the benefits are also for those of you who like big phones, folding phones and really any phone at all.

Design is about overcoming compromise and the likes of “the notch” is an imperfect design solution. Technology offers a way to circumnavigate that, and that technology is under-screen camera technology.

Whether or not we see this technology in OPPO’s next flagship or not, remains to be seen.

Google Leaks Info On Pixel 6 And Pixel 6 Pro Themselves

Marty
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Google Leaks Info On Pixel 6 And Pixel 6 Pro Themselves

In fairness, you probably can’t even call this a leak anymore. Today on Twitter, Google released the latest info on their upcoming flagship smartphones which will replace the Pixel 5 series. Here’s what we’ve learned from Google’s inability or desire to keep a secret.

Google Will Launch Two Smartphones This Year

It’s now absolutely confirmed that Google will launch two phones this year. A double confirmation for phones this year and that the launch will feature two flagship smartphones. We’ll be getting the Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro.

Both models will come in three colour combinations. Here you can see both models and all colour options. The phone with the bigger space above the camera bar is the Google Pixel 6 Pro.

google pixel 6 range
The full suite of Pixel 6 phones. The Pro has a bigger space above the camera bar.

Camera Will Be The Big Pro Difference

One of the standout design features on the Google Pixel 6 is the camera bar across the back. The camera will also be the big difference between Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Naturally, that’ll likely be alongside screen size and battery capacity.

The Pixel 6 will feature two primary cameras and a selfie camera. The Pixel 6 Pro features three primary cameras and a selfie camera. It’s a telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom that sets the Pixel 6 Pro aside from the Pixel 6.

Google Tensor: Google Developed Their Own Chip

As is a new trend in a world where the supply of silicon is damn hard, Google has developed its own chip. This System on a Chip or SOC is called Tensor and Google has been working on it for about five years. It’s the first chip designed by Google specifically for Pixel phones. Moving to Tensor is a departure from using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips and Google plan to enable new AI-powered experiences previously not possible with Qualcomm.

Promotional Tensor image from Google

Google also promises a “transformed experience” for the camera and speech recognition. The obvious area open for improvement here is Google Assistant, but Google Translate could be the sneaky winner of developments. At least I hope that’s the case, speaking as a man whose German has let him down on more than one occasion!

Finally, Tensor will also make phones more accessible. I spotted constant captioning as an option on my Pixel 5 and that’s going to be built upon too.

Material Design Becomes Material You

For years, Google has had a design philosophy at their core called Material Design. This is the reason everyone from Google looks the way it does, including apps developed more broadly for Android. It draws upon a wide range of features and design cues but is heavily user-experience focused and draws upon natural motions and mimics real-world objects to help users adopt hardware more naturally.

Now, Google wants to include you – the phone user – in the formula of how your phone works. Hence the name Material You. From Google’s own demos it looks like Material You will adapt your phone theme colours to the photos you take and the colours you pick. I’ll need to see this working in real-time to gauge how good it is. It’s definitely one of the fluffier inclusions from the leak today.

Pixel 6 Is Launching In The Autumn

If you were hoping for an exact launch date, I have to disappoint you. Google said their new phones would launch in the Fall. That’s Autumn for you and me. You can read through the full Pixel 6 leak thread from Google below.

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