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Showing posts from December, 2017

iMac Pro First Impression

iMac Pro   First Impression   Apple’s goal with professional hardware has always been to inspire creatives and developers to produce new things. That’s not an altruistic objective; the more creative things get made on Macs, the more other creatives and developers are drawn to the platform, and the more Macs are sold. To that end, the iMac Pro is available to order today, so we spoke with Apple and several third-party developers who were introduced to us by Apple. We learned more about the iMac Pro and how people expect to use it to improve performance or add new features to their applications. It’s still not upgradeable in any significant way, apart from external GPUs. And of course, it starts at $5,000. Still, Apple has made a compelling case for the device by allowing the use cases to speak for themselves. We’ll go over the specifics about the machine and then explore some of the use cases we saw. Externally, the new iMac Pro is indistinguishable from the exis...

LG V30 review

LG V30 A Great Big Phone LG’s smartphone division is in an interesting position right now. They are continuing to produce decent handsets with innovative additions each year, yet the company can’t get much traction in the market in the face of strong competition from other brands. The G6 was LG’s best phone design in years, launching as one of the first with a small-bezel display, but sales have not rocketed as expected. The V30 is in a similar position. Occupying the flagship large-screen phone position in LG’s line-up, the V30 is packed with interesting features, top-end hardware and enough good stuff to match this year’s competitors. But it’s once again up against some massive new devices, particularly the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Google Pixel 2 XL, leaving LG with an uphill battle to ensure the V30 remains in the conversation. But now there's the LG V30. As the name suggests, it's a direct successor to last year's V20 — the product of a very different LG, w...

Moto G5S Review

Moto G5S Motorola's Best Budget SmartPhones You'd be forgiven for not paying close attention to the release of the Moto G5S Plus; it snuck into the company's lineup in early August alongside the Moto G5S. The 'S' stands for "Special Edition" (Moto G5SE Plus was too much of a mouthful?), and they're moderately improved versions of the existing Moto G5 line that debuted earlier in the year. Why would Motorola introduce slightly updated versions of existing phones less than six months after their release? Who knows?! What I do know is that the Moto G5S Plus, which is available unlocked in the U.S. for $279, is one of the better budget phones you can buy, but the slightly better build quality, additional camera, and larger display don't justify the additional cost over the existing Moto G5 Plus. Moto G5S Design The G5S marks a big step up from its predecessor. Where the G5 merely had an aluminium rear panel, the G5S’s unibody desi...

Google Pixel 2 XL Review

Google Pixel 2 XL Pixel's Bigger Sibling   Long story short, the XL is the bigger, more attractive version of the Pixel 2. Just about everything I loved about Google's new small phone applies here too, but the XL has a few distinct advantages -- its battery life is much better, and Android Oreo shines on its bigger screen. Considering how much the phone costs, though, I do wish Google and LG had gone with slightly better display panels. That aside, the Pixel 2 XL improves on its predecessor in almost every way that matters and claims the crown as my favorite Android phone of the year so far -- it's just too bad that headphone jack is gone. That’s not necessarily a fatal flaw: you can do things competently and still sell. Unfortunately, there’s also one gigantic flaw that holds it back from any possible recommendation. Google has crafted a fantastic phone with a stunning camera, but there’s still work to be done. Google Pixel 2 XL Design With bulging bezels ...