Netflix’s Pieces of Har was a huge hit for the streamer, with lots of viewers joining the thriller. If you’re reading this, chances are you were one of them and now you’re looking for something equally interesting to look forward to. So, we’ve compiled a list of more shows like Pieces of Rate for you to check out.

In Pieces of Her, a woman escapes a deadly mass shooting when her mother enters and stops the shooter in shock. Now, she is determined to unravel family secrets and find out who her mother really is.

Check out: The best original streaming show on every platform

Read on for the next seven episodes. And if you haven’t checked out his piece yet, you can do so by clicking on the link below.

Privacy can hold a lot of power. This is the underlying theme of Netflix’s The Stranger. A man in a family is obsessed with his wife’s background when a stranger reveals a horrible secret about her. In search of the answer, the stranger comes to others with the same destructive expression as Pieces of Rate on this Netflix main show.

Like Pieces of the Rate, incredible star Tony Colette and explored how we believe in people can lead us down dangerous paths. When a teenager is accused of lying about being raped, two detectives look closely at the case, associate it with a similar attack, and realize that the girl’s story may be true in this tragic and powerful miniseries. Story.

Based on Celeste NG’s excellent, best-selling novel, Little Fires Everywhere, like Pieces of Har, deals with family secrets and the way we sometimes bury the past and hide it from those we love. In Shakur Heights, Ohio, in the 1990s, a mother and daughter who were new to the city suddenly became involved with local families. Their external condition began to create a problem for the mother of the local children, who began digging in places that did not belong to her.

With knockout performances by Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, Amy Brenman, Enrique Mursiano and Elliott Fletcher, Amazon’s 2021 series Tell Me Your Secrets is all about the troubled, violent past. The show follows the underlying story of three problematic characters. There, a former serial hunter seeks release, a woman has an abusive relationship with another hunter, and a mother mourns the loss of her lost daughter, who is presumed dead.

In this anthropology series, Bill Pullman plays a detective who tries to dig deeper into the murders committed by the suspects. In the first season, he digs past a troubled woman. He wants to find out why he stabbed a man to death. Originally intended as a short series based on the novel of the same name by Petra Hamesfer, subsequent seasons of The Scene explore new stories with the same theme.

Bloodline is a show like Pieces of Rate where it focuses on deadly family privacy. When black sheep Danny Reburn returns to his Florida family, he brings with him a history of injuries. The picture-perfect Rayburns would rather leave those buried in the past. Instead, they are forced to face a series of tragedies and crimes, eventually leading to murder because the Reborn children work to cover up Danny’s death, which was revealed in the tragic first episode.

The lives of a photojournalist, a soccer mother, and a homicide detective are intertwined as they are forced to face two connected disappearances. Based on Harlan Cobain’s novel, all three in the Netflix Mystery Miniseries relate to two missing persons.

These are our best picks for shows like Pieces of Rate on Netflix Hopefully you will find one of them to scratch your streaming thriller itch.

Samsung and Google announced last week that they would follow Apple’s lead with their own repair programs and sell smartphone components directly to end users. Even better, both companies have partnered with iFixit – a reputable source of repair guides and smartphone spare parts. While this may sound like a victory for the right-to-repair movement, the unfortunate reality is that these programs are not as user-centric as they seem on the surface.

Our pick: The best phone you can buy

Replacement, not repair: a faulty and costly strategy

Ease of access to key components of a device – especially failure prone like a charging port or battery – is one of the most important aspects of repairability. However, many modern electronic devices are not designed to be easily serviceable.

Key points: With the Galaxy S22 series – most Samsung smartphones ship with a display housing with a sticky battery. While this isn’t an unusual habit in itself, virtually every other smartphone maker includes a tug tab or two for easy removal.

Without the Tab tab, however, you need plenty of isopropyl alcohol to soften the adhesive to safely remove your smartphone’s battery. Lithium-ion batteries do not respond well to physical stress (think of the Galaxy Note 7 crash) so inadvertently removing the battery can be extremely dangerous.

Samsung probably realizes that it can’t expect all of its users to have a safe battery replacement. So what has the company decided to do? Do not sell replacement batteries as part of its self-repair program. Instead, you can buy a full display assembly with an adhesive-on battery. Needless to say, this greatly increases repair costs, especially in flagship models with high-performance displays. Many users want to buy a new device instead of paying hundreds of dollars to replace a fully functional screen.

It’s not just Samsung that makes devices with limited scope for repair. Each MacBook in recent memory has used rivets to secure the keyboard to the chassis below. Most other laptops use screws instead. In practice, replacing a MacBook keyboard is almost impossible – removing each individual rivet requires either an unreasonable amount of brute force (pictured above) or a careful hammer.

Replacing a MacBook keyboard takes so much time and effort that even Apple won’t. The company’s own repair policy is to replace the entire bottom half of the laptop, including a new trackpad and glue-on battery. If your MacBook’s warranty expires, replacing the top case could cost you hundreds of dollars, probably more than the price of the device. The same could be said of parts sold through an upcoming self-repair program.

Despite all the durability claims we’ve heard from manufacturers over the years, the fact is that we’re still deliberately working on anti-repair design choices. And as you might expect, the practice has expanded beyond the two examples listed here or even outside the company.

Read more: Should we tolerate hard-to-repair devices?

Serial hardware and software lock

Serialized hardware is another worrying trend that self-repair programs will probably not affect very much, if not more. In short, serialization refers to the practice of assembling displays, batteries, cameras, motherboards and other components from the factory. In many cases, only authorized repair centers have the ability to add new hardware to the devices, essentially preventing users from having to replace their own replacement parts.

Although user safety is often cited as a common cause of serialization, it is always a weak argument. Fortunately, public backlash has forced companies to disable software locks on a number of occasions, even as recently as last year. That said, manufacturers can easily restore them since the hardware already exists on every device.

While serialized hardware may not be like a big deal, keep in mind that many repairs involve the use of donor devices instead of brand-new replacement parts. After all, many discarded devices still have fully functional batteries, charge ports, and mainboards that can be recovered for future repairs. Such repairs can be cost-effective and environmentally friendly. However, this is clearly not possible if each component is locked to a specific device.

For a self-repair program, manufacturers need to disclose their proprietary pair of software to the general public. The Pixel 6 already has a system for calibrating the fingerprint sensor, but it hasn’t been working for months now. In addition, there is no impediment to other manufacturers imposing restrictions on allowing technically selected users to make repairs.

For example, access to software tools may be locked unless the customer proves that they have collected an additional portion from an authorized source. In fact, it is already happening now. According to iFixit, Apple-approved technologists use a cloud-based program to verify and sync the serial numbers of replacement devices with Apple servers.

It’s worth considering how contrived this practice is. If you need to have your car repaired, you don’t usually have to think about buying a “genuine” part, or you don’t usually have to use a proprietary software connected to the Internet to attach a new battery or a set of tires. Your vehicle. There is no reason why our personal electronics should not be subject to the same standards.

See also: Android phones should have a personal repair mode

Even if you are willing to endure all of the obstacles mentioned above, none of the self-repair programs we’ve seen so far seem particularly comprehensive.

Apple’s program will include 200 parts of the iPhone 12 and 13 series. But what if you own an old device or an iPhone SE? Based on what we know so far, you won’t have access to parts until much later. The company has only made a vague promise to extend the reach of the program to Macs and other products, but no one knows when that will happen. And although almost six months have passed since the initial announcement, you still can’t buy anything.

Our opinion: Apple’s self-repair program sets the bar for Android OEM

Samsung’s program is somehow more limited. The company will initially only sell parts for the Galaxy S20, S21 and Tab S7 device family. This is not a very long list, especially since Samsung launches dozens of smartphones and tablets every year.

Google seems to be doing somewhat better than both companies in this regard, with parts and promises of support back in the Pixel 2 series from 2017. However, it’s not clear if that promise extends to mid-range devices like the Pixel 5a. .

Availability is another potential concern. Google says it will make spare parts available in most western markets. Apple’s self-repair program, however, will initially only be launched in the United States. And although Samsung did not specify availability, its press release points to a similar focus in North America.

It is not clear why these programs support so few devices and are not available in more regions. While some will blame logistical constraints or supply constraints, manufacturers are already on hand to service existing devices in official repair centers around the world, not to assemble new devices. Also, iFixit already has a distribution channel for aftermarket spare parts and equipment, so it’s not something that brands have to build from scratch.

Related: Here’s why we’re looking at all these self-repairing phone services

Does the self-repair movement help the right to repair?

While what we’ve discussed so far points to a bleak future for the electronics repair industry, there may be a silver lining to this whole situation.

After years of indifference, technology giants have finally succumbed to the pressures of the right-to-repair movement. Regulators around the world are also considering legal intervention and could eventually force manufacturers to abandon anti-repair practices such as adhesive batteries. The European Parliament, for one, recently voted to ban non-replaceable battery packs. The move could force Samsung and other smartphone makers to eventually change the design of their products and take on real repairability.

I am a self-professed nerd. And like any self-respecting nest, I love lasers. Lightsabers, Captain Kirk’s phaser, and of course, Tron’s light cycle, what do you not like about them? But while all of these examples are incredibly great, looking at the future of used lasers, I didn’t realize that the great implementation I’d see would be the Dyson V15 Detector ($ 749.99) vacuum cleaner laser.

You see, unless you buy a really clean Jane aka Mary Condo Lifestyle, it’s hard to imagine that you enjoy vacuuming. Due to laziness early in the epidemic I bought myself a Mi Robot Vacuum Mop-P robot cleaner. It does a decent job, but it can’t handle the rags or it can’t reach the whole corner of the room. Arrogantly, I still have to pull the void every few days. That horrible feeling of fear at the thought of cleaning my apartment, however, has turned into excitement since I discovered the Dyson V15 a few weeks ago.

Dyson has been at the forefront of cordless vacuum games, both in terms of features and nose-bleed price points, for several years, and I knew what to expect from the cleaning experience. What I didn’t expect was how much of a difference a deceptive laser could make.

Dyson’s latest vacuum vessel with a special cleaning head called Laser Slim Fluffy. Tultule (seriously, Dyson?) Is a standard brush attachment that is stuck in a corner with a laser. NERD Warning: I like to call it Pathfinder after the first rover operation on Mars.

The laser head attachment makes its functionality incredibly simple, but it instantly transforms into a game. Turn off the lights, bump up the techno music and the green laser shows you exactly what and where you need to clean.

The technology here is deceptively simple. A laser diode placed near the base emits light. The green spread of light, directly outside the Tumorland or Blue Wester cult concert, illuminates any hair, dirt, or dust that hits its path. Follow the dirt and shine a tail on the clean floor behind you. Simple

I don’t get much natural light in my apartment, and the general environment tends to be dark which goes a long way towards hiding dust. Dyson V15 detector is amazingly effective for showing me dust in places that I thought were clean.

Actual vacuuming is just like any other Dyson cordless vacuum. That being said, it works. You can cycle between different power modes, but I found the automatic mode to be quite adequate. Dyson has added a piezo sensor to the vacuum that allows it to dynamically adjust the suction power based on the level of cleanliness required.

That acoustic piezo sensor is a gorgeous nifty extra that adds another great feature to the vacuum. Like the air purifier, the sensor is capable of measuring the size of dust particles – up to 15,000 per second. A screen placed behind the vacuum displays an increasing number of dust particles based on the particle size.

I think Dyson did the job of vacuuming himself much less than gamifying. I find myself chasing a dusty rabbit with a laser vacuum, pointing out the dust collected on each cleaning session on a personal leaderboard. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a log, or sync this data with the Dyson app (Play Store).

See, there’s not much new that can be added to vacuuming as a category. This is a problem that has been effectively solved. Sure, great and powerful suction motors with a long battery life are convenient, and the Dyson V15 has them. But more importantly, it solves a problem I didn’t know I had. Laser attachment magnifies dust and dirt, makes vacuuming more efficient and A lot More fun it also feels like the final step in the whole video game prop aesthetic that Dyson is going for and I’m all for it.

Does anyone need a vacuum cleaner that costs $ 749? Not really. There are many more Chinese brand options that can get you more performance for much less money. In fact, you can even buy older Dyson models at lower prices. But, if you, like me, can’t resist the urge to go pew-pew every time with a cartoon weapon, the Dyson V15 Detector ($ 749.99) itches and does a great job of cleaning your apartment. .

When Bob Kane and Bill Finger created The Batman for Detective Comics 27 in 1939, they probably had no idea that Capped Crusader would become one of the most popular fictional characters of all time. In addition to his many comic book incarnations, Batman has appeared in numerous animated TV shows and movies, and of course, the classic Batman live-action TV series of the 1960s. However, he is probably best known for starring in 12 major live-action Batman movies. But which is the best Batman movie?

With the recent film, The Batman, which will debut online on HBO Max in the next few days, we have decided to rank all the live action Batman movies from worst to best. Fortunately, all but two of these Batman movies are available for streaming on the HBO Max. You can also catch a bunch of great Batman animated shows and movies on the service, and some of them are even better than many of the movies on this list (remember Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Mask of the Phantom).

Read more: Best HBO Max Movies

Just a quick note: we won’t list spin-off live action movies like Catman or Joker in this list, and we’ll safely ignore two 1940s Batman Saturday afternoon serials. Both are just horrible and the first Batman series has some really offensive racial themes.

When and where can I see Batman at home?

HBO Max will make The Batman available for streaming from Monday 18th April. For old-fashioned TV viewers only, the movie will debut on HBO on Saturday, April 23 at 8 PM ET. You can sign up for HBO Max at the link below:

Oh, boy. Managing Joel Schumacher’s second and final Batman movie is a complete and complete disaster. It looks and feels like an enhanced commercial for action figures and vehicles. Even George Clooney has distanced himself from his only Batman game. Seeing everyone in this movie, it seems that they have come there just to get a paycheck. The only way to watch this movie is with a group of friends at home, all of them joking about this unusual train wreck in a movie.

11. Justice League (2017)

This Batman movie is also quite avoidable, but only because you can see there are better versions (more on that later). Although Jack Snyder is credited as the director, the lion’s share of the film was rewritten and directed by Joss Whedon just months before it hit theaters. As it turns out, the whole film feels isolated and has been done together with string and tape. Justice League characters team up to fight an alien threat on Earth and resurrect Superman. At least in this movie, Ben Affleck is trying to pull off a good performance as Batman, like the rest of the cast. But again, there is no reason to test this version of the film.

10. Batman Forever (1995)

Joel Schumacher’s first Batman movie was not a disaster for Batman and Robin, but it wasn’t too good either. Nicole Kidman is ruined as Batman’s romantic interest, and Tommy Lee Jones is just disguising Jack Nicholson-Joker as a two-face. Val Kilmer, in his only Batman presence, OK, OK, just like Chris O’Donnell in his first two Robin appearances. The main reason for watching this movie is the character of Jim Carrey the Ridler. He’s funny, at the top, and obviously spending his life as a comic book villain.

Following the success of the first season of the Batman TV show in 1966, it was quickly decided to make a feature film that would be released between Seasons 1 and 2. Which turned it into the first real Batman movie. Adam West and Bert Ward perform their usual fun performances as Batman and Robin, who are tasked with landing four villains (Joker, Penguin, Rider and Catwoman). While not a groundbreaking contribution to the genre, it is an entertaining action-comedy that should excite children, as well as attract the attention of viewers to the satisfaction of adults. And, yes, Batman is almost invaluable in running around with explosives.

8. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Acting as a sequel to the 2013 Superman Reboot Man of Steel, Jack Snyder introduces us to an older version of Batman’s Ben Affleck in this movie. He’s great as a brooding force who sees Superman as a planet-wide threat. Most of the cast works well here, but the movie has two problems. One is the terrific performance of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and the other is the final battle to be fought against a terrifying CGI version of Doomsday, the ultimate enemy of Superman as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

7. Jack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

Jack Snyder was allowed to return and assemble his version of this superhero team-up as an HBO Max Exclusive, following shouts from fans eager to see the Justice League’s “Snyder Cut”. Yes, this movie is four hours long, but it doesn’t look like a slug. There are lots of great character sequences from Ben Affleck and others on the cast, and the enhanced visual effects work well. Too bad Snyder felt the need to film a completely new sequence for the end of a dystopian future set movie. It just doesn’t work, especially with the Joker’s Jared Leto version.

6. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The third and final film in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman movie trilogy is also his weakest. This time, Batman has to face off against this version of Ban movie. In the role of Tom Hardy, it is certainly the villain that Christian Bell’s Batman has suffered the most physically. After defeating Batman, Ben basically captures Gotham City and isolates it from the rest of the world, and Batman has to recover from his injuries to return to the final battle. Unlike Nolan’s first two Batman films, it seems a bit long to sit through, and Anne Hathaway’s strong acting as a catwoman feels ruined in this movie. However, it’s still fun to watch.

Tim Burton’s directing of one of Batman’s second and final Batman movies became much darker and more mature than his first outing. This is mainly due to Danny DeVito’s performance as a modified version of The Penguin. Michael Keaton looks a little more calm and thoughtful than his second Batman look. The best performance so far goes to Michelle Pfeiffer as the catwoman, who is perfectly balanced between good and evil. The suit she wears is also quite beautiful.

The first of the Batman films directed by Christopher Nolan, it is the only one on this list that provides an extended original story for Capped Crusaders. Christian Bell has done a great job portraying a young Bruce Wayne who wants to learn as much as he can about crime-fighting so he can go back to Gotham City and make it a better place. Liam Nisson also does a good job, playing the role of Bruce Wayne’s mentor (at first) and Celian Murphy steals every scene as a version of this movie from Scarecrow.

When Michael Keaton was first announced as Batman for the movie, many wondered why the comedian won the role. As it turns out, they don’t have to worry: Keaton is as great as both Batman and Bruce Wayne in the first of two films directed by Tim Burton. He also does what many might think is impossible: he holds his own against Jack Nicholson, who could have really played the Joker at the time. This film, though mostly serious and dark, has a light touch enough to protect it from too much rotation.

The latest Batman live-action feature film looks and feels like a modern Batman comic book that has surfaced off the pages and on the screen. Robert Pattinson is great as a short version of Batman, and this character actually does a lot of detective work in this movie, which has only been touched on in previous films. He has to solve some mysteries because he has to deal with a much darker version of Paul Dano’s Ridler. We also got Colin Farrell’s great crime lord version of Penguin (under some unfamiliar makeup) and Zoë Kravitz gave us the best catwoman performance of all time. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long to make a sequel to director Matt Reeves.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)

Although The Batman is closer to a faithful adaptation of the comic book version, Christopher Nolan’s second outing as Batman’s director is still the best as a real film. This is mainly due to his Oscar-winning performances as the late Heath Ledger and The Joker. His explanation of the Clown Prince of crime as an agent of chaos is perfect. Aaron Eckhart is almost as good as DA Harvey Dent, who turned two-faced. The themes of privacy and security for people on freedom are well done here and it really makes Batman look like he can work in the real world.

Although Warner Bros. has not yet announced plans to make a sequel to Batman, we expect the news to become official someday. However, we also know that both versions of Batman’s Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton will appear in the multiverse-themed movie The Flash, which will be released in theaters on June 23, 2023.

However, we can see Keaton’s Batman even earlier. She is rumored to be appearing in Batgirl, a spin-off movie that is currently being produced and is slated to release in late 2022 as an HBO Max exclusive film.

The first smartphones were not like photography which has become today’s flagship device. Then, if you care about image quality, you need to look around your smartphone as well as a dedicated camera. No more. Today almost any smartphone will give decent pictures, and some, like the Google Pixel 6 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S22 series, perform well even in the most challenging situations. But while computational photography often gets all the attention, large image sensors deserve just as much credit.

Not all megapixels are the same: why the size of the sensor is important

Over the years, many of us have looked at camera resolutions (or megapixel counts) to estimate image quality. In fact, it was a semi-reliable metric for a few years in the early 2000s – a 5MP camera would certainly deliver better results than a VGA. However, it is no longer possible to judge the imaging performance of a camera based solely on its resolution. We’ve seen smartphones with 12MP and 16MP cameras outperform 108MP behemoths on several occasions.

See more: The best Android camera phone you can buy

Beyond a certain point, an increase in resolution doesn’t make a significant improvement – unless you want to crop. Many mid-range smartphones offer high-resolution cameras but often give more and worse results than DSLR cameras with much lower megapixel counts. This is largely due to the fact that smartphones are limited by physical space and use smaller image sensors than high-end cameras.

Simply put, a small image sensor collects less light. This directly translates into poor image quality, especially in low light conditions. Conversely, larger sensors can achieve better dynamic range and exposure levels without resorting to tasks such as increasing ISO or digital sharpening. Large sensors are good image quality drivers.

Read more: Why camera sensor size is more important than megapixels

Then in terms of the benefits of a larger sensor, it’s no surprise that we see smartphone makers focusing on improvements in this area year after year. That said, while some phones – including the Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung Pixon 12 – offered larger camera sensors in early 2009, most handsets haven’t moved to the bandwagon until recently. With that in mind, let’s explore how big camera sensors have come into modern smartphones and where the industry is heading.

The hype surrounding Nokia’s N8 and 808 PureView smartphones in the early 2010’s was hard to ignore. With a 12MP resolution and 1 / 1.83-inch sensor size, the Nokia N8 provided better specs than many point-and-shoot cameras in 2010. Nokia even made a seven-minute short film starring some of the best in Hollywood that highlighted the N8. – Impressive 720p video recording capability.

Incidentally, the same year Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S3 had a significantly smaller 1/3-inch camera sensor. The iPhone 5’s sensor, meanwhile, was even smaller at 1 / 3.2 inches. In fact, smartphones at the time featured small sub-1cm sensors. The one-inch sensor was exclusive to DSLRs and professional cameras.

Although the N8 was well ahead of the competition, Nokia did not stop there. In 2012, the company released the 808 PureView, which features a larger 41MP 1 / 1.2-inch sensor. Advances in processing power have also enabled oversampling, including the integration of neighboring pixels for better light sensitivity. If it sounds familiar, today’s smartphones have a similar technology called pixel binning. Then, though, Nokia’s computational photography game was far ahead of the curve.

Large camera sensors on smartphones for years

Although the Nokia 808 PureView was a technological advancement, the smartphone industry did not respond until much later. A notable exception was the 2014 Panasonic Lumix smart camera CM1. It included a larger one-inch sensor. However, it came at a huge overall body cost compared to the conventional Android smartphones at the time.

In the mainstream segment, however, the improvement in sensor size will not come until the late 2010s. Most manufacturers start shipping smartphones with sensors in the range of 1/3 to 1/2 inch. Even Samsung’s camera-centric smartphones – the Galaxy S4 Zoom and the Galaxy K Zoom – have a 1 / 2.3-inch sensor bundle, fairly small by modern standards. That said, it was still larger than their non-zoom opponent’s 1 / 3.06-inch sensor. In fact, like the recent Galaxy S10 and Pixel 5 series, ~ 1 / 2.5-inch sensors were ideal.

Chinese brands like Huawei and Xiaomi were the first to finally cross the 1/2-inch threshold. The 2018 Huawei Mate 20 Pro, for example, features a 1 / 1.7-inch sensor – much larger than other smartphones at the time. Combined with a large f / 1.8 aperture, Huawei improves night-time image quality compared to most competitors. In fact, the enhanced light-assembly capabilities of the Mate 20 Pro allow it to compete with Pixel’s then-undefeated NightSite feature.

By 2020, most flagship smartphones – including the Oppo Find X2 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra – will offer sensors across at least 1/5 inch. A year later, Xiaomi’s Mi 11 Ultra has a record-breaking 1 / 1.12-inch sensor that has finally surpassed the Nokia 808 PureView and ushered in an ongoing era of large image sensors on smartphones.

Related: 15 Best Camera Apps for Android

What does the future hold for smartphone sensors?

By 2022, smartphones with large camera sensors have become much more common This is especially true in the flagship segment, where even holdouts like Google and Apple have now embraced the trend. In 2021, the Pixel 6 moved to a 1 / 1.31-inch primary sensor, well ahead of the competition. The iPhone 13, meanwhile, has moved to a 1 / 1.9-inch sensor – significantly larger than its predecessor’s 1 / 2.55-inch sensor.

Some manufacturers like Sony and Sharp have even pressed on an inch sensor. However, it is noteworthy that large camera sensors often bring their own problems.

Sony’s Xperia Pro-Eye, for example, has a one-inch sensor that looks great on paper. However, the limited physical dimensions of the smartphone mean that Sony alone can fit a lens large enough to take advantage of about 60% of the sensor. After all, despite the large sensors on the paper, the Xperia Pro-I has the same light-capturing capabilities as the iPhone 13 or Pixel 6. Xiaomi has overcome this limitation with its huge camera bump on the Mi 11 Ultra.

For this reason, most smartphones will probably not have a sensor larger than an inch anytime soon. Having said that, we’ve already heard rumors of a Sony-built 1 / 1.1-inch sensor to be released with the potential Xiaomi 12 Ultra after 2022. Only time will tell whether we are starting to see lower returns or whether manufacturers can find a way to fit and take advantage of the one-inch image sensor.

Welcome to the 428th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from last week:

• Google is suing a person for using its Google services for bad things A person sets up a face dog adoption website, receives money from clients, and distributes any puppies. The man also used Gmail, Google Voice and other services to run this shady business Google responds by suing the person for bad language and we can’t be happy about it.
• A security researcher has found an SDK that sent large amounts of data to a U.S. defense contractor. It reported those apps to Google, and Google removed them. It is believed that apps, including the SDK, have been downloaded 60 million times in a variety of app genres. Click on the link to learn more, but rest assured, the apps are gone now.
• Unlimited Google Photos is back, but it’s not free. Google has announced a new Google One plan for 15 per month. It includes 2TB of data for Google Drive with unlimited photo and video backups. This sounds like the last game for Google Photos. Google says the service is too expensive to run and allows Google to finance it properly. This seems like a decent deal, especially with all that extra cloud storage space.
• Plex has released an update which is actually quite great. This allows you to log in to your various video streaming services so you can watch videos from any of them without having to switch apps. It is now available to all users except Roku. Roku users will have to wait a little longer. We’ve asked our readers if they like Plex, and most of them do, so we’re glad to see so many good updates from so many people.
• Samsung has unveiled another fold in the big throttling disaster that is going on this year. Samsung says it throttles its phones to prevent overheating. Apparently, leaving the new Spadragon 8 Gen 1 chips at full throttle is causing some extra heat issues. Hit the link to read more.

Banju

Price: Free

Bonju is a kind of social network for those who travel a lot. You make friends everywhere and Bonju helps you keep track of where they are. It notifies users when you are in the same city as a friend so you can interact with them. This is the main functionality of the app. It’s relatively niche, but it works better than mainstream social media apps. Of course, whether you like it or not depends on whether your friends can use it. There is a possibility of this.

Inheritance of ancestors

Price: Free / 3.99

Ancestor Legacy Buff Studio’s latest game. It bills itself as a mystery thriller and a visual novel. Players work their way through the story and decide on key plot points. The decisions you make affect the outcome of the game. Some other features include achievement, multiple endings and multiple story branches. It played well in our tests and it should be an itch for fans of the genre.

Wisdom is a kind of self-help app. It allows you to share and receive advice on a variety of life challenges, including making more money, improving your physical or mental health, and other such things. This is a community-centric app so you can help or get help depending on what you want to do This is one of the apps that may or may not help depending on who you are and how you are It has a lot of potential and early adopters seem to like it.

Brave Soul: Frozen Blackout

Price: The game is free

Brave Soul: Frozen Blackout is a mobile RPG with tree elements. Players get a team of heroes that they use to fight the bad guys. Upgrade your heroes as you play and continue the game. It has simple battles, more than 100 heroes to collect and lots of things. Some people may not like the simplicity of some parts and we get it. However, it wastes a beautiful time with something a little deeper than something like a passive RPG. The developers seem to be working on some bugs that could cause the animations to crash, but otherwise, it played well on our test devices.

Fileshadow

Price: Free trial /-7- $ 15 per month

Fileshadow is an interesting file management app. Unless it works much like Resilio Sync or NextCloud, it aims at productivity rather than self-hosted cloud storage. Basically, you install the app on your phone and computer. From there, you can manage files from both devices to both devices. It can also collect your email attachments and other content, although there is an additional cost for that functionality From there, you can move files, manage them, organize them, or do whatever you want. You can even sort or filter by file type for extra functionality. It requires a subscription but it seems quite decent.

If we miss any big Android apps or game news, let us know in the comments.
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I firmly believe in the value of smartwatches and fitness trackers. They helped me get fit, and last week I was able to use an airplane boarding pass without always having a paper copy or my phone out. In everyday life, being able to check notifications from my wrist or pause podcasts is a time-saver, not to mention better to keep me engaged with friends and family.

If some believers and wearable skeptics can both agree, though, that the charging situation is a mess. Almost every device has a proprietary cable, dock or twist. These include the Galaxy Watch 4, each Fossil Smartwatch, each Apple Watch and each Fitbit. Often the chargers are not compatible with different models of the same company, leaving the competitors far away from the world of phones.

It is almost time that wearable manufacturers set a general standard for charging, and there are several main reasons for this.

Our choice: The best fitness tracker

Losing a proprietary charger is a serious problem

Many if we had a moment with our phone where we needed to top up, but our normal charging accessory was not at hand. This isn’t a big deal these days – for Android owners, USB-C cables are plentiful and USB power delivery standards are ubiquitous, so the hardest part is finding a port or outlet, the latter requiring a matching AC adapter. People regularly share phone chargers with each other.

With wearables, misplacement of your charger can be a minor hassle. You can’t rely on accessories for other devices as a backup, so for things like work, travel, fitness, even if you rely on it, there’s a real chance that your device will get stuck in the air.

I stay in the gym for a few hours whenever I go, and whenever I am forced to pick up my workout without the means of playlist or tracking performance it is rough. On the go, I occasionally had to put my watch in low-power mode because I wasn’t sure when I would be able to plug my charging wrap.

You can, of course, buy extra or replacement chargers, but if we don’t talk about the Apple Watch, you’re lucky to find them in stores. You probably have to buy them online and not directly from a big retailer like Amazon but probably from a manufacturer. If you don’t plan ahead, a wearable replacement charger may run out of juice before it arrives.

See also: The best phone charging accessories

Ownership charger means planned obsolescence

This brings us to the second problem, which is to impose a limited lifetime proprietary charger.

Inevitably, companies will stop making new and better wearables as well. They will provide legacy support for a while, but in the long run, if not compatible with the latest hardware, they will stop selling you charging gear. So no matter how much you still love your Fenix ​​3, Garmin has not covered you, and even third-party accessory makers will eventually lose interest.

Effectively it is planned obsolete. It is understandable – the business does not have infinite resources – but it can drop some commissions before they stop being useful. It’s annoying that people don’t upgrade their watch or fitness tracker every time they call.

One consequence of this approach is that most wearables do not have special accessories that make life easier, such as keyfob chargers or nightstand docks. Of course, Samsung, for example, sells wireless charging pads that work with the Galaxy Watch, but this is an exception that proves the rule. The lucky ones are the owners of the Apple Watch, but they may even benefit from more options if Apple (a small miracle) is chosen to support a universal standard.

Related: The best Apple Watch charger

What is the answer?

Assuming wearable manufacturers try to be universal, the answer is USB-C ports will not be integrated. Most products do not have enough internal space due to the need to cram processors, batteries, storage, and sensors into something wrist-sized. Sometimes there is not enough outdoor space and there is also the issue of keeping a device water- and dust-proof.

Qi Wireless would be ideal, but wearable coils require smaller coils of less power than the chargers we use for devices like our phones. A phone-based Qi charger will struggle or fail to give the most wearable things the best power and vice versa. Trying to find a Qi-ready wearable is a challenge in its own right, with the exception of the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro.

Custom-sized Qi chargers can be made, but they only work efficiently with certain products unless other manufacturers accept receivers and transmitter coils of the same size. Then, the solution probably involves bringing together industry leaders like Fitbit, Fossil, Garmin and Samsung and deciding on a common Kiwi-based wearable layout. You will still not be able to use your phone charger with your watch, but you will at least be able to visit a convenience store for Best Buy or an additional watch charger.

There is no indication that companies will soon stick to a standard anytime soon. Wearable form factors are constantly evolving, and proprietary chargers support this evolution, since manufacturers do not have to worry about the features of a particular design. Chargers that are brand-specific only have the advantage of encouraging (profit) platform lock-in. For example, if you got one of those Samsung wireless pads, you’d probably stick with a Galaxy watch instead of buying a Fitbit.

In other words, there is no reason to change unless there is some kind of pressure on profit margins. This could mean consumer feedback or a sign that will improve profits by reducing the cost of parts switched to universal technology.

Industries sometimes adopt consumer-friendly standards in the hope of overall market expansion. One of the best examples of this is Matter, an upcoming Smart Home Protocol 7 Although only time will tell how well it solves compatibility and networking problems, it is a recognition that a rising tide is sweeping all boats. We can only hope that the wearable industry is taking notes.

Continue: The best fitness app to get in shape and stay there

Recently, my partner and I went on a road trip to the east coast of the United States. We stopped at several points on the way to meet family and friends. However, I did not take time off from work on the road. I have worked in the car in my regular time. The only way I can pull this off is by having the right road trip technology!

See also: The best car security cameras

Some of the technology in my bag was pretty obvious, like my smartphone, laptop, various wires, and so on. There were some items, though, I don’t see many people traveling with. Some of these things have made my trip – and working from the passenger seat – much easier.

Below, you’ll find the road trip technology from Connecticut to South Carolina and back again. Hopefully, this list will make your next long journey less stressful.

There is only so much space in my backpack. If I pack every charger for every gadget, I’ll take up a lot of unnecessary space. A GaN charger solves this problem by allowing me to charge each major technology product at once. And yes, that includes my laptop!

Hold on: What is GaN and what does it mean for your technology?

Specifically, I used the SlimQ 100W charger ($ 60). It has two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports and is still relatively travel-friendly in size. The four ports allow me to charge my laptop, smartphone and headphones at once using only one outlet. This allowed me to leave my huge laptop charger at home, saving some backpack real estate.

GaN chargers aren’t cheap, but their prices have already dropped slightly The SlimQ unit I own may not work for you, but we’ve reviewed a few more, such as the Elecjet X21 ($ 38). Shop around to find something you like.

Travel size extension cord

Having a good GaN charger is only half the battle. It’s easy to find an open outlet to charge my gear when I go to sleep, but what if I have to work in an unfamiliar place and an outlet isn’t close enough for my relatively small USB cable? That’s where an extension cord comes in, and AntonPower completes the job when the portable power strip ($ 20) is quite compact.

The cord is 15 inches long, which is not too small to be useful but does not add too much bulk to my bag. It adds some extra plugs and USB ports making it a nice touch with multiple color options available such as black, white and even red.

The only real downside is that this strip provides zero growth protection. This means you should avoid using this as a power spike in the long run and your gear could be toasted. However, it works well enough to bring a wall outlet closer to your temporary workplace.

PD-compliant power bank

The GaN charger and miniature power strip were very useful when we were stopped somewhere. However, when I was actually in the car I needed something to keep my gear top up without entering the outlet.

This is why a large, high-speed power bank with multiple ports is an essential road travel technology. To put it bluntly, a power bank alone is not enough. You need something that can charge a laptop, so it needs to have lots of milliampere-hours (mAh), power delivery (PD) support, and be fast enough to meet the speed demands of a laptop (usually a minimum of 45W). If you do not have a competent power bank in this regard, you will not be able to juice your laptop on the go!

Related: All you need to know about USB power delivery

Similarly, the power bank requires multiple ports and one of them should be USB-C. There are plenty of power banks in the market that meet these needs, but I used the Crave Plus Pro ($ 100). It charges my Dell XPS 13K at 45W and has a 20,000mAh capacity, which is enough to fully charge the laptop and then some. You should shop around, and find one that works best for you. Just make sure it is fast enough to charge your laptop and has enough mAh to fully charge it and still have some left over for your other gadgets.

Travel laptop desk

In the car, you probably have to keep your laptop on your knees. It is bad for various reasons. First, your laptop fans will have a hard time keeping your device cool because your pants will block airflow. Second, your feet will get hot for this same reason. Third, keep your neck under constant pressure by looking down at the screen.

A travel laptop desk will solve these three problems – or at least alleviate them. The Lamouple Lap Desk ($ 34) works well for me because it’s small, easy, and folds for easy storage when not in use.

This desk works well not just in cars, but anywhere. If you are stuck in a coffee shop and all the tables are occupied, this will work for you. Similarly, if you are stuck on a sofa at a friend’s house while stopping on the street. This will help your productivity as well as your neck.

Noise-canceling headphones

My partner has been driving a lot on this road trip. While she was driving, it would not be right to ask her to turn off her music or stop her podcast so that I could concentrate on my work. In addition, street noise can be quite confusing.

I have a pair of Nothing Year 1 ($ 100) earbuds. Obviously, they don’t cancel out the XM4 as well as the surround sound, but they are definitely cheaper.

We have plenty of guidelines for sound-canceling headphones and earbuds, so consult them to help you find the best fit for your needs and budget.

Percussive therapy gun

No matter how much care you take to stay comfortable during a road trip, you are inevitably going to shrink and bruise after six hours in one place. Once you reach your destination, you want to overcome those obstacles and wounds! But it is not possible to do full-body massage at every stop.

Enter a percussion therapy gun. We have a Theragun Elite ($ 399), which is Tesla in this product division. It works wonders on your back and neck and was invaluable during this road trip. Battery life is great, there are many modes and head options and it has a helpful travel case.

However, there are plenty of competitive devices on the market that will save you some cash. No matter who you go with, you will be incredibly grateful that you brought it with you.

Road Trip Technology: Miscellaneous

The top six products are things you may not think of when preparing for your next road trip. However, many more things should be packed in your bag. Here are some of my favorites, including the gear bag itself.

• Peak design everyday backpack ($ 330) – This is my daily carry. It literally fits everything I need for my job and looks great to do. It is very expensive but comes with a lifetime guarantee, which is almost unheard of nowadays.
• Flint Retractable Lint Roller ($ 10) – Getting stuck in the car all day will inevitably become messy as you will fall to pieces on your own. This tiny lint roller is cheap and will make sure you are ok before you reach your destination.
• Car phone mount ($ 24) – This is a clear requirement not only for road trip technology but also for every car that does not have Android Auto, Apple’s CarPlay, etc.
• Wired earbuds ($ 22) – You don’t want to be stuck with headphones that run out of juice. You need to be prepared if you lose or break your fancy headphones. A cheap set of USB-C headphones will work on both your phone and laptop.
• Phone tripod ($ 45) – Like headphones, you don’t want to find that your laptop has no power left and you need to manage a critical zoom call. Bring a small smartphone tripod so you can look professional even if your laptop is dead.

These are my essential road trip technology items. Do you have anything that you wouldn’t leave home without a long trip? Let us know in the comments.

Xiaomi’s Ultra series showcases some of the best mobile technology around. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Xiaomi 12 Ultra, fascinated with the 2021 Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. That said, the phone had a few tricks and was very expensive at launch, so there is definitely room for improvement for the next generation.

We weren’t so fascinated by the 2022 Xiaomi 12 Pro, which we felt was a little out of competition. Perhaps the larger and more expensive Ultra can show us what the company is really capable of? Here’s what we’re hoping for from the Xiaomi 12 Ultra in the coming months.

Read more: Xiaomi 12 Pro Review – Power Over Polish

A refined camera package

The Mi 11 Ultra’s camera package is already one of the best, but there’s always room for improvement. The phone has a large 1 / 1.12 Samsung Isocell GN2 primary sensor and excellent low light capability and a powerful 5x zoom lens that works wonders up to about 20x with excellent digital upscaling. So more, please, Xiaomi. However, with the distorted ultraviolet capabilities of the phone and the relatively weak selfie camera we sold less. We would love to solve those problems to make the Xiaomi 12 Ultra the best camera you can buy.

See also: 2021 Smartphone Mega Camera Shootout

There are rumors to be some improvement work. The 12 Ultra, apparently, will be shipped with a new and even larger 50MP 1 / 1.1-inch Sony IMX707 sensor. If true, the best could be better. Similar reports indicate unchanged features from the predecessor for ultraviolet and zoom image sensors, so we don’t expect wholesale changes in the rear camera section.

That said, with a new lens the ultraviolet camera will be at the top of my list in terms of distortion and visual dominance. There is such a thing as too spacious, and no one wants to distort their image. Similarly, an advanced selfie camera is required, although you can use the secondary screen to frame selfies with the rear camera.

Speaking of which, if the Xiaomi 12 Ultra is stuck with the secondary rear display setup, it needs to be more efficient than the first iteration. The Mi 11 Ultra lets you preview selfies using a 1.1-inch AMOLED screen, display time and battery life, skip music tracks, and monitor incoming calls while the phone’s face is down. All neat features but not exactly a game changer for your everyday experience.

There were lots of problems too. For example, you could not use the secondary screen and capture the video initially, which is addressed to something like Xiaomi but still, it only works with video for 15 seconds. The display is also quite low resolution and rather dim, which makes the experience somewhat brighter. After all, it’s not a great place to interact with apps, and what is supported is very limited. A step counter, a quick reply to a message, a calendar reminder, or a tap for Google Assistant, the ideas at the top of my head that make this secondary display more meaningful.

How: I found the perfect use case for Wear OS, but it’s not a watch

That said, I will skip the second screen altogether. It’s just the extra bulk that already makes a huge phone more unrealistic. Plus, it’s not that the front of the phone is out of reach anyway.

Control the heat of the processor

The Xiaomi 12 Ultra will have Qualcomm’s Powerhouse Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, but that’s for sure. It’s all right from a performance standpoint, but the chip has become a little too hot to handle. So much so that brands had to resort to pairing pack performance to control heat and power consumption.

Last year’s MI11 Ultra prioritized the highest performance, as you expected, and was quite heated. We’ve seen the same thing from this year’s more affordable Xiaomi 12 series handsets. The Pro model we reviewed runs hotter than other 8 Gen 1 phones, even with its graphite cooling solution. We didn’t even sell the battery life of the handset.

Next up: There is a good reason why your phones are throttling your apps

No one likes the word “throttling”, but maintaining a balance of performance as opposed to battery life is now essential for powerhouse phones to make it into a full day of medium to heavy use. Xiaomi would do well to reign in its ambition for maximum performance and ensure that the phone runs cold and lasts more than a day on a single charge.

A more light design

By definition, Ultra smartphones pack into everything except the kitchen sink, but it almost always comes at the expense of extra heavy handsets. The Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max share this problem, as in Xiaomi’s Mi 11 Ultra 234g.

I do not recommend choosing a compact form factor with Xiaomi 12 Ultra. After all, the phone’s large camera sensor and huge battery need to fit somewhere. Also, we chose the fit and finish of last year’s model. But there is an art to making a phone that seems smaller than that. The camera will go a long way in ditching the sharp edges of the island, smoothing out some curves and balancing the weight in the center. The Oppo Find X5 Pro, for example, is only a millimeter smaller than the Mi 11 Ultra, but still looks pretty good to hold.

Undercuts to the big players in the West

The price on each preferred list is less hanging fruit, but there is some discrepancy in Xiaomi’s global pricing strategy for the Ultra series. In India, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was retailed at the same price as the OnePlus 9 Pro (Rs. 69,999, ~ 50 950), which was hundreds of dollars less than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cost at the time. However, the phone sold for পে 1,199 in Europe, making it the equivalent of a top-of-the-line iPhone or Galaxy.

Yes, the upcoming phone will be a technological powerhouse and hopefully see the same three year OS and four year security update as the Xiaomi 12 series. But 1,199 is too expensive for a Western audience. Xiaomi 12 Ultra should be cheap to transfer the unit.

To read: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Review Revisited

Let’s face it, Apple and Samsung recognize a particular brand and believe that is the reason for their high price. As great as Xiaomi’s hardware may be, the brand doesn’t have the same effect in the West. Xiaomi 12 Ultra could create a loyal fanbase for next year by reducing the competition to just 100 100.

From the Xiaomi 12 Ultra to make it a must have smartphone we want to see. Would you like to see more when the handset launches later this year? Let us know in the comments below to let us know what you’re looking for and vote in our poll.