News

Huawei P20 and P20 Pro are all about design and mobile photography

When dual cameras aren’t enough

Published

March 27, 2018

Daniel Morial

After all the rumors and leaks, Huawei finally unveiled its latest flagships — the P20 and P20 Pro. The successors of the P10 series bring everything Huawei is known for while adding extra touches to make them stand out in the sea of borderless Android smartphones.

To start with, the Huawei P20 has a 5.8-inch LCD while the P20 Pro has a slightly bigger 6.1-inch OLED display. The use of an OLED panel gives the P20 Pro an advantage in image quality with deeper blacks and more vibrant colors, but both support HDR10.

Both are practically borderless but Huawei has to place a notch on top for the earpiece, proximity sensor, and front camera; and a chin to house the fingerprint sensor instead of moving it to the back.

The new Huawei phones are powered by the Kirin 970 processor, which is the same silicon that powers the Mate 10 series from last year, and has a large 128GB of storage capacity. Unfortunately, there’s no microSD card slot on either device but the internal storage is already more than enough for average users.

Another common trait of the two is their selfie camera. A 24-megapixel front camera takes care of the selfies and that’s three times the usual resolution of Huawei’s front shooter.

While the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro look similar up front, the back tells a different story. The P20 series now features an all-new Leica camera system with bigger sensors and the highest ISO ever on a smartphone.

The P20 carries over the camera setup of the Mate 10 Pro with a 12-megapixel color sensor and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor. The brighter aperture of the P20 goes to the secondary monochrome sensor at f/1.6 while the color sensor has an f/1.8 opening. As for the P20 Pro, it has three rear cameras: an 8-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, a 40-megapixel main color sensor, and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor with an f/1.6 opening.

To further differentiate the two, Huawei gave the P20 Pro more memory and a larger battery capacity. The P20 has 4GB of memory and a 3400mAh battery while the P20 Pro has 6GB of memory and 4000mAh battery. Also, the P20 is just splash-resistant (IP53) while the P20 Pro is fully protected against liquids with its IP67 rating.

The latest Android 8.1 Oreo is available out of the box and skinned with EMUI 8.1. This brings all the additional features Huawei throws into their flagship devices including the productive PC Mode that instantly turns your phone into a desktop interface via an HDMI connection to a monitor or television.

In terms of design, the new P20 series looks miles ahead of its predecessors (or even other manufacturers) with a glass back treated with a special coating and gradient color finishes. There are two gradient colors at launch: Twilight Purple and Pink Gold. Other basic color options are Midnight Blue, Black, and Pearl White.

The Huawei P20 and P20 Pro will be available starting in Europe for EUR 649 and EUR 899, respectively.

Related Topics:Huawei Huawei P20 Huawei P20 Pro

Apps

Twitter is working on a way to hide the blue checkmark

May or may not launch

Published

March 25, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

A year ago, Twitter’s blue checkmark was a coveted piece of online identity making. Now, the once-prestigious marker has grown into somewhat of a meme. The blue checkmark doesn’t mean the same as it did a year ago. Now, Twitter is reportedly developing a way to hide the checkmark from your profile.

Last year, Twitter announced a much easier way to get a blue checkmark for themselves. Soon after Elon Musk purchased the platform, Twitter Blue offered the badge with the monthly subscription price. Users who earned the old checkmark without paying for the subscription had their badges converted into yellow legacy checkmarks.

With the change, the value of a blue checkmark changed drastically. It become associated with a joke mocking users who paid for Twitter, an otherwise free-to-use platform.

#Twitter keeps working on the ability to control everything related to account verification and identity by adding the option to show or hide your blue checkmark on your profile 👀 pic.twitter.com/6uTjBON21N

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 21, 2023

Now, as spotted by notable app engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, Twitter is developing a way to hide the blue checkmark altogether. Currently, the development is still just a leak. It remains possible that the app will not launch the feature after all.

That said, after several months reinventing verification, the platform is still struggling for the perfect way to blend the old with the new. Right around the same time the leak popped up, they also officially announced that it will retire legacy checkmarks starting April 1.

Apps

PayPal slowly rolls out passkey support for Android

Coming to the app soon

Published

March 25, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

Big Tech has been pushing for an end to the password. However, the password-less future is taking a while to get off the ground. Only a few platforms can support passkeys. A big name is lending its hand to the technology, though. PayPal has announced that it is working on implementing passkeys for Android users.

Starting today, the digital payment platform is slowly rolling out support for the new security measure. With a passkey, users will no longer need a password or two-factor authentication. Instead, PayPal will install a passkey onto your device. That passkey will be exclusive to your devices. If PayPal recognizes the device you’re trying to log in from, then the platform will allow you in.

It’s not a grand rollout yet, though. PayPal will introduce the feature for mobile browsers first, rather than the app outright. Android users will need Chrome to access the feature. App integration will come in the future. In the meantime, Android users will start getting the feature from now throughout the year.

Passkeys are moving slowly across the tech space. Some time ago, Apple, Google, and Microsoft mutually pledged to help usher in the future of passkeys as a more secure alternative to passwords. Today, only a few platforms can support the technology. In a time when cybersecurity is quickly becoming a priority for everyone, the arrival of passkeys can’t come sooner.

Gaming

LEGO 2K Drive to arrive on May 19

Build, explore, race

Published

March 24, 2023

GadgetMatch

2K and the LEGO Group has announced May 19 as the official worldwide release date of LEGO 2K Drive for multiple consoles.

The driving adventure game is developed by Visual Concept. It is the first title to be released as part of a multi-title partnership between 2K and the LEGO Group. They seek to evolve the LEGO experience in exciting new ways.

The game will feature a combination of open-world driving and competitive racing. Players can explore the vast world of Bricklandia, build any vehicle LEGO-style, drive anywhere, and become a racing legend.

The Sky Cup Trophy is the game’s coveted prize. Players will have to compete against a series of rivals across a broad range of tracks while taking advantage of unique power-ups that can guide them throughout a race.

LEGO 2K Drive also offers unique customization, with over 1,000 LEGO pieces available when building a vehicle. Color designs, stickers, flairs, and more are likewise customizable.

Players may also collaborate with others in a two-person split-screen mode or multiplayer mode.

There will be three editions for the upcoming game:

Standard Edition – US$ 59.99 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch; US$ 69.99 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (both physical and digital)

Awesome Edition – US$ 99.99; includes new vehicle, flair, in-game LEGO minifigure, Year 1 Drive Pass (covers four individual post-launch seasons of Drive pass content)