Samsung Galaxy S10 Huge Leak; Apple ‘Subscription Event’; Google Testing AR Maps; Smart Watches Finally Gain Traction; Congress ‘Retires’ the Fax Machine

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 phones roll out next week. Virtually all the details have now leaked, of course! According to mashable.com,
the S10e, the entry-level phone in the lineup, will have a 5.8-inch display, and will come in four colors: prism white, prism black, prism green, and canary yellow. What about the other screen sizes: The S10 will sport a 6.1 incher, and the S10+ will rock a 6.4 inch display. On the S10+, if you opt for 8GB of RAM your choices are the same prism black, prism white, and prism green as the regular S10. If you upgrade to 12GB of RAM you get a “luxurious ceramic” finish in either black or white.

Cameras are always important, and the S10e will have a 10MP selfie camera and dual rear cameras: a 12MP wide-angle shooter with optical image stabilization (OIS), and a 16MP “ultra wide angle” with a 123-degree field of view. The S10 will have the same 10MP front-facing camera, as well as three rear cameras: a 12MP telephoto with OIS, a 12MP wide-angle shooter with a 77-degree field of view and OIS, and a 16MP “ultra wide angle” lens with a 123-degree field of view.

The S10+ will have a total of five cameras. On the front, a 10MP “main” camera, as well as an 8MP “live focus” camera for shooting portrait-style selfies. On the back are the same trio cameras as the S10: two 12MP cameras for telephoto and wide shots, and a 16MP “ultra wide angle” lens.

All three phone will support AR emoji, stickers, and 4K selfie videos. When it comes to batteries, the entry level phone gets a
3,100 mAh battery, which is very close to Apple’s iPhone XS Max.
The S10’s battery gets a little bigger one, at 3,400 mAh, and the S10+ will have a relatively massive 4100 mAh. All…or what’s left anyway…will be revealed next week!

Apple will hold a ‘subscription event’ on March 25th at Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino. Appleinsider.com reports that they plan to roll out a paid news subscription. Details are still coming together, as some publications are balking at getting only half the subscription revenue, and Apple not sharing data with them. Apple plans to charge $10 a month for a menu of publications you can read…and perhaps an ‘Apple Prime’ version that will include video, Magazines, and Apple Music.

At I/O last year, Google teased AR Google Maps. Now, arstechnica.com says they are doing some private testing of them. Using the phone and software, the system can look at buildings, etc, and determine within inches just where you are, and guide you with augmented reality overlays on top of the view the camera sees….kind of like that green line in the financial services ad from a few years ago that people followed down the sidewalk! Note that it’s very early, and the private testing is still being tweaked, but it’s now obvious that the feature actually has a strong possibility of showing up on your phone eventually.

For a couple years, we’ve heard that smart watches aren’t really happening, and probably won’t really catch on. Well, apparently they have. According to engadget.com, one out of 6 US adults now has one of the handy little wrist computers! Sales jumped 61% in the 12 months ending last November. Most of the buyers are 34 or under. What seems to have moved the needle…and especially so much? NPD Group says it looks like having available LTE connect ability. People wanted to be able to get and receive messages or even call quickly without dragging along their smartphone! It also helps that you can get one for $200, like the Fitbit Versa…although the more pricey Apple Watch is still a market leader.

News flash! Congress did something! You can finally send in authorizations for federal consent forms electronically…instead of by snail mail or fax! The House unanimously passed a bipartisan bill that does away with the need for constituents to use a freaking fax machine, or physical mail, to issue “federal consent forms.” These are documents that authorize congress to contact federal agencies on behalf of their constituents. Gee, the fax machine has only been around since what? The 1930’s. Nice going, Congress!