Pixel 4 Has iPhone 11-Like Cam Bump; Apple Registers 7 New Notebooks in Eurasian Database; Telegram-DDoS Attack in China-Again; US Renewables Pass Up Coal

After a big leak showed renders of the Google Pixel 4 cam layout, Google went ahead and teased the design themselves yesterday. The Pixel 4 isn’t expected to roll out until October, but the tease shows a square rear camera bump as the leak did. Businessinsider.com reports that a jump to two or 3 cameras (and the render seems to show two) would be a big move. Google’s Pixel already has arguably the best camera on any smartphone, just using one cam and their software, so adding what may be a wide angle lens could really jump them ahead.

Always a tip off that new Macs are coming…Apple has registered 7 unreleased Mac models in the Eurasian Economic Commission database today. According to macrumors.com, they are all notebooks, as they are described as ‘portable’ computers. The MacBook was last refreshed almost 2 years ago, although the MacBook Air got a refresh in October of last year. There have already been rumors of a 16 inch MacBook Pro. Its most likely the new Mac notebooks will drop in October, as that’s when they most often roll those out.

The encrypted messaging service Telegram has been targeted again with a massive DDoS (Distributed denial of service) attack in Asia. TechCrunch.com says in coincides with the huge Hong Kong protests, and that the DDoS attack appears to be originating in China. The protest organizers have been using Telegram to evade surveillance measures by the government. Telegram first noted the attack some 17 hours ago. China has used DDoS attacks before when there was unrest, including 4 years ago when the government there was cracking down on human rights lawyers in the country.

In some positive news for clean energy, while an administration continues to work to prop up coal and oil, America’s renewable energy capacity has overtaken coal for the first time. According to engadget.com, getting the info from FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), the addition of new solar, wind, and hydro capacity in the first 4 months of the year moved renewable energy’s share up to a total available installed capacity of 21.56%. Coal dropped to 21.55%, down from 23.04% last year. It’s a small win, but other FERC filings show that the gap will widen in the coming months. It’s projected that by 2022, renewables will represent about a quarter of the US installed generating capacity. Coal has dropped from 29% in 2008 to today’s 21.55%.