All iPhones Will be 5G in 2020; Netflix & YouTube in Your Tesla; Hot Features on Upcoming Pixel 4; Euro YouTubers Going Union

The three iPhones expected to launch in 2020 will feature support for 5G, according to the latest rumors. Previously, it had just been thought the two top line models would have 5G connectivity. Macrumors.com reports that Apple likely will offer 5G in all models to better compete with lower-cost Android smartphones that will support 5G. Since Apple’s acquisition last week of Intel’s smartphone modem chip business, Apple has more resources for developing the 5G iPhone. The carriers are expected to provide higher subsidies for phones that have 5G, so that makes offering it on the less expensive iPhone XR a no brainer for Apple. This year’s iPhones…due out in September…will still use Qualcomm modems, and won’t offer 5G.

Elon Musk has long touted the potential that the in-car displays found in Teslas have for drivers: they can not only provide information, but entertainment as well. To that end, he says that the cars will soon be able to stream video from Netflix and YouTube.

According to electrek.co, Tesla has already unveiled games that drivers can play on the displays.
The games only work while the car is parked, and players can use the steering wheel as a controller. The same is the case here, although Musk notes that when regulators approve self-driving, Tesla will allow passengers to stream video while the car is in motion. Musk didn’t unveil a timeline for the feature to roll out.

The Google Pixel 4 phones are picking up some cool new features when they roll out in October. Businessinsider.com notes that Google is touting ‘ambient computing.’ That’s a way of saying they are developing motion controls for the Pixel 4, powered by Google’s “Soli” motion-sensing radar. Soli has been in the works for 5 years now. They will bill the feature as ‘Motion Sense,’ and it will allow you to skip songs, snooze alarms, and silence calls just by waving your hand! The Motion Sense engine will also allegedly bring facial recognition that’s as secure and complex as Apple’s Face ID. Google says their version will be more efficient and seamless. Unlike with Apple, the Pixel 4 won’t have to be directly in front of your face and require a swipe up to start the process. They say the Pixel 4 will “proactively turns on the face unlock sensors, recognizing that you may want to unlock your phone. If the face unlock sensors and algorithms recognize you, the phone will open as you pick it up, all in one motion.” It sounds like some blockbuster features coming in October that should really ignite excitement around the Pixel 4 phones!

The disruptors may be getting some disruption themselves. Engadget.com says a group of YouTubers is teaming up with Europe’s largest trade union to lobby for greater transparency. Until recently, the YouTubers Union was a community group with little power of its own, but it has now teamed up with IG Metall, the German Metalworker’s union. IG Metall is one of the oldest unions in Germany.

The YouTube Union was formed last year amid tensions between YouTube and the content creators who post videos to the platform, but as a community group rather than a true union it had little power to back up its position. The new joint initiative, called FairTube, aims to pressure the platform to be more transparent about its rules and decisions, especially in regard to monetization or demonetization of videos.