Month: May 2025

And that goes for other Apple software, too

When Apple opens up itsWWDC2025 developers conference in a couple of weeks, we expect to see an interface overhaul of all the software that controls its phones, computers, tablets and wearables. And it may not just be the look of the software that’s changing.

Along with aesthetic changes, Apple will reportedly rebrand its many operating systems, in an effort to have consistent names across its lineup.

That comes fromBloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is reporting that Apple wants to switch to year-based names. That means the iPhone software update we were expecting to be callediOS 19would instead go by iOS 26 — as in 2026. The rest of Apple’s software — iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26 and visionOS 26 — would follow the same pattern.

The name changes would accompany a more unified approach to the interfaces of Apple’s software.Codenamed Solarium, the refresh is expected to introduce more translucent panels and rounded icons, taking its cues from visionOS on Apple’sVision Pro headset.

The idea behind the common look is to deliver a more unified experience across different Apple devices. And that same thinking apparently applies to what the software should be called, too.

Currently, the various OSes all have different version numbers — iOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 12, to name a few. Under the new system, you wouldn’t have to remember what version number a particular OS was on — you’d just have to refer to the year.

The potential rebrand is reminiscent of a similar move rival Samsung made in 2020 when it change the Galaxy S line to a launch year naming convention with theGalaxy S20series. The previous year’s devices were the Galaxy S10, the 10th generation of Galaxy S phones.

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The difference here though is that Apple is using the upcoming year, rather than the launch year. Despite its new operating systems likely launching in September around the release of theiPhone 17, they’ll be named for 2026, similar to how car companies label the latest iterations of their vehicles which also tend to launch in the fall.

Gurman has a good track record of reporting on Apple developments, so we’re inclined to believe that this will be the case in a couple of weeks. That said, Apple has declined to comment on the name change, and allegedly the plan is still in the works.

We’ll know more about Solarium and the rebranded OSes starting June 9 whenApple has set WWDC 2025to take place. It should be one of themost important WWDCsin over a decade.

The 40-year-old standard has finally been discarded in the Japanese consumer space.

(Image credit: Pansonic Japan)

Earlier today, Panasonic announced refreshed models of its long-established Let’s Note laptop series. However, for the first time in its history, we have a Let’s Note portable that doesn’t have a VGA port. According to a report byNikkei Japan(machine translation), this is probably the beginning of the end for laptops sporting VGA output, with “other companies to follow suit.”

A number of factors have precipitated Panasonic’s removal of the venerable VGA port. The Nikkei report highlights the strong competition fromHDMI, which can simultaneously transmit audio. We also see that the new Panasonic Let’s Note CF-SC6 models feature a pair ofThunderbolt 4ports, which can also be used for video out. That’s three separate ports remaining on the Let’s Note to drive external displays.

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Let’s Note CF-SC6 2025 has no VGA port(Image credit: Pansonic Japan)

Another disadvantage of VGA highlighted was that it is a rather bulky port for thin and light designs like the Let’s Note. At the refreshed laptop product launch today, size and weight were confirmed to be key considerations driving forward Panasonic’s consumer designs. The newest Let’s Note laptop is just 919g in its 12-inch edition, and Panasonic Connect Executive Officer Kiyotaka Yamamoto said, “In addition to durability and long operating times, we will continue to focus on reducing the weight by even one gram.”

In its favor, the Nikkei report cites the ruggedness of the VGA port. Moreover, a university professor it talked to indicated that turning to VGA can often be the answer when connection problems with HDMI occur. It seems like the educational market is one of the few remaining segments that appreciates the inclusion of a VGA port.

The 15-pin VGA port is a very old standard, originally arriving with the 1987IBMPS/2 PC. This analog output doesn’t support as high resolutions and refresh rates as its modern rivals, of course, with themaximum specs2048×1536px (QXGA) @85 Hz. Naturally, VGA is also losing support from visual output peripheral makers releasing new monitors, TVs, and projectors.

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VGA ports long-gone from western brand laptops

Mainstream laptop brands available in the West mostly phased out VGA ports in the 2010s. Usually, HDMI took its place. More recently, popular American brands have sought to minimize laptop ports and standardize on Thunderbolt /USB-Cfor everything. This offers simplicity, standard docking equipment, and facilitates thinner/lighter portables.

Reading this news from the West, we are again struck by how ‘futuristic’ Japan seemingly clings to the oldest technologies. For example, we reported on Japanese bureaucracy stillrequiring floppy disksand/or optical media in the 2020s, despite efforts to phase them out.

Nikkei reports that Panasonic was basically the last bastion of support for the VGA port in consumer laptops. Fujitsu phased out the port in 2019, and NEC too. Yet both these rivals appear to retain some designs with VGA ports for corporate markets.

Ahead of the Switch 2’s June 5 launch, Nintendo provided an update on which Switch games aren’t fullybackwards compatiblewith the new console. The list includes several games with issues that are currently being investigated, as well as some video streaming apps.

Ever since the Switch 2’s announcement, Nintendo has been vague about what Switch games would and wouldn’t work on its new console. Many fans previously assumed that backwards compatibility issues would be limited to games thatutilized the Joy-con’s IR sensors. Nintendo has now clarified exactly what won’t work on the new system, as well as what games currently have problems that it plans to address around launch day.The list of apps that won’t work at all is small and mostly pertains to streaming apps. Hulu and Crunchyroll won’t work on Switch 2, in addition to InkyPen, Niconico, and Abema. Aside from those, the only game that outright isn’t compatible with the console is the Nintendo Labo’s VR kit, as the newly designed device won’t fit in the cardboard headset.

Aside from that small list, Nintendo shared a much longer list of games that currently have issues that are being investigated. Games with start up issues includeDead by Daylight,South Park: The Fractured But Whole,Warframe, and the YouTube app. There is no official word on whether or not those issues will be fixed.

Alongside that list, Nintendo released a list of games that currently have problems, but it plans to resolve by or around launch. That list includesDoom: Eternal,Fortnite, andPizza Tower.

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Nintendo also confirmed a list of games which will not be playable with the Switch 2’s newly designed Joy-cons. Those games will still work on Switch 2, but players will need to connect the original Switch’s Joy-cons to play them.

• Ring Fit Adventure
• 1-2 Switch
• Everybody 1-2 Switch!
• Game Builder Garage
• Nintendo Switch Sports
• WarioWare: Move It!
• Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit
• Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit
• Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 03: Vehicle Kit

TheNintendo Switch 2launches on June 5.

OnePlus today introduces OnePlus AI, which the company described as “Intelligently Yours.” This marks a new phase in OnePlus’s strategy to deliver personalized artificial intelligence experiences.

Alongside this, OnePlus announced the Plus Key, a customizable hardware button debuting on theupcomingOnePlus 13s, along with a broad set of AI tools designed to improve productivity, creativity, and user privacy.

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Plus Key: Personalized AI Features

• OnePlus has revealed the Plus Key, a new button positioned as a way to access the new OnePlus AI suite
• The Plus Key replaces the Alert Slider found on OnePlus phones since the OnePlus 2
• The Plus Key will come to all OnePlus phones launching this year

As the next evolution after the familiar Alert Slider, the Plus Key can be set to perform tasks like switching sound modes, opening the camera, starting translations, or launching recordings.

At the center of this update is AI Plus Mind, which activates either with the Plus Key or a three-finger swipe. It lets users save and organize important on-screen information — such as events, bookings, or listings — into a dedicated Mind Space, helping avoid information overload.

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Beyond simple saving, AI Plus Mind uses artificial intelligence to understand the context of saved content. For example, it can pull event details from an image or message and add them directly to the user’s calendar.

Using AI Search, users will be able to locate saved content through natural language questions. Additionally, OnePlus intends to add automatic sorting features to AI Plus Mind before the end of the year.

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OnePlus AI: New Tools in Development

The company noted that OnePlus AI includes several new tools they are actively developing, all aimed at enhancing the user experience:

• AI VoiceScribe: Records, summarizes, and translates calls or meetings across major messaging, video, and conferencing apps.
• AI Call Assistant (India only): The Dialer app on the OnePlus 13s will provide features like automatic summaries of calls and real-time translations.
• AI Translation: Combines text, live voice, camera, and screen translation into one streamlined app.
• AI Search: Supports conversational searches across local files, settings, notes, and calendars, working together with AI Plus Mind.
• AI Reframe: Analyzes photo scenes and suggests multiple creative framing options.
• AI Best Face 2.0: Arriving via OTA in summer 2025, enhances group photos by fixing closed eyes and unflattering expressions, working with images of up to 20 people—including photos taken on other devices.

Integration with Google Gemini

OnePlus also announced deeper integration with Google Gemini. Soon, Gemini will work across OnePlus apps like Notes and Clock, as well as Google apps, creating a unified AI experience. Gemini Live will allow real-time conversations about what the phone’s camera sees or what’s displayed on the screen.

Privacy and Security

OnePlus emphasized its focus on privacy with its Private Computing Cloud (PCC). For sensitive tasks, AI processing runs securely on the device. If cloud processing is needed, the PCC keeps all data encrypted and protected through a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) that secures the entire process — from device to cloud servers.

The company said its goal is to deliver “deeply personalized and secure AI experiences” through innovations like the Plus Key, AI Plus Mind, and PCC, aiming to create an AI system that fits naturally into daily life.

Availability

The company confirmed that AI Plus Mind willlaunchfirst on the OnePlus 13s on June 5, 2025, followed by a software update for other OnePlus 13 Series devices, with plans to expand to more models later.

It’s the classic WhatsApp experience, but bigger

WhatsApp gets the impetus to be a e-commerce platform(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Meta is known for offering many apps, but not many of them support the iPad. That is changing now, though, at least for one that makes messaging and voice calls across the globe a breeze.

That’s right –WhatsAppis now full-sized on the iPad as the most recent build that hitApple’s App Store brings support for Apple’s tablet. It’s been a long time coming, andWhatsAppis even beating Instagram to the punch.

While the release notes for the latest build, 25.16.81, don’t mention anything special, this fresh piece of code does enable support for the iPad. Once you’ve updated, it’ll stretch and fill the screen appropriately on an entry-level iPad, theiPad mini, or both sizes of theiPad ProoriPad Air.

You’ll be able to respond to messages, share your iPadOS screen on a call, and video chat with up to 32 other folks. WhatsApp even releaseda blog postdetailing the anticipated arrival.

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Compatible with the following iPad models: iPad Pro (M4), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation and later), 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation and later), and iPad Air (5th generation), 11-inch iPad Air (M2 and later), and 13-inch iPad Air (M2 and later)

(Image credit: Meta)

It’s still the classic messaging experience that WhatsApp has offered, but there is one key change from the iPhone version. WhatsApp now features a two-column layout, allowing you to view contacts’ names and group chats on the left and the messages for the selected chat on the right. So, it’s quite similar to how Apple’s own Messages app utilizes the larger screen real estate.

Perhaps even better news for iPad fans, the team at Meta has baked in support for multitasking on the iPad. This way, you can split the screen to have WhatsApp on one side or have it be the floating third app. That should make it easier to respond to messages and keep an eye on larger group chats.

The app also works with the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, allowing you to use the latter to scribble a message and send it within WhatsApp.

Now, a WhatsApp app for iPad has been rumored for quite some time, but the anticipation built up earlier this week when theapp responded to a post on X (formerly Twitter)with a set of looking eyes. Less than a day later, the app is here, and it has us wondering what Meta might drop on the iPad next.

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Arguably, Instagram is another app within Meta’s wheelhouse that iPad users want support for, so WhatsApp gaining support hopefully shows that it’s also in the works.

The WhatsApp team also promises that this is just the start of its journey on iPad, and is looking forward to feedback from users.