Several industry pundits saw the tall-screen trend coming—but they didn't know things would get this tall. PC monitors that are taller than they are wide have enjoyed a resurgence last year, as they provide more vertical space for taking in long documents, articles, spreadsheets, and social media and news feeds. But this 420×1920 monitor takes the tall-screen thing to new heights.

As spotted by Gizmodo, the screen comes from Elsonic, a sub-brand of Japanese company Nojima, which started off with LED bulbs but now makes TVs and other tech products. The product page for the tall monitor specifically highlights web browsing, Twitter, and browser games as use cases. 

The display is only 8.8 inches, so it would best serve as a portable, secondary or tertiary monitor. It charges via USB-C but can't output video through the port. The monitor relies on mini HDMI for its video signal. That gives it a little versatility in the sense that it can connect to things lacking USB-C. But with more PCs ditching HDMI, and the monitor already having a USB-C port right there, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Built like a New York City skyscraper, the EK-MD088 takes up minimal surface space. Its base is approximately 3.07×0.83 inches (78×21 mm), and it towers 9.76 inches (248 mm) into the sky. The display should make an easy portable monitor (assuming you can find a case to accommodate its dimensions), as it only weighs about 0.43 pounds (198 g). 

A 420×1920 resolution gives the TFT panel an aspect ratio of 7:32. A picture wasn't provided, but the stand is supposed to allow for landscape mode, too.

Elsonic's listing doesn't get into color capabilities but says the screen has a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz and a typical brightness of 300 nits. The screen has two buttons on the side that let you pick between six brightness settings.
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Currently, the monitor is only available in Japan. So if you’re really craving this type of unit, you may have to act as an importer to get it. It's expected to release in "early February," the product page says, for 14,800 yen, which is about $128.21.

A respected Apple analyst recently made a startling prediction about mixed reality/augmented reality (MR/AR): “We believe that MR/AR products could replace all display-equipped electronics in the long-term,” said analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He expects Apple to play a big part in taking these emerging technologies mainstream.

He predicts that Apple will build several MR/AR products, eventually leading to augmented reality contact lenses. Because of these predictions, he believes that MR/AR could be the default human-machine interface in the future.

Part of Kuo’s job as an analyst for TF International Securities is to make projections about future technology. Often, he looks no farther ahead than the next iPhone, but a note sent to investors recently covers forecasts for at least a decade of change.

He believes Apple is committed to augmented reality because “MR/AR will be the next critical technology to define the innovative human–machine interface for electronic products,” according to the analyst. It will “redefine human behavior in creating, processing, and receiving information.”

For a look at what this prediction would mean in everyday life, a concept artist dreamed up a future Mac that uses AR to replace physical displays.

Kuo uses the term “MR/AR” in his research note, but both mean nearly the same thing. Each term has its fans. Whatever the acronym, the tech involves combining computer-generated images with reality to present additional information.

As the company that popularized the mouse and the multitouch screen, Apple has a long history of redefining the human–machine interface, which Kuo says gives it a leg up in making AR a mainstream technology.

AR Products Coming in Three Phases. Apple put a Lidar scanner in the iPhone 12 and the iPad Pro for enhanced AR, but these haven’t exactly taken the world by storm. Kuo says Cupertino won’t be successful in this area until it makes “standalone devices designed for MR/AR applications.” But the analyst believes Apple is committed to rolling out dedicated MR/AR devices over the coming years, though not as quickly as some have predicted.

Kuo says the first will be a headset. This will use “Sony’s Micro-OLED displays and several optical modules to provide a video see-through AR experience,” according to Kuo. But it might also include virtual reality capabilities and be integrated with Apple Arcade and Apple TV+.

A drawback of current VR headsets is that they are bulky. Kuo indicates Apple is trying to get its product down to between a quarter-pound and just less than half a pound (100g to 200g).

Kuo predicts the headset will launch in 2022 for about $1,000. This is in-line with a previous prediction from analysts at JPMorgan Chase.

Phase 2 will be AR glasses. And despite promises that these will debut soon by other sources, Kuo sees them launching “in 2025 at the earliest.” There’s allegedly not even a prototype yet, and the analyst didn’t guess at a price.

The headset is intended to be used in the home or workplace, but the AR glasses are for on the go. And that’s why they might not replace future headset versions in Apple’s product lineup.

And Apple augmented reality development won’t stop there. Kuo forecasts that the eventual culmination of Apple’s efforts in this area will be AR contact lenses. They will “bring electronics from the era of ‘visible computing’ to ‘invisible computing,’” according to Kuo.
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Of course, this product is well beyond current technology. That’s why the analyst will only predict, “We expect this product to be available after 2030.”

Smartphone manufacturers have been launching “folding” devices with great fanfare, though, with high price tags and low demand, these units have not become market hits.

As an alternative, a smart start-up, castAway, has now announced a new device to add a second screen to your existing smartphone!

The castAway case enables you to open multiple apps at once, copy/paste, and access files and photos from either screen with ease.

The team responsible for creating the castAway screen smartphone case have added new perks for people to enjoy via Indiegogo, enabling backers to now order customizable mods that will be interchangeable with their castAway case, including a Qi wireless charging battery, a wallet w/ Qi wireless charging battery, and a Universal Case that will allow people to use all of castAways mods with ANY phone case they choose.

A quote from the company said, “We heard you loud and clear. After listening to your feedback, we’re excited to announce that we have expanded castAway into a full platform. We’re still delivering a second-screen experience — but now you can customize your case with a variety of accessories as well to meet the demands of your daily life. “

“A second monitor used to be a luxury, and now it’s a necessity. Juggling between apps and screens is how things go today. Adding a second screen to a PC is easy, but what about a second one for your smartphone? It’s not like you leave the need for multitasking behind when you are away from your desktop, out in the world doing things.”

The castAway case adds a second, ultra-slim screen to your existing iPhone or Android smartphone. The second screen is a powerful Chromium-based tablet that lets you multitask while on the go.”

Features of castAway include:

• castAway case connects with any iOS or Android phone and continues to work even when detached from your smartphone.  
• Features a dual boot option that lets you quickly turn it into a larger keyboard, trackpad, or game controller for your phone.  
• It is fully-equipped with a hi-res capacitive touch screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, front and back-facing cameras, & audio jack.  
• Integrated SD slot allows you to expand storage and offload photos from your phone  
• The built-in battery can do double duty and be used to boost your smartphone.

When the tablet is detached from your smartphone, your phone will look and feel like it would in any other high-end protective case. The hinge design also simplifies the task of supporting the myriad of smartphones. The smartphone side of the case is a custom fit for each major model type. That said, there are many unique (lower volume) phones for which we are developing a universal case back that works with the hinge. The castAway case will be available in 3 model sizes. Currently, the castAway is priced at $249, with delivery promised in October 2020.

You can now bring your old whiteboards into the 21stcentury with Rocketbook Beacons. These four restickable, reusable Beacons convert your writing surface into a smartboard by integrating with popular cloud services in the free Rocketbook app. 

Brainstorm the next great mission with your crew, capture and share your ideas, and then take your Beacons with you to your next adventure. The Beacons Go-Pack is $15.
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• Set of 4 Beacons
• 2.5-inch triangles
• Fluorescent orange
• Restickable Yupo adhesive 
• Wash with soap and water
• Free Go-Pack carry case

Rocketbook Beacons allow you to capture, organize, and broadcast important notes, diagrams, and big ideas on any whiteboard or wall surface in real-time. Just four restickable "beacons" for any sized surface and one smartphone app that connects with many of the popular cloud services you already use.
Using Beacons involves four easy steps:

1. Place the four Beacon quadra-triangles in each corner of a whiteboard or your preferred writing area. Do your best to make it straight, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Now document your ideas and discussions on the whiteboard the way you usually would.
2. Got an iPhone or Android? Use the free Rocketbook app to configure popular cloud services as your scan destinations. Rocketbook has partnered with some of your favorite services, such as Evernote, One Note, Dropbox, and Google Drive. You can also use regular email if you wish.
3. For crucial missions with scattered participants, you can stream your whiteboard in real-time. Switch to “Snapcast” mode, share the unique URL, and collaborate with your team anywhere in the world. Your private, real-time page is updated every time you scan your whiteboard. Or prop your phone facing your whiteboard and set the app to auto-scan every 5 seconds. 
4. Is your next mission destined for a different whiteboard? No problem. Peel the Beacons off of the board and prepare for your next voyage. Beacons have a space-aged micro-suction surface that can not only be reused over and over but even cleaned with soap and water.

Google has won approval to bolster work on its Minority Report-style touchless technology, which enables electronics to be controlled by hand gestures.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Google’s plans to use more powerful sensors for its Project Soli initiative, first unveiled in 2015. The radar-based technology is now poised to kick on to the next level after Google was given special permission to use higher frequencies for its tests.

When Google first showcased the tech in 2015, it came under the X Labs banner and was focused on smartwatches, with specific gestures replacing a physical tap on the touchscreen. For example, it was possible to rub two fingers together in the vicinity of the watch to cycle through menus or turn up the volume of media.

Now the company could expand the operation to enable the sci-fi like air gestures we’ve seen in films like Minority Report and the Iron Man franchise, on larger screens and devices. The waiver granted by the FCCcould also be highly beneficial to tech users with mobility, speech, and tactile impairments.

In a statement (via Reuters), the FCC said: “The ability to recognize users’ touchless hand gestures to control a device, such as a smartphone, could help people with mobility, speech, or tactile impairments, which in turn could lead to higher productivity and quality of life for many members of the American public.”
The regulator also said there’s little chance of Google’s Project interfering with other spectrum users and has approved the tech for use on aircraft.
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Google hasn’t commented on the news yet, but it’ll be interesting to see what the company has in mind for Project Soli moving forward. Hopefully, we’ll find out more in 2019.

Recently, Anker launched a new campaign on Indiegogo under its Nebula sub-brand for the upcoming Capsule handheld projector.

Called the “world’s most advanced pocket cinema,” this soda-can sized device offers a range
of connectivity options including AirPlay, Chromecast, Bluetooth, and HDMI. The unit boasts an internal battery pack that supplies upwards of 2.5-hours of playtime on a single charge.

Anker’s Nebula brand first arrived on the scene this past summer with its Mars projector. A portable cinema designed in partnership with JBL. At $600, it’s a unique blend of portability and function that provides three hours of continuous playback. Today’s announcement brings much of the same functionality in a smaller package and roughly one-third of the weight at a $299 price point.

The Nebula Capsule runs on a version of Android Nougat, but it supports a wide range of products and connectivity. That includes AirPlay, Chromecast, and Miracast, which complements a built-in HDMI 1.4 port and Bluetooth capabilities. Built-in support for streaming apps from Netflix, YouTube, HBO, Amazon Prime and others round out the list of content providers available at launch.

Capsule sports a native resolution of 654 x 480, but it can handle 1080p and 4K streams with a few adjustments. The DLP lens can display a screen up to 100-inches in size.
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Anker will ship its latest release with a remote, Quick Charge 2.0 wall charger and a micro USB cable. When the Nebula Capsule hits retail in December, it will have a list price of $349.

It seems no matter how big screens get on smartphones, they’ll never really be big enough. When Apple debuted the original iPhone in 2007, it only had a 3.5-inch display. Ten years on and smartphone screens have now ballooned up to a little over six inches. Some of the new “plus” models are practically tablets at this point.

If, however, you’re still in the camp that prefers something a bit more manageable but sort of wishes the screen was bigger at times, the Canyoze Screen Magnifier may well be a worthwhile investment. If you have kids, elderly family members, or simply want to share your screen with others without having to huddle close together, this is one surefire way to handle it.

Rather than spending extra on a tablet or even a mobile projector, the Canyoze will magnify your existing smartphone’s screen by up to 3x. Or in this case, enlarge it to a 7.6-inch screen. While it may slightly diminish the overall resolution of the picture or movie you’re viewing, it doesn’t require any electricity to work its magic so it will work anywhere you want it to, like on the plane or at the park.

It’s an easy way to show movies or YouTube clips on your phone, so everyone has a front row seat. Or use it to blow up photos when you’re gathered around to see the latest pics from your vacation.
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When not in use, the Canyoze conveniently packs away into a folder that measures just 4.72” x 0.79” x 5.12”. For less than ten bucks, it’s a handy tool to keep on hand.

HEIF is the new photo format that Apple is using to replace JPEG. And it probably will replace JPEGs, because the iPhone is the most popular, most-used camera in the world, and as of iOS 11, most iPhones will be switching from JPEG to HEIF.

But what is HEIF? What makes it better than JPEG? And what difference will it make?

HEIF (High-Efficiency Image Format) is the still-image version of the HVEC (H.265) video format. Its main advantage is that photos saved in HEIF are roughly half the size of JPEGs, and of better quality. That means you can store twice as many photos on your smartphone before filling it up or, said another way; you can keep all the photos you have while freeing up a ton of gigabytes on your smartphone.

Why? Because image compression has gotten a lot better than it was when JPEG was born in 1992. Apple’s newest operating systems (MacOS High Sierra and iOS 11) feature built-in support for HVEC, and therefore HEIF, which means images can be encoded and decoded super-fast, without stressing the system or the battery.

HEIF offers other advantages over JPEG. For starters, it is not so much a file format as a container for files. A JPEG is a single image, but a HEIF can be a single image or a sequence of images.

This makes HEIF perfect for Apple’s Live Photos, but also makes it a potential replacement for GIF images on all platforms. HEIF also supports transparency, and image color up to 16 bits, versus JPEG’s measly 8-bit color.

In practice, this means that HEIF can capture all the extended color range provided by the camera’s 10-bit color output. In other words, you will no longer see ugly banding across a blue sky.

HEIF is also good for editing. A HEIF image can be rotated and cropped without altering the image or resaving it. This makes such edits undoable at any time in the future.

Right now, we live in a JPEG world. To fit in, iOS 11 will convert its HEIF images to JPEGs upon export — for sharing to non-iOS devices, for example, or for passing images to apps that don’t support HEIF. As a user, you will notice nothing. All the work will be done behind the scenes.

Photos will take up less space while looking better. They will upload and download to and from your iCloud Photo Library much faster. And, if the rest of the world adopts HEIF in place of JPEGs, then the whole web will operate more quickly.

It’s important to note that HEIF isn’t an Apple-owned technology at all, any more than JPEG. JPEG has been around for a quarter of a century. It’s as established as a file format gets. But it’s also due for retirement. HEIF is a suitable heir, and may just usurp JPEG thanks to the massive iOS user base. Hopefully, the most controversial thing about HEIF will be — like GIF — its pronunciation.
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For an in-depth look at the technical details of HEIF, you should read Kelly Thompson’s excellent piece for 500px.

A new payments terminal, E la Carte's PrestoPrime EMV, could potentially bring Apple Pay and other mobile payment systems to more restaurants, and let people pay for food and drinks without either a card or interacting with a waiter.

The terminal sports dual processors with one dedicated to payments, E la Carte said, and can even temporarily save some data locally in case of a power failure, forwarding it later once an internet connection is back. In addition to Apple Pay, it also supports Android Pay and Samsung Pay, plus less direct mobile payment methods by way of a camera and QR code reader.

For card-based transactions, the device supports both chips and magnetic stripes, with a PIN pad and signatures. Before or during a meal it can provide entertainment like games and video.

The PrestoPrime EMV's predecessor is said to be in use at over 1,800 U.S. restaurants, including chains like Applebee's. While restaurants are unlikely to upgrade en masse, a gradual changeover during the next few years could see mobile payment systems become more prominent.

Traditionally, mobile payment systems were limited to fixed point-of-sale terminals or handheld readers like those from Square. At restaurants, waiters may sometimes have to bring a reader to a table for people to pay.
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Platforms like Apple Pay and PayPal so far appear to be winning out over QR-based options. Recently MCX sold off assets from CurrentC, a failed QR-based challenger, to JPMorgan Chase. The latter company is working on a system called Chase Pay.

It took a year from proof of concept to in-the-wild attack, but ransomware for Android-based smart TVs is now here. As one victim discovered this Christmas, figuring out how to clean such an infection can be quite difficult.

Ransomware for Android phones has already been around for several years, and security experts have warned in the past that it's only a matter of time until such malicious programs start affecting smart TVs, especially since some of them also run Android.

In November 2015, a Symantec researcher named Candid Wueest even went as far as to infect his own TV with an Android ransomware application to highlight the threat. While that infection was just a demonstration, this Christmas, the owner of an LG Electronics TV experienced the real deal.

Kansas-based software developer Darren Cauthon reported on Twitter on Dec. 25 that a family member accidentally infected his Android-based TV with ransomware after downloading a movie-watching app. The picture shared by Cauthon showed the TV screen with an FBI-themed ransom message.

On Android, most ransomware applications are so-called screen lockers. They work by displaying persistent messages on the phone's screen and preventing users from performing any other actions on their devices. The messages usually impersonate some law enforcement authority and ask victims to pay fictitious fines to regain control.

Cauthon, who was the previous owner of the three-year-old TV, tried to help the new owner restore the device to its default factory settings, but didn't succeed even after receiving many suggestions and advice from other Twitter users.

According to the software developer, when he first contacted LG's tech support, he was told that a technician would have to come over and the fee for the visit would be $340.

The ransom amount itself was $500 although even paying that would have been difficult because there was no way to click on the payment section to find the instructions on how to do so. The only thing that worked was just moving a mouse-like pointer on a portion of the TV screen via an accompanying smart remote.

Eventually, LG provided Cauthon with a solution that involved pressing and releasing two physical buttons on the TV in a specific order. This action booted the TV, which runs the now defunct Android-based Google TV platform, into a recovery mode.

The Android recovery mode allows wiping the data partition, which deletes all user settings, apps and data and is the equivalent of a factory reset. While this sounds straightforward, Cauthon's experience suggests that many users would have difficulty figuring it out on their own and would probably be forced to pay for technical assistance.

If recovering from smart TV ransomware infections can be hard, imagine what users would have to deal with if these programs start infecting other internet-of-things devices, as some security experts predict.
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In this case, the victim was lucky because the ransomware app was only a screen locker and not a program that encrypts files. Smart TVs have USB ports and allow connecting external hard disk drives to watch personal videos or photo collections – the type of data that are valuable to users, especially if they're not backed up.