Hasta La Gadget!

Dell’s latest flagship ultraportable is now available for purchase. The Dell XPS 13 Plus is powered by Intel’s 28-watt 12th-gen processors and features a clean, minimalist design. Its keyboard has no borders and no space in between its large keys that makes it ideal for touch-typing. The laptop’s haptic touchpad blends into its palm rest and the function buttons at the top of the keyboard aren’t buttons at all — they’re displayed on a touch panel similar to Mac’s Touch Bar.

It’s a beautiful device that gives the illusion of being carved out of a single piece of metal, but it doesn’t come without drawbacks. The biggest one of all? It doesn’t have a headphone jack. You’d have to use Bluetooth headsets with it, and the process of connecting a pair to a Windows laptop isn’t quite as seamless as connecting one to a phone. In addition, we had some trouble using the touchpad when we tested the laptop at CES earlier this year, because the lack of borders means you can’t see its edges. That said, it might be something you get used to the more time you spend with the notebook. 

The XPS 13 Plus will set you back at least $1,299 and comes with either an OLED touch or an LCD display. You can also get the Developer Edition, which ships pre-installed with Ubuntu instead of Windows, for at least $1,249. It’s still showing on Dell’s site as coming soon, but it should be available shortly.

When Sony’s expanded PlayStation Plus service starts rolling out next month, it will fold in PlayStation Now, which offers access to hundreds of games from older console generations. Now, it seems the company is getting even more serious about game preservation.

According to Twitter and LinkedIn posts spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Sony has hired at least one engineer (Garrett Fredley, a former build engineer for mobile developer Kabam) to work on a new preservation team. “Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStation, working as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team! Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I’m ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots,” Fredley wrote. “Let’s go and ensure our industry’s history isn’t forgotten!”

It’s not entirely clear what the preservation team will be working on or what Sony’s goals are for it. Engadget has contacted Sony Interactive Entertainment for clarification.

Sony hasn’t always done an bang-up job of preserving games. Many PS1 games worked on PS2 and the original PS3 models could run many PS1 and PS2 games, but you were unable to play discs from older generations on PS4. The PS5, however, supports all but a few PS4 titles.

The company shut down the digital PSP storefront last summer, though it backtracked on a plan to close the PS3 and Vita stores after a significant backlash. There’s no guarantee that every PS3 and PSP exclusive will be added to the new PS Plus service, which won’t include Vita titles, so some games will be lost to the sands of time.

In a 2017 interview, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan talked about seeing Gran Turismo titles on PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 at an event, and said something that has dogged him ever since: “The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?” Ryan clarified last year that he was trying to make a point about how good the more modern entries in the series look and that he didn’t intend to be disrespectful to the history of PlayStation. Still, many took his initial comment to mean that Sony didn’t care about older games.

It’s good to see Sony putting more emphasis on game preservation. Non-profits and fan-led projects have led the charge on that front. PC gamers, of course, have access to titles dating back several decades (for instance, I’ve been dipping in and out of Half-Life recently). 

Microsoft understands that folks still want to be able to play old games on modern platforms and has put more emphasis on backward compatibility in recent years. Xbox Series X/S can run games from as far back as the original Xbox.

Like Sony, however, Nintendo hasn’t exactly been great at game preservation. It will shut down the 3DS and Wii U stores next year, and likely won’t port every game from those consoles to Nintendo Switch. Many of those games will be inaccessible to future generations of players.

Update 2:05PM ET: Noting that PS1 games ran on PS2.

Samsung has reported a massive rise in operating profit for the first three months of 2022, thanks in part to the robust demand for its memory chips and the strong sales of its new Galaxy flagship devices. The Korean tech giant has posted an operating profit of KRW 14.12 trillion ($11.12 billion), which is 51 percent higher than the same period last year, and a record consolidated revenue of KRW 77.78 trillion ($61.2 billion). 

As usual, Samsung’s memory division was a standout performer, exceeding market forecasts because memory prices didn’t drop as much as analysts had expected. It posted a consolidated revenue of KRW 26.87 trillion ($21.14 billion), and while it saw a slight decline in profit due to incentives and seasonality, demand for PC and server chips remained solid. The company’s foundry business also contributed to the division’s performance by achieving its highest ever first quarter sales. Samsung is optimistic for the division’s prospects going forward, but it also expects component shortages to persist through the second half of the year and will constantly monitor the situation. 

While overall demand for mobile was down due to seasonality and “geopolitical uncertainties,” Samsung posted higher profit (KRW 3.82 trillion or $3 billion) and revenue (KRW 32.37 trillion or $25.5 billion) for the division this quarter compared to the last. The strong sales of its new flagship phones, particularly the Galaxy S22 Ultra, as well as of its mass market 5G phones contributed to both profit and revenue growth. Despite the allegations that a preinstalled app on S22 phones is throttling the performance of several applications, the company previously said that demand for the flagship is 20 percent higher than of its predecessor’s. Samsung expects component shortages for mobile to continue, as well, but it also expects the availability of component supplies for the S22 to improve. That’s why it plans to focus on maintaining strong sales for its flagships in the next quarter.

The tech giant reports a rise in mobile display earnings due to solid demand for premium products, as well. For larger displays, it says its QD monitors were well-received. It debuted its QD-OLED technology, which differs from standard OLED in that it only uses blue organic light-emitting diodes for a brighter output, at CES earlier this year. Samsung’s TV business lagged behind its other divisions, though, and saw a decline in demand following strong sales in the end of 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In early March, Samsung halted its product shipments to Russia, where it has a TV plant and where it’s known as the top smartphone brand. 

Don’t worry if your Apple Watch screen suddenly went blank — you might not have to pay to get it fixed. 9to5Mac and The Verge note that Apple has launched a service program that offers free fixes for Watch Series 6 models whose screens go permanently white. If you own a 40mm watch built between April and September of 2021, Apple or an authorized shop will repair the device regardless of its warranty status.

The program covers affected Apple Watch Series 6 models for two years after the first retail sales, which began in September 2020. You can enter your wristwear’s serial number on the program website to determine if you qualify. This doesn’t extend the regular warranty or cover damage that requires repairs before the display can be addressed.

Apple said the problem only affects a “very small percentage” of Series 6 units. Still, the program may be valuable. The Apple Watch isn’t a cheap accessory, especially if you bought a steel or titanium variant — this could save you the added pain of a costly fix for a manufacturer defect.

You won’t have to wait long to buy a small Dodge plug-in hybrid. As Autoblogexplains, Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis revealed in a Q&A that a PHEV edition of the upcoming Hornet compact car will be revealed this summer, likely during a “Speed Week” starting August 15th. The Stellantis badge executive didn’t provide other details, but plans for the regular Hornet should provide a good idea of what to expect.

No, the Hornet isn’t a revival of either AMC’s compact or the circa-2006 concept. Instead, it’s based on the Alfa Romeo Tonale (shown above) due to reach Americans in early 2023. The Hornet will likely share both the Tonale’s 1.3L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a Naples, Italy factory. The Tonale will muster 272HP in its American version, but it’s not certain if the Hornet will provide similar output. The machine may be relatively inexpensive for a plug-in given its size.

You may have to wait a while to hear more about Dodge’s all-electric muscle car, however. Kuniskis said he hoped to show off the high-performance EV before the Hornet, but an unnamed factor “outside our industry” was preventing any firm commitments. Dodge previously said the “eMuscle” car would launch by 2024, and that it would phase out its gas-based Challenger and Charger cars on a similar timeline.

A Hornet PHEV might be necessary. Stellantis is ramping up its electrification efforts and expects half of its US passenger vehicles to be pure EVs by 2030, but Americans don’t have affordable plug-in hybrid options at the moment — they’re typically more expensive options like the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. If Stellantis can keep the Dodge Hornet’s cost relatively low, it might open the door to customers who previously had to shop competing brands to get more accessible PHEVs.