Change the iPhone and iPad to the Computer Complete

APPLE has a simple plan to turn your iPhone or iPad into a new type of MacBook that is possibly Apple’s smartest, and dumbest, computer ever.

A day after news of Samsung’s smartphone dock broke, the US Patent office has approved an Apple patent to use the smarts in the iPhone or iPad in a “dumb” MacBook dock.

Unlike the Samsung dock, which adds ports to a Samsung smartphone but no extra keyboard, the Apple idea for the iPhone and iPad is a more complete computing solution.

While some patents, by the time they are approved, show ideas that are several years old, this latest patent by Apple was only lodged about the time Apple released the iPhone 7 last year.

Apple has been granted a patent for the “Electronic Accessory Device” that would drop an iPhone into the keyboard of a MacBook-style dock, so that the iPhone screen becomes the trackpad, or in another version the iPad becomes the MacBook-style dock’s screen — unlike a real MacBook, would still be a touchscreen.

The patent, discovered by Apple Insider, isn’t just as simple as a keyboard with a hole for the iPad or iPhone.

https://twitter.com/rquandt/status/844296286438379521/photo/1

Certainly, with the patent description of the MacBook shell as not having a processor, you’re relying on the computer power of the iOS to drive the thing. So, in that way, the device would not be dissimilar to current iPad docks like the Clamcase that adds an aluminium shell and keyboard.

But with the Apple patent, the dock would offer more.

“The accessory device, however, can provide auxiliary processing resources, such a graphical processing unit, or GPU, or other processing resources that can support the functions of the portable computing device,” the patent says.

So, the dock could boost the graphics capability, or add some needed battery power, and perhaps even include a USB-C port which, even by itself, would be something of a game changer for the iPhone.

Apple is not the first smartphone company that has played with the idea of using the smartphone as the brains of a computer-style dock.

And, just because it has a patent, it does not mean that it will become a product.

Still, if you like the idea of travelling with a really light laptop, Apple could be working on something that is just the thing.(nws)

Cameran Huawei P10 trumps Apple iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus

P10, is reportedly better than Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus when it comes to camera performance. The information comes from DxOMark, a website that conducts extensive testing of smartphone cameras, as well as all sorts of digital cameras.

According to DxOMark, Huawei P10 scored 87 in their camera tests, which is one point more than the iPhone 7 and three points above its dual-camera sibling - iPhone 7 Plus. Some of the other smartphones that have the same DxOMark score include Moto Z Force (Droid edition), Samsung Galaxy S7 , Samsung Galaxy S6 edge plus , Sony Xperia XZ and Sony Xperia Z5 .

However, the Huawei P10's camera performance is still below some of the non-Leica branded smartphone cameras. Sony's Xperia X Performance, Samsung's Galaxy S7 edge and HTC 10 all have a score of 88, while the top position is held by Google Pixel , with a score of 89. It is worth noting that the P10's predecessor - P9, scored 80 points in DxOMark's testing.

The website says that P10's camera delivers good details and texture preservation. It also records Full HD video at 60fps and 4K video at 30fps.

That said, the website's report adds that, "We observed some exposure failures in very bright conditions, where darker areas of the scene are noticeably underexposed in order to capture good highlight details in bright areas (such as the sky)."

For those unaware, Huawei P10 features a dual-camera setup at the back with a 20MP module and a 12MP module, in addition to having an 8MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture. Users can adjust shutter speeds, ISO, White Balance and more under the manual mode.

Huawei P10's Leica-engineered dual-camera setup is accompanied by multiple camera modes like Night, Macro, Monochrome and Leica Style Portraiture.(ggs)