Get to know the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge's edge screen

Samsung added new features that take advantage of the curved screen; let's take a look.

That slick edge screen on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is more than just a pretty design, it's functional, too.

Last year's Galaxy S6 Edge had just a few features to make use of the curved screen, but the S7 ramps it up. The curved edges of the display make it feel like the screen never really stops. The edges of the screen also act as an additional place to show information in a way that doesn't interfere with the rest of the screen.

We'll dive into everything Samsung added to the edge screen this year below and go hands-on with them in the video above.

Edge panels

The edge screen gets far more shortcuts and tools with the S7 Edge. The People edge, a menu of favorite contacts is still there, but it's joined by the Apps edge menu, which shows your most frequently used apps and the Tasks edge, where you can add shortcuts of things you do often with your phone (such as taking a selfie or creating a new calendar event).

There are also new panels of information from Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, your calendar, weather and more. You can customize the Edge screen in settings, removing panels you don't want and downloading new ones from the Samsung app store.

look.

Edge feed

Swipe a finger back and forth along either edge when the screen is off to see the Edge feed. It's a tiny display of helpful information, like missed calls, messages, sports scores and news updates. You can swipe up and down along the edge to move between feeds, which include Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance stock information, and your step count from the built-in S Health pedometer.

Edge lighting

Just like with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, the S7 Edge's screen will light up when someone calls or texts you. When the phone is resting screen down, the edge will glow when you get an incoming call or text. If the person calling you is one of the contacts in your People edge the screen will glow with whichever color you've assigned them -- either blue, green, purple, yellow or orange.

New iPad on March 21? Everything we know so far about the specs, pricing and release date of Apple's next iPad

Apple has officially announced its long-rumored event for March 21. And it's widely expected that we'll see two new products unveiled there: a 4-inch iPhone (supposedly called the iPhone SE) and a new 9.7-inch iPad. Whether that new tablet is dubbed the iPad Air 3 or the "iPad Pro (9.7-inch)" -- or something else -- is anybody's guess, however.

An iPad update comes at a time when overall tablet sales continue to slow. Last year's iPad Pro, though well-received by some graphics and media professionals, hasn't found the broad embrace -- popular or critical -- of its predecessors. The Mini 4, which also debuted in 2015, is a capable little tablet, essentially a shrunken Air 2. But most shoppers still opt for the older Mini 2, which is available for half the price. And the reception for these two has been especially muted compared to that of the celebrated Air 2, a CNET Editor's Choice and still the gold standard for the category.

As is custom, Apple has kept mum on what's coming next and when it's coming, so we have no choice but to formulate hypotheses. We are fortunate, however, to have legions of Apple fanboys, supply chain moles and educated guessers churning out predictions that we will collect, collate and chronicle in the space below.

Editors' note: This story was originally posted on January 19, 2016 and last updated on March 11, 2016.

The iPad Air 3 could be a slightly smaller version of 2015's iPad Pro (far right).

Announcement and release dates

Apple typically introduces new iPads in the fall. The newest models, the iPad Pro and Mini 4, were announced in September 2015, with the latter hitting immediately and the former two months later. The iPad Air 2 hit store shelves in September 2014.

Apple will host an event at 10 a.m. PT on March 21 on its Cupertino, California, campus.

Likely changes are afoot, however. On March 10, Apple invitedselected media to a March 21 event at its headquarters. The invite, which teases, "Let us loop you in," characteristically lacks detail about the nature of the event. Still, in the absence of official word, numerous sources are reporting that Apple will use it to introduce a successor to the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2 and a 4-inch iPhone that will replace the iPhone 5S as the company's entry-level model.

Earlier rumors had suggested that Apple dedicate the event to the celebration of the Apple Watch's first birthday -- and the introduction of its successor. The current consensus, however, is that Apple is more likely to unveil only a WatchOS update and new bands -- materials, designs, and colors -- rather than new hardware.

Of course, nothing beyond the date of the event is official.

Design

With the Air 2, Apple basically perfected the dimensions of the tablet: it's exceptionally portable, can be carried easily in one hand, and makes for comfortable reading, playing and viewing. Given the amount of time the company has taken to tinker with the next version, expectations are soaring. But Apple has improved on seemingly perfect products before.

The iPad Pro is far and away the fastest and most powerful Apple tablet at the moment, and, according to 9to5mac.com's Mark Gurman, the next iPad will follow in its footsteps. He reports that the next-generation 9.7-inch model will be part of a new iPad Pro line and will set the stage for a streamlining of the iPad portfolio, which will include the sunsetting of the iPad Mini 2 and original iPad Air. As for the nomenclature -- that's anyone's guess. The Apple iPad Pro Mini? The Apple iPad Mini Pro?

Foreshadowing this development, French site Nowhereelse (via AppleInsider) previously predicted that the iPad Air 3 could fold in such iPad Pro features as a quad-speaker upgrade, as well as a first-ever (for an iPad) LED flash for the rear camera. According to 9to5mac.com, the new iPad could feature the same 12-megapixel camera used in the iPhone 6S.

Recent stories from Techradar and Engadget bolstered the four-speaker rumor and suggested the Air 3 would also include Pro-style Smart Connectors for attaching peripherals like keyboards -- upgrades that could add a sliver of thickness to the Air 3. Gurman also reports that the new model will include support for the Apple Pencil as well as a smaller version of the Smart Keyboard cover attachment.

Under the hood

Obviously, an iPad hitting in March would run the current iOS 9 operating system, and be in good shape to run its inevitable successor, iOS 10, which would presumably be unveiled in June and released concurrently with the iPhone 7 in September. And by iOS 9, of course, we mean version 9.3 (now in beta) which adds such notable new features as Night Shift, a setting that changes the colors on the screen at night; revamps of Apple's News and Health apps and CarPlay technology; password protection for Notes; and multiple user accounts for educational settings.

iOS's new Night Shift feature lets you change the screen color for better nighttime reading.

One thing you likely won't see on the iPad Air 3 is 3D Touch, the pressure-sensitive display on the newest iPhone models. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that feature is an unlikely to surface on the iPad Air 3 due to "production issues."

Another area of interest is processing power. A recent Bloomberg profile of Apple SVP for hardware technologies Johny Srouji confirmed that the next iPad Air will come equipped with the A9X chip -- the processor currently available only in the iPad Pro.

The iPad Air 2 delivers pretty solid battery life -- right around Apple's rated lifespan of about 10 hours between charges. (You can use the iOS 9 battery-saving feature to extend that as needed, and standby time is especially good.) Though thinner is almost always better, we would hope that Apple would not shave down run time for a microscopically thinner profile.

Pricing

The high-end of the portfolio seems comfortably inhabited by the iPad Pro, which is priced more like a laptop than a tablet and sells for $799 for the 32GB entry-level model. If the iPad Air 3 were to stick to the current pricing scheme as the Air 2, we'll see something like $499, £399 or AU$699 for a 16GB model; $599, £479 or AU$829 for a 64GB model; and $699, £559 or AU$959 for a 128GB model. LTE connectivity will likely add $130, £100 or AU$160 for each.

But, if Apple leaves the Air 2 in the lineup and dubs the new model a smaller iPad Pro, it's possible that prices and capacities could be more like $599 (£479 or AU$829) for 32GB, $749 for 128GB.

Florida sheriff says he'll jail 'rascal' Tim Cook

Technically Incorrect: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says that in his county, if Apple refused to obey a court order, he'd take very simple action.

American society has been infused with a slightly intemperate edge over the last few weeks and months.
Our tolerance levels are dangerously low. Our threat levels are shooting past orange.
While the forces of Trump gird themselves against sudden oncomers, Apple finds itself in a painful battle against the government over the phone issued to one of the San Bernardino terrorists.
The FBI wants Apple to hack it. Apple claims this will create a backdoor, through which many nefarious parties might enter.

---

Sheriff Judd is ready to lock Apple's CEO in jail. Fox 13 screenshot by Chris
Words between the two entities are getting ever meaner. And now a member of law enforcement has threatened to lock up Apple CEO Tim Cook because he's a rascal.
As Fox 13 reports, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has already passed judgment on Apple's stance.
"You cannot create a business model to go, 'We're not paying attention to the federal judge or the state judge. You see, we're above the law,'" he said earlier this week in a press conference to discuss a recent murder case in which the suspects had taken photos of their victim on their phones.
"The CEO of Apple needs to know he's not above the law," he added.
The trouble, some might say, is that laws written before the motor car, the plane and the Tamagotchi were invented don't necessarily cover the nuances of rapidly developing technology.
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.
For Judd, this situation is very clear.
"I can tell you, the first time we do have trouble getting into a cell phone, we're going to seek a court order from Apple," he said. "And when they deny us, I'm going to go lock the CEO of Apple up. I'll lock the rascal up."
I had rather thought that Florida has a certain respect for rascals. They're part of Floridian folklore. They're free spirits who do their thing regardless of the potential consequences.
Judd himself is, indeed, something of a folk hero.
He preaches from pulpits in uniform. When once asked why his officers had shot at a suspect 110 times, hitting him 68 times, he explained that it was "all the ammunition they had."
I fear, though, that locking up Apple's CEO may be slightly more complicated that Judd expects. Apple's lawyers are wily sorts.
Though President Barack Obama on Friday offered the view that no one should take an "absolutist" view on the legal ramifications of encryption, it seems that some think the law's view is both clear and absolute.
How odd, though, that a law enforcement official should think of Cook as a rascal. Compared to Apple's previous CEO, he's positively Rascal Flatts to Steve Jobs's Bob Dylan.

The Samsung Galaxy S7's one flaw: It still runs Android

Commentary: There's only one thing wrong with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge: They don't run Apple's iOS.

For the last several years, I've created a wish list of features I'd like to see in the next iPhone. Inevitably, when that new iPhone is unveiled it's missing about half the "most-wanted" items on the list, leaving them to be carried over to the following year's iPhone.
It's hard then not to look at the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge a little wistfully. Simply put they are what the next iPhones should be -- at least from a hardware standpoint.
Samsung listened to consumers and critics who lamented the loss of certain standout features like expandable memory and water-resistance in the Galaxy S6. And while the removable battery in the Galaxy S5 didn't return, higher capacity batteries are now found in both the S7 and S7 Edge. In our early CNET testing, both phones aced our video-loop endurance test.

The camera has also improved, particularly for low-light shooting, and the built-in wireless charging feature (with an optional wireless charging pad) carries on from the S6. Beyond that, there are other small improvements, and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge earned a 5-star rating from CNET, making it our highest rated smartphone.
My only problem with the new Galaxy phones? They run Android.

My only problem with the new Galaxy phones? They run Android.

Not that I don't like Android. I do. I use a Samsung Galaxy S6 in my day-to-day testing of accessories such as headphones and wireless speakers and bought a Gear VR to get a taste of virtual-reality that's a step up from using Google Cardboard with my iPhone 6S.
But I prefer iOS. Certainly not all aspects of it. But overall, I like it a little better. Thanks to Apple having tight control over both the hardware and software, the apps have a more consistent look and feel to them and interact more seamlessly, particularly when accessing Apple's integrated apps such as Photos. Call me superficial, but iOS feels slightly slicker, a little more polished and a bit more intuitive to use.

Crave giveaway: ArcSoft Simplicam Wi-Fi home security camera

Want to know what's going on at home while you're away? Win a Wi-Fi camera that streams live video of homestead happenings to your smartphone, tablet or computer.

 

Colin West McDonald

Important-announcement time: We notify Crave giveaway winners via email, so please make sure the email address connected to your CNET account is current. Otherwise you might miss your prize, a misfortune that has befallen several giveaway participants in recent months.

Now that that PSA is out of the way, we've got a brand-new freebie, an ArcSoft Simplicam Wi-Fi security camera. It lets you check in on your kids, pets, chairs and sofa from your smartphone.

The facial-recognition feature is available through an optional cloud service starting at $5 a month (ArcSoft is tossing in a $49.99 one-year subscription to the Closeli Cloud for this giveaway). Without cloud-recording services, you still get motion and sound alerts and live 720p streaming to your smartphone, tablet or computer via the free Closeli app.The camera has the motion and sound alerts typical for surveillance cams but stands out for its facial-recognition capabilities. It can't actually distinguish between faces, but it can recognize that it's looking at one, and theoretically, notify you that a human, as opposed to a cat or a rustling branch, has triggered its motion sensor.

In her CNET review of the ArcSoft Simplicam, Megan Wollerton has a few minor quibbles with the $149.99 Simplicam, but says that "Simplicam impresses and in some ways surpasses pricier models." So how do you go about snagging one for free? There are a few rules, so please read carefully.

Windows 8.1 picks up steam as consumers adopt latest update

The share of PCs running on Microsoft's latest operating system jumped in October.

 A little more than a year after Windows 8.1 was made available, the update to Microsoft's PC operating system is finally seeing some progress.

Microsoft

The market share of PCs that run Windows 8.1jumped to 10.9 percent in October, up from 6.7 percent in September and 7.1 percent in August, according to Net Applications, which tracks activity through analyzing the browsers hits of specific websites.

The share gains suggest a small bit of momentum as Microsoft seeks to upgrade all users to the latest version of its marquee Windows operating system. While consumers didn't respond toWindows 8, which was the first to emphasize tiles as part of its user interface, the company has added back features with 8.1. In August, it added small touches like a Shutdown button on the Start screen and the ability to run modern apps from the desktop.

Customers, however, have been more keen to hang on to their existing version of Windows. Windows 7had the largest share with 53.1 percent, following by Windows XP at 17.2 percent. The share of XP users is falling (it was at 23.9 percent in September) consistently after Microsoft cut off support for that version of Windows in April.

There may be users who are hanging on and waiting to see how the next version of Windows will run.Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 last month. The update moves away from the tiled "Metro" interface, replaced by live tiles and a more classic Windows experience, addressing a primary complaint with Windows 8.

Apple's Tim Cook: 'So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay'

Apple's CEO publicly discussed his sexual orientation for the first time in an effort to help anyone "struggling to come to terms with who he or she is."

Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation for the first time, saying he wants to use his position as leader of one of the world's most valuable companies to bring attention to the discrimination minorities face.

"I'm proud to be gay. I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook said in an 800-word essay posted on Bloomberg Businessweek. "Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It's made me more empathetic."

Cook, who has been CEO of Apple for three years, described how he's been open about his sexuality with many people, but has tried to maintain some privacy on a wider public level. He quoted Martin Luther King in describing how he decided to balance his desire for privacy with his position as a role model, which gives him a platform to speak out on issues of discrimination.

"Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I'm gay, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in the way they treat me," Cook wrote. "Of course, I've had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people's differences. Not everyone is so lucky."

Cook said he doesn't consider himself an activist, "but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy."

Despite never publicly acknowledging his sexuality before, Cook has for several years topped Out magazine's annual list of the most powerful and influential gay men and women in the US. He also has spoken and written in support of LGBTQ rights. A year ago, Cook wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, calling on the US Congress to pass a bill that aims to offer protection against workplace policies and practices that create disadvantages based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

As recently as September, Cook tweeted in support of the Austin, Texas, pride parade celebrating gay rights. In his tweet, Cook gave "a shout-out to 3000 Apple employees and their families marching in the#AustinPride parade! Inclusion inspires innovation. #applepride." And while talking about Apple's diversity report in August (which showed most Apple employees are white men), Cook said Apple's "definition of diversity goes far beyond the traditional categories of race, gender and ethnicity."

"It includes personal qualities that usually go unmeasured, like sexual orientation, veteran status and disabilities," he said in the diversity report. "Who we are, where we come from, and what we've experienced influence the way we perceive issues and solve problems. We believe in celebrating that diversity and investing in it."

The Alabama-born 53-year-old described himself as "an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things." He joined Apple in 1998 from IBM and temporarily took over from Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO in 2009. He was appointed to the position permanently in August 2011. Jobs died from cancer in October 2011.Cook on Thursday said being gay has been "tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It's also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you're the CEO of Apple."