Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch next month

Popular battle royale game Apex Legends is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch next month. Based on the Titanfall franchise, Electronics Arts currently offers Apex Legends on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The company had announced plans of releasing the game on the Nintendo Switch late last year. However, after a bunch of delays, we finally have a release date as announced by the company via a blog post.

“Today, I’m proud to come to you with some good news. Apex Legends is coming to Nintendo Switch on March 9th, 2021,” said Chad Grenier, Game Director at Apex Legends. Compared to all platforms, the Nintendo Switch has a smaller display with a 720p resolution, and as per EA, porting the game has apparently been a ‘major achievement.’ The game developer has worked with Panic Button for the Switch port and says that players can expect a full-featured Apex Legends experience on the go. The best part is that EA has not only managed to port Apex Legends to the Switch, but it will also support cross-platform play. This means that players on all platforms can play with each other.

Just a few days back, Apex Legends saw the arrival of its new Season 8 with a brand new legend and character, Fuse. The new season also brings back King’s Canyon in a new avatar, a new weapon, and a bunch of new skins and other cosmetic additions. The Nintendo Switch port was expected to arrive on the same date as the new season, however, players will now have to wait for another month. To make up for the delay, Switch players will be offered 30 free levels for their Season 8 Battle Pass, and for the first two weeks after launch, playing on Switch will also earn you double XP.

Notably, EA has not confirmed if the game will be free to play as it is on the existing platforms. Recently there was a certain leak from Amazon Japan that suggested the Champion Edition of the game would cost around ¥5,641 ($54).  Additionally, an Apex Legends themed Switch Pro controller has also been spotted, which is expected to hype up the launch of the game on the portable console.

The best Nintendo Switch Controllers: Hori, 8bitdo, PowerA, and More!

Apex Legends is also expected to arrive on Android and iOS as EA is working with a partner in China to develop the mobile version of its popular battle royale game. While there is no concrete timeline for the launch, we last heard that we can expect the game to make its way to mobile phones, not before 2022.

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Action Launcher brings iOS-style widget stacks to Android

In a not so distant past, Android enthusiasts used to have hot debates over what they thought was the absolute best Android launcher, with users often divided between camp Nova and camp Action Launcher. We don’t see such fervent debates anymore as most launchers have matured to a stable feature set. But to this date, both Nova and Action Launcher remain top picks for anyone who wants to take their homescreen customization game to the next level. And the best part is that both launchers keep adding new features to keep users up-to-date with the latest customization trends. Take, for example, this new update to the Action Launcher, which now brings iPhone-style widget stacks to all Android phones.

Widgets have been part of Android since the Eclair days. It was only with the latest iOS 14 update that Apple finally brought them to iPhones, letting iOS users enjoy something that Android had for a good decade at that point. However, Apple’s implementation has one nifty touch that its Android counterpart doesn’t have: the ability to stack different widgets on top of each other for easier access. With the Action Launcher v47 beta 2 (via AndroidPolice), you can finally do that with your Android widgets as well. Widgets stacks make for a much cleaner homescreen as you don’t have to allot a chunk of screen real estate for each widget.

The idea is very simple: you drop an empty container on your home screen and then start layering your favorite widgets one by one in it. You can then swipe vertically on the box to cycle between them, as you can see in the demo below.

The Stacks Widgets feature is now live in the latest beta of Action Launcher but it requires the Plus version. If you’re not on the beta channel, you can join the program here.

Action Launcher v47 Beta 2 Update Changelog:

• Introducing widget stacks! Layer widgets on top of each other, and page through them with a vertical flick! Select “Widget Stack” from Action Launcher’s widget list and get stacking!
• 2021 Supporter Badge! This year’s bonus goodies include 6 awesome wallpapers!

Action Launcher: Pixel Edition (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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You can now get your hands on Fossil’s new Gen 5E smartwatches in India

Fossil’s latest lineup of Wear OS smartwatches, the Fossil Gen 5E, is finally available for purchase in India. First unveiled back in October last year, the new smartwatches offer almost all the features that you get with the premium Gen 5 lineup but at a more affordable price.

Fossil Gen 5E: Specifications

Specification	Fossil Gen 5E
Dimensions	44mm 22mm standard band 42mm 22mm standard band
Display	1.19-inch AMOLED (390 x 390 pixels)
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100
RAM	1GB
Storage	4GB
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, NFC
Sensors	Heart rate sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
Water resistance	3 ATM
Battery & Charging	300mAh, 50 minutes to 80%
Software	Wear OS

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The Fossil Gen 5E lineup is based on last year’s Gen 5 series. It’s essentially the same lineup with a couple of missing features. As such, the new Gen 5E smartwatches feature a smaller 1.19-inch AMOLED display with a lower 390 x 390 resolution. They include almost all the fitness tracking features offered on the Gen 5 lineup, including sleep tracking, activity tracking, and continuous heart rate monitoring. You can also use the Fossil Gen 5E smartwatches to make and receive phone calls, control your smart devices with the Google Assistant, and make payments via Google Pay.

Since the Fossil Gen 5E smartwatches are based on the Gen 5 lineup, they feature similar hardware. They pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 300mAh battery. The watches are also water-resistant up to 3ATM. However, Fossil has shaved off some features to keep the price low. Along with a lower resolution display, the Gen 5E lineup misses out on an ambient light sensor or standalone GPS, its internal storage has been halved to 4GB, and the crown on the watch doesn’t rotate for navigation. As a result, the new lineup is priced around ₹4,500 cheaper than the Gen 5 variants.

Pricing & Availability

The Fossil Gen 5E lineup is priced at ₹18,495, and it’s already up for sale at Fossil’s offline stores, the company’s website, Flipkart, and Myntra. The lineup includes two size variants — 42mm and 44mm — and a bunch of colorways. However, the pricing remains constant across all models.

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Here are the best Thunderbolt 3 laptops in February 2021: Dell XPS 15, Apple MacBook Air and More

Data transfer speeds have grown exponentially in the past few years, be it mobile networks or your local storage media. Similarly, the good old USB has also become quite reliable when it comes to transferring large amounts of data over a wide bandwidth. Intel had announced Thunderbolt 4 last year and we are expecting new products with the next-gen protocol to finally hit markets soon. Until then, we are checking out some of the best Thunderbolt 3 equipped laptops.

Thunderbolt 3 makes use of the USB Type-C connector to offer up to 40Gbps data transfer speeds. This makes it twice as fast when compared to the latest USB 3.2 standard. Hence, Thunderbolt 3 is an excellent option for photographers, video editors, and other creative professionals, who need to frequently transfer large files. Additionally, Thunderbolt 3 can be used to connect DisplayPort-compatible devices including external 4K monitors. The protocol can also be used to connect PCI Express (PCIe) peripherals including external graphics cards enabling you to play games or accomplish graphics-intensive tasks on even notebooks. Since it uses a standard USB port, one can also make use of various peripherals, hard drives, as well as power delivery. In case you missed it, here is also a list of the best laptops that you should buy.

Apple MacBook Pro 16

Apple has been one of the early adopters of the Thunderbolt standard. The MacBook Pro 16 offers a total of four Thunderbolt 3 ports. Apart from the 40Gbps bandwidth for Thunderbolt devices, each port brings support for charging, DisplayPort, and USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps). Now, this is also the biggest and most powerful MacBook in years and an easy recommendation for power users, especially if you are a creative professional. The notebook can be configured with an 8-core Intel Core i9 processor, up to 16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM which is further expandable, and up to 8TB of SSD storage. You also get a gorgeous 3072 x 1920 resolution Retina display and AMD Radeon Pro graphics. Do note that this might be one of the last MacBooks to support external graphics via the Thunderbolt ports as the next refresh might include the M1 chip that was introduced with the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13, and Mac mini.

Apple MacBook Pro 16

The MacBook Pro 16 is the most powerful notebook from Apple and offers a total of four Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Dell XPS 15

The XPS 15 is an excellent Windows machine for someone who wants a premium, top of the line design as well as performance. This one comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports with power delivery and DisplayPort support. There is a third USB Type-C port as well with the same power delivery and DisplayPort options. While the machine comes with 4GB discrete graphics, you can make use of the Thunderbolt port to plug in an external graphics card as well. Other than that you get this notebook with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i9 processor with 32GB of RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD.

Dell XPS 15

The XPS 15 is the best 15-inch notebook for someone who is looking for a premium design as well as a promising performance package. Apart from a standard USB Type-C port, the notebook comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is regarded as one of the best business notebooks. The two Thunderbolt 3 ports on this machine ensure that users can easily attach external monitors or projectors for quick presentations. The ports also allow you to power other devices as well as the notebook itself. The X1 Carbon comes with the latest 10th-Gen Intel vPro CPUs, up to 16GB of RAM, and 2TB SSD. The notebook is also offered with a variety of display options including 4K IPS with Dolby Vision HDR400. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a wise choice if you are looking for a feature-packed, highly durable laptop along with a wide selection of ports.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

The ThinkPad is a popular name when it comes to business laptops. The 8th-gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with a total of two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Dell XPS 13

The XPS 13 is one of the best Windows notebooks out there. Since it is a fairly small notebook, having Thunderbolt 3 makes a lot of sense. You can hook up two 4K monitors using the two Thunderbolt 3 ports on this machine. Both of the ports also support power delivery. The current generation of the XPS 13 offers up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB SSD. The notebook also offers an excellent-looking display with a 16:10 ratio available in 1080p or 2400p resolutions.

Dell XPS 13 9300

The Dell XPS 13 is a highly recommended premium notebook that offers a solid balance of style and performance. It offers a total of two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one on each side.

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Apple MacBook Air

Similar to the MacBook Pro 16, the latest-gen MacBook Air also features Thunderbolt 3 ports. However, you only get two of them, since the notebook is relatively more affordable. The Thunderbolt ports support external 4K displays, but no longer support external graphics cards due to the new M1 chip. The MacBook Air is also the thinnest and lightest apart from being the most affordable MacBook that you can buy today. You get a healthy set of internals including the new Apple Silicon M1 chip with up to 512GB of SSD storage and 8GB of RAM that can be further upgraded.

Apple MacBook Air

The MacBook Air might be the most affordable laptop offering from Apple, but it continues to offer a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Acer Swift 3

This is the most affordable option if you are looking for a Thunderbolt 3 port equipped laptop. The Swift 3 is a slim ultrabook packing some really good specifications at its price. There is only one USB Type-C port that supports Thunderbolt 3, but at a starting price of just $678, you can’t really complain. It is also a very lightweight machine at just 1.2kg with a robust finish. You can get the notebook with either a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU with 8GB of memory and a 512GB SSD.

Acer Swift 3

The Acer Swift 3 is a lightweight notebook and also one of the most affordable ones out there if you are looking for a Thunderbolt port. Sadly, you only get one such port.

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HP Spectre x360 13

The Spectre x360 makes for a great option if you are looking for a 2-in-1 laptop with Thunderbolt 3. According to the company, the notebook offers two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C ports both of which offer Thunderbolt 3 functionality. This means that each port offers a 40Gbps signaling rate, Power Delivery 3.0, DisplayPort 1.4, and of course letting you charge the laptop itself. The notebook offers a unique design and the option of a vivid 13.3-inch 4K OLED touch display. This is a premium notebook so expect solid hardware on the inside including an option for the 10th-gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU, 16GB of DDR4 memory, 512GB of NVMe SSD, and speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen.

HP Spectre x360 13

One of the most premium 2-in-1 laptops, the HP Spectre x360 is for the ones who don't want to compromise on style and performance. It comes with a great 4K touchscreen display option along with two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Buy on Amazon

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We saw a bunch of manufacturers announcing new laptops at CES 2021 that feature the next-gen Thunderbolt 4 standard. Expect new features on Thunderbolt 4 including an increase in the minimum video and data requirements provided by host devices, access to the same speeds at Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps), power delivery (100W), various protocols (DisplayPort, PCIe, USB4) Intel VT-d based DMA protection to avoid unauthorized access while connected, support for connectivity accessories with up to four fully functional and highly flexible downstream and of course, backward compatibility with Thunderbolt 3. OEMs including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS are going to start shipping new products with Thunderbolt 4 within the first quarter of 2021, so keep a lookout and hold on to your money if you care about the added benefits.

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Samsung Clock integrates Digital Wellbeing’s Bedtime Mode to help you wind down

Google revamped Digital Wellbeing’s Wind Down feature in April last year and gave it a more fitting name — Bedtime mode. The update included an updated UI, new icons for the Quick Setting tile and Focus Mode, a new way to trigger Bedtime mode, and a new fullscreen activity that showed up when a user paused the mode. While you can already access all of these features on Samsung devices running One UI based on Android 10 or later, the company is now making it easier to access Bedtime mode with an update for the One UI Clock app.

The latest update for the One UI Clock app (v. 12.0.05.7) brings Digital Wellbeing’s Bedtime mode to the Alarm tab. As per a recent report from Android Police, you’ll find a new “Set bedtime” option in the overflow menu on the Clock app’s alarm screen following the update.

Tapping on it will redirect you to a new setup page where you’ll have to tell the app when you usually go to sleep and when you plan to wake up. Once that’s set, you can tap on the Next button to adjust your bedtime settings.

On the following page, you’ll get the option to change the Reminder notification setting and a toggle to turn on Bedtime mode. If you choose to turn it on, your phone will automatically turn on DND mode and change the screen to grayscale when it’s close to bedtime. You can then tap on the Next button again to set the wake-up alarm. In case you use a Samsung SmartThings, you’ll also be able to integrate your alarm with supported smart devices.

Once you’re done with the initial setup process, you’ll see a new alarm at the top of the Alarm section. You can tap on it to adjust your bedtime, alarm, and notification settings further. If you use Samsung’s S Health app, you’ll also see a “Sleep details” button underneath the new alarm that will open S Health’s sleep tracker.

The new Bedtime feature in Samsung’s Clock app has already started rolling out to users with its latest update. However, it only seems to be available on devices running One UI 3.1 at the moment. I wasn’t able to access the feature on my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra running One UI 3.0, however, it was available on my Galaxy S21 Ultra. In case you haven’t received the update on your device yet, you can download the latest APK from APKMirror.

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Microsoft Edge Beta 89 blocks annoying auto-playing videos

If you use Microsoft Edge, your browsing experience is about to get a lot quieter. That’s because the newest beta update introduces a vital improvement that blocks auto-playing videos, among other features.

There’s actually a lot to the new beta release. But the one we’re most excited about will block media from automatically playing. Here are the full release notes:

Feature updates:

• Kiosk mode enables additional lockdown capabilities. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 89, we have added additional lockdown capabilities within kiosk mode to enable customers to get the job done in a productive and more secure experience. Learn more.
• The Enterprise Mode Site List Manager tool will be available in the browser through the edge://compat page. You can use this tool to create, edit and export your site list XML for Internet Explorer mode on Microsoft Edge. You can enable access to this tool as needed through group policy. Learn More.
• Reset your Microsoft Edge sync data in the cloud manually. We are introducing a way to reset your Microsoft Edge sync data from within the product. This ensures that your data is cleared from Microsoft services, as well as resolving certain product issues that previously required a support ticket.
• Improvements to text selection experience within PDF documents. Users will begin to get a smoother and more consistent text selection experience across PDF documents opened in Microsoft Edge starting with version 89.
• The “Disable developer mode extensions” warning can be permanently dismissed. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 89, you can turn off the warning “Disable developer mode extensions” by selecting the ‘Don’t show this again’ option.
• Manage your extensions from the toolbar. The new extensions menu on the toolbar will let you to hide/pin extensions easily. The quick links to manage extensions and find new extensions will make it easy for you to find new extensions and manage your existing ones.
• Support for natural language search on the address bar, history search page, and the history hub. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 89, finding an article/website will be easier with the natural language search on the address bar, history page, and history hub. Users can search for previously viewed page content/description/timing (such as “cake recipe from last week”) in addition to titles/URL keyword matches.

Productivity:

• Date of birth field now supported in autofill. Today Microsoft Edge helps you save time and effort while filling out forms and creating accounts online by auto filling your data like addresses, names, phone numbers, etc. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 89, we are adding support for another field that you can have saved and auto-filled – date of birth. You can view, edit and delete this information anytime in your profile settings.
• Extend autofill suggestions to include content from the clipboard. Clipboard content is parsed when you select a profile/address field (For example, phone, email, zip code, city, state, etc.) to show as autofill suggestions.
• Support blocking auto-playing video. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 89, users will have the option to block media from automatically playing.

If you’re a Beta Channel Insider, you can grab the update to Edge 89 now. The beta updates arrive on the heels of another robust release that saw Microsoft Edge get new themes and and performance improvements.

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Google vows to improve Meet and Zoom performance on Chromebooks

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced students and educators around the globe to adapt to a remote learning environment. As a result, tools like Meet and Zoom are an important part of everyday life. These services are only good, however, if they’re able to perform to expectations.

With Chromebooks often at the center of most education programs, Google on Thursday announced plans to improve the performance of these devices, so they can batter handle frequent video conferencing.

“These Chrome OS updates will help students run video calls at home while they’re using apps like Google Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides and other tools, regardless of the device or the strength of their internet connections,” Google said in a blog post.

With the performance updates, students will be able to more easily multitask. That means the performance of other apps won’t be bogged down while in a Meet call. Google said this applies to Meet’s more advanced features, like Grid View, which displays all participants in a call at once.

Google said that it’s also improving the camera and video feed performance in Chromebooks. It’s doing this by making sure that audio and video data doesn’t require any unnecessary processing.

Meet will also dynamically adjust based on what you’re doing. If you need to share you screen, for example, Meet’s video resolution or frame rate may be decreased slightly so video performance doesn’t suffer. And if your network speeds slow down—say it’s congested from multiple device connections—Meet will turn off some video feeds to make sure you’re not interrupted.

Similarly, Google said it has teamed up with Zoom engineers to improve the performance of the platform on Chromebooks. For example, Zoom will also dynamically adjust video performance depending on what’s going on.

Google has introduced several new improvements to Meet over the last few months that make remote learning less difficult. It introduced hand-raising, digital whiteboards, Q&A breakout rooms, and a virtual green room. These latest performance improvements to Chrome OS will ensure Meet is even better, hopefully allowing students and teachers to focus on learning, not  about the quality of their video chat.

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