Revamped MacBook Pros are rumoured to arrive this summer, Google details the upcoming Android 12 operating system along with several other new features, and is Canada in line to be the next Silicon Valley?
It’s all the tech news that’s got people buzzing right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, May 19 and I’m your host Alex Coop.
Apple plans to launch redesigned versions of the 14 inch and 16 inch MacBook Pro Models. The new models will also feature a 10-core M1X/M2 chip and could be released as early as this summer according to Bloomberg. The redesigned MacBooks will also feature more ports for connecting external devices and chargers as well as the return of SD card slots and HDMI ports. For anyone interested in upgrading their MacBook, this summer may be the time to do it. [Twitter]
Google crammed a ton of hot news into its developer-focused I/O annual event yesterday. Highlights included future quantum compute initiatives, new AI speech and image processing capabilities, as well as a slew of improvements to familiar apps like Google Photos, Maps, and Assistant. For most people, the Android 12 updates were what caught their attention. Android 12 will launch this fall with a fresh UI that features Material You, a new design approach that dynamically adjusts scaling, colour, and animation for a totally personalized digital space. Android 12 will also come with improved privacy settings like a system-wide camera and mic toggle, a privacy dashboard, and Google’s Private Compute Core for performing AI tasks locally.
Is Canada in line to be the next Silicon Valley? Venture Capitalist Chris Albinson tackles the idea in the Globe and Mail. He notes that Canada is home to the world’s third-most productive ecosystem. From 2013 to 2019, 80,000 tech jobs were created in the Toronto and Waterloo corridor alone, exceeding San Francisco, Washington, Seattle, and D.C. combined. And if that isn’t evidence enough, Canada has had a net gain of 5,000 STEM workers in the past year. It is, however, worth noting Canada’s struggles to produce unicorns and its inability to crack the top 20 on Bloomberg’s innovation index.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Friday at 3 pm. Thanks for listening.
