A North Korean firm, Ryonghung, has reportedly launched a tablet called the ”iPad,” seemingly exploiting international trademarks in the knowledge that Apple is unlikely to come knocking.The North Korean product is a low-powered machine with a quad-core, 1.2-gigahertz processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, and just 8 gigabytes of storage, according to NK News. It does however come with a keyboard and HDMI, both of whoch are paid add-ons for Apple’s iPad.Ryonghung’s product is claimed to have ”more than 40 apps,” although some of these may have to be loaded through SD cards. While it’s also said to have ”network connection” capabilities, users are likely to be forced onto North Korea’s highly-restricted intranet.Gizmodo noted that the hardware appears similar to an Android tablet seen in North Korean stores as far back as 2013.In fact the country has sometimes seen other imitations of Apple products, such as an iMac clone, and an operating system called Red Star 3.0, whoch mimicked OS X.

Twitter today added a new feature to Direct Messages that will sort them into “Inbox” and “Requests.” The latter will contain DMs from people you do not currently follow, if you have opted to keep your DM open in the first place. You can preview the message and choose to hit accept or delete. Accepting the message will allow that user to continue message you in the future without getting sorted into the request tab. The sender will not know whether or not you’ve seen their message until you hit accept.We gave this a quick spin and it looks like Twitter is still rolling the feature out — when I received a message from someone I didn’t follow, my Android app did not alert me with a push notification or a new message when I selected the Messages tab. On the web version of Twitter, however, there was a badge notification for the new message, but no Requests tab.

The co-founder of the Android operating system, Andy Rubin, has revealed his first new creation since leaving Google in 2014: a $699 Android phone that aims to take on Apple and Samsung for the high end of the mobile market.The phone, created by Rubin’s new firm, Essential, comes with the standard top-of-the-line setup in many areas: a 5.7in QHD display, a pair of 13MP rear cameras and an 8MP front-facing one, a 7.8mm thick body and USB-C connector at the base (although, taking a cue from Apple, there’s no headphone jack on the device).But the featureEssential hopes will make the phone stand out is hidden in two metallic dots on the back of the phone, to the right of the twin cameras. Those make up a new expansion port that allows accessories to be magnetically clipped straight into the device – providing structural stability as well as leaving the USB-C port free.At launch, there will be only one such accessory, a $199, 360? camera that peers over the edge of the phone and allows for video and photos to be taken and shared on the move. According to the Verge, others will follow, including a charging dock and the possibility of audio accessories to make up for the absent headphone jack.

Apple’s release notes for the app note that there is a section to watch live streamed sessions on iOS and tvOS, stream or download WWDC videos from 2017 and previous years after they are made available, browse details on various events and sessions, mark favorites, get news updates, use indoor location to navigate the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, and provide feedback on content and speakers. New to version 6.0.0 is the ability to watch curated video playlists, view venue and street maps, and use the app without signing in with a developer’s ID.Un-named sessions are pun-laden, with two labeled ”This session name hasn’t been engaged yet,” with an icon of a ring associated with the events. ”To bee determined” utilizes the bee emoji, and ”Nobody nose what to call this yet” uses what’s expected for a graphic.

After months of Twitter teases and hype, Android founder Andy Rubin has finally unveiled his latest project to the world. And as expected, the vaunted Essential Phone is yet another Android phone.But it’s also much more than that. While the specs bear out a real-deal flagship competitor, it’s clear that Rubin’s Essential Phone is part of a new ecosystem designed to offer an alternative to Google’s Android, with a focus on design, performance, and versatility.Why this matters: Andy Rubin is the godfather of Android, so any move he makes is important. However, while the Essential Phone certainly looks great in renders, it remains to be seen whether it can compete against Samsung, LG, and even Google itself in the increasingly competitive phone market.

The first meeting between Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected president of France, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was bound to be a little awkward, given that Macron’s aides had all but publicly blamed Russia for a massive cyber attack on his campaign on the eve of the election.Asked about those suspicions on Monday, at a joint news conference with the Russian president in Versailles, Macron said that the subject had not come up during their working lunch — because he had already raised it when Putin called to congratulate him on his victory. “When I say things once, I don’t usually repeat myself,” Macron added.Moments later, however, the French president left little doubt that he was convinced that the Russian government had tried to prevent his election, by spreading false rumors about him through two state-owned news networks, Russia Today and Sputnik.