Home workouts are here to stay – particularly yoga and pilates – but when we exercise outdoors, we’re increasingly willing to get soaked in mud. Those are the findings from the 2021 Garmin Connect Fitness report , which looks at trends in the various activities logged using its watches.
Garmin wearers logged more activities last year than ever before, but what’s really interesting is the type of workouts that were tracked.
We’ve been turning to home workouts over the last two years as gyms closed their doors, in-person events were cancelled, and countries went into lockdown. Even when things began to return to normal, many of us chose to play it safe and exercise in our living rooms.
The launch of Apple Fitness Plus in December 2020, plus advanced home exercise equipment like the Hydrow smart rowing machine made it easier to work up a sweat without leaving the house, but according to Garmin’s report, the indoor workouts that increased most in popularity were yoga and Pilates.
The number of yoga sessions tracked by Garmin wearers increased by 45.55%, while Pilates sessions more than doubled, increasing by 108.3%. This might be partly down to the fact that several of the company’s latest watches, including the Garmin Venu 2 , allow wearers to follow along with animated on-screen workouts.
Hitting the trails
When we do head outdoors though, it seems like we’re starting to get more adventurous, straying away from well-worn roads and developing a taste for mud. Garmin wearers logged 11.58% more trail running activities in 2021 than 2020, and 49.55% more gravel cycling sessions.
Cycling surged in popularity last year as people looked for a new way to get outdoors in the fresh air, and stores struggled to meet demand for both conventional and electric bikes . In the UK, retailers reported that sales were up 40% compared to the previous year.
It’s interesting that it wasn’t just casual weekend cruises, though. Gravel biking is a bridge between road cycling and mountain biking that covers both types of terrain, and this (together with the boost in trail running) suggests that we might be getting more adventurous with our cardio. It'll be interesting to see whether these trends continue in 2022, and if sports like ultra running and mountain biking start to pick up as well.
iPhone SE Plus: here's everything we know so far
The iPhone SE Plus is the ever-rumored, never-launched counterpart to Apple's compact SE series that we're starting to suspect may never show up.
This phone was rumored before the iPhone SE (2020) landed, and we've been hearing about it ever since then - and even though the iPhone SE (2022) is here, some people are still hoping it'll appear.
Admittedly rumors of this handset have slowed down over the years - maybe Apple gave up on the project, or thought it'd distract people from its flagship phones.
The iPhone SE Plus is, as the name suggests, an anticipated larger version of the rather small iPhone SE. It'd presumably have similar specs, but a screen that's a little larger than the 4.7-inch display used on the 2020 model of the iPhone SE.
So could the iPhone SE Plus still be coming? Well, never say never, though it's looking increasingly unlikely.
We haven't heard too much about this larger model of the mid-range handset – including why it's being released later than its smaller sibling. But we've gathered what we've heard below, along with a section about what we want to see.
Cut to the chase
IPhone SE Plus price and release date
We don't know when the iPhone SE Plus will come out, though rumors have suggested that the iPhone SE Plus is at least in the works.
Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimated we might not see the iPhone SE Plus until the second half of 2021, but that's now been and gone. Indeed, the latest leak points to a launch in 2022 .
Similarly, we haven't heard any official word on how much the iPhone SE Plus price.
Given the SE 2020 has a starting price tag of $399 / £419 / AU$749, which was lower than the latest official price of the iPhone 8 before it was discontinued , it wouldn't be too out of line to guess the SE Plus will be cheaper than the iPhone 8 Plus' last official price of $549 (£579, AU$949).
iPhone SE Plus rumors and leaks
The only real specs leak about the iPhone SE Plus so far suggests that it could have a 4.7-inch LCD display and 5G. Though we'd take that with a pinch of salt, as previously Apple has used 'Plus' to denote a larger display.
Beyond that, there are things we can intuit from the release of its possibly smaller sibling. The iPhone SE 2020 inherited its hardware (aside from chipset and RAM) from the iPhone 8, including its 4.7-inch LCD display at SD (1334x750) resolution.
By that notion, the iPhone SE Plus will likely have similar specs to the iPhone 8 Plus – getting a 5.5-inch FHD (1920x1080p) display that, while still LCD, is sharper than its smaller sibling.
Likewise, it will probably also inherit the iPhone 8 Plus' dual rear cameras: a 12MP wide and 12MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom. It can manage 4K video at 60fps, or 1080p HD at 30fps through the 7MP front-facing camera.
Having said that, the iPhone 8 Plus is a lot older now than it was when the iPhone SE (2020) came out, so we may well see more upgrades.
iPhone SE Plus: what we want to see
1. Multiple rear cameras
The big differentiator between the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus was the extra rear camera on the back of the latter, which produced stereoscopic images that could be combined to create a depth effect – thus enabling the first Portrait Mode photos. While the iPhone SE 2020 can pull off depth using software algorithms, doing so digitally produces more visual flaws than using two (or more) lenses to achieve it.
2. Better lenses and sensors
And hey, don’t stop at the iPhone 8’s two rear cameras – why not give us the better lenses and sensors on the iPhone 11 line to shoot better night photos? While the iPhone SE 2020 has the leading A13 Bionic chipset, its older camera tech keeps it from managing the same fantastic Night Mode photos taken on the new flagships.
3. Less bezel
Yes, yes, Apple seems to have kept costs down on theiPhone SE 2020 by recycling the hardware, display, and shell from the iPhone 8, but this has resulted in keeping the same thick chin, top, and bezel as the older models – which are extensive by today’s standards. Given most phones released today have very high screen-to-body ratios by stretching the display nearly completely around the front of the handset, it’s pretty rough to see the iPhone SE 2020 fail to live up to the times.
4. Bigger battery
The iPhone 8 Plus’s 2,691mAh battery was certainly larger than the iPhone 8’s 1,821mAh capacity, but we’re still not expecting any more than the three-year-old model in the new iPhone SE 2020 Plus. Given how many compromises the iPhone SE 2020 line has made to shave down costs (i inheriting virtually the same iPhone 8 design), we’d love to see some practical benefits – like more battery for your buck. We’ll settle for a faster 18W charger in the box, though.
5. 3.5mm jack
Okay, this one’s a pipe dream, but we’d love to get our 3.5mm jack back. One of the hardest things to lose from the iPhone 6S was the headphone port, especially since the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 kept the same physical dimensions, so it would be a great gesture to get this feature – which is present on many other mid-range phones.
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online in UK and abroad
Lucille and Cyril settle into married life, Derek and Audrey Fleming return to Poplar with wonderful news and Sister Monica Joan and Reggie fancy Sandie Shaw's chances at Eurovision, but amid the joy and jubilation something seismic is brewing. Read on as we explain below how to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online from anywhere in the world – and 100% FREE!
A disturbing discovery made during a demolition at a nearby tenement block thrusts Nonnatus House into darkness, as a subsequent police investigation stomps a trail that leads all the way back to the team.
Meanwhile - stop scratching! - Sister Hilda and Shelagh have their work cut out as they switch babies for scabies, a local epidemic breaking half of East London out in itches and sores, Sister Frances joins Dr Turner at the cytology clinic, and Trixie and Matthew continue to dance around the inevitable...
That's all alongside the usual helping of the miraculous, the mundane and the macabre that underpins a regular day for the nuns of Nonnatus House. Read on below as we break down how to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online from anywhere, and better yet, it's completely FREE to stream .
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online in the UK for FREE
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online from outside your country
If you're taking a vacation outside your country of residence, then sadly geo-blocking restrictions will stop you from streaming Call the Midwife season 11 online voa the service you'd usually watch it on.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution. By downloading a VPN – short for Virtual Private Network – you can alter your IP address to that of your country back home, and stream TV content that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Three simple steps to using a VPN to watch Call the Midwife:
1. Download and install a VPN - we recommend ExpressVPN
2. Connect to the relevant server location - launch the VPN app, click on 'choose location' and select the right location i UK for iPlayer
3. Head to the chosen broadcaster's live stream - in this case, head to BBC iPlayer
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online for FREE in the US
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online in Canada
How to watch Call the Midwife season 11 online in Australia for FREE