Ex-Oppo exec reveals new company OnePlus, plans to make ‘the perfect smartphone’
When Pete Lau resigned as VP of Chinese electronics maker Oppo, it was accompanied by rumors that he was going to build his own tech company. Well, whoever spread those rumors spoke the truth, because Lau has just announced a new venture called OnePlus that promises “to spare no expense” to build “the perfect smartphone.” The exec reveals very little on his announcement post other than his desire to make the “best possible product for users worldwide” — it didn’t even mention CyanogenMod, which is reportedly developing a phone with him. Our sources have told us, however, that Oppo will manufacture the company’s first device, signifying that Lau never burned bridges when he left. We’ll update you when we hear more details, but for now, you can let OnePlus know what you think makes a great phone on its forum.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Pete Lau (Google+), OnePlus, OnePlus Forum
Apple Launches New Holiday-Themed iPhone 5s Commercial
Apple today released a new television ad for the holidays, featuring the company’s flagship iPhone 5s capturing and sharing holiday memories in the form of a video shared over Apple’s AirPlay.
The song “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” plays in the background as the iPhone 5s is used to capture video of a family engaging in holiday activities like decorating Christmas cookies, participating in a snowball fight, and decorating a Christmas tree. Later in the commercial, the video footage is played back to the family over AirPlay.
Apple has not yet released an official version of the holiday ad on its YouTube channel, but the commercial can be seen in a video captured by a user and shared by 9to5Mac.
Apple historically releases a new video during each holiday season and in 2012, the company focused on the iPad and FaceTime. In 2011, the holiday commercial featured Santa using Siri on an iPhone 4s. While those previous videos were more product focused, the newest holiday ad focuses on iPhone users and the way their devices enhance their lives.
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Sprint adds 70 new LTE markets, bringing total to 300
Sprint continues to expand their LTE coverage nationwide. Today the Now Network announced the addition of 70 new LTE markets, bringing the total to 300. The announced cities are:
- Abbeville, LA
- Albany, GA
- Albertville, AL
- Amsterdam, NY
- Appleton, WI
- Augusta, GA
- Bartlesville, OK
- BigSpring, TX
- Birmingham, AL
- Boise City, ID
- Branson, MO
- Bremerton, WA
- Brunswick, GA
- Cedar Rapids, IA
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, GA
- Cookeville, TN
- Crowley, LA
- Danville, KY
- Daphne/Fairhope/Foley, AK
- Decatur, AL
- Destin, FL
- El Dorado/Magnolia, AR
- El Paso, TX
- Fargo, ND
- Florence/Muscle Shoals, AL
- Gaffney, SC
- Gloversville, NY
- Green Bay, WI
- Gulfport/Biloxi/Pascagoula, MS
- Hickory/Lenoir/Morganton, NC
- Huntsville, AL
- Jacksonville, NN
- Jamestown/Dunkirk/Fredonia, NY
- Kalamazoo/Portage, MI
- LaGrange, GA
- Lake City, FL
- Little Rock, AR
- London, KY
- Louisville, KY
- Lubbock, TX
- Madison, WI
- Manitowoc, WI
- Michigan City, IN
- Muskegon/Norton Shores, MI
- New Iberia, LA
- Orangeburg, SC
- Orlando, FL
- Ottawa, IL
- Panama City/Lynn Haven/Panama City Beach, FL
- Pullman, WA
- Racine, WI
- Richmond/Berea, KY
- Roanoke Rapids, NC
- Salem, OH
- San Diego, CA
- Schenectady/Troy, NY
- Searcy, AR
- Sebastian/Vero Beach, FL
- Shreveport/Bossier City, LA
- Somerset, KY
- St. Louis, MO
- St. Thomas/St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Starkville, MS
- Sumter, SC
- The Quad Cities (Bettendorf, IA; Davenport, IA; Rock Island, IL.; Moline, IL; and East Moline, IL)
- The Villages, FL
- Traverse City, MI
- Tuscaloosa, AL
- Twin Falls, ID
With the introduction of Sprint Spark (which utilizes LTE on 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz, and 2.5 GHz bands and can reach speeds of 60 Mbps), improved 3G, HD Voice, and now 300 LTE markets, Sprint is positioned well rolling into 2014. Does Sprint have LTE coverage in your town?
Source: Sprint Newsroom
Oppo Find 7 to Have a 2k Display!
It is now confirmed: the Oppo Find 7 will have a beautiful 2k display! This was confirmed by the very image you see above, which was just tweeted out by the Oppo Twitter handle. The image is more of a tease, but why not tease that 2560×1440 resolution?
Rumored specs of the Oppo Find 7 have also been floating around, and they are truly dazzling. To accompany that 2k display, the Find 7 might be sporting a Snapdragon 805 SoC, 3GB of RAM, and that will all be powered by a hefty 4,000mah battery. Sounds simply marvelous to me, and I am sure everyone out there would agree. If we find out anymore information about the Oppo Find 7, we will let you know. Also let us know your thoughts about the phone.
Source: @Oppo
Daily Roundup: Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet review, 3D printed speakers, Windows Phone 8.1 and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Dell Venue 8 Pro review
There aren’t many 8-inch Windows 8 tablets available, but Dell’s got a good one in the Venue 8 Pro. $300 gets you a quality screen, good battery life and a stylus, but does that value make it the tab for you? Read our full review to find out.
Windows Phone to get a notification center and personal assistant
Android has Google Now, iOS has Siri, and both have had notification trays for awhile. Now, it looks like Windows Phone will finally add similar features, too. Click through for the full story.
Cornell 3D prints a fully functioning speaker
Thus far the 3D printing revolution has yielded more knick knacks than useful things, but students from Cornell have made a fully function speaker using only additive manufacturing (and some wire, too).
‘Better Call Saul’ a Netflix exclusive in Europe, Latin America
Breaking Bad fans across the Atlantic and south of the border better get Netflix — turns out spin-off ‘Better Call Saul’ will be a Netflix exclusive in Europe and Latin America.
Must See HDTV (December 16th – 22nd)
Time is running out on 2013, and as the year comes to a close most of the high-profile TV shows are taking off on their winter break. This week we’re looking forward to individual releases of the classic Indiana Jones movies — due for a return to the big screen in a few years now that Disney/Lucasfilm has the rights — while another 80s favorite, Predator, returns in 3D-converted form. The process worked out pretty well for Top Gun 3D, but we’re thinking jungle foliage and camouflaged aliens may be a little tougher to deal with. Football fans have a slew of lower-tier championships and bowl games to deal with this week while gamers will see Minecraft on the PS3 and the first episode for the second season of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead. Check after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Blu-ray & Games
- Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (3D)
- The Lone Ranger
- Elysium
- One Direction: This is Us (3D)
- Kick-Ass 2
- Predator (3D)
- Justified (S4)
- Shameless (S3)
- The Family
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Beyonce: Life is But a Dream / Live in Atlantic City
- Prisoners
- Minecraft (PS3)
- The Walking Dead S2 Episode 1 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Monday
- Almost Human (fall finale), Fox, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- How I Met Your Mother (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
- 2 Broke Girls (fall finale), CBS, 8:30PM
- Ravens/Lions Monday Night Football, ESPN, 8:40PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- The Great Christmas Light Fight, ABC, 9PM
- Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
- Mike & Molly (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
- Mom (fall finale), CBS, 9:30PM
- The Sing-Off, NBC, 10PM
- Hostages, CBS, 10PM
Tuesday
- NCIS (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
- NCIS: LA (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
- Black Mirror (season finale), DirecTV, 9PM
- Boston’s Finest, TNT, 9PM
- The Voice (season finale), NBC, 9PM
- Person of Interest (fall finale), CBS, 10PM
- Marshal Law, TNT, 10PM
- Awkward (season finale), MTV, 10:30PM
- Trust Me, I’m A Game Show Host (season finale), TBS, 10 & 10:30PM
Wednesday
- The Sing-Off, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Main Event, Ion, 8PM
- The X Factor, Fox, 8PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
- Mob City (season finale), TNT, 9 & 10PM
- Nashville, ABC, 10PM
- American Horror Story, FX,10PM
- Key & Peele (season finale), Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 11PM
Thursday
- Bulls/Thunder, TNT, 8PM
- Spurs/Warriors, TNT, 10:30PM
- The Sing-Off, NBC, 8PM
- The X-Factor (season finale), Fox, 8PM
- Saturday Night Live Christmas, NBC, 9PM
- White Collar (fall finale), USA, 9PM
- Anger Management, FX, 9:30PM
- Ground Floor, TBS, 10PM
- Adam Devine’s House Party (season finale), Comedy Central, 12:30AM
Friday
- Betas, Amazon Prime Instant Video
- Alpha House, Amazon Prime Instant Video
- NCAA Division III football championship: Mount Union/UW Whitewater, ESPNU, 7PM
- The Carrie Diaries, CW, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Rockets/Pacers, ESPN, 8PM
- Hawaii Five-0 (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
- Nikita, CW, 9PM
- The Rolling Stones: Sweet Summer Sun, Showtime, 9PM
- Blue Bloods (fall finale), CBS, 10PM
- Comedy Bang! Bang! (season finale), IFC, 10PM
- Timberwolves/Lakers, ESPN, 10:30PM
- Birthday Boys (season finale), IFC, 10:30PM
Saturday
- NCAA Division II Football Championship Game: Lenoir Rhyne/Northwest Missouri State, ESPN2, 12PM
- New Mexico Bowl: Washington State/Colorado State, ESPN, 2PM
- Las Vegas Bowl: Fresno State/USC, ABC, 3:30PM
- NAIA Football Championship: Cumberlands/Grand View, ESPN3, 4:30PM
- Potato Bowl: Buffalo/San Diego State, ESPN, 5:30PM
- Cavaliers/Bulls, NBA TV, 8PM
- New Orleans Bowl: Tulane/Louisiana-Lafayette, ESPN, 9PM
- Atlantis, BBC America, 9PM
- NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, ESPN2, 9:30PM
- 24/7: Red Wings/Maple Leafs Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO, 10PM
- Saturday Night Live: Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake, NBC, 11:30PM
Sunday
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7:30PM
- Bears/Eagles football, NBC, 8:20PM
- Treme, HBO, 9PM
- Getting On, HBO, 10PM
- Betrayal, ABC, 10PM
- Ja’mie: Private School Girl, HBO, 10:30PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Clack-Clack FACE gives a typewriter new life as a text-based portrait painter
There’s something oddly romantic about taking a piece of archaic technology and giving it new life as a work of 21st century art. Take the Royal Empress typewriter you see above. This particular model was built in 1961 and eventually landed in the hands of Amanda Gelb as graduation gift. She and her fellow classmates, Jinyi Fu and Quingyuan Chen, looked at the hunk of aging metal and saw potential instead of an obsolete writing tool. For their installation at the ITP Winter Show, they wired up each of the keys to an Arduino for tracking what a user types, then paired that with a tiny projector that displays the letters on a sheet of paper wrapped around the platen.
The “face” part of the equation comes from the webcam mounted to the top of the typewriter case. It uses brightness to map a silhouette of the person sitting in front of it and fills only the darkened areas with letters, creating an ASCII portrait in real time. The code also automatically loops the letters you type, so even if you press only a single key the picture will appear. Of course, you could also type out a love letter or a quick blog post and the whole thing will be wrapped inside the confines of your outline. When you’re done, you can press the re-labeled print key and a laser printer spits out your portrait.
While there are already plenty of apps and sites out there that will automatically create ASCII versions of images, there’s something alluring about sitting in front of gorgeous piece of hardware and creating it live. Plus, there are few things in this world as satisfying as pressing down the stiff keys of an old typewriter, hearing the titular onomatopoeia and seeing the letter appear before you. Especially when you know you’re creating a work of art, even if you’re a terrible writer.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Qualcomm Employee: 64-Bit A7 Chip ‘Hit Us In The Gut’
Earlier this year, after Apple released the first 64-bit chip for smartphones, a Qualcomm spokesperson claimed the A7 processor was a “marketing gimmick” and that there is “zero benefit” to the consumer from the chip. Those comments were later walked back before the executive who made them was reassigned.
Now, Dan Lyons — the former Fake Steve Jobs and tech columnist — writes at HubSpot that the A7 chip “hit [Qualcomm] in the gut”, according to an unnamed Quallcomm employee.
“The 64-bit Apple chip hit us in the gut,” says the Qualcomm employee. “Not just us, but everyone, really. We were slack-jawed, and stunned, and unprepared. It’s not that big a performance difference right now, since most current software won’t benefit. But in Spinal Tap terms it’s like, 32 more, and now everyone wants it.”
[…]
“The roadmap for 64-bit was nowhere close to Apple’s, since no one thought it was that essential,” the Qualcomm insider says. “The evolution was going to be steady. Sure, it’s neat, it’s the future, but it’s not really essential for conditions now.”
But once Apple introduced a 64-bit processor, all the other phone-makers wanted one too. “Apple kicked everybody in the balls with this. It’s being downplayed, but it set off panic in the industry.”
Since the launch of the iPhone 5s, Apple has gone on to put its flagship A7 64-bit processor in the latest iPad and iPad mini models, in addition to the iPhone 5s.
Both Samsung and Qualcomm have announced that their future smartphone processors will be 64-bit. For Apple, though many apps will not take advantage of the increased speed of the A7 processor, some apps — Djay and Vjay for example — do see significant speed improvements with the new processor.
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Booq Viper Hardcase 11 slim travel case for your Chromebook [Review]
While we are an Android site, we also have a number of other Google products. Chromebooks being one of them. We also know many of our Android constituents also have Chromebooks, so this still fits into our realm of coverage. Keeping our Chromebooks safe and secure during travel is just as important as keeping our phones and tablets safe. Booq has quite the nice little slim travel case to help you on your journeys, the Viper hardcase 11.
The Overview
Im sure some of you are loving the photo above. Yes, this is created and marketed for a MacBook Air (is listed for Chromebooks online too), but works just as good for the Acer Chromebook and anything else that is similar in size. Heck, it would be a great product for your tablets too. The Viper hardcase has a number of features that make it more than just another zipper case product to tote around.
The outer casing is 1680-denier ballistic nylon with a water-repellant coating. That doesn’t mean you can dunk the whole thing underwater, but it will give you some protection for those trips through the rain or those accidental spills.
The case zips up with two long-lasting YKK premium zippers. It is nice to have the dual zipper function. All too often you find a single zipper product and always end up looking on the wrong side first. It isn’t a critical addition, but a nice one none the less.
Inside you have a series of neoprene pockets. On the left is where you can slip your Chromebook or tablet. On the right you have 3 pockets. Two smaller ones for battery packs, pens, business cards, power cord or whatever. Behind that you have another full size pocket to slip a magazine or some important documents if you need to keep them handy and safe as well.
What we think of the Viper Hardcase 11 by booq
An Acer Chromebook fits just fine inside and I was able to pack in the charging cord. However, it did feel ‘bloated’ a little bit. The exterior hard shell is flexible and bends. While it is technically a hard shell, I wouldn’t beat on it with a hammer. After all, the MacBook Air is 0.68″ and the Acer Chromebook is 1.09″. Just shy of double its thickness. This is clearly made for the the Samsung Chromebook which is much thinner and comes in at 17.5mm (0.68in). That is MacBook Air size.
The look and feel of the Viper is nice. There is a leather binding cover on the fold with the booq branding and makes it look a little more professional. The three raised bumps on either side of the covers gives the whole thing a rugged look and displaces pressure when setting on a flat surface. I poured some water over it to make sure no liquid penetrated the outer shell and am pleased to say the interior was dry.
It does have one very important component missing in my book that would make this a real hit. There is absolutely no handle. That may or may not be important you, but it is to me. While I can zip my Chromebook or tablet inside and toss it inside the laptop bag for double protection, it would make life a bit easier if there was a simple little handle on the back binding or a double strap type that was attached to either side of the flips and folded over the zipper area.
Overall
If you are looking for a slimmer, but safer, way to transport you Chromebook, tablet or other similar sized tech devices, the Viper Hardcase 11 is a pretty great little addition to your life. Even missing a handle it beats carrying things around without it. You can pick up a booq Viper Hardcase 11 directly though booq if you choose. They are also available on Amazon
Google reportedly testing smart thermostats in ‘EnergySense’ program
Google called it quits on a smart thermostat two years ago, but it looks like the company couldn’t resist circling back to the idea. According to two of The Information’s sources and a document reviewed by the outlet, Mountain View has been conducting a trial of Internet-connected thermostats to help users keep tabs on their energy use and adjust accordingly. As part of a project reportedly dubbed EnergySense, the hardware itself seems to be created by a third party such as Ecobee. While Ecobee CEO Stuart Lombard says the firm isn’t working with Google, he adds the search giant could still be using its hardware.
Page and Co.’s effort isn’t intended to compete directly with Nest, according to one of the chatty people familiar with the matter. It’s said that Google’s goal is to toy with making the energy grid more efficient and build applications and services with the data it collects. Non-employees are apparently being enlisted as “Trusted Testers” to give the service a whirl in St. Louis, Missouri and potentially other areas. There’s no scuttlebutt regarding when the pilot might make it to primetime, so a Nest will just have to do for now.
[Original image credit: Stephanie Conrad, Flickr]
Filed under: Household, Google
Source: The Information
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