Huawei P8 could be unveiled during the company’s April 15 event
Several leaks have told us about the Huawei P8 smartphone, which is expected to be the company’s next major flagship. The Chinese manufacturer has partially confirmed the arrival of this handset by scheduling an event for the 15th of April, which is in less than month from now.
The event will be held in London at 3PM (11AM EDT, 8AM PDT). The schedule suggests that the event will go on for an hour and a half, so we don’t think there will be much else on the agenda apart from the new flagship.
The launch of the smartphone in London tells us about the company’s intentions to make a mark as a global OEM rather than limiting itself to just the Asian markets. Huawei is also expected to launch a Nexus smartphone this year, so it’s understandable as to why the company would want to project such an image of itself.
Rumors and leaks in the past have suggested that the Huawei Ascend P8 will pack a 5.2 inch 1080p display with a unique ceramic unibody design, the company’s Kirin 930 octa core SoC, 3GB of RAM, dual 13-megapixel cameras, Android 5.0 Lollipop and a 2,600 mAh battery.
Source: GSMInfo.nl – Translated
Via: GSM Arena
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The ‘world’s smallest’ 3D-printed drill is powered by a hearing aid
We’ve seen teeny-tiny 3D printers before, and now we’re getting pint-sized creations to match. An ingenious engineer from New Zealand set out to make the world’s smallest cordless drill, and the result is pretty remarkable. The tiny tool measures just 17mm tall, 13mm long and 7.5mm wide, with a 0.5mm twist drill that can pierce soft objects. Creator Lance Abernethy designed the outer shell in Onshape with a regular drill for reference, before printing it with his trusty Ultimaker 2 3D printer. It’s powered by a hearing aid battery and connected with wiring stripped from a headphone cable. The hardest part, unsurprisingly, was assembling all of the parts inside, because the wires kept breaking off and threatening to short-circuit the battery. Needless to say Abernethy pulled through, giving Borrowers everywhere an ideal power tool for their next home renovation.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Motherboard
Source: 3Dprint.com
Apple Watch Band Adapters Begin Hitting Crowdfunding Sites Ahead of Next Month’s Launch
The Apple Watch is still several weeks away from making its official debut, but that hasn’t stopped dozens of inventors from coming up with accessories for the device, and many of those ideas are showing up on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Along with charging stands, band adapters are a popular category for crowdfunding campaigns, and several different projects have been started with the hope of creating solutions that will allow the Apple Watch to be used with third-party watch bands.
Earlier this month, we covered the Click Apple Watch band adapter, showing off a 3D printed prototype, and now that project has been further developed and launched on Kickstarter. Click is a band adapter aiming to make most 22mm watch bands compatible with the Apple Watch.
Rendering of the Click adapter design
Click is a simple adapter that slides into the grooves of the Apple Watch, much like one of Apple’s own watch bands. It supports several different pin styles, including spring bars, T-bars, and quick release bars, promising to give Apple Watch users more band options at an affordable price. It will come in two sizes and four finishes, to match all of the Apple Watch casings.
Click adapter prototype in 3D printed Apple Watch
Until now, there has been no affordable way to customize the bands on your Apple Watch. The current selection is small and very expensive. We want you to be able to express yourself in every situation, because you shouldn’t have to change for your watch; your watch should complement you. With Click, you can truly personalize your Apple Watch without breaking the bank.
Another Apple Watch band adapter also promises to let users wear their Apple Watches with existing watch bands. The Adappt is very similar to the Click, but Adappt is pairing its adapter with watch bands in addition to selling it separately. Like the Click, it slides into the Apple Watch band groove on one side and the second side features a standard pin that’s used by most watch bands.
Rendering of Adappt Apple Watch adapter
Adappt will be available in plastic, anodized aluminum, stainless and gold plated steel, in colors to match each Apple Watch, and it will be available in two sizes.
Rendering of Adappt Apple Watch adapter color options
Thanks to high quality materials, Adappt will match perfectly your Apple Watch. Our aluminum is anodized through an electro-chemical process that creates a porous surface, then coated with a dye, to look and feel exactly like the Sport edition versions, Silver and Space Grey Aluminum.
Adappt’s bands will come in rubber, leather, metal, and are priced very reasonably at $9 to $18, adapter included.
The Adappt band was actually launched previously on Kickstarter as the Standap and later removed, leading many to believe that its disappearance was at the behest of Apple, but it appears that Apple has not yet taken a stance on these types of adapters that will allow the Apple Watch to work with any band.
In the weeks leading up to the Apple Watch launch, we’ll undoubtedly see additional band adapters and other accessories designed for the device. The Apple Watch will become available on April 24, but it will be available for pre-order and in-store try on beginning April 10.
The Click Apple Watch band adapter is priced at $10 for early backers, with delivery set for May 2015. Later backers will need to pay up to $30 for a June 2015 delivery.
The Adappt Apple Watch band adapter starts at $7 for a plastic version, and goes up to $250 for a gold plated version. Adapters and bands from Adappt will ship in June of 2015.
TAG Heuer and Intel announce Swiss Smartwatch for 2015
TAG Heuer and Intel on Thursday announced that the two would collaborate on an Android Wear powered Swiss Smartwatch to be sold later this year. Unfortunately, the details stop right about there and we’re left to guess as to what the endeavor entails. However, given Tag Heuer’s track record of quality and luxury, we’re incredibly anxious… Read more »
The post TAG Heuer and Intel announce Swiss Smartwatch for 2015 appeared first on SmarterWatching.
Source: SmarterWatching
The post TAG Heuer and Intel announce Swiss Smartwatch for 2015 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
O2 made a Windows Phone case out of grass and recycled parts
O2 Recycle, a division of UK-based carrier O2 that buys old smartphones for cash , has created a case for a Windows Phone made out of grass and recycled phone parts, along with wood for the phone’s buttons. The grass came from the pitch at Twickenham Stadium, which hosts the England Rugby Team.
How to access your music collection from OneDrive with Xbox Music
In case you missed it, Microsoft has started allowing Xbox Music users to store personal music collection on OneDrive. You can add your MP3s to OneDrive and play them on your PC, phone, and Xbox. It’s really simple. Upload your music files to the new “Music” folder in OneDrive and that music will magically appear in the Xbox Music apps for Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, as well as on your Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Watch our how-to video for more details.
Android Auto is finally here, official app is now available in Google Play
After nearly a year from it’s official introduction, Android Auto is finally available. Last week brought the first 3rd party head unit from Pioneer Electronics, but with no official app, it was unusable.
Today, Google released the Android Auto app which is necessary in order to bring Auto compatible apps to your dash. All developers needs to do is add the necessary code to their apps, and they can be viewed and controlled from your car’s dash. Now that the app is official, we should start seeing more apps get integrated over the new few weeks. We will also see more head units available from Kenwood and Parrot, as well as other car manufacturers like Audi and Volkswagen.
It’s important to note that Android Auto only works with Android 5.0+ devices, which at this moment in time, is less than 5% of you. However, that number will pick up once the Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 get released early next month.
Are you jumping on the Android Auto bandwagon?
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Samsung starts pushing out Lollipop OTA in France
The South Korean multinational conglomerate company that is Samsung has just started pushing out the much-anticipated, eagerly-awaited Lollipop update to all unlocked models of the Note 4 located in France. This 1.3GB upgrade transports the latest build of the Android operating system to the handset, in addition to a handful of bug fixes, stability improvements and speed optimizations.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Material Design: You will quickly notice a whole new colorful look and feel to your device – from fluid animations to new application and system themes, colors and widgets.
- Notifications UI & Priorities: In order to alert you to the most timely and relevant information, the format and behavior of notifications have evolved:
- notifications will appear on the lock screen and are intelligently ranked by type and who sent them.
- you double-tap to open one, swipe left or right to clear one, or clear all notifications from the bottom of the list.
- you can set the priority and privacy of notifications for each application.
- very high priority notifications will pop up briefly over other applications so that you can take action.
- when you dismiss a notification on one device it will be dismissed on your other Android devices, if they are connected to the Internet.
- you can further tailor how notifications behave with the new Downtime and Ambient Display settings (see below).
- New Interruptions & Downtime Settings: You can tailor how interruptions behave, choosing to allow all, none, or only priority interruptions. You can personalize what counts as a priority interruption (reminders, events, calls, messages) and even tailor them to be from only contacts you specify. The Downtime setting will allow only priority interruptions during the times and days that you specify. e.g. allow only priority interruptions on the weekend.
- Recent Apps (Multi-tasking): The redesigned Overview space (formerly called Recents) will include both applications and separate activities within those applications. For instance, each open tab in Chrome will also appear here along with recent applications; both your Gmail Inbox and a draft email message will appear as separate cards. This provides a consistent way to switch amongst tasks.
- Flashlight: Lollipop includes a new flashlight option as part of Quick settings (swipe down with two fingers from the status bar to see it).
- Pin a view/app: Screen pinning allows you to keep a specific app or screen in view. For example, you can ‘pin’ a game and your child will not be able to navigate anywhere else on your phone.
- Battery: The Battery settings panel now shows an estimated projection for how much time you have left while discharging or charging. You can also enable a new battery saver mode that will save power by reducing performance and most background data operations to extend your battery life.
- Smarter Internet Connections: With Android Lollipop, your phone will not connect to a Wi-Fi access point unless there is a verified Internet connection. This feature improves hand-offs between Wi-Fi and cellular connections, helping to maintain your video chat or voice-over-IP (VoIP) call as you switch.
- Performance: Your phone now uses the new Android Runtime to help optimize application performance. After upgrading to Lollipop, your applications will undergo a one-time optimization process. Note that the optimization for ART requires more space.
- Security: Encryption can now use a stronger 256-bit key to help protect your data. Note that the stronger key willonly be used after you perform a factory reset on Android Lollipop. Otherwise encryption will continue to use 128-bit key. You can turn on encryption in the Security settings menu.
To start the update, make sure you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Then, from the home screen, press the Menu key, followed by Settings. Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘About Device’, followed by ‘Software Update and ‘Update Now’.
Thanks, Sean!
Come comment on this article: Samsung starts pushing out Lollipop OTA in France
Android Device Manager now supports Android Wear
Google has announced that it is updating its Android Device Manager with support for Android Wear smartwatches, offering additional protection in the case of lost or stolen devices.
The Android Device Manager allows users to track the location of, make ring, lock and even erase all of the data on their Android device, providing that it is switched on. Which is useful if you’re a tad forgetful and offers you some level of data protection if your technology is stolen.
The update to the system will allow for wearable devices to help locate your other Android products. For example, if you misplace your phone but still have your watch on your wrist, you can use Android Wear to help find your phone. Just say “Ok Google. Find my phone” or select ‘Find my phone’ from the start menu and your smartphone will ring at full volume.
This feature is not active on all Android Wear devices yet, but will be rolling out to all wearables within the next few weeks. Users won’t need to download an update or do anything else with their watch to receive the new features, other than sit tight.
If you would like a closer look at how to setup and use the Android Device Manager, check out our in-depth guide here.
OnePlus teases a new “game changing” device that will launch in April
OnePlus has certainly made a name for itself over the past year, whether that comes from the company’s “flagship killer“, marketing mishaps, or controversial invite system. It’s next big adventure seems to be on its way soon, thanks to a new teaser outed on the official OnePlus forums. In the forum post, the spokesperson from OnePlus explains that the company’s next product is “not a smartwatch, and not a tablet. But it is a game changer”.
Three teaser images were included in the post, the first of which is attached above. In the first image, we’re seeing some sort of sensor, but we don’t have many details beyond that. It could suggest that this new device will include a type of camera sensor, but that’s a pretty broad guess.
The next image shows the OnePlus logo drawn in a trail of two red lights. This might suggest we’ll see some type of motion tracking technology, similar to what we see on the Nintendo Wii.
The last image from the forum post (attached below) shows a pair of hands that look like they’re holding a controller. This could imply an Xbox Kinect-type system, where a motion sensor tracks your every move.
Whatever it is, we’ll need to wait until April to hear more from OnePlus. What do you think it is? Is it a set-top box that can track your movements? Or could it be a simple controller for mobile games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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