Build your own Xperia: How would you improve the Sony Xperia Z4?
Earlier this week, Sony quietly took the veil off of the Sony Xperia Z4, showcasing a device that essentially was nothing more than a Z3 with slightly upgraded internals. The new handset has been meet with some pretty stong opinions, with our own team expresing at least some degree of disappointment, even if the Z4 might make sense for the Japanese market. Since then, there have been reports that the Xperia Z4 as wis exclusively for the Japanese market and that the company’s next global flagship may significantly differ in design (and perhaps even specs).
Regardless of what Sony may have in store, as it sits, the Sony Xperia Z4 isn’t much of an upgrade. With this in mind, we ask our readers: how would you improve the Sony Xperia Z4? Let’s say you had been put in charge of designing the Sony Xperia Z4, what specs would you have focused on, what special features?
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So now that you have your display size, let’s choose the resolution. Some say that 1080p is the ideal resolution choose as it’s not too heavy on the battery, and arguably QHD really doesn’t add any detectable difference.. at least not considering the hit to the battery that the phone takes as a result.
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Onto the processing package:
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Alright, so you have the basics. What about some of the special features several other OEMs are currently using — include them or no?
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While HTC and Sony produced flagships that were highly reminiscent of their predecessors, Samsung received quite a bit of positive attention for switching things up with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Would you follow Samsung’s lead and bring a dramatic new look, or keep things status quo?
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Camera time.
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Onto the battery:
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Last but not least, let’s talk software:
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Obviously there are more features and elements that go into the design of a phone. With that in mind, we welcome you to detail your opinion in the comments about the Z4, Sony’s current mobile direction, and hw you’d change things up. Any options or features we should have mentioned in the poll but didn’t? Let us know about those too.
Facebook tweaks its News Feed to show you more from your friends
If you’re like me, your News Feed on Facebook is filled with just as much content from brands as it is updates about your classmate’s vacation. Based on feedback, the folks in Menlo Park are changing the way it handles updates from your pals. Posts made directly by your friends will now display closer to the top of the News Feed — things like status updates, pictures, videos and more. Thankfully, you’ll also see less of the notifications about a friend liking or commenting on another post, too. Facebook is relaxing the rule that prevented you from seeing multiple items in a row from the same person as well, so if you’re after more from people and not companies, you should start seeing an increase in those posts soon. The social network announced an effort to cut down on the number of hoaxes in your feed earlier a couple months ago, so the next round of tweaks can’t be far off.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Facebook
Source: Facebook
Tesla will reveal a battery for your home at its April event
You don’t have to wonder any longer as to what Tesla will unveil at its April 30th event — the company just spoiled things in advance. In an email to investors, the company states that its shindig will reveal both a previously-teased battery for your home and a “very large,” utility-oriented battery. Details aren’t forthcoming (those are for the big show!), but there’s a good chance that the hardware will build on the concepts behind existing home batteries, which are often used to store excess solar power and provide backups during outages. The real questions are whether or not Tesla can improve on personal powerplants like it did electric cars, and how much you’ll pay versus the competition. You’ll likely get the answers to both riddles in just over a week.
Filed under: Household
Via: John Paczkowski (Twitter)
Source: Bloomberg
New Adobe Lightroom update brings DNG raw file, MicroSD card and tablet support
Just a few days after Adobe pledged to bring better support to its Creative Cloud service on Android, the company has pushed out a new update to its Lightroom app for Android. The update brings a number of important editing features for folks who need more granular controls over their photos.
To start, Adobe added support for DNG raw files in the Android app. This means you can now shoot photos in raw, save them as DNG files, and import the files directly from your Android device. You’ll unfortunately need to be on a device running Android 5.0 Lollipop to take advantage of this new feature, and you’ll also need an Adobe Creative Cloud account to access your photos.
Adobe has also added in support for MicroSD cards, allowing you to store large files externally rather than having them take up tons of room on your device memory. In addition to these two new improvements, Lightroom is now compatible with Android tablets. We’re sure these are welcome changes to anyone who uses Lightroom on mobile.
The update is now live in the Play Store, so head to the link below to grab the newest version.
AT&T’s HTC One M9 gets software update to improve camera
Between last year’s One (M8) and this year’s One M9, we know an area that HTC has yet to master: the camera. However, the issues experienced with the One M9’s camera seem to be somewhat fixable through a software update. Right now, owners of the device operating through AT&T are receiving a software update that “camera improvements.” No further details were provided aside from the inclusion of thermal improvements and the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Let us know in the comments how you are handling the camera after this software update.
Source: HTC
Come comment on this article: AT&T’s HTC One M9 gets software update to improve camera
Hotel Tonight gets Material Design-inspired makeover
Hotel Tonight is the latest app to step into the world of Material Design interfaces. The newest update to the hotel-booking app brings bold colors with a flattened design and sleek interface, ditching the older style in favor of tabs and pull-out menus. It’s even sporting a new app icon.
Of course, the update isn’t all about the looks. You’ll also get rate tracking features for keeping up with how much hotels cost, and the option to get daily notifications about price changes and hotel availability.
source: Hotel Tonight
Come comment on this article: Hotel Tonight gets Material Design-inspired makeover
1,500 iOS apps are vulnerable to an HTTPS-crippling bug
According to analytics service SourceDNA, nearly 1,500 iPhone and iPad apps currently available in the App Store include a bug that breaks HTTPS. This could leave users’ sensitive personal information exposed to hackers. Analysts have identified an out-of-date version of open-source code library AFNetworking as the source of the vulnerability. The library itself has already been patched, however, many apps are still using the older, insecure version. “We tested the app on a real device and, unexpectedly, we found that all the SSL traffic could be regularly intercepted through a proxy like Burp without any intervention,” researchers Simone Bovi and Mauro Gentile wrote in March.
It should be noted, however, that this vulnerability does not break security system-wide. Instead, it poses an issue when a vulnerable app is active. That is, if you have the Alibaba.com app running (which is vulnerable), only the data that you send through that app will be at risk; the information you send using, say, the eBay app or via the Amazon website will still be secure. SourceDNA analyzed the binary code of every free app, as well as the top 5,000 paid ones, to assemble its list. The company has also released a search tool to help users see if their favorite apps are affected. Hopefully all this added attention will incite developers to patch their programs, though as of yesterday, about 1,500 apps remain at risk.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: SourceDNA
The ‘Journey’ game soundtrack will be available on vinyl
Sony and Thatgamecompany are proud that Journey‘s soundtrack was good enough to make it the first game nominated for a Grammy — so proud, in fact, that they’re releasing the score on vinyl. Spend $35 and you’ll get a double LP of Austin Wintory’s original score for the music-driven adventure, complete with art on each side of both discs. You’ll have to wait until August to start listening, although you can get a $60 limited edition print of the album art this June. Is this overkill for a game that you can easily finish in an afternoon? Quite possibly, but it’s a testament to how soundtracks like this are increasingly finding relevance beyond your console.
Source: PlayStation Blog, iam8bit
Terrafugia’s flying car project is still a couple of years away
Terrafugia’s car/plane hybrid has been “coming soon” for nearly a decade and it will stay that way a bit longer. The Transition vehicle has come a long way since those early renders, and in a talk today Terrafugia COO / VP of Engineering Kevin Colburn explained some of the design decisions involved and what else need to happen before pilots/drivers can climb in. The estimated price seems to have climbed a bit from the $279,000 projection, as he said the company is targeting between $300k and $400k. At that price it’s not going to replace your (or anyone’s) daily driver, but that’s not the point. Terrafugia believes that being able to drive the plane from the airport to one’s destination is enough to give it an advantage over other small planes or forms of travel.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rs8oqYU0YT0?rel=0
The second gen Transition prototypes that first took flight in 2013 have racked up over 100 hours in the air already, and according to Colburn it’s not doing flight testing anymore, just focusing on testing the drivetrain. To keep weight down Terrafugia opted for a belt-driven CVT, hooked up to a 4-stroke 4 cylinder, 100hp, 140lb engine that runs on premium unleaded gasoline, not aviation fuel. That’s enough power and fuel efficiency to give it about a 450-mile flying range. While NHTSA has classified the Transition as a recreational vehicle (technically it does go off-road, just not in the way that usually means), one of Terrafugia’s challenges is getting an exemption so it can be sold as a light sport aircraft.
Despite all those weight saving decisions (and extensive use of carbon fiber in the frame), it still has to be crashworthy as an automobile. It’s over the LSA weight limit, and doesn’t quite meet the stall speed requirements, but it does pack a full-plane parachute, which Terrafugia says should count for something. Despite those hurdles, parts for the promised third-gen plane are being built now, and the plan is for it to go into production (built in-house in limited quantities, even with just the pre-orders it will be backed up for a while) and have keys handed over to the first owner in two year. That’s fine of course, we’re just waiting for the Transition to come out so Terrafugia can focus on its planned followup — the TF-X plug-in hybrid EV that will take off vertically and be able to land itself.
Filed under: Transportation
Terrafugia’s flying car project is still a couple of years away
Terrafugia’s car/plane hybrid has been “coming soon” for nearly a decade and it will stay that way a bit longer. The Transition vehicle has come a long way since those early renders, and in a talk today Terrafugia COO / VP of Engineering Kevin Colburn explained some of the design decisions involved and what else need to happen before pilots/drivers can climb in. The estimated price seems to have climbed a bit from the $279,000 projection, as he said the company is targeting between $300k and $400k. At that price it’s not going to replace your (or anyone’s) daily driver, but that’s not the point. Terrafugia believes that being able to drive the plane from the airport to one’s destination is enough to give it an advantage over other small planes or forms of travel.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rs8oqYU0YT0?rel=0
The second gen Transition prototypes that first took flight in 2013 have racked up over 100 hours in the air already, and according to Colburn it’s not doing flight testing anymore, just focusing on testing the drivetrain. To keep weight down Terrafugia opted for a belt-driven CVT, hooked up to a 4-stroke 4 cylinder, 100hp, 140lb engine that runs on premium unleaded gasoline, not aviation fuel. That’s enough power and fuel efficiency to give it about a 450-mile flying range. While NHTSA has classified the Transition as a recreational vehicle (technically it does go off-road, just not in the way that usually means), one of Terrafugia’s challenges is getting an exemption so it can be sold as a light sport aircraft.
Despite all those weight saving decisions (and extensive use of carbon fiber in the frame), it still has to be crashworthy as an automobile. It’s over the LSA weight limit, and doesn’t quite meet the stall speed requirements, but it does pack a full-plane parachute, which Terrafugia says should count for something. Despite those hurdles, parts for the promised third-gen plane are being built now, and the plan is for it to go into production (built in-house in limited quantities, even with just the pre-orders it will be backed up for a while) and have keys handed over to the first owner in two year. That’s fine of course, we’re just waiting for the Transition to come out so Terrafugia can focus on its planned followup — the TF-X plug-in hybrid EV that will take off vertically and be able to land itself.
Filed under: Transportation
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