Comcast’s 4K set-top box is coming later this year
Comcast is going 4K in a big way this year. The much-hated cable giant just announced that it’ll be rolling out a new version of its Xfinity X1 set top box later this year that will bring 4K programming to even more of its customers. So far, Comcast has only made its Xfinity 4K offering available to Samsung 4K TVs. Comcast is calling its new set-top box the Xi4, and while we don’t have any pictures of it yet, it will likely resemble the company’s existing X1 box (above). Come 2016, Comcast also plans to launch another version of the box that supports high dynamic range video, which should deliver some much needed contrast and color improvements. You can expect “hundreds” of 4K titles on Comcast’s UHD service later this year, including nature programming like Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia, as well as full seasons of shows from SyFy, USA and Starz like Defiance and Outlander.
[Photo credit: Steve Garfield/Flickr]
Filed under: HD
Watch SpaceX’s Dragon capsule perform its launch abort test
If you were still hitting snooze when SpaceX launched its Dragon capsule this morning, fret not: you can relive the action now. Elon Musk & Co. successfully launched the unmanned spacecraft at Cape Canaveral, Florida around 9AM ET and it splashed down in the Atlantic in under two minutes. The main goal for today’s flight was to get a feel for how the vehicle would respond if it (and the crew) needed to separate from the eight SuperDraco engines in a hurry. Measuring trajectory and observing what the impact of an abort would be on the crew are two of the items today’s launch aimed to solve. A video of the flight resides after the break (skip to the 16-minute mark) alongside a graphic that outlines the various stages in the test. Fair warning: you’ll want to turn the volume down at launch.
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Source: YouTube
Android Wear 5.1.1 walkthrough on the LG Watch Urbane [Video]
Google announced a very sizable update last month, which is coming to all Android Wear watches. At the time of this post, it’s only available for the LG Watch Urbane because I am assuming Google is working out any bugs before they release it in full. The Watch Urbane comes with Android Wear 5.1.1 out of the box, but it received another update shortly after pairing.
I figured it would be a good idea to highlight (in the video below) the changes with 5.1.1 as they will operate the same on all watches. All new features, with the exception of Wi-Fi support, will be available on all Android Wear watches. So let’s get to it.
Unless you have bought a Watch Urbane, you probably won’t have a need to go through the set up process since you will be simply upgrading your OS. However there are slight differences in the initial setup. You need to connect your watch to the charger, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how much battery life is remaining on the watch. You also won’t be able to use the watch for at least 15 to 20 minutes as it goes through some sort of new syncing process. Once finalized, you get most of the same tutorial cards explaining Android Wear.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi sync is new and will be available on only select watches. We already know that the LG G Watch and G Watch R won’t support it. Wi-Fi is pretty easy to set up and you can have multiple networks. You will use your phone to type in your network password. Now you can still get notifications when you are away from your phone. Even when you leave it at home.
Installed Apps Notification
Now when you will get a notification on your watch when you have installed an app. You will also be given an opportunity to go through setting up the app if it’s required. This is so much nicer since we all know that it takes a little bit of time for apps to appear on the watch after installing them on the phone. No more wondering when the sync process has completed.
Gestures
You can now move your wrist to automatically swipe notification cards if your other hand is busy doing something else or is messy if you’re cooking. Just flick away fast and followed by flicking slowly back towards you to move forward. If you want to move backwards, it’s just a slow flick back followed by a fast flick forwards. It does take a little getting used to, and I am not sure how useful it will be.
Lock Screen
You can now set a pattern lock for when you watch is removed from your wrist. Once your watch is off your wrist for 5 or 10 minutes, it will lock and nobody will be able to access it without the pattern. You can even lock it manually if you want.
Draw Emojis
When sending a message via IM or Hangouts, you can now draw an emoji. It’s kind of cool, but very Apple like. Just simply draw whatever it is that you want and you will be given choices. For example, draw a heart, and you will be provided with various sized hearts with different colors to choose from. Just like gestures, it’s probably not something that you will use a lot.
I also highlight some of the new menus as you now have easy access to your favorite contacts as well as the most recently used apps.
Lastly, I show you the new LG Call app, which is strictly an LG app for the Watch Urbane and not part of the 5.1.1 update. The Call app gives you access to your call log as well as your most recently used contacts. You can even make a phone call, but you still have to use the phone to talk to someone. The watch cannot handle phone calls since it doesn’t have a speaker, nor is it supported with Android Wear.
Okay without further adieu, check out the video below and let us know what you think about Android Wear 5.1.1.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: Android Wear 5.1.1 walkthrough on the LG Watch Urbane [Video]
Top European countries seeing dip in Android marketshare as people switch to iOS
The Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have reportedly seen a dip in Android marketshare given the emergence of newer iOS devices. The launch of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus may have been a factor in users switching over from Android.
“In the first quarter of 2015, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus continued to attract consumers across Europe, including users who previously owned an Android smartphone,” said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “On average, across Europe’s big five countries during the first quarter, 32.4% of Apple’s new customers switched to iOS from Android.”
The Android marketshare saw a fall by 3.1% compared to the same period last year with the figure now standing at 68.4%. iOS on the other hand saw an increase in marketshare by 1.8%, which isn’t big, but significant nonetheless. iOS is now said to have 20.3% of the pie in Europe.
Source: Kantar World Panel
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Consumer Reports Tests Apple Watch for Readability, Water Resistance, Fitness Tracking and More [iOS Blog]
Consumer Reports has crowned the Apple Watch as its top-rated smartwatch in its test of 11 smartwatch models from eight manufacturers, including the Asus ZenWatch, LG G Watch R, Moto 360, Pebble Steel, Samsung Gear S and Sony SmartWatch 3. The not-for-profit organization tested the Apple Watch and competing devices for step count accuracy, screen readability, ease of use, scratch resistance, water resistance, heart rate tracking and more.
In particular, the stainless steel Apple Watch scored the highest among the smartwatches tested because of its high readability in bright and low light, ease of use, ease of pairing with an iPhone, durable scratch resistance, IPX7 water resistance rating and accurate heart rate and step count tracking. Meanwhile, the Sony SmartWatch 3 finished at the bottom of the rankings, primarily because it failed the 24-hour water immersion test.
Apple Confirms ‘Applebot’ as In-House Web Crawler for Services Like Siri and Spotlight
Apple yesterday gave a few interesting details on something it’s calling “Applebot“, the company’s in-house web crawler that is used to help power services like Siri and Spotlight on iOS and OS X platforms (via Apple Insider).
In the past, Apple has partnered with companies like Google and Bing to provide search results in a few of its own products like Siri, but this week’s news could be an additional hint at Apple introducing its own complete search platform in the future. Most recently, in early February, a job listing provided more fuel to a rumor that the Cupertino company was doing just that, although it was likely to be describing ongoing efforts to improve Spotlight and was never legitimized.
What we now know as Applebot was first spotted by developer Jan Moesen last November, who discovered numerous web hits from a crawler indexing from a block detailed to be 17.0.0.0/8, an IP address block owned and operated wholly by Apple. This, coupled with the impending termination of a contract between Apple and Google for a Safari search engine deal, began fueling rumors of Apple’s own dedicated web engine.
The confirmation of Applebot is the closest the company has come to speaking directly on the subject, but it is still unclear whether the web crawler is setting up to be the basis for an Apple-branded search engine, or simply acting as more support for third-party search platforms when running Apple’s Siri and Spotlight services.
Grim Fandango Remastered is on Android now, $9.99 after 33% launch week discount
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Grim Fandango is one of those old games that plenty of gamers hold dear in their hearts, so it was pleasantly surprising to hear that the game is making a comeback with a version on Android (and iOS). Grim Fandango Remastered is on Android now and its actually a pretty decent remaster effort (rather than the standard port) with new higher resolution textures and an improved soundtrack. All of that sounds great, until you get to the price – $9.99. And that’s already 33% off, a launch discount that will just last this week.
Of course, for fans of developer Double Fine and Grim Fandango, it’s a small price to pay, but for those who never had the chance to play the game might find the pricing a little prohibitive at the moment. Still, it’s looking great, and if you’re interested to know how real adventure games were made back in the day, ones that are still remembered as the best of their time, then maybe you should pick up Grim Fandango today. Hit the link below if you’re interested.
Grim Fandango Remastered Play Store Link
Let us know your thoughts about Grim Fandango Remastered in the comments below.
Source: Double Fine via engadget
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Nvidia is abandoning its Icera modem operations
Nvidia bought UK-based Icera in 2011 for $367 million, at a time when the Santa Clara-based chipmaker was pushing hard to get into mobile. Icera developed baseband technology, with a strong focus on software modems that allowed one programmable chip to work with multiple wireless standards. At the time, Nvidia was attempting to get its Tegra line of SoCs for smartphones and tablets off the ground, and the integration of Icera was believed to be an answer to Qualcomm’s highly successful mobile chips with integrated LTE.
Since 2011, Tegra mobile SoCs have scored precious few design wins, with the most notable recent one being the Tegra K1-powered Nexus 9. Icera modems have found their way into even fewer devices. Nvidia, as a whole, has changed, shifting focus towards automotive, deep learning, and cloud computing applications, leaving mobile behind.
Nvidia said it would end Icera operations by the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, and that it’s open to selling Icera technology or the entire company.
Nvidia is not giving up on mobile just yet. The company said it will continue to use Icera technology over the next year, and after that, it will use baseband chips from partners (i.e. Qualcomm) for its wireless connectivity necessities. However, this is another sign that the days when Nvidia was betting the house on mobile chips are over.
Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra mentions why the company is against microSD cards for its phones
Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra has mentioned that the company is fundamentally against using microSD card slots for its high performance devices. This comes as none of the high end Xiaomi phones sport microSD card slots, while the Redmi series are microSD compatible.
He mentions that the reason behind not using it is the same reason most manufacturers are against it. He was also certain that SD cards (on phones) will eventually disappear as manufacturers look to rely more on the default storage.
MicroSD card slots are an attractive selling point on midrange devices as they don’t have a lot of internal storage to begin with, but many Android OEMs have decided to go the other way as Xiaomi rightly points out.
Here’s what Barra had to say about the use of microSD cards – “You think you’re buying like a Kingston or a SanDisk but you’re actually not, and they’re extremely poor quality, they’re slow, they sometimes just stop working, and it gives people huge number of issues, apps crashing all the time, users losing data, a lot of basically complaints and customer frustration. It’s gonna be a while before you finally accept that maybe the reason why it’s not performing is because you put in an SD card, right? You’re gonna blame the phone, you’re gonna blame the manufacturer, you’re gonna shout and scream and try to get it fixed, so many different ways until you say, ‘Actually, let me just take the SD card out and see what happens.’”
Via: Engadget
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Xiaomi Mi 4i to break cover in Singapore and Hong Kong on May 12
The Xiaomi Mi 4i smartphone will land in Hong Kong and Singapore starting May 12. The device is only available in India at the moment with the company promising to expand availability to other regions soon. So it’s good to see that the company is living up to its promise.
The company initially mentioned that the Mi 4i would launch globally, but as of now, the device hasn’t made its way out of Asia. Hopefully, the company will change that in the coming weeks.
The Mi 4i will be available for purchase with a price tag of $205 in Hong Kong and $210 in Singapore, which is pretty reasonable given the hardware on offer.
The Xiaomi Mi 4i comes with a 5 inch 1080p display, a 13-megapixel camera on the back, a 5-megapixel front camera, a 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa core SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, Android 5.0 Lollipop, a 3,120 mAh battery and LTE connectivity.
Via: CNET
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