John Lewis starts selling smartphones

Upmarket retailer John Lewis has added a new product category to its electricals section today, as it starts selling smartphones for the first time. A curated selection of top handsets from the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC, Motorola and Microsoft are available online right now, all unlocked. SIM-free iPhones will be added to the roster in early July, when they’ll also begin to be stocked at John Lewis’ flagship Oxford Street store. Soon, John Lewis will be in the position to offer you a mobile contract, too, under a partnership with Vodafone.

Dedicated spaces where customers can gaze at handsets and talk to Vodafone staff about tariffs will pop up in John Lewis’ Cheadle store in mid-August, and its Oxford Street branch in autumn. It’s the beginnings of the retailer’s “new mobile strategy,” and at a quick glance, its SIM-free phone prices are on par with some of the most competitive online stores. The best thing about buying tech from John Lewis is the extended warranties the retailer typically offers, and thankfully it’s no different here. Any handset purchased online or in-store will include a two-year guarantee as standard, and anyone signing up for a Vodafone contract will receive two years of free accidental damage insurance to boot.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Tech Digest

Source: John Lewis

Cockroach-inspired robot can squeeze through tight spaces

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a robotic cockroach that can crawl through the tightest of gaps. The team began by studying actual cockroaches, observing how they moved through the densely packed rainforest floor. While some obstacles are pushed past or climbed over, the cockroaches frequently rolled their body at an almost-90-degree angle to scamper through openings. The next step was to fit these real-world ‘roaches with artificial shells and see how this aided or hampered their mobility. The result was perhaps obvious: the less cylindrical the shell, the less effective the insects were at performing the roll manoeuvre.

http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518900894&responsive=false&pgType=console&pgTypeId=editVideo-overviewTab-grabCodeBtn

Observations recorded, the researchers set about fitting a six-legged robot with a rounded shell. With the new exoskeleton in place, the ‘bot was able to traverse a obstacle course in much the same way as the a cockroach would, all without any additional programming or sensors — the new behavior was born simply by rounding off the body. The team hopes to follow up this discovery by searching for other shapes in nature that could improve robots’ ability to advance through difficult terrain.

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Via: Eureka Alert

Source: IOP Science

Apple reverses course of action with artists and Apple Music

Apple has been put through the ringer quite a bit ever since the announcement of Apple Music. After the announcement, reports started popping up stating that Apple would not be paying any artists during the free trial period, of 3 months. That turned a lot of heads, and not in a good way either. Before Ms. Swift got involved, there were other reports from those in the Indie music field. These producers were stating that their music would also not be available due to to non-payment during the first three months of Apple Music.

Then reports started swirling from the always opinionated Taylor Swift in regards to the fact that her latest album ‘1989’ would not be available at the launch of Apple Music. Irregardless of the fact that the rest of her music would still be available, Ms. Swift felt the need to use her latest album as bait, to try and change the minds of the people at Apple.

Her hostage situation in addition to a blog post on her Tumblr, actually prompted Apple to do a 180 and change their course for not just Taylor Swift, but also the Indie artists that would have been affected more than most. While this was a good move by Taylor Swift, it’s still something that shouldn’t have taken place to begin with.

Apple should have recognized the hit that artists would have taken by not getting payment for 3 months, and should have taken this new course of action from the jump. Instead, it seems that Apple has some pie on their collective faces, even after changing their course of actions.

It’s a shame that Apple had to essentially get “called out” before changing their course of action on this matter. Artists should get paid for their work, no matter what. Especially when you have one of the largest companies in the world, with a literal boat load of money sitting in the bank. There’s no excuse to not pay artists for their work, when you want to use and take advantage of their music.

What do you think about Apple’s change of heart? Let us know in the comments below about what you think Apple should have done from the onset, versus going through what’s happened over the course of the last couple weeks.

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Qualcomm releases video showing off the super-fast Hybrid auto focus abilities of its Snapdragon processors

After enduring widespread criticism for its over-heating Snapdragon 810 processors, Qualcomm has come out fighting by releasing a funny video(below) to remind us of some of the positives about its range of silicon. One such positive is that certain Snapdragon processors give super-quick auto-focusing abilities to their host devices.

Qualcomm mention two methods of Auto Focusing; Laser Auto Focus and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF). PDAF is suited to taking pictures in brighter environments, while Laser Auto Focus is better suited for darker environments. Whereas PDAF uses complex calculations to determine the distance between pixels to achieve a super-fast and precise focus, Laser Auto Focus sends out a series of laser beams that bounce off objects. These returning laser beams return to the sensor at different times depending on the distance of the subject being focussed upon. The snapdragon processor determines the time of travel to the object and back.

Qualcomm says that new Snapdragon processors will combine Laser Auto Focus and PDAF to create a Hybrid technology in which the processor will intelligently switch to the best solution depending on whether it’s a bright or dark environment. PDAF is already present in the Oppo R7 (Snapdragon 615) and LeTV 1 Max (Snapdragon 810) while Laser Auto Focus is present in the Lenovo VIBE Shot (Snapdragon 615).

Don’t forget to watch the video below. It’s unfortunate that the actor had the camera partly covered with his fingers almost the entire time the handset was in his hands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: Qualcomm

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