HTC Desire & 1-Yr Unlimited Talk-and-Text from FreedomPop
Ready for a huge deal? How about a great device and a year’s worth of service for less than some people pay for their monthly rate plan? If you’re looking to ditch your contract carrier, this package from FreedomPop is definitely worthy of your attention and may save you a significant deal of moolah, baby.
See more at deals.androidguys.com
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Get the low down on the new Asus ZenWatch 2
Earlier this morning, at the Computex Conference in Asia, Asus introduced the world to the latest iteration of their Android Wear smart watch. The Asus ZenWatch 2. Since it was in the wee-hours of the morning, we didn’t have all the details on the specs of the two different options of the ZenWatch 2. Now that everyone (on the East Coast) has been awake for awhile now, we have the specs for the two options.
As we noted this morning, Asus is bringing two different watches to the game with the ZenWatch 2. There will be a 49m model, and a new 45mm model. As for the specs for both, they are matching for the most part, with only two differences. The first difference is that the 49mm model will have a a 22mm strap width, while the new 45mm version will have a 18mm strap width. The other difference, one of which was briefly mentioned this morning, is that the 49mm rendition of the ZenWatch 2 will have the ability to act as a mobile power bank.
Now there are three different options for case colors for both models. The ZenWatch 2 will come in either Gunmetal, Rose Gold, or Silver. Asus has also added a metal crown to the side, which will change how users interact with and control some of the features included with the ZenWatch 2.
In regards to the straps that will be available, there is a special option through a partnership with Swarovski that will bring a diamond pattern, laden with crystals, professional leather strap. If you aren’t looking for the special order, bling-y Swarovski leather strap, Asus announced that there will be a total of 18 different watch/strap combinations.
It has been confirmed that both versions of the Asus ZenWatch 2 will run the latest version of Android Wear, version 5.1.1 Lollipop. This version was introduced, and released originally on the LG G Watch Urbane last month, but has been slowly rolling out to other Android Wear devices.
Now if you’re looking for the specific specs for each watch, here they are:
Asus ZenWatch 2 WI501Q
- Processor: Qualcomm Processor
- OS: Android Wear
- Display: 2.5D curved AMOLED Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Charging: Magnetic Charging Cable
- Water Resistance: IP67
- Dimensions: 49mm x 41mm
Asus ZenWatch 2 WI50Q
- Processor: Qualcomm Processor
- OS: Android Wear
- Display: 2.5D curved AMOLED Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Charging: Magnetic Charging Cable
- Water Resistance: IP67
- Dimensions: 45mm x 37mm
Something to take note of is the fact that Asus did not release the specifications for the battery, but we have seen some instances where it’s been mentioned that the ZenWatch 2 will be able to get up to 4 days of battery life. More than likely that’s just speculation, however, if that’s what ends up being the case, that’s huge for Android Wear, and puts the ZenWatch 2 at the top of the list for Android Wear devices to purchase.
Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but we can expect there to be somewhat of a difference between the 49mm and 45mm options, as well as the option to get the Swarovski leather strap. We can also expect to hear more about the ZenWatch 2 in the third quarter of this year, more than likely around the beginning of the fall.
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Typo’s truce with BlackBerry stops it from selling phone keyboards
Typo started fending off lawsuits from BlackBerry almost as soon as its lookalike iPhone keyboards went on sale, but it’s at last getting a break… well, sort of. The Ryan Seacrest-backed company has reached a settlement with BlackBerry that ends all lawsuits, but requires that it “permanently discontinue” selling keyboards for any device with a screen 7.9 inches or smaller (that is, phones). Effectively, the crew in Waterloo is asking Typo to drop its very reason for being — it was formed by executives who wanted to ditch their BlackBerrys for iPhones without having to type on glass. While Typo will stick around and sell iPad keyboards, there’s no doubt that it’s a shell of its former self.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Blackberry
Via: N4BB
Source: BlackBerry
Amazon crowns winner of first warehouse robot challenge
The robots that joined Amazon’s Picking Challenge aren’t quite ready to replace human warehouse workers, but some of them seriously showed great promise. Team RBO from the Technical University of Berlin, in particular, demolished all the other 27 competitors by winning the contest with a 60-point lead over the second place team. If you recall, Amazon challenged companies and institutions a few months ago to build a machine that can pick the right items from fully-stocked warehouse shelves to fulfill orders. For the test itself conducted during IEEE’s International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Seattle, the e-commerce giant had participants pluck different kinds of items from a standard shelf, including a rubber ducky, a pack of Oreo cookies, various dog toys and a paperback book.
The teams used an assortment of technologies during the event: LIDAR lasers, three-fingered robotic arms, tape measures that function as a tongue-like grasper and several types of suction mechanisms. Judges granted points for flawless item transfers and docked them whenever the objects were dropped, damaged or misplaced. Roberto Martin-Martin from Team RBO told Engadget that their winning entry’s comprised of two main components: a WAM arm by Barrett Technologies installed on top of an XR4000 mobile base their professor brought to Berlin from the US. He said the omnidirectional base with its four wheels allowed them to increase their workspace, since it was able to move the arm around and find the best position for it.
The arm itself can mimic the actual human limb with its seven degrees of freedom. It picks things up using a suction cup, which can conform to the shape of different objects, connected to a vacuum. The team also installed a number of sensors on the robot, including one for object recognition, another to find the base’s position in relation to the shelf and a third one to make sure the arm doesn’t exert too much force when handling items. However, the machine wouldn’t be half as effective without the object recognition algorithm the team developed for it. Martin-Martin described their algorithm as “simple but robust” and told us they credit it for their win, along with their “versatile grasping strategy” and the fact that they used a mobile manipulator.
Team RBO won the challenge (and $20,000) with 148 points, successfully moving 10 out of 12 objects in a 20-minute period, despite finding reflective and small items difficult to grasp. Their creation seemed to have the most trouble with the pencil cup, as it had metal meshes the suction couldn’t stick to. Team MIT, which used a robotic arm with a flat scoop and a suction gripper, got second place with 88 points overall.
All the robotic contestants are still orders of magnitude slower than their human counterparts at this point in time, though, as you can see in the video below. Andra Keay from Robohub even likened the event to “watching paint dry,” as the machines moved at a glacial pace. Still, this just marks the beginning of Amazon’s efforts to find an effective item-seeking warehouse robot. We’ll bet the corporation’s cooking up future events to entice more participants and to prompt contestants from this round to build better and faster machines.
[Image credit: Team RBO]
Via: Technology Review
Source: TU Berlin Robotics and Biology Laboratory, Amazon Picking Challenge
The Big Picture: Hubble peeks at the Milky Way’s densest star cluster
Some parts of space are a little more crowded than others. The Arches Cluster, located 25,000 light-years from Earth, is currently the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way. For comparison, if you measured the distance between our sun and its nearest star, and used that as a radius for a section of the Arches Cluster, you would find more than 100,000 stars twinkling back at you. These balls of gas burn brightly — NASA says 150 are among the brightest it’s ever recorded — which limits their natural lifespan to a few million years. Once their nuclear fuel has been depleted, they explode in breathtaking supernovas which create abnormally high volumes of heavy elements in the gas between the remaining stars. The image above was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in infrared; due to enormous dust clouds, the cluster is otherwise obscured and difficult to observe.
Filed under: Science
Via: io9
Source: NASA
This transforming PC tower could be a robot in disguise
Remember that time when Hasbro got really upset with ASUS for calling its convertible laptops Transformers, only to have its request for sales injunction shot down by the court? A little over three years later, we find ourselves staring at a desktop PC tower — a collaboration between ASUS ROG and In Win — that is begging to be given the same name. At the click of a button, the tower’s outer case breaks open to reveal the core frame, which then tilts up slightly for easier access to the components (or probably just to make it look cool). Surprisingly, we heard from ASUS that it intends to mass produce this awesome machine, but there’s no word on whether it’s an Autobot or a Decepticon. Our money’s on the latter. Anyhow, we’ve got a video clip after the break.
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518858599&responsive=false
Via: Engadget Chinese
Samsung starts selecting third-party designers for the Galaxy Theme Store
If you applied to Samsung to be a Theme Service partner to develop some themes for its new and upcoming smartphones and tablets, you may want to check your inbox as the South Korean company has just started reviewing and selecting third-party designers.
A leaked copy of an email that’s being sent out to those who have been successful has appeared online and explains the preliminary procedures required before Samsung delivers the Theme Editor for Galaxy devices to the designer who can then start developing themes and uploading them to the Galaxy Theme Store.
Now that Samsung has started assembling a theme team, it shouldn’t be too much longer until there is a variety of different skins to choose from for our device.
Via: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: Samsung starts selecting third-party designers for the Galaxy Theme Store
The OnePlus One is discounted to $249 in flash sales this week
Today is June 1st, but so far OnePlus hasn’t announced the new product that it teased a few days ago. But if you are still interested in buying the OnePlus One handset, the news that OnePlus have cut the price of the 16GB and 64GB versions should stir more legitimate excitement than its campaign to take back the #NeverSettle hashtag.
OnePlus has announced that it will be holding a number of flash sales, with the 16GB Silk White version reduced to $249 (£179) and the 64GB Sandstone Black version down to $249 (£219). Because this is OnePlus, you should already know that taking advantage of this price cut will involve luck, perseverance and good timing. The flash sales will be held on the following days:
Daily Sale Schedule:
June 1 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
June 2 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 3 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
June 4 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 5 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
June 6 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 7 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
It should be noted that the sales are on a first come, first served basis with limited stock available. At the time of writing the 16GB version was sold out, with the promise of more stock arriving soon while the 64GB version was still available to order. Does the price cut raise your interest in the OnePlus One handset? Let us know in the comments.
Source: OnePlus
Come comment on this article: The OnePlus One is discounted to $249 in flash sales this week
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge “Ok Google” from any screen feature returning
The “Ok Google” feature on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge seems to be reappearing for some users, as Google is in the process of rolling out a update to fix the problem. The voice command from any screen has been missing since launch, and has progressively gotten more widespread since then.
Google is releasing a fix for the issue right now, saying that there was an incompatibility with Samsung’s S Voice. In other words, if you want to use “Ok Google” anywhere on your device, that means the S Voice hotword is going to be disabled everywhere, except when the screen is turned off.
It does take time for updates like these to rollout, so in the meantime, a Community Manager on Google’s Product Forums suggests making sure you have the latest version of the Google Search App installed to get the hotfix as soon as possible.
It appears that what caused the issue was some of Google’s engineers smoothing out some incompatibility problems with the device, and “Ok Google” not working was a unintended result of that.
source: Google Product Forums
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge “Ok Google” from any screen feature returning
New ASUS tablet cover offers 5.1 surround sound speakers
ASUS has announced a handful of new tablet covers for their ZenPad 8.0, including a crazy 5.1 surround sound speaker system integrated into a case. The case contains 6 speakers for that full surround sound experience, and can run for up to 6 hours on a single charge.
It’s definitely a unique case, but for someone that watches tons of movies on their tablets it’s a fantastic idea.
ASUS also announced a few other cases at Computex, including a power case with a built-in battery, a Zen case that comes in multiple colors, and a fashion cover that makes the ZenPad 8.0 look like a clutch.
Too bad we never got this kind of accessory support from ASUS with the Nexus 7.
source: Engadget
Come comment on this article: New ASUS tablet cover offers 5.1 surround sound speakers
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