Samsung Gear S2 will get premium watch faces and bands from Alessandro Mendini
Samsung today officially took the covers off of its Gear S2 smartwatch at IFA 2015. The Korean tech giant will be offering its own watch faces and bands for the device, however, premium Italian designer Alessandro Mendini will also be offering their own.
Alessandro Mendini said:
“I believe the watch is one of the most precise and valuable devices that mankind has ever made, and Samsung has successfully reinvented this device in a way that fits within in our technology-driven world,” said Alessandro Mendini. “It was a fun and highly collaborative experience working with the global leading mobile company to craft something that merges the style of a traditional watch with the digital world for a completely unique design experience – it will truly become the future of mobility.”
Alessandro Mendini in the past has played a big part in modern Italian design, and has truly brought some beautiful products to the market. That said, the watch faces and bands from the design company will only be exquisite in nature, giving off that much needed premium and classy feel that comes with a watch.
Watches faces and bands aren’t available form Alessandro Mendini just yet, as they’ll be available around the Gear S2’s official launch some time in October.
source: Samsung
Come comment on this article: Samsung Gear S2 will get premium watch faces and bands from Alessandro Mendini
Samsung’s Gear S2 will work with non-Samsung made devices
Folks who thought the Gear S2 would be exclusively available to Samsung phones will be happy to hear that the smartwatch will work with non-Samsung devices as well.
Samsung has worked hard at closing off its ecosystem, making sure much of the Korean tech giants cool gadgetry and features are exclusive to Samsung-made devices. However, it seems Samsung is letting that exclusivity slide with the Gear S2, which is what the company needed to do to make it truly a hit smartwatch.
The Gear S2 will be be compatible with any Android device running version 4.4 or higher. One more caveat: said device will need to be sport 1.5GB of RAM or higher.
Due to differing APIs, it’s not likely Samsung will follow Google’s lead and offer the smartwatch to iOS users.
Samsung’s Gear S2 is still a month out from officially launching, so details are still scarce. However, it’s expected that Samsung will release a Gear S2 app, providing the same sort of connectivity the Android Wear app offers.
via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Samsung’s Gear S2 will work with non-Samsung made devices
Mercedes’ newest mini car is one you’d actually want to drive
If you live in a metropolitan area like San Francisco, New York or Chicago, you understand the appeal of a tiny car. It’s easier to swoop through traffic and it can be parked nearly anywhere. Smart says the Fortwo is the tiniest of the tiny cars available in the United States. The latest version of the Mercedes-Benz-built vehicle is still only 8.8 feet long, but it’s gotten wider with more forgiving suspension. It’s also filled with additional standard features making it feel more like a car and less like a compromise. To highlight the new diminutive driver’s features, Smart set up a scavenger hunt in the retirement community for 30-year-olds: Portland, Oregon. If you’re going to take a car meant to tackle an urban environment for a spin, it might as well be in a city with a road system that seems like it was laid out more as a practical joke than a way to get drivers from point A to point B.
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Don’t get me wrong: Portland is a wonderful city. But, like San Francisco, driving can be a challenge when it’s not your home. After two days of testing out the vehicle (both a manual and automatic transmission version) the Fortwo lived up to that challenge… mostly.
Like all scavenger hunts, the goal was to complete as many tasks as possible in an allotted time. This meant driving to locations both around and in Portland and it was an opportunity to see how the car performed in various environments. My co-pilot and I opted to hit up the locations outside the city first and cruise through the surrounding mountain roads.
The Fortwo’s three-cylinder engine with a manual transmission won’t inspire any hill-climbing exhilaration at 89HP with 100 foot-pounds of torque. But, because of the rigidity of the Tridion safety cell, which acts as a roll cage for the car, the car’s frame has minimal sway during turns making the handling better than expected. The wider stance helps too. That added width coupled with the 2016 redesign gives the car a more aggressive, almost angry look. Whether this meaner-looking car will deter San Francisco hooligans from flipping the vehicle over is yet to be seen. But if you’re driving the new car and you see those vehicle vandals, it’s going to be much easier to flip a U-turn and get away from them thanks to the car’s awesomely small turning radius.
The 22.8-foot turning radius is the smallest in the United States according to Smart. It’s also the best feature for anyone that has to drive on narrow city streets and occasionally has to turn around. On multiple occasions, thanks to the vehicle’s Cross Connect companion app (which is in beta), I missed a turn or ended up on a dead-end street. Being able to quickly flip around without worrying about the awkward three-point turn I’d have to make in another, larger car was outstanding. It was doubly helpful because not all of my U-turns were actually legal. Something the state of Oregon doesn’t need to know about and we can just keep amongst ourselves.
But seriously, look at this turning radius.
Wheeeeeeeee.
If you combine that small turning radius with the Fortwo’s rear engine and rear-wheel drive, you should get some pretty great oversteer, which means sweet donuts in your local parking lot. Unfortunately, the car’s traction-control system does everything in its power to keep you on the road. The car wants you to be safe and not end up drifting around corners because you’ve lost traction. No matter how hard you stomp on the gas in a sharp turn, the car will correct by reducing power to the wheels. If you’re thinking you can turn the system off, think again: You cannot. It’s like asking the car if it wants to go to a party and it responds by telling you it would rather stay home and do some math homework.
Yeah, it makes sense. This isn’t a car for the tuning kids; it’s for getting downtown and parking in the spot a sedan has passed three times. But it would be nice to cut loose just to see what it can do. Speaking of parking, to help you find tiny spots, you can use the Cross Connect companion app. While demoing it, I was told that it was in beta so I forgave it when (as mentioned above) the navigation system sent me past my destination, decided I needed to drive around the same block until the end of time and, at one point, sent me the wrong way down a one-way street. Did I mention it’s in beta?
The app also controls the car’s radio, displays information about the vehicle (like gas mileage), has a dialer and features a crowdsourced parking space finder for spots that will only fit a Fortwo. And probably because the iOS/Android app is so much a part of the driving experience, Smart has an optional $100 smartphone holder that attaches directly to the dash and charges your phone. Yes, $100 seems pretty steep for something to poke out of your dash. You could buy a cheap holster from Amazon or a mall kiosk for half that price. But what the Smart mount has over those third-party solutions is that it connects directly to the entertainment system via a dash port that can be covered when not in use. It reduces clutter and gives it a cleaner appearance. Plus, you don’t have to use the Smart app with the cradle. It works with Waze, Google Maps and whatever audio app you want. It’s a simple USB connection so even if the navigation feature doesn’t get much better, the $100 smartphone holder isn’t a complete waste of money.
It’s another extra piece of equipment that Smart added to the 2016 Fortwo to make it more civilized and to appeal to urban commuters. And while the cradle is an option, Smart has added standard features that should have been there in the first place. Some of these include Bluetooth hands-free calling, cruise control, power steering and power windows. It also added something for anyone that’s been blown around by a passing semi: crosswind assist. All of this adds up to a car that actually feels like a modern vehicle instead of the barebones shell that’s currently available and doesn’t feel all that smart.
Smart also now offers a manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The manual is a new addition and will be applauded by driving purists. The updated automatic transmission has a dual clutch for much quicker gearshifts than its predecessor. Both clock in a zero-to-60 speed of a bit over 10 seconds. If you’re looking for a “funner” experience, go with the manual to wring out a little bit more power from the tiny car.
The vehicle starts at $14,650, hits showrooms in September (an electric version is expected in 2016) and competes economically with the Fiat 500 Pop, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa Note and Honda Fit. Of all of those vehicles, the Fiat (at a pricier $16,845) is the tiny-car kindred spirit of the Fortwo. While small, it’s still longer than the mini-Benz and has a back seat, which means it’s going to be tougher to park. But, you get to bring your short friends with you when you go places. It also has a bigger trunk. As expected, the Fortwo’s trunk will fit maybe four grocery bags. For bigger items, the passenger seat folds flat and offers about five feet of space. Perfect for tiny surfboards or some small IKEA furniture.
After finishing the scavenger hunt (we tied for first, but the other team finished before us) and spinning around the city totally not breaking any traffic laws, we returned the Fortwo. The next day was less “find stuff as quickly as possible” and more of a drive around the city and highway to get a feel for the car as a regular commuter. The car works well for both, but it’s a bit of a bummer that some of its potential fun has been removed because of stability and traction limits placed on the car that can’t be turned off.
But when your daily commute involves narrow roads, U-turns and a never-ending search for parking, the new Fortwo is a solid commuter that actually feels like a modern car. Even if you can only bring along one friend, at least you can still hit the carpool lane.
Filed under:
Transportation
Tags: car, Fortwo, MercedesBenz, Smart
Tech giants settle anti-poaching lawsuit for $415 million
Silicon Valley’s anti-poaching conspiracy has reached its conclusion. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has approved the $415 million settlement, suggested by Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe earlier this year. The four tech giants have long been accused of agreeing not to poach each other’s employees. According to the employees who filed the antitrust class action law suit in 2011, the internal policy to not hire someone from one of the other companies in the pact stunted their growth and prevented them from having access to higher paychecks. One of the main deciding factors in the case was a set of emails between senior executives like Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt that revealed the practice of “no-poach” lists and requests that attempted to thwart the hiring of valued employees.
Judge Koh, in San Jose, California, had squashed the proposed $324.5 million settlement last year stating that the affected employees deserved higher compensation. According to Fortune, as per this week’s final settlement, about 5,860 affected workers will reportedly each collect about $5,770 on average. While the judge called the approved amount “fair, adequate and reasonable”, she readjusted the amount that the plaintiff’s lawyers would collect. Instead of the proposed $81 million fees, which she believed would be an inappropriate “windfall”, the lawyers will now be awarded $40 million.
[Image credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images]
Source:
CNET
Tags: adobe, anti-poaching, antitrust, Apple, Intel, SiliconValley
Your phone knows if you’re bored by how much you use it
Researchers at Barcelona’s Telefonica Research lab have developed a smartphone-based algorithm that determines a user’s level of boredom based on how much they’re using the device. The algorithm also takes a number of factors such as time of day and how long it’s been since receiving a call or text into account as well. With it, the researchers were able to accurately gauge a user’s level of boredom 83 percent of the time.
The team started its study by having participants track their boredom levels throughout each day for two weeks while an Android app installed on their phones tracked usage rates. They employed this data to develop a second app that made the “bored” determination on its own and then recommend a Buzzfeed article — which the initial study showed bored participants clicking on more often than their entertained counterparts — to compensate. The researchers hope to further develop this algorithm’s accuracy as well as create a more effective recommendation engine to provide bored cellphone users exactly the kind of content that will break them out of their funk. First, however, they’ll present their findings at the UbiComp conference in Japan next week.
[Image Credit: John Greim via Getty Images]
Filed under:
Cellphones, Science
Via:
Technology Review
Source:
Pielot.org
Tags: algorithm, Android App, Barcelona, bigdata, boredom, BuzzFeed, Japan, Ubiquitous computing
The Wirecutter’s best deals: the Pebble Steel, Fitbit Charge HR and more
This post was created in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
KEF Q100 Bookshelf Speakers
Street Price: $550; MSRP: $550; Deal Price: $300
This phenomenal deal on these speakers comes straight from KEF’s online store. This is by far the lowest price we’ve seen on this product. The deal has changed a little bit because the White version is now on backorder, but the other colors are fine and it still comes with free shipping.
The KEF Q100s are our step-up pick in our guide on the best bookshelf speakers. Chris Heinonen said, “The $550 KEF Q100 set is better than our pick in all regards. These speakers offer a clearer, more detailed sound, plus better bass and a full home theater lineup. Although this set is more expensive, it produces a difference you can hear.”
He added, “During complex test tracks like Beck’s ‘Lost Cause,’ on the Q100 pair the individual instruments were easier for us to pick out, while on other speakers they were more jumbled together.”
Nest 2.0 Smart Thermostat
Street Price: $249; MSRP: $249; Deal Price: $199
This matches the best price we’ve seen on this smart thermostat, which it briefly hit around Black Friday last year. The price drop is almost certainly due to the 3rd generation being announced; however, the improvements seem to be a more refined look and easier to read screen with the same performance.
The Nest 2.0 is our pick for best smart thermostat. Jason Snell said, “The $250 second-generation Nest Learning Thermostat (introduced in 2012) is the leader of this category for a reason. Its learning mode automatically programs the thermostat based on your home and usage, its industrial design is the best, and it works with many other smart-home devices. The Nest offers the best combination of style and substance, its software and apps are solid and elegant, and it integrates with more smart devices than any of its competitors—for now.”
Pebble Steel Smartwatch
Street Price: $150; MSRP: $220; Deal Price: $130
Amazon is currently offering the lowest price we’ve seen on this smartwatch. The deal is available on both the brushed stainless and the black matte models. One thing to note: Our smartwatch guide is currently on Wait! status while we test some new options, and the Pebble Steel is getting up there in age. However, while there are newer models of smartwatches available, including the Pebble Time, the Pebble Steel is still our pick for its better visibility, feel and style than every other watch we’ve tested.
The Pebble Steel is our top pick for the best smartwatch for Android phones. Kevin Purdy writes, “It’s an especially appealing introduction to smartwatches, it feels the least awkward, and it works remarkably well with an Android phone, offering many value-adding apps and phone controls.”
Fitbit Charge HR Wireless Activity Wristband
Street Price: $150; MSRP: $150; Deal Price: $120
If you’re planning to get out and exercise in the fall weather, this is a great price on this fitness tracker. We’ve seen lower in the past, but only by a few bucks (including a $117 deal on Prime Day). This deal from Buydig through their eBay store is available on the black and plum models.
The Fitbit Charge HR is our top pick for the best fitness tracker. Jim McDannald said, “The $150 wrist-mounted fitness tracker counts daily steps more accurately than the competition, features continuous heart rate monitoring, performs automatic sleep tracking, and is complemented by a mature and motivating app with support for third-party software.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Tags: deals, fitbit, fitbitchargehr, KEF, KEFQ100, nest, NestThermostat, partner, pebble, pebblesteel, syndicated, thewirecutter, wirecutter
Netflix teases second season of ‘Narcos’ a week after its debut
Netflix’s newest original series, Narcos, just hit the streaming service last week, and the early reviews have been positive. The company seems to think pretty highly of the show, too. In fact, it’s already teasing us with word of a second season. There’s no info on a premiere date or additional details right now, but we’d expect it to ship sometime next year. Until then, get to watching if you haven’t. It’s really quite good.
Coming soon. #Narcos https://t.co/elFgwjvsnj
— Narcos (@NarcosNetflix) September 3, 2015
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, HD
Tags: hdpostcross, narcos, netflix, streaming, television, tv
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and tab S2 Nook now available in the US
Back in mid-July, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S2, a higher-tier tablet that went on sale in the Asian market almost immediately thereafter. As expected, the tablet has now finally arrived in the US market as well.
The Tab S2 is offered in 8.0 and 9.7-inch configurations, both packing 4:3 ratios and the same octa-core Exynos 5433 processor with 3GB RAM, and other specs include either an 8 or 9.7-inch 2048×1536 SAMOLED display, 32 or 64GB storage, microSD, an 8MP rear, 2.1MP front, and a fingerprint scanner. The 8-inch version packs a 4000 mAh battery, while the larger model has a 5870 mAh battery. Both run on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with TouchWiz on top.
Read also: Tab S2 first impressions
As you can tell by the specs, this tablet isn’t quite as flagship or premium as you’d find on a high-end Samsung smartphone, though the specs are still fairly reasonable. That said, pricing might be a little too high for some, with the WiFi only version of the tablet costing around $399 for the 8-inch model and $499 for the 9.7-inch. The LTE versions are about $100 more.
For those interested in picking up the tablet, you’ll find the LTE model through T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. You can pick up the WiFi only 8.0 and 9.7 via Amazon. For those that are fans of the Nook series, the 8-inch version of the tablet is also now available as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook. Pricing and features are the same as the standard Tab S2 8.0, though the Nook edition includes three free ebook from Nook, three free electronic magazines, a $5 starter credit to the Nook store, and a few other Nook-focused goodies.
New LG smartphone shown off in TENAA images, LG’s next flagship?
Samsung’s 2015 strategy has been focused on moving away from past design decisions and aimed instead on a more premium image with toned down software. In contrast, LG’s strategy has largely been the opposite.
While the Galaxy S6 ditched removable backs, batteries, and plastic, the LG G4 offered all those things alongside a more premium leather backed variant for those that weren’t keen on plastic. Now that the Note 5 and S6 Edge+ have arrived with the same design choices, how will LG respond? As it turns out, LG looks to be gearing up for its own phablet-sized flagship, at least if new evidence from TENAA (China’s FCC equivalent) proves accurate.
As you can see, the filing delivers a number of images showing off a previously unknown handset, dubbed the LG LG-H968. The images don’t tell us anything specific about the specs, but the design appears to be made of plastic with a metal frame, and likely packs all the usual things you’d expect from such a device like microSD and a removable battery. You’ll also notice that LG’s iconic rear buttons make a reappearance here. Even more intriguing is the front facing camera, which has the sensors moved behind the glass protecting the display. There also seems to be what might be laser autofocus on the front.
So what exactly is this phone? We already knew LG was working on a “super premium” phone, though they later denied using such language to describe it. There have also been rumors of an LG G Note, suggesting that LG’s next flagship might go directly after the Note 5. That said, the filing here doesn’t mention or show a stylus, and so we can’t say for sure that this device really does pack an S-Pen rival.
Either way, we do believe it is a safe bet to assume that this is a phablet-sized phone and is intended to combat Samsung’s latest, though whether it has a stylus or will actually be called the “G Note” remains unclear. What do you think, do you hope that LG really does offer a Note competitor, is a high-end larger-sized flagship enough to interest you?
Samsung Gear S2 hands-on
Round smartwatches are not too common but with the Gear S2, Samsung is aiming to reinvent the wheel and take us back to a time when round was the norm. Its latest smartwatch is the company’s first attempt at making a round wearable, but has it been successful or has it succumbed to the same challenges that other OEMs have faced?
It’s time to find out in our first look and hands-on with Samsung’s new Gear S2.
Samsung has always tried to make its wearables different but with the Gear S2, the company is trying to really make an impact in the wearables arena by changing the way we interact and use a smartwatch. The Gear S2 is a round wearable but where others have struggled, predominantly thanks to the use of the square-focused Android Wear OS, Samsung has opted to create an entire experience built around the round device.
The Gear S2 comes in two versions to appeal to different markets; the regular Gear S2 is designed for active use and comes with a silicon band that’s actually quite nice and soft, while the Gear S2 Classic aims to appeal to the traditional quartz-watch lover with a leather strap that’s quite luxurious. To some degree, Samsung is taking inspiration from Apple by including two different band sizes (small and large) so the watch can be worn by people with both, big and small wrists.
The Gear S2 also comes with two buttons on the right of the watch; the top button lets you go back a step while the bottom button brings you straight back to the homescreen and from the homescreen, can be used to enter the apps drawer. On the back, you’ll find a heart rate monitor and while the watch itself is IP68 rated, this only applies to the watch face itself so if you get the classic version, don’t expect the leather to hold up well under water.
The real unique thing about the Gear S2’s design is Samsung’s innovative rotating bezel, which is no doubt the best part of this smartwatch. The bezel is used for navigation through the various parts of the interface – such as the watch faces, widgets, notifications, apps – and whenever you turn it, there’s an extremely satisfying click. This makes it not only very useful but also fun to use, and you’ll find yourself fiddling with it when you feel like procrastinating. With Samsung deploying the bezel to great effect, it does make you question why no one has thought of it until now.
On the front, the Gear S2 sports a round 1.2-inch Super AMOLED display with 360×360 pixels resolution that definitely stands out and looks impressive. The resolution is slightly higher than that used by rival devices and combined with the Super AMOLED technology, it certainly provides vibrant colors, deep blacks and great viewing angles.
Under the hood, the Gear S2 is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage, which should be more than enough for a smooth and seamless experience. It also comes with all of the usual connectivity you’d expect including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC, with the latter being used for Samsung Pay. The company is also looking to expand the use of NFC in a variety of ways including smart car keys, residential room keys or remotely controlling your home.
The Gear S2 is powered by a 250mAh battery, which Samsung says will deliver 2 to 3 days worth of battery life and this sounds more than reasonable for a smartwatch, especially considering some rival devices can barely last a day. Unlike past Gear devices, the Gear S2 is charged using a magnetic wireless charger that looks eerily similar to the Moto 360 charger and the watch snaps into place, making it quick and easy to dock it when you need to give it some juice.
Samsung has stuck to its own Tizen OS for the Gear S2 and to good effect; while other round wearables running Android Wear are square displays masquerading in a round body, Samsung has developed an entire interface specifically for its round wearable and it’s certainly impressive.
To the left of the watchface are all your notifications like messages and emails, while to the right side are all of your widgets and the Tizen OS lets you add a widget for almost anything. Some of the widget options include health and fitness, news, weather, social media and even music controls. The watch faces are also customizable using the Stylize option on the watch itself and not only can you change the watch face, you can change the way they look and the information displayed on the face itself.
Just like any typical OS, Tizen lets you receive notifications (such as emails and text messages) and reply to them from the watch but a key difference is in the reply methods available; like other smartwatches, you can send a predetermined response, enter text through voice input or send an emoji response but Samsung has also added a T9 keyboard to let you send a normal text response. The T9 keyboard uses the company’s predictive texting and for the most part, seems to work rather well (although we’ll test this in the full review).
The Gear S2 also comes with a really handy feature that lets you sync notifications through WiFi even if your watch isn’t directly connected to your phone via Bluetooth. The feature works similarly to Android Wear and as long as your watch is connected to a Wi-Fi network, your notifications will still sync through Samsung’s cloud servers.
A key part of any smartwatch experience is the ability to install apps to further enhance the feature set and this is something that has hurt the Tizen effort in the past. In order to make the Tizen platform as robust as possible, Samsung has partnered with a range of different companies like Ebay and Groupon for commerce, Twitter and Line for social, and CNN and Bloomberg for news. The list of partners is vast and Samsung says there are going to be around 1000 apps when the Gear S2 launches. If you’re big on fitness, Samsung has their own S Health app and has also partnered with companies like Nike and Lifesum to help you keep track of your goals.
One of the biggest changes with the Gear S2 is one that will impact on the device’s appeal; previous Tizen based Gear watches were only compatible with Samsung Galaxy devices but with the Gear S2, it will now work with any Android smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher with at least 1.5GB RAM, which covers most current smartphones. This is a big change as it now means Samsung’s Tizen platform finally has the potential to succeed.
Samsung is yet to announce any pricing details for the Gear S2 but we have learned it will be heading our way starting in October. What do you think of Samsung’s Gear S2, which aims to put the art into smartwatch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
AIVAnet 