Yamaha’s robot motorcycle rider could challenge real racers
Humans might not be the fastest things on two wheels before long. Yamaha has unveiled Motobot, a robot designed to ride superbikes much like you would — it even has to twist the throttle to get moving. This initial version travels slowly and needs training wheels to avoid tipping over in a turn, so it’s not about to compete on the MotoGP circuit just yet. However, Yamaha ultimately hopes to get Motobot blasting along at more than 120MPH on a race track. It goes so far as to put racing legend Valentino Rossi on notice, as you’ll see in the promo video below.
Via: Gizmag, Gizmodo, The Verge
Source: Yamaha
Skype’s filters bring some life to your video messages
The Skype team doesn’t have it easy these days — it not only has to compete with legions of live chat apps, but also the back-and-forth video messaging of Snapchat. What’s it going to do? Fight on Snapchat’s home turf, apparently. Microsoft has released Skype updates for Android and iOS that let you add “fun” filters to your video messages, such as a creepy inverted color scheme or goofy face stretching. Yes, it comes across as trying to stay hip with what the kids are doing, but it could be helpful if your birthday greeting just isn’t festive enough. And don’t worry if you like plain vanilla videos, since there’s something new for you as well. Skype now supports 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, so you can quickly start a call or peek at a conversation.
Source: Skype
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 coming to Cricket for just $150
When Alcatel first unveiled the Idol 3 earlier this year, we were pleasantly surprised by what the company had on offer. With fairly solid specs and a price tag that was very aggressive, there was a lot to like about the new mid-range flagship. For this reason, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 has occupied a slot on our “best cheap phones” list ever since its release, but now it’s getting even better with its arrival to Cricket Wireless.
On November 6th the Idol 3 will hit Cricket’s network for a price of just $149, a whole $100 cheaper than the unlocked model. For those that are a fan of the AT&T-backed prepaid service, this is one heck of a deal.
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As a refresher, the Idol 3 is powered by a Snapdragon 615 with 2GB RAM, with other specs including a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 16GB storage, microSD, a 13MP rear cam, 8MP front cam, and a 2910 mAh battery. There’s also Android 5.1 Lollipop right out of the box.
See also: Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 Review: one of the best budget phones of the year
When it comes to price/value, the Idol 3 is easily one of the best phones available directly through Cricket. Anyone planning on picking this one up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
If you code Android or iOS apps, Engadget wants YOU!
While the web is where most of Engadget’s over 20 million monthly readers get their fix, we also bring the goods through our Android and iOS apps. That’s why we’re looking to hire two talented engineers in San Francisco who can help reinvent our apps and make them better than ever! You can get the full details of the position here, but know that experience in media is a huge plus, as you’ll be collaborating extensively with Engadget’s editorial team. These are full-time positions with generous benefits. If you think you’d be a good fit, drop us a note with your resumé and/or LinkedIn profile, a few work samples you’re proud of, and a quick summary of why you think you’d be a great addition to our team. We look forward to hearing from you.
The politics of nuclear technology, from Hiroshima to Iran
Gaze into a clear night sky for long enough and a nagging thought will worm its way into your brain: It’s highly probable that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, but if so, why haven’t we found it yet? This is known as the Fermi Paradox and, among several explanations, it has one awfully pessimistic solution: We appear to be alone in the universe because all civilizations end up destroying themselves soon after developing space-capable technology. One way that could happen is through nuclear warfare, a topic hot on the minds of Earth’s most powerful citizens. There are more than 15,000 nuclear warheads secreted around the world, and 90 percent of them are in the hands of the United States and Russia, two nations with a historically frosty relationship. But Iran, a country with no known nuclear warheads, dominates the international conversation. It’s actively testing new weapons-delivery systems, even as world powers attempt to halt the creation of more apocalyptic weapons. As modern history demonstrates, that’s not an easy task.
The US Army lost control of a radar blimp
It’s the runaway llamas all over again… in airborne form. One of the US Army’s missile-detecting radar blimps broke off its tether in Maryland, creating havoc both in the skies (the Air Force even sent fighter jets to track it) and among the many, many internet users following its every move. It eventually drifted over Pennsylvania, and there are reports that it knocked out power lines at a school in the state before coming down. We’re still waiting to know the blimp’s health, but it’s safe to say that the Army will be more than a little red-faced as it looks into what went wrong.
Via: The Hill
Source: Joppa-Magnolia VFC (Twitter), Fisher P Creasy (Twitter)
Google Play Games now lets you record and share your mobile gameplay
Google Play Games is a platform that allows gamers from around the world to easily connect with one another, and today it’s getting a new feature that will make this easier than ever. Google has just announced and update to the Play Games app on Android that will let you record and share gaming footage from your favorite mobile titles in 720p or 480p resolution.
To start recording, simply head to the Play Games app on your mobile device, select the game you’d like to play, them tap the record button. You can choose to add in a video of yourself, complete with commentary, via your device’s front-facing camera and microphone. Once you’ve recorded your gameplay, you can quickly edit the video an upload it to YouTube.
The addition of this new feature is similar to the update that just rolled out for YouTube Gaming, which allows users to record and live stream games directly from their Android devices. Google says that gameplay recording through Play Games will be rolling out to the U.S. and U.K. over the coming days, and will be available in more countries soon after.
Download Google Play Games from the Play Store
See also: 70 best Android games
Nintendo to unveil its first mobile game Thursday, October 29
We’ve known Nintendo has been developing mobile games in partnership with DeNA since the beginning of this year. We also know that the Japanese video game creator plans on producing at least five mobile titles by the year 2017, and the first one is slated to arrive sometime before the end of the year. If you’ve been waiting for more details on Nintendo’s first mobile game, we have some good news for you.
According to Nintendo’s new president Tatsumi Kimishima, the company plans to unveil its first mobile title on Thursday, October 29th.
This was confirmed by Kimishima during the recent reporting of the company’s financial results, which turned out to be much weaker than expected. Nintendo’s revenues fell way below expectations due to its console business underperforming, especially when it comes to the Wii U and 3DS handheld devices. Both of these devices have been on the market for several years. According to some analysts, heading into the smartphone gaming business could generate meaningful sales for Nintendo because the company has done a great job at appealing to casual gamers.
See also: DeNA West CEO thinks Nintendo partnership will “completely change the market”
Nintendo isn’t putting all of its eggs in the smartphone gaming basket, though. Kimishima said on Wednesday that the company is still prioritizing its console business and has a next-generation system in the works.
Samsung officially reveals 18-inch Galaxy View Tablet
In case you’ve missed past news about the Samsung Galaxy View, it is an upcoming tablet with an interesting aspect – a humongous screen. Now, Samsung isn’t a stranger to pushing the screen size limit, but that has traditionally been for phones. So how is it trying to sell you on carrying around a monitor?
The driving-force of the View is a new multimedia experience. Samsung is betting that you’ll use a tablet more for media consumption if the screen is large. And if this is true, then you’ll appreciate the fact that you can move the screen around. Samsung has even developed a dedicated home screen for quick access to content.
There is of course a built-in kickstand, which has an interesting design. It’s essentially an extra panel attached to the back cover of the tablet that bends outward from the bottom. This gives you two positions to set the tablet down – upright or propped up when laying down. There’s even a handle cutout towards the top of the panel, since handling this guy could use extra support.
The specs won’t blow you away, but that’s typical of Samsung with its experimental devices. It’s in line with a mid-range offering:
- Display: 18.4″ 1080P
- Chipset: 1.6Ghz octa-core processor
- Memory: 2GB of RAM
- Storage: 32/64GB on-board, microSD expansion
- Camera: 2.1MP front-facing camera
- Battery: 5,700mAh (rated at 8 hours of video playing)
- OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Since the View is media-centric, Samsung included “high quality” stereo speakers. Also, there will be a cellular model that will have LTE, if you’re brave enough to take it on the go.
Samsung didn’t provide any details yet about pricing or market availability, so stay tuned. Are you interested in this concept and think you would really benefit from it? Let us know!
Source: Samsung
The post Samsung officially reveals 18-inch Galaxy View Tablet appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Elephone Vowney is the latest in unlocked Androids you should pay attention to
Smartphones are more popular than ever with some 355.2 million smartphones shipped worldwide in just the third quarter of 2015. That’s an insane number of devices. Many of these shipments are going to emerging markets where stretching a dollar is extremely important. Phones like the Moto E and Moto G have shown that making phones as cheaply as possible that also deliver decent performance can sell in droves.
The Moto G is the E’s big brother. It’s marginally more expensive ($179 vs. $149), and has specs to make it one of the best price vs. performance phones on the market. With the explosion of phone sales in India and China, the Moto G is the most popular phone in the 100+ year history of Motorola, selling out everywhere it could be bought.
Another segment of phones that have an extremely bright future are $300 – $400 phones that have specs like full priced flagships. Companies like OnePlus have started to push into the US market selling their mid-range priced, flagship spec’ed OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 phones on nothing but specs and price, no advertising. OnePlus doesn’t pay for advertising and relies only on word of mouth and the tech press to get the word out about their phones. This allows them to sell them close to cost and employ the economies of scale.
“In mature and subsidized markets, we now have a wide range of operators offering equipment installation plans (EIP), as well as early trade-in options. At the same time the number of unlocked/off-contract offerings has increased significantly and it’s slowly starting to resonate with consumers. Within these markets these moves will put pressure directly on Android OEMs with offerings that are greater than $500.”“
We’re starting to see the biggest smartphone manufacturers take notice. Motorola recently released their Moto X Pure, their flagship for 2015, through online sales only. Not only that, but the Moto X Pure is only $400. A flagship phone from one of the biggest smartphone companies at that price would have been unheard of only a few years ago. Phones like the Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3, Asus Zenphone 2, and OnePlus 2 are making great strides in this space and now Motorola is taking notice, and trying to take over.
New Kid on the Block
Elephone is one of the most interesting examples of this new trend. Like many others, Elephone produces phones with great specs that are sim unlocked so you can use them on any carrier you want. The newly announced Vowney is one of the best spec’ed phones on the market, period. Regardless of price. Add in that it starts at $300 and you have a recipe for potential market disruption.
For $300 you’ll get a phone with a 2K display. That, off the bat, is impressive. The display features 95% NTSC color saturation and 535PPI on the 5.5″ panel. The specs only get better with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of base storage (micro SD expandable), and a 4,000mAH battery.
The phone is powered by an octa-core, 2.2gHz, 64-bit chip from MediaTek. MediaTek are known as more of a budget processor company, but they’re making serious gains in the power department. There’s a 21MP Sony sensor around back for the main camera, which can shoot 4K video, and auto-focuses in 0.3 seconds. The front facing camera is an 8MP shooter, that goes toe to toe with almost every flagship out there in terms of megapixel count.
If all of that isn’t enough, you get a fingerprint scanner that unlocks the phone in 0.1 seconds and dual 4G sim card slots. Companies like Elephone are making it easier than ever to purchase their phones by offering them on their own online stores and shipping to all parts of the world.
To give you some perspective, the iPhone 6S Plus with 128GB of storage from T-Mobile is $199 up front then $31.25 a month for 24 months, for a grand total of $949, more than three times the price of the Vowney.
What does the future hold?
We can only hope phones like the Elephone Vowney continue to push major manufactures to put out cheaper and better phones. Owning an iPhone is a status symbol at this point, especially in markets like China, South Korea and Japan. That will likely never change. But, for those who are more focused on price for performance, phones like the Elephone Vowney, and offerings from Meizu, Xiaomi, and Huawei will offer a fantastic option for a fraction of the price.
Huawei’s shipments are up an amazing 60% from last year. Huawei is one of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world already, and their focus on mid-range and budget phones is only growing it into a company that has a global reach. It’s no coincidence that Google wanted to partner with them on one of 2015 Nexus devices.
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