Cyanogen teases multiple cheap devices for next year, CM13, and maybe a flagship
Cyanogen Inc. has been spilling the beans on its plans for 2016 today and there appear to be plenty of projects on the way, including new hardware, developer support and a Marshmallow version of its custom Android operating system.
Being a software company, we’ll start with CyanogenMod 13. The OS will be based on Android Marshmallow and the company is planning to have a stable build ready before the end of the year, but that could slip into early 2016. The new version of Cyanogen OS for retail products will then follow in the New Year. Interestingly, the OS will make use of common APIs and SDKs to tie into partner apps directly, meaning that the OS developer doesn’t have to provide and preload a lot of apps itself. These apps can also then presumably vary slightly depending on the region or handset manufacturer, without providing overlapping software.
This new operating system will play a key role in company’s vision for future hardware, which will be produced in partnership with a selection of currently unknown manufacturers in a number of regions. Cyanogen plans to offer inexpensive handsets with a bloatware free experience and an up-to-date OS, sort of like Android One intended. Cyanogen is sticking to the budget segment of the market for now though, with prices targeted at the $75-$100 range. The entry-level segment is already highly competitive, but Cyanogen is hoping that its streamlined, bloat free experience will make its phones stand out.
Powered by Cyanogen OS: Super-midrange WileyFox Storm hits UK shelves for £199
Cyanogen’s Steve Klondik also briefly mentioned that the company may release a flagship smartphone as well. Although, he didn’t explicitly confirm the existence of such a device or a release time frame, so this all appears to still be in quite the early planning stages right now.
Cyanogen didn’t really manage to hit the mainstream in 2015, but perhaps the company’s ambitious plans for 2016 will see its custom flavour of Android land in a few more hands next year.
Asus confirms augmented reality glasses for 2016
Virtual and augmented reality is the tech sector to be in these days and Asus has just announced that it will be joining the club as well. The company plans to release its own augmented reality headset sometime in 2016, so we’re not sure quite how far away the launch is.
The announcement of the plans came during today’s earnings call. We don’t have any other details about Asus’ hardware at this point, nor what sort of price the company is looking at or even a name. But it is on the way.
“We think AR will be very important for people’s lives … It should be next year when we come out with a product.” – Asus CEO Jerry Shen
While virtual reality is looking rather promising for immersive and interactive entertainment, augmented reality is designed to enhance seemingly more mundane activities. Useful potential applications range from assisted navigation and heads up displays, to bringing a whole world of interactive options and data into your field of view.
See also: Magic Leap posts real time augmented reality video
Both Microsoft and Google are also working on augmented reality projects of their own, see HoloLens and Magic Leap, and are considered the front runners in the space at the moment. Interestingly, Asus was in talks with Microsoft about producing a cheaper version of its HoloLens technology back in October, so perhaps this announcement is related.
Microsoft’s HoloLens developer edition is scheduled to launch early next year, but will come with a whopping $3,000 (AU$4,258, £1,985) price tag. If Asus can undercut this prohibitive cost, then perhaps it can make its own mark in the AR space.
Uber signs up TomTom to provide navigation for its drivers
After losing out to a consortium of Germany’s biggest car makers over the purchase of Nokia’s HERE Maps, Uber has set about building its own mapping and navigation services. They’re not quite ready for prime time, so the company has had to rely upon a number of popular mapping services, including Google (which also serves as an investor), to help both users and drivers understand exactly where they are. Today, Uber has added TomTom to the list, with the Dutch company confirming that it will also support the private hire taxi firm.
Source: TomTom (Businesswire)
ASUS confirms it will build a Hololens-style headset
After teasing the idea last month, ASUS has confirmed that it’s planning to release an augmented reality (AR) headset sometime in 2016. “It should be next year when we come out with a product. We think AR will be very important for people’s lives,” said CEO Jonny Shih, according to CNET. Judging by ASUS’s earlier comments, the device will be a version of Microsoft’s HoloLens and likely come at a lower price. However, ASUS neither confirmed that it would be a HoloLens clone, nor the final price during an earnings webcast yesterday.
Source: CNET
Construction has begun on the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile
A groundbreaking ceremony on top of a mountain in the Chilean Andes on Wednesday has signaled the beginning of Giant Magellan Telescope’s construction. Three years after blowing up the peak where the structure will be built, the GMT Organization’s Board of Directors has finally given its builders the go-signal. It can afford to do so now that the US, Australia, Brazil and Korea have committed $500 million to the project. According to Ars Technica, bulldozers have moved in to level a road that goes up to GMT’s location at Carnegie Institution’s Las Campanas Observatory — which also serves as home to other telescopes, including the smaller Magellans — as soon as the ceremony was done.
Source: Giant Magellan Telescope
Carnegie Mellon may have ratted out Tor users to the FBI
In a story that may become an acid test for internet privacy, the operators of the Tor network have accused Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) of taking up to $1 million to help the FBI bust illegal sites. If the allegations are true, the defendants in question certainly had it coming — they include the drug market Silk Road 2.0 and a child pornographer. However, Tor director Roger Dingledine questions the university’s ethics in the attack. “We think it’s unlikely they could have gotten a valid warrant … [since it] appears to have indiscriminately targeted many users at once,” he said.
Via: Matthew Green
Source: Tor
HTC One X9 render surfaces, rear camera is strangely similar to the Nexus 6P
Right off of the heels of HTC’s One A9 event, the Taiwanese-based company is already planning to launch a new smartphone. The handset said to appear in Q1 2016 is rumored to be the One X9, and according to a new render, its rear camera is strangely similar to the Nexus 6P.
HTC was already accused of copying the iPhone 6’s design pattern, and now the new render is indicating that the company could be taking some design hints from Google and Huawei in its new One X9 handset. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, there’s only so much you can do to make a smartphone unique. On top of that, there’s plenty of other handsets out there that are sporting rear camera visors.
One thing to note about this render is that the bezels could be some of the slimmest we’ve seen from HTC yet. The render by no means screams premium, but the One X9 could potentially be one of the slimmer handsets from HTC.
Keep in mind that this is just a render and is by no means anything official. Initial rumors indicate that the One X9 could sport a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a MediaTek processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 4-Ultrapixel front camera, and a 3,000mAh battery.
All we know for sure is that the One A9 is a nifty handset, and it might not be time for HTC to begin flooding the market with mid-range handsets while revenue continues to crumble.
source: Weibo
via: Pocket Now
Come comment on this article: HTC One X9 render surfaces, rear camera is strangely similar to the Nexus 6P
Some Mac App Store Apps ‘Damaged’ Due to Authentication Issues
A growing number of MacRumors readers and Twitter users have been experiencing an issue with some Mac App Store apps displaying a “damaged” error when opened since late Wednesday. The issue appears to be rather widespread, affecting popular apps such as 1Password, Acorn, Byword, Call of Duty 2, DaisyDisk and Tweetbot.
Mac App Store apps with a “damaged” error (Image: Graham/Twitter)
Mac users are prompted with this error message when opening Mac App Store apps:
“App Name” is damaged and can’t be opened. Delete “App Name” and download it again from the App Store.
Tweetbot developer Paul Haddad tweeted that the issue appears to be related to expired receipts for authentication certification, and speculated that the receipts now using SHA256 encryption may be causing problems with older OS X versions.
Wonder if the receipt now being SHA256 is causing problems with old OS versions? pic.twitter.com/ozOssXWlBR
— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) November 12, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe issue, however, also appears to affect some users running OS X El Capitan, leading Haddad to believe that Mac App Store apps contacting Apple’s servers simultaneously may be causing a “self inflicted DDOS on Apple’s receipt generation service.”
Haddad says that rebooting your Mac on OS X 10.10 or later may resolve the issue, while some users have been forced to reinstall apps from the Mac App Store, disconnect from and reopen the Mac App Store or simply reenter their Apple ID password.
More details will be provided as they are known. Apple has been reached for comment.
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TalkTalk to offer its customers free upgrades after last month’s cyber attack
TalkTalk, the MVNO carrier in the UK that was hacked back in October (the third attack suffered by TalkTalk in 2015), has today detailed its plans to recover from the online attack that saw the personal details of over 150,000 customers stolen in the incident. The plan is basically to offer free upgrades to all of its customer, including those that weren’t affected by the hack, to help quell the anger caused by charging a termination fee to customers wishing to end their contracts early because of the hack.
The upgrades will not extend the customer’s current contract, and will become available to activate between the 1-31 December via a dedicated upgrades page, consisting of the following options:
- TV content including movies, kids entertainment and sports
- A mobile SIM with a monthly allowance of free texts, data and calls
- Unlimited UK landline and mobile calls
- A broadband health check by experienced engineers
- Security bundle that includes – HomeSafe, a web filter, F-Secure anti-virus protection, and additional calling features such as Caller Display, Last Caller Barring, Anonymouse Caller Reject and Voicemail
TalkTalk has stated that the loss of sales and service capability is expected to cost the company around £30-35million. So far, there has been 4 arrests in connection with the hack, with a 20-year old and 3 teenagers being apprehended by UK police.
If you are a TalkTalk customer, are you happy with the way the company has dealt with the hack? Does the promise of free upgrades help smooth things over, or are you biding your time until your contract finishes so you can leave without penalty charges?
Source: TalkTalk
Via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: TalkTalk to offer its customers free upgrades after last month’s cyber attack
Google’s Wallpaper Art app adds culture to your Chromebook
Do you often stare at your Chromebook display (or any other device running Chrome OS) wishing you could gaze upon the many artworks in the world, all from the comfort of the display in front of you? Well, Google has a side project called the Cultural Institute that goes around digitizing works of art from all over the world, from museums, galleries and archives. Once the piece of art has been digitized, the image is then placed online for all to see. Which is all well and good, I hear you say, but what has this to do with the Chrome OS? Well, the Cultural Institute’s Art Project has just released a Chrome OS app called Google Wallpaper Art that will update your wallpaper every day with an image of a piece of art.
Whether it’s Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, perhaps something more contemporary or even street artists from around the world, a new image of a different artwork will find its way to your Chrome OS device every morning. If you aren’t keen on the day’s chosen image, you can simply move on to the next wallpaper in line. To get your hands on the Google Wallpaper app, all you have to do is visit the Chrome Web Store and add it to the Chrome browser. As yet, the app is only compatible with the Chrome OS.
Source: Francois Beaufort (Google Plus)
Via: 9to5Google
Come comment on this article: Google’s Wallpaper Art app adds culture to your Chromebook
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