This Xiaomi Mi 5 render shows the handset with a real home button
The opportunity came and went for Xiaomi to announce the Mi 5 at its November 24 event, but the company did use that date to launch the Mi Pad 2 and Redmi Note 3. Among the ‘special’ features being rumored for the handset is a technology not unlike Apple’s 3D Touch. The technology, known elsewhere as Force Touch, utilizes a pressure-sensitive display for extended long-presses. But, today, what’s below the display is what’s being talked about around the world.
A leaked render of the device obtained by GizmoChina shows that Xiaomi could be implementing a physical home button just below the display of the Mi 5. Most, if not all, Xiaomi handsets have capacitive buttons for Back, Home, and Recents; however, that is not the case here. The likely explanation for this is that Xiaomi is using a fingerprint scanner that is located on the front of the Mi 5 rather than the back.
Specifications for the handset allegedly include a 5.2-inch Quad HD (2560×1440) display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, and 21MP / 8MP cameras. The Mi 5 should ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow; however, Xiaomi is undoubtedly going to put its MIUI 7 overlay on Google’s software.
It is believed that the Mi 5 will be debuting on January 21 with availability starting the next month.
Via: GizmoChina
Come comment on this article: This Xiaomi Mi 5 render shows the handset with a real home button
Google Chrome becomes safer for Android users
After the latest update, Google Chrome for Android has received Safe Browsing – something that has been available for the company’s desktop software for years. The new security feature will protect mobile devices against malware, unwanted software and social engineering websites.
You don’t need to update your Chrome browser to get this Safe Browsing client, as it comes bundled up with Google Play Services version 8.1 by default. If you have Chrome version 46 and up, you can relax because now you will see a red warning page if you stumble upon a page that is a privacy scare or consumes data and eats your battery.
“Social engineering—and phishing in particular—requires different protection; we need to keep an up-to-date list of bad sites on the device to make sure we can warn people before they browse into a trap. Providing this protection on a mobile device is much more difficult than on a desktop system, in no small part because we have to make sure that list doesn’t get stale.”
Google Blog
To double check that you are protected against phishing attempts and online scares, all you need to do is, go to Chrome’s Settings > Privacy menu and ensure that Safe Browsing is enabled.
Source: Google
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Researchers use ultrasound to activate cancer-killing drugs
Since your liver is surrounded by delicate blood vessels and bile ducts, cancers are tough to treat with toxic chemotherapy drugs and usually require surgery. However, researchers from the University of Illinois have pioneered a new “triple attack” treatment that kills cancer cells with a standard lymphoma chemo drug. “Nanobubbles” of it are injected into a cancer mass, then “popped” using ultrasound, releasing medicine directly into cancer cells during critical cell formation. “The probability of its undesired systemic release is minimal due to this highly selective activation mechanism, which helps to spare the healthy cells,” says lead researcher Dipanjan Pan.
In order to use the drug in a solid liver tumor, the team first needed to turn it into self-organizing nanobubbles that remain inert until released by sonic waves. The team then injected the drug into the ablated liver of a live pig and and used 3D ultrasound to both image the tumor and burst the nanobubbles, activating the treatment.
It was apparently successful, though the researchers didn’t say to what extent it killed cancer cells. However, Pan said that they were able to examine the treatment from “atomic to molecular to cell, tissue and then organ level,” and added that “the next step could be to test them in humans.” If that works, it may allow doctors to re-purpose chemotherapy drugs to treat difficult forms of cancer. It could also fall by the wayside like many cancer treatments before, but it’s certainly one of the more creative uses of nanotechnology that we’ve seen.
Source: University of Illinois
Apple Launches Official $99 Battery Enhancing Case for iPhone 6s
Apple today quietly launched a new iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case that will prolong the smartphone’s talk time and internet use by up to 25 and 18 hours respectively (via CNET). The case’s outside material compares similarly to the company’s previous line of silicone accessories, with an added hump sitting in the middle of the backside where the extra battery rests.
Charge your iPhone and battery case simultaneously for increased talk time up to 25 hours, Internet use up to 18 hours on LTE, and even longer audio and video playback.* With the Smart Battery Case on, the intelligent battery status is displayed on the iPhone Lock screen and in Notification Center, so you know exactly how much charge you have left.
As the first official Apple-made iPhone battery case, the new product comes in Charcoal Gray and White color options and costs $99 on Apple’s online store. A new feature will allow the case’s battery life status to be displayed for users on both the lock screen and in Notification Center, so it’s easy to determine how much life the accessory has left. The company also promised that the Smart Battery Case supports all Lightning products, including the iPhone’s bundled-in Lightning cable and the official iPhone Lightning Dock.
The company’s storefront doesn’t specifically disclose the mAH capacity of the Smart Battery Case, aside from the estimated hours given to tasks like talking on the phone and browsing the internet. There’s also no version for the iPhone 6s Plus currently announced, but users of last year’s 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model may be able to use the new case due to its design similarities to the iPhone 6s.
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Google adds the ability to view Reminders in the Calendar app
Whether you are adding your reminders from Google Now, Google Keep, or Inbox, the reminders will show up in your Google Calendar, showing useful information such as addresses or phone numbers. And, if, like me, you make a reminder and forget to complete it, reminders that haven’t been completed will stick around to nag you, appearing at the top of the calendar the following day. Once you’ve finally completed the task, you can just swipe it away, moving on to the next item.
The Reminders feature is rolling out this week for both Android and iOS, so keep an eye out for the update appearing on your device. Google has stated it is working on bringing Reminders to the web as well, which will be pretty useful. You can check out exactly how the Reminders feature works by watching the video below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Source: Google
Come comment on this article: Google adds the ability to view Reminders in the Calendar app
R.I.P Mailbox by Dropbox: A teary farewell, but a huge thanks
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Today is a sad day. I received an email in my favorite email app ever, Mailbox by Dropbox, and this was what the heart-wrenching letter read:
“Hello Zain,
It’s with heavy hearts that we let you know Mailbox will shut down on February 26, 2016.
Mailbox ignited a shift in mobile email and many of its innovations are now ubiquitous across the industry. It’s been a great journey, and we’re proud of this impact and grateful to the community that helped make it possible.
When the Mailbox team joined Dropbox in 2013, we shared a passion for simplifying the way people work together. And solving the email problem seemed like a strong complement to the challenges Dropbox was already tackling.
But as we’ve increased our focus on collaboration, we realized there’s only so much an email app can do to fundamentally improve email. We’ve come to believe that the best way for us to improve people’s productivity going forward is to streamline the workflows that generate so much email in the first place.
We know saying goodbye to Mailbox will be hard for many. To help make the transition to a new email client easier, we’ve created guides and export tools. For more information about how we’ll be winding down Mailbox, please visit the Mailboxwebsite.
Thank you to everyone who helped bring Mailbox to life, whether by spreading the word, letting us know what you liked (and didn’t like), or simply using the product. You taught us so much, and we’re deeply grateful.
—The Mailbox Team”
Mailbox has been praised by its loyal users as the future of email. It centered around the idea that we should no longer be cluttered with dozens of unread emails haunting our digital inboxes. It defined a cyber heaven called “Inbox Zero.” It also introduced “snoozing,” which essentially let its users tackle important emails later and got them out of the main inbox until needed. It went even further and pushed a frontier with location-based snoozing, and allowed emails to reappear in the inbox when you arrived at a particular location. It worked extremely well for me when I wanted to deal with something when I got home or got to school. I greatly appreciated this feature and use it almost everyday. I also found Mailbox’s “auto archive” feature to act as a savior from the constant unwanted newsletters and otherwise irritating spam mail.
Mailbox also had a native client for Android, iOS, and OS X (the operating systems I use everyday), and having a native client is very important me. I don’t like having to open Chrome or Safari just to manage my email. Plus, native clients offer much better notification solutions than web-based clients on OS X.
This is not to say Mailbox was perfect, however. It has seen little development from Dropbox since the company purchased it in 2013 for $100 million. It was often riddled with bugs. I remember how it would just never load images on the OS X client, it drove me nearly mad. As a result, I have been looking for replacements recently. I tried Microsoft’s Outlook, who The Verge said was the best email app. It didn’t do it for me, and I hated the desktop application. It felt too traditional to me, and I longed for the simple, tasked-tailored experience Mailbox offered.
So, naturally I looked into Google’s option, Inbox. It isn’t perfect, either, and doesn’t have a native client for OS X. However, it is a great experience on Android and iOS. It is notable how much “Mailbox-influence” there is in Google’s Inbox, and that can be mostly clearly seen marking emails as “done” and the swipe-based user interface. The modern feel of swipes and managing email as a todo list is the future, as least for most people. Power users may not be a fan of this, but for the casual user who wants to “finish” dealing with their emails, it’s perfect. Inbox Zero, and an application centered around it, is the only way to provide a sense of relief from the haunting, never-ending world of email.
While I am sad to see Mailbox go, the app that sparked changed in creating email for the future, I am content seeings its principles largely determine the best email apps. Its influence can be seen all over Google Inbox, the “next best thing.”
One last toast. “To Inbox Zero!”
Via: Dropbox
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New leak allegedly shows Samsung Galaxy S7 renders, not much difference though
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We’ve had our fair share of rumours regarding Samsung‘s 2016 flagship smartphone, however we’ve yet to see any evidence of a physical device – and that’s not going to change today. What we do have is a number of Samsung Galaxy S7 renders which allegedly show what next year’s device is going to look like – and for those who are wondering, yes, we swear we’re not just showing you a Galaxy S6 render just for a story. These renders come from third-party accessory maker ITSkins who have revealed the dimensions for the Galaxy S7 depicted in the renders, as well as a slightly larger variant of the device which we’re apparently calling the Galaxy S7 Plus.
According to the leak, the Galaxy S7 will measure 143.37 x 70.8 x 6.94 mm, whereas the Galaxy S7 Plus is said to measure 163.32 x 82.01 x 7.82 mm, which would make it a 6-inch device – for reference, last year’s Galaxy S6 measured 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm, which for all intents and purposes is exactly the same size as the leaked Galaxy S7. SamMobile seems pretty convinced these renders are fake as the depicted device has a microSD slot while we’re expecting a USB Type-C slot in this year’s device – we’re finding it pretty hard to comment as there are rumours that Samsung is going to largely recycle the design of the Galaxy S6 for the Galaxy S7, so even if parts of these leaked renders are true, the concept here is still pretty much confirmed.
What do you think about these Samsung Galaxy S7 renders? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Adobe Lightroom on Android is now free to use for all users
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Most Adobe apps on Android require that you have an Adobe ID and own the desktop version of the software you’re planning on using – thankfully, Adobe has just revoked that requirement for Adobe Lightroom on Android. Truth be told, this has been available to iOS since October, but it’s always nice when it comes to Android shortly after. As of today, you’ll be able to download and use Lightroom completely free – naturally, there are a few catches. Unless you have access to the Creative Cloud, you won’t be able to sync your edited photos between desktop, web and mobile, though you can sign up for an Adobe ID for a trial of these additional features for a short time.
There are quite a few good photo editing apps out there – Snapseed immediately comes to mind – however, for those familiar with Adobe’s products, Lightroom is definitely going to be more up your street. Even if you have a favourite photo-editing app, it’s kinda worth just downloading the free app just to see what’s what – if you’re interested, we’ve got the Play Store link below:
What do you think about Adobe Lightroom on Android becoming free to use? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
http://playboard.me/widgets/pb-app-box/1/pb_load_app_box.jsSource: Adobe via engadget
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Fossil’s Android Wear watch goes on sale for $279
A company that specializes in designing watches has released an Android Wear model you might actually wear to dinner. Fossil’s Q Founder smartwatch is now available on Google Play for $275 in leather (coming soon), with the stainless steel model priced at $295. Like the Tag Heuer Connected, it’s powered by an Intel Atom CPU rather than the Qualcomm chips used in most Android Wear models. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 24-hour battery life and a 1.5-inch, 360 x 326 display (240 ppi) display. Sensor-wise, it packs an accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor.
However, the model suffers from the same problem as the original Moto 360 — the dreaded “flat tire” blank spot at the bottom of the display. It also lacks a heart-rate sensor, which might dissuade fitness enthusiasts. However, Fossil designs watches for brands like Adidas, Burberry and Armani, and is clearly going after folks who might want a smartwatch that won’t embarrass them in public. In fact, the company also has the Q Grant, a non-Android Wear model with a regular watch face that just provides tracking and notification. For many users, that might be all the tech they need on a watch.
Source: Google Play
Ex-federal agent gets 6 years for stealing Silk Road bitcoins
Shaun Bridges, the second federal agent taken to court for stealing Bitcoins while investigating Silk Road, has been sentenced to 71 months or almost six years in prison. US District Judge Richard Seeborg told the court that he was compelled to hand a high-end sentence for one count of money laundering and one count of obstructing justice, as he saw the case as “an extremely serious crime consisting of the betrayal of public trust from a public official” motivated by greed. Bridges, who was part of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force, ransacked drug dealers’ accounts, locking them out and stealing around 20,000 bitcoins in all. That was worth around $350,000 at the time, but as of this writing, that number of bitcoins is already equivalent to almost $8 million.
According to Ars Technica, Bridges obtained access to various Silk Road accounts when the feds struck a deal with Curtis Green, a customer service rep for the website, back in 2013. Green took the witness stand during his trial to reveal that the former Secret Service personnel asked him to explain how to change account passwords three times when he was briefing them about the website. Bridges then used Green’s account to plunder wallets and transfer bitcoins into his own — an act Green called calculated, as the agent knew that Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht would easily find out who made the transactions. Green said Ulbricht and his senior adviser Variety Jones, who was arrested in Thailand a few days ago, wanted him dead after that, and he received numerous death threats as a result.
Stealing wasn’t Bridges’ only offense, though: he also caused other investigations to fold up. Since the bitcoins he stole couldn’t stay in that initial wallet forever, he transferred them to all to Mt. Gox. Yes, that’s the controversial Japan-based bitcoin exchange service that closed up after allegedly losing a lot of money to a security breach and an inside job. Ars says Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Kathryn Haun told the court that when Bridges found out about the feds’ Mt. Gox investigation, he quickly withdrew all his money out to make sure they don’t find his details there. He then “turned around to the AUSA and did a civil seizure warrant to [Mt. Gox founder Mark] Karpeles.”
Bridges pled guilty in October, the same month Carl Mark Force IV, another Baltimore Silk Road investigator who stole bitcoins from the government and the users they were investigating, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. In addition to serving time behind bars, the judge has also ordered Bridges to forfeit $651,000.
[Image credit: Antana/Flickr]
Source: Department of Justice, Ars Technica (1), (2), ABC News
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