Almond WiFi routers now control Nest gear in your home
Securifi’s Almond routers just got much, much more useful if you use one of them as the center of your smart home. Both the base Almond and the Almond+ now talk directly to Nest’s thermostat and Protect smoke detector, giving you network-savvy controls that Nest alone can’t offer. Thanks to equally new WiFi triggers, you can have the thermostat adjust the temperature the moment your phone connects to your home network. The routers will even “broker” between two connected smartphones — if you like it hot but your partner wants it cooler, you’ll get a temperature in between the two.
There are a couple of additional updates that should make your life easier. You now have local control over at least some devices without needing an internet connection, and you can create “scenes” that perform multiple actions at once. If you’re packing it in for the night, for instance, you can have the router lock your doors, set the alarm and shut off the lights. It’ll be expensive to put the Almond/Nest combo in action (you’re currently looking at $80 for an Almond 2015, and $249 for a Nest thermostat), but it might be easy to justify if you’re trying to create the smartest possible household.
HTC update schedule leaks, Marshmallow coming to most devices
According to an update schedule leaked by Twitter user @llabtofer, the HTC One M9 could be getting a Marshmallow update as early as this month. A schedule that lists many prominent HTC devices has leaked, and if it is accurate, the photo provides us with more precise timelines for the Android 6.0 updates that many users are still eager to get. The schedule is broken down by device, and from what we can see, the HTC One A9 will be receiving an update to Android 6.0.1 in “early Q1 2016,” which hopefully indicates a January update.
The One M9 looks to get Android 6.0, with the 6.0.1 update coming sometime in Q1 next year. Unfortunately for One M9+ and ME users, only Android 6.0 has been confirmed for Q1 2016. According to the schedule, HTC is still evaluating when or if these devices will be receiving the 6.0.1 treatment. Also under evaluation for Android 6.0.1 are the HTC One M8, One E8, One M8s, Desire Eye, Desire 816, and the Desire 526. Luckily, those devices will at least get 6.0, with the exception of the Desire Eye.
Unsurprisingly, it does not look like the original HTC One (M7) will be getting any further updates. This comes after an announcement from HTC earlier this year that the device would not receive Android 5.1, so we aren’t shocked that it won’t be getting the Marshmallow treatment either. You can view the entire schedule in the photo above. Keep in mind that for the moment, this is a leaked photo and it may not be completely accurate. If your device is listed as not receiving an update, there may still be hope. We will be waiting for an announcement on furute updates from HTC in the coming days.
Source Neowin
The post HTC update schedule leaks, Marshmallow coming to most devices appeared first on AndroidGuys.
[TA Deals] Win a Microsoft Surface Book!
Want a new laptop? Head over to Talk Android Deals and enter a giveaway that could end up getting you a Microsoft Surface Book.
In early October, Microsoft unveiled the newest members of its Surface line. The Surface Pro 4 was joined by the company’s very first legitimate laptop, known as the Surface Book. The Surface Book combines elements of laptops and tablets by having its display detach from the keyboard. The display, with its 4:3 aspect ratio meant for productivity, is 13.3 inches and images and video are at a crisp resolution of 3000×2000. Under the hood is Intel’s latest Skylake processor, so you know the Surface Book will just go and go.. and go. All of this is encased in a slim, attractive body made of magnesium.
Software is another strong point for the Surface Book and Microsoft is using Windows 10 Pro with optimizations for the included Surface Pen that has a pen-on-paper feel. Use it as a laptop and you’ll have Windows’ conventional interface. Detach the display from the keyboard to use the Surface Book as a tablet and it’ll be optimized for touch. Regardless, it’s still powerful and will last hours on a single charge.
Believe me when I say the Surface Book is a beautiful laptop. I own one! And you have nothing to lose by participating in the Surface Book giveaway on Talk Android Deals because there’s no entry fee. All you have to do is head over to the giveaway’s page, provide some information, and follow the rest of the directions to enter.
The contest ends in mid-January and you can read the official rules right here.
Come comment on this article: [TA Deals] Win a Microsoft Surface Book!
SHIELD Android TV $70 off for a limited time in new holiday promotion from NVIDIA
Those who are looking to pick up a SHIELD Android TV will be excited to hear that they’ll be getting a free SHIELD remote and $20 off the console with their purchase. NVIDIA announced the deal yesterday, saying that it will last through December 19, just in time to get the console before the holidays.
You get a total of $70 off of your purchase, with the SHIELD remote usually costing $49.99, and then the $20 discount on the console. Keep in mind that this holiday promotion not only applies to the SHIELD but the SHIELD Pro as well.
This promotion is almost identical to the sale that NVIDIA offered during its Black Friday and Cyber Monday event.
Those interested in picking up the Android TV can order it straight from NVIDIA, participating retailers, and select online locations. Once again, the deal only lasts through December 19, so you’ll need to act fast if you want take advantage of this promotion from NVIDIA.
Come comment on this article: SHIELD Android TV $70 off for a limited time in new holiday promotion from NVIDIA
Galaxy S7 to have pressure sensitive display, microSD card expansion and more
The Galaxy S7 is one of if not the most anticipated smartphone for the first half of 2016. A new report appeared today revealing some likely features and components that will make their way to the flagship.
Galaxy S7 rumors and leaks are getting hot. Based on a new report earlier today, the flagship will have a bevy of new features. The first being the most anticipated microSD card slot for storage expansion. Samsung left this feature out on its recent lineups, but will likely bring it back due to the high demand.
For the Galaxy S7, Samsung plans to ditch the microUSB charging port in support of USB Type C, which supports faster data transferring and quicker charging. A majority of recent flagship models have been heading in this direction so it only makes sense for Samsung to do the same.
The report also suggests that the Galaxy S7 will be the first Galaxy model to feature a pressure sensitive display, similar to what we see with Force Touch technology on recent iPhone models and the Huawei Mate S. This could open up lots of opportunities for key shortcuts and elements that can be embedded into the interface. It’ll be interesting to see what Samsung does with the technology.
Samsung’s new lineup of smartphones should be unveiled in February near the Mobile World Congress expo, but nothing is official yet. Other rumors suggest a new low-light 20MP camera and a faster Exynos and/or Snapdragon processor, which is still up in the air. It’s only a matter of time before something else leaks out, so stayed tuned at our website for all the coverage leading up the official announcement.
Source: WSJ
Come comment on this article: Galaxy S7 to have pressure sensitive display, microSD card expansion and more
Snapdragon 820 benchmarked, boasts impressive GPU and memory performance
Snapdragon 820 is an important product for Qualcomm. Officially unveiled last month, the company is hoping to put behind the whole Snapdragon 810 fiasco with their new chipset, which once again is based on custom ARM cores, true to Qualcomm’s style. Having released their first Snapdragon 820 powered MDP (Mobile Development Platform) devices, AnandTech and TomsHardware were quick to obtain them and put the new chipset through a wide range of tests. This article summarises the most important findings from all the testing done by the respective publications. Before diving in, let’s talk a little bit about the Snapdragon 820.
The Snapdragon 820 is Qualcomm’s return to its roots. Unlike the Snapdragon 810 which makes use of ARM Cortex A57 cores, the new flagship SoC uses custom “Kryo” cores. Also, Qualcomm has stuck to a 4-core design instead of squeezing in 8 or 10 cores into a SoC meant for mobile devices. These four cores are arranged in a heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP) configuration, with two high-performance cores clocked higher and paired with more L2 cache, and two low-power cores that have a lower clock speed and smaller L2 cache size. Also, L3 cache is completely absent from the chip.
AnandTech Kraken 1.1
Benchmarks show that the new Kryo cores are able to hold their ground against competition and beating its predecessors by a fair margin in most tests. Single-core integer performance, as well as floating-point performance of “Kryo” exceeds that of the ARM Cortex A57, and is most likely to edge out the Cortex A72 as well. However, faster-clocked chipsets based on the Cortex A72 core might give Qualcomm tough competition. Kryo appears to have superior instructions per cycle (IPC) on its side when compared with the Snapdragon 810’s A57. Meanwhile, Apple’s “Twister” continues to lead in single-core performance benchmarks, thanks to its more unique architecture.
Memory bandwidth in the Snapdragon 820 is greatly improved, offering more than twice the performance of the Snapdragon 810 in specific GeekBench 3 tests. The other results ranged from between 55 and 103 percent, although mostly hovering closer to double the speed. Qualcomm has surely made some improvements to the memory controller and the general architecture governing memory transfers, allowing the chip to make optimum use of the theoretical bandwidth offered by the two LPDDR4 memory controllers, which offer a theoretical bandwidth of 28.8GB/s. The fasted speed clocked across the test revealed a peak bandwidth of 17.4GB/s on the 820, compared with 7.5GB/s for the Snapdragon 810.
Apart from that, the new Snapdragon 820 features the Adreno 530 GPU, which by the way completely dominated all the benchmarks thrown at it (save for 3D Mark Ice Storm, which is believed to be resultant of CPU limitation). In GFXBench tests, the Adreno 530 manages to score anywhere between 52% to 72% higher than the next-fastest Android device, which in this case is the Galaxy Note 5 powered by the Exynos 7420 chipset. Only in 1 or 2 benchmarks did the Apple A9 powered iPhone 6s Plus fare better than the Snapdragon 820.
AnandTech 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited – Graphics
Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 820 draws 30% lesser power than the Snapdragon 810, despite it being much faster. AnandTech noted that the MDP device didn’t overheat, i.e. get too hot to touch or handle, neither did it show signs of throttling. Of course, more in-depth thermal assessments will have to be done on commercial devices before concluding anything, but initial impressions are positive. Perhaps moving down to Samsung’s 14nm LPP has done Qualcomm a lot good.
All performance benchmarks were done on Qualcomm’s MDP device. Its specifications include a 6.2-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1600) display, 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB of Universal Flash Storage, a 21MP rear camera, a Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, and of course, the Snapdragon 820 SoC.
Read Next: Snapdragon 820 vs Exynos 8890: the 2016 mobile SoC battle begins
For the sake of consistency, only results from AnandTech have been included in this article. For a more comprehensive analysis and complete set of benchmarks, kindly visit the original source articles.
Best Android tablets for kids
Kids love touchscreens. They are accessible and intuitive to use. That makes tablets ideal for both learning and play. The Android platform offers some really great apps for kids and manufacturers are starting to see the potential for dedicated child-friendly devices. That means you can reclaim your own toys devices and keep the kids happy with a tablet of their own.
We thought we’d take a look at some of the dedicated best Android tablets for kids that are now hitting the market. It’s worth considering one for your child for a number of reasons. They can help children learn about various subjects, improve their motor skills, spark their creativity and keep them amused on road trips or while you cook dinner.
The question is – are these dedicated child-friendly Android tablets worth getting as opposed to a standard Android tablet with the right collection of apps? Considering that you can install parental control apps and limit what your kids do with a standard Android tablet, the limitations of dedicated tablets for kids might be enough to make you think twice. Let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer.
You may also like: Best cheap Android Tablets
Amazon Fire Kids Edition
Android purists are not huge fans of Amazon’s Android UI, but we must accept it is actually very intuitive, simple and eye-catching. As a tablet it works pretty well for an $89.99 pad. It won’t blow you away, but it will definitely get the job done for the little ones.
And parents can rest assured that their kids will use the Amazon Fire Kids Edition responsibly. Parents can create child profiles, give them time allowances, block content and more.
Specifications:
- 7-inch touchscreen (1024×600 resolution)
- 1.3 GHz quad-core processor
- 1 GB of RAM
- 8 GB memory (and micro SD slot)
- 2 MP rear-facing camera
- 0.3 MP front-facing camera
- 219.0 x 138.0 x 25.5 mm, 405 grams
Also read:
Buy the Amazon Fire Kids Edition
Kurio Tab 2
When it comes to making good affordable tablets for kids, Kurio definitely doesn’t fall behind. Sure, it’s a brand you probably have never heard of, but this bad boy is fast enough for your kids’ educational and entertainment uses. It also comes with over $200 worth of kid-focused apps.
Specifications:
- 7-inch touchscreen (1024×600 resolution)
- 1.3 GHz quad-core processor Mediatek MTK8127 processor
- 8 GB of internal storage
- 2 MP rear-facing camera
- 0.3 MP front-facing camera
- 240 x 170 x 60 mm, 581 grams
Fuhu Nabi 2s
Fuhu has had a long history of awesome tablets for kids, and the Nabi 2S is just one more tablet we would recommend. While it’s still no powerhouse, the tablet does have pretty good specs for a kid’s device. And of course, there is your set of parental controls and security features. And since it’s currently under $130 from Amazon, you really can’t go wrong here. Exclusive features includes “gamified” learning content, time controls, a kid-safe mode a reward system and more.
For those looking to spend as little as possible up-front, Nabi also offers a subscription service called “Nabi Pass”, which for $10 a month includes access to additional content as well as includes the Nabi 2S for no extra price — as well as free replacements in the event your kid gets a little overzealous when using the Nabi tablet.
Specifications:
- 7-inch 1280×800 display
- NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor
- 1 GB of RAM
- 16 GB of internal storage (plus microSD card slot)
- 2 MP front-facing camera
- 4350 mAh battery
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids Edition
This is pretty much a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 tablet with a new color and a protective bumper cover. This is not necessarily a bad thing; the Galaxy Tab 3 was a good device. The Kids Edition is not completely the same, though.The main difference is in the software. Of course, Samsung made it more kid-friendly and included all the parental controls you may need.
Specifications:
- 7-inch display (1024×600 resolution)
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 1 GB of RAM
- 8 GB of internal storage
- 3 MP rear camera
- 1.3 MP front camera
- 111.1 x 188 x 9.9 mm, 302 grams
- 4000 mAh battery
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids Edition
Not made specifically for kids, but still great
Who says all products have to be labeled for their specific markets? Some general tablets will also make great devices for kids, so we thought it would be a good idea to simply offer you a list of tablets that would make good tablets for the little ones. Let’s check them out!
Nexus 7 (2013)
The Nexus 7 (2013) may be a bit old, but it can still be a good tablet for the young ones at home. It has decent specs, a good screen and overall fair performance. Just install your own parental controls, get a nice case so your kids won’t destroy it and you are set to go! By the way, this thing is currently priced at only $129.
Spcifications:
- 7-inch 1200×1920 display
- 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
- 2 GB of RAM
- 16/32 GB of internal storage
- 5 MP rear camera
- 1.2 MP front camera
- 200 x 114 x 8.7 mm, 290 grams
- 3950 mAh battery
Read more:
Recommended cases:
- Guardian Cover for Asus Google NEXUS 7 ($18)
- Bobj Rugged Case for Nexus 7 ($14)
- Gumdrop case for Nexus 7 2nd gen ($25)
NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1
We know you are thinking this tablet is probably too much for a kid, but the truth of the matter is we can’t expect all kids to be playing around with cheap devices. At $200 the NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1 is still pretty affordable, and it truly offers that punch the older gamer kids will need. You can also find plenty of rugged cases for it. Buy the way, this is one hell of a tablet with a ton of console-quality games optimized for it. Your kid will love you!
Specifications:
- 8-inch display (1920×1200 resolution)
- 2.2 GHz 192-core NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor
- 2 GB of RAM
- 16 GB of internal storage
- 5 MP rear camera
- 5 MP front camera
- 19.75 Watt Hour battery
Read more:
- NVIDIA Shield Tablet returns as the Tablet K1, priced at $200
- Best NVIDIA Shield Tablet cases
- NVIDIA Shield Tablet review
Recommended cases:
Buy the NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1
Amazon Fire family
Amazon already has its Fire Tablet Kids Edition, but their other tablets could also be great for the little ones in the family. For starters, they happen to be quite resistant tablets, featuring a full plastic body that can endure some abuse. Their specs are decent, and the interface is already simple and intuitive. Not to mention the fact that all of these feature parental controls. And if you really think your kid will break it, there are plenty of cases out there.
And did I mention the price?! Oh yeah – these are as low as $50.
Check out the Amazon Fire Tablet family
Which are you buying?
See also: 14 best kids games for Android
So there you have it, guys. These are our very favorite tablets for the kids. Will you go all out and spend $200 on one of the best tablets at this price, or will you go for a much more affordable device? Also, should you pick a general device or one that is focused for the kids? It truly depends on your needs. It is true that kid-oriented devices come with better software (for parents) out the door. You don’t need to look for anything. And there’s the benefit that they happen to be affordable. At the same time, a standard tablet may better ‘evolve’ with your kid’s needs as they age.
Also check out:
Elon Musk wants to get to Mars before we nuke ourselves
Elon Musk is bullish on humanity’s chances getting to Mars and even building a city, but he’s not super confident about our odds here on Earth. During a wide-ranging interview with GQ, the SpaceX CEO described planetary colonization as a coldly practical endeavor. “You back up your hard drive… maybe we should back up life, too?” As for how he plans to do it, he said that SpaceX will announce more concrete plans as soon as it’s ready. “Before we announce it, I want to make sure that we’re not gonna make really big changes … I think it’s gonna seem pretty crazy, no matter what.”
Once ready, however, Musk wants to send astronauts there as soon as possible. It’s not a question of technical feasibility, but rather “I don’t think we can discount the possibility of a third World War,” he said. If things went nuclear, he feels it could be “far worse than anything that’s happened before,” and set space technology back decades or worse. Musk famously said that he doesn’t like our chances if we develop true artificial intelligence either, so he’s apparently doubly motivated on colonizing Mars as quickly as possible.
However, Musk has no qualms about triggering nuclear bombs on Mars’ poles in order to make it hotter and more habitable (see the video, above). Meanwhile, NASA actively prohibits potentially contaminated planetary probes from even going the planet’s water-rich zones, let alone nuking it. He deemed it unlikely that it’s something we need to worry about, though. “As far as we can see now, there’s not evidence of life on the surface of Mars at all — the best case is really that there’s subterranean microbial life.” As a result, he has the opposite sentiment of the US space agency. “It would be, I think sort of immoral not to [colonize Mars], if it meant preservation of life on Earth as we know it.”
Closer to home, Musk also elaborated on his relationship with Apple following remarks earlier this fall that Cook and company only hired Tesla’s “worst engineers.” After starting to say that Steve Jobs was “kind of a jerk” the only time he met him, he stopped himself and said “the last thing I need is to generate animosity, you know. It just is not helpful.”
Source: GQ
Researchers hide messages in a sea of spam
Researchers are trying quantum cryptography and other exotic ways to keep your missives safe, but here’s a new one: junk mail. A team of computer scientists from MIT’s CSAIL have devised a system called “Vuvuzela” that adds noise to messages, making them virtually untraceable to the recipient or sender. While it uses nodes like the Tor “dark internet” router, it only requires a few servers and relies more on numerous fake messages to confuse hackers. If scaled up, the technique could give you nearly mathematical certainty that your messages and even metadata are secure.
With the system, messages are never sent directly; instead, users deposit encrypted messages in a “dead drop” server mailbox. The exchange of messages is never initiated by the user — something that could be detected by hackers — but instead happens in “rounds” every 10-20 seconds. That increases security dramatically, but bad guys could still access metadata info by, say, knocking one user offline to see if the number of messages decreases. That’s where the spam comes in — each server sends “cover traffic” messages to random mailboxes to hide individual users’ activities. The system even works even if many of the servers have been infiltrated, provided some are still “clean.”
The scheme would be particularly useful to users worried about NSA-style mass surveillance, like whistleblowers or reporters. (Of course, like many legitimate services, it could also be misused by bad guys.) The drawback is the speed — since server rounds are performed at set intervals, message speeds are limited to those times. The researchers ran a simulation on Amazon EC2 servers, and with a million simulated users and 15,000 messages per second, system latency was a foot-tapping 44 seconds per message. They plan to scale it up to see if that time can be improved, but we imagine that users who absolutely can’t have messages traced back to them are cool with a small delay.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: MIT
Pandora launches a personalized station based on your likes
Pandora is putting to work what it knows about all of those songs you’ve thumbed up over the years. Today it’s launching Thumbprint Radio, a “hyper-personalized” station that’s based entirely on the songs you’ve liked. “This is a living, breathing station that will continue to change as you listen,” the company said. “Each time you thumb up a track on Pandora, your station will update and evolve.” The station is a mix of songs you already know and new tunes that Pandora thinks you might dig. Yes, it’s pretty much another spin on Spotify’s wildly success Discover Weekly feature, but it’s hard to blame Spotify for going this route.
As we noted when iHeartRadio announced similar custom stations, streaming music really is all personalization these days — it’s one of the defining features of Apple Music, after all. You’ll be able to share your Thumbprint Radio station with friends, and Pandora says you’ll need to have listened to at least three stations with four thumbs each to activate the new station.
[Photo credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images]
Source: Pandora
AIVAnet 