Huawei P9, P9 Max and P9 Lite: Superb specs totally revealed in massive leak

The eagerly anticipated high-spec but low-price flagship smartphone from Huawei has leaked with all three variants, the P9, P9 Max and P9 Lite.

The complete reveal has happened ahead of the expected launch event on 6 April. An invite for this event was already sent out by Huawei. This is when the P9 family is expected to officially launch. For now we have this new leak.

Ruining the surprise Oppomart, a site that exports Chinese smartphones to the US, has revealed the handsets early.

On the site can be found the Huawei P9 for $499, the P9 Max for $699 and the P9 Lite for $299.

In order of spec quality, the flagship P9 Max is listed as featuring a 6.2-inch QHD display, 2GHz Kirin 955 octa-core processor, 4GB DDR4 RAM and 64GB storage. It should also have a 12-megapixel dual rear camera with OIS plus a 3000mAh battery.

The Huawei P9 is listed as featuring a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 2GHz Kirin 950 octa-core with 3GB of DDR4 RAM and 32GB storage. It also features 12-megapixel dual rear camera tech with OIS and a 3000mAh battery.

The P9 Lite should be a 5-inch 1080p display toting smartphone with 1.5GHz Snapdragon 650 processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB storage. This also has the 12-megapixel dual rear camera with OIS. The P9 Lite will come with a 2500mAh battery.

Expect to hear these spec confirmed at the Huawei P9 launch event on 6 April where it’s likely the handsets will go on sale and be available immediately.

READ: Huawei P9: What’s the story so far?

Pigeons track air pollution in London with tiny backpacks

A small flock of pigeons have been given tiny backpacks to monitor air pollution in London. The project was dreamt up by Plume Labs, a company focused on the environmental problem, and the marketing agency DigitasLBi. The rucksacks are fitted to the birds using small fabric vests, and the sensors inside are able to measure nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels. Only 10 birds are in flight at any one time, so the amount of data being collected is pretty small. However, it’s still a creative way of analysing the air that millions breathe in every day in the capital.

If you’re interested in tracking the birds’ progress, a live map is currently available on the project’s microsite. Alternatively, you can tweet the @pigeonair account on Twitter for a quick summary of a specific borough or neighborhood. The project is a three-day affair, designed to attract new beta testers for a wearable pollution monitor built by Plume Labs. As such, the new “Pigeon Air Patrol” feels more like a marketing campaign than an evolution in air pollution management. Still, it’s neat to know that there are birds in the sky with backpacks — and maybe, just maybe, there’s scope to expand and refine the idea if these experimental test flights take off.

And we’re off! The first #PigeonAir patrol flies from Brick Lane, monitoring air pollution as we go! pic.twitter.com/W8KnyrxnCe

— Pigeon Air Patrol (@PigeonAir) 14 March 2016

Source: Pigeon Air Patrol

Ring’s Video Doorbell Pro is a sleeker, more powerful home portal

Ring’s Video Doorbell is helpful if you want to know who’s gracing your door, but it has its limitations: it streams in 720p, its motion detection isn’t fine-grained, and its boxy design can stick out like a sore thumb. That’s where the just-announced Video Doorbell Pro might save the day. The upgraded ringer not only captures footage in 1080p (helping you read that salesperson’s name tag), but lets you specify motion zones that alert you when there’s activity in a specific area, like your front porch or the mailbox. And as you may have noticed, the Pro is much smaller and slicker than its precursor — it won’t look quite so out of place at the front of a vintage home.

Most of what’s left is familiar from the standard Ring, including two-way conversations, night video capture and an optional cloud recording service ($3 per month or $30 per year) that stores evidence of would-be visitors. You’ll be happy to know that it now supports 5GHz WiFi, though, so you won’t have to worry about keeping a 2.4GHz network around to know when someone is stopping by. You can pre-order the Pro at Ring’s website now for a not-too-unreasonable $249, and it’ll reach both Best Buy and Home Depot stores in May.

Source: Ring

Nixon’s Android Wear smartwatch is water resistant up to 100 meters

A number of smartwatches tout activity tracking and sporty looks, but Nixon is looking to offer more for folks who like to take the action outdoors. The watchmaker is jumping on the wearable tech bandwagon with the $400 Mission: an Android Wear device that touts a 10-ATM water resistance rating, which means it’ll hold up in depths of up to 100 meters. Nixon says this is the highest rating for any smartwatch. To put that designation to the test, the Mission offers both surfers and snowboarders/skiers up-to-date info on conditions around the world through a pair of pre-loaded apps.

Under the hood, the Nixon Mission smartwatch is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 underneath a round AMOLED display covered with Gorilla Glass. The outer bezel is stainless steel around a polycarbonate and stainless steel shell with a silicone band that aims for both comfort and durability. What’s more, Nixon’s taking a similar approach to customization as Motorola did with the Moto 360. You’ll be able to customize the finish and both bezel and band colors to make a unique color scheme. The customization doesn’t stop their either, as you can also set the Mission’s digital display to mimic the look of the company’s other timepieces like the 51-30, The Sentry, The Player, The Ranger and The Unit.

We’ve always pushed things that have never been done before and we’re doing it again with The Mission,” said Nixon CEO Nick Stowe. “We wanted to make our entrance into the smart category in a disciplined and purposeful way by bringing functions that are useful and true to our DNA and action sports heritage.” Stowe also said that Nixon has a “family of smart products to come,” so we’ll be hearing more about connect gadgets from the company in the future. As for the Mission, the smartwatch is making its official debut at Baselworld before going on sale this fall.

Waze helps you plan future trips based on expected traffic

Traffic can ruin your careful planning for that appointment in the ‘burbs, but Waze can help with a feature called “timed drives.” After you enter the destination, date and time, it will open a special screen that shows how busy your route will be at a given hour. “This takes into account expected traffic conditions based on smart algorithms, aggregated traffic history and predictive analysis,” according to the Google-owned company.

Once it calculates the start time, you can set an alarm for the departure. As the hour approaches, Waze will automatically adjust it to account for real-time driving conditions (you can change the departure location any time). If you’re okay giving the system access to your calendar and Facebook feeds, it can create timed drives for any pre-programmed events, too. As before, you can have it send alerts to other parties when you leave and add any stops for gas, coffee, etc. The update is now available on iOS and will arrive “soon” on Android.

‘Deadpool’ used way more CGI than you probably think it did

The folks behind last month’s raucous Deadpool movie lied to you more than you probably could’ve imagined. That intro sequence that serves as a narrative framing device for practically the whole flick? Almost entirely composited together in post processing. As you’ll see in the video below, during the opening car chase, even the merc with a mouth kicking the goon riding shotgun out of the Chevy SUV was a collection of polygons. But when an entire movie is as over the top as Deadpool, finding stunt performers who could withstand the level of abuse that’s on display would probably be pretty difficult.

There are a few ways to look at this: One is to be impressed that the CGI was convincing enough to trick you into thinking there were more practical effects used (kind of like in Star Wars). The other is to be disappointed that there was a whole lot less real carnage actually happening on set. The choice is yours. Sadly, there’s no Salt-N-Pepa in the video below to help take the pain away if you choose the latter.

“Deadpool” Visual Effects Breakdown from Atomic Fiction on Vimeo.

Via: i09

Source: Atomic Fiction (Vimeo), Fast Co. Design

Apple Actively Working to ‘Double Down’ on iCloud Encryption

Apple is working to further harden iCloud security so that even it won’t be able to access user information stored on its data servers, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

According to yesterday’s report, which cites “people familiar with the matter”, Apple executives are actively considering how to harden iCloud encryption without inconveniencing users.

Currently, data kept on the cloud service is accessible by Apple using a key, which is used for restoring account information if, for example, a user forgets their password. Apple’s access also allows the company to provide relevant information it has to law enforcement agencies that approach it with proper, legal requests.

However, Apple appears to be concerned that keeping a copy of the key means it could be compromised by hackers or that the company could be legally compelled to turn it over to governments.

The news follows a report earlier this month suggesting that Apple viewed privacy and security issues differently between physical devices that can be lost and its iCloud service.

However, according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple pointed to comments by senior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi in reference to the company’s fresh concerns. “Security is an endless race—one that you can lead but never decisively win,” he wrote in a March 6 opinion piece in The Washington Post. “Yesterday’s best defenses cannot fend off the attacks of today or tomorrow.”

iCloud backups contain iMessages and texts, content purchase history, photos and videos, device settings, app data, voicemail password, and health data. Any steps Apple takes to close off access to these backups are likely to further antagonize law enforcement authorities, especially given the company’s current fight with the FBI over the latter’s demand for help to unlock the iPhone at the center of the San Bernadino shooter investigation.

A court hearing to address the issue is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 22, the day after Apple’s media event, where it is expected to introduce a new 4-inch “iPhone SE” and a new 9.7-inch iPad, as well as make additional announcements.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Apple-FBI
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Master & Dynamic MW60 wireless headphones review – CNET

The Good The Master and Dynamic MW60 wireless Bluetooth headphone is constructed out of premium materials and has excellent build quality along with strong sound for a Bluetooth headphone. It folds up and comes with a decent carrying case and a cable for wired listening. Battery life (16 hours) was good, and the Bluetooth connectivity was impressively steady with extended range.

The Bad The headphones are expensive, somewhat heavy and may not fit people with smaller heads. Lacks dual microphones for reducing ambient noise during calls.

The Bottom Line If you can overlook the fact that it costs too much, the MW60 is beautifully designed wireless headphone that delivers very good performance.

In case you’ve never heard of Master & Dynamic, it’s a new company that made a name for itself with its MH40 over-ear headphone, the wired model that the wireless MW60 reviewed here ($549, £419) is based on. It’s currently not sold in Australia, but that $549 price tag would equate to about AU$735 at today’s exchange rate.

Design-wise, the MW60 is a great looking headphone that’s really well built with metal parts, leather trim and folding hinges. It’s also comfortable, though somewhat on the heavy side, weighing in at 12.2 ounces or 345 grams.

For those with smaller heads, these ‘phones may be a tad large — they barely fit my head. But I liked the feel of the lambskin covered earcups and overall this definitely comes across as a premium headphone. It also has good battery life at around 16 hours and maintained a consistent wireless connection.

Master & Dynamic’s MW60 integrated controls are on the right earcup.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Master & Dynamic says it has four times the range of your typical Bluetooth headphone. In my tests in our CNET offices in New York, I found that it did indeed offer extended range, though just how much extended range — beyond the typical 33 feet or 10m — will depend on your surroundings (I got about 50-60 feet away from my phone).

Performance

We like how the wired MH40 sounds, and we like how this headphone sounds as well — it’s an excellent Bluetooth headphone that offers clean, fairly even-handed sound with plenty of bass that manages to stay pretty tight (by that I mean it’s not boomy or muddy).

That all sounds pretty good, right? So what’s the problem?

Mattel View-Master review: A virtual reality rethinking of a classic

Virtual reality, or VR, is very much the hot topic in 2016. With VR systems appearing all over the place, Mattel has reinvented the classic View-Master as its own pitch into this futuristic entertainment space.

Originally launched as a stereoscopic toy, and evolving through the middle of the 20th century, the View-Master has a special place in toy history for many of us. Leafing through photos with a pull of the lever transported you to a far-away place, perhaps only matched by the excitement of that Fisher-Price telephone on wheels – yes, the one with the wobbly eyes. 

It’s on this wave of childhood nostalgia that Mattel brings us the View-Master once again, for a new generation. As before, show this to a child and they’re transported to a magical place, one that’s technologically sophisticated in this modern VR form and a lot more adaptable than the picture show of the original. 

It’s fitting, then, that the new View-Master crosses this divide between young and old, bringing wonderment to all ages: at £23 it’s as much as plaything for your children as it is your inner child.

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Mattel View-Master review: The hardware

The View-Master recreates the viewer in red plastic. It’s vaguely similar in visual appearance, but now has a futuristic leaning. The tinted visor lends a space-age look, while the rounded finish to the latch on the top is reminiscent of a photo reel from the original.

There’s an orange lever on the side, sitting in the same location as it was originally to move through the reel, but now used as a selection button within the VR applications – more on that later.

Towards the back is a black rubber baffle that aims to block out light while giving some sort of seal against your face. It’s here you look through the lenses to view the smartphone housed within (you’ll need to provide that part of the puzzle yourself, of course).

The front tinted visor isn’t just there for looks as the View-Master offers augmented reality (AR) functions when using Mattel’s bespoke content, so the phone inside needs to be able to see out of the front using its rear-facing camera.

The View-Master sits rather more on the toy side when it comes to construction and feel, more so than something like Samsung’s Gear VR. There’s no head strap so – and like some other VR headsets that use a smartphone, such as Google Cardboard – it’s a case of holding it to your face to view the content.

There’s fun in that approach and, priced at £23, that’s perfectly fair. It only costs a little more than some of the cardboard VR viewers, but it’s going to survive the wear and tear of being passed back and forth much better, plus you can wipe its plastic construction clean.

Pocket-lint

Open the View-Master and you’ll find the innards are actually pretty smart. There’s a sliding grip inside to accommodate a range of different smartphones, as well as an additional tray to accommodate older iPhone models. As you close the front, the phone is much more secure than it is in a cardboard viewer – there’s no chance it will slide out when the device is tilted, for example. 

However, using an enclosed case means you will have to open up the viewer to change apps or content over. Despite there being a number of apps available, there’s no real way to move one to the other without accessing the phone’s display and starting something new.

Mattel View-Master review: Smartphone requirements

You’ll need to supply your own phone to use with the View-Master and the apps are available on both Android and iOS devices. Because you have to insert the phone and close the front, there is some limitation to the sizes of devices that will work, but fortunately, it will accommodate most regular-sized modern smartphones.

The official list of compatible devices includes: Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, S4, Note 4, Moto X (2014), Moto Droid Turbo, LG G4, LG G3, HTC One, Nexus 6, Nexus 5, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5. There are plenty of options.

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Naturally the list has aged slightly and the iPhone 6S is perfectly compatible. It’s worth noting that Mattel says that the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5 may not work perfectly with the VR apps. The iPhone 5 models will also need the adapter tray because the phones are a little on the small side.

The Nexus 6 is pretty much the best experience you’ll get: it not only supports a full range of Android VR apps, but it fills the space inside the View-Master nicely and has a large high-resolution display. The higher the pixel density (ppi) of the phone, the finer the content will look when magnified by the built-in lenses, so opting for something like the SGS6 or S7 will be better looking than the HTC One.

It’s worth noting that VR places high demand on the graphics (GPU) of your handset. It will therefore get hot and battery life will drain pretty fast during intensive usage. Don’t expect hours of use and for your phone to continue on to last for the rest of the day.

Mattel View-Master review: Control and navigation

The View-Master supports Google Cardboard, so it mirrors the control mechanisms you’ll find for Google’s VR system. Mostly this will be through movement of your head to change the viewpoint in the virtual world, as well as use of that side trigger.

The side trigger will be used for selecting items or options and is the basic control mechanism. There are no handheld controllers, so it’s down to this single button and good app design to make things easy to use.

Mattel View-Master review: Games and content 

Google Cardboard

As we’ve mentioned, the Mattel View-Master is a Google Cardboard compatible viewer, meaning it will work with all the content that’s already available on Google Play or the Apple AppStore. These apps you simply download to your smartphone, open up and then place the phone in the View-Master when instructed.

The good thing about supporting this system is that there’s an ever changing and expanding selection of content and a lot of it is free. We’ve reviewed Google Cardboard separately where we talk a lot about the ins and outs of the experience. If you want to know more about that experience specifically, we’d recommend you give that a read – particularly the sections on content. 

READ: Google Cardboard review: The cornerstone of mobile VR

Supporting Google Cardboard is a good thing because there’s some key content there that you won’t want to miss out on, such as the YouTube 360 video channel. It’s here that you’re likely to see an explosion in home-grown VR experiences with the recent launch of a number of 360 video cameras.

You’ll have to download the Google Cardboard app to get started and set your handset up optimally for the View-Master. There’s a QR code on the viewer to scan to make this process simple.

Pocket-lint

View-Master Experience Packs

In addition to VR content that’s common to all devices in the Google Cardboard ecosystem, Mattel has content of its own. This is much more education focused, perfect for giving children some way to experience a range of different environments and perhaps learn something along the way. 

These Experience Packs, priced £7.99 each, very much reproduce the content of the original View-Master. But this is no longer just static images, it’s full-on VR content. Each comes with a number of reels in a pack, each opening up a different set of content within the theme. 

There are central apps for each of these Experience Packs to download to your phone and in reality, you don’t need to physically buy the Experience Pack itself. You could unlock it through the app store and still get to content. But for children (for whom this content is really aimed at), having something tangible makes a difference; for parents, paying for something physical rather than just an app is easier to swallow.

Pocket-lint

The reels can be scanned using the AR side of the headset, with some content viewed either in VR – a spacecraft in space – or in AR – a spacecraft in the room you’re in. Having used both, we get the feeling the VR experience will be the more popular as it’s much more immersive. 

Navigation through the experiences takes some reading and clicking and is fairly easy, but the recommended 7+ age seems right to us; although a 5-year-old will love the content, getting used to the navigation poses much more of a challenge.

There are currently three Experience Packs: space, wildlife and destinations. Each of these is distinctly different, giving you the opportunity to explore the different environments. There are interactive games to play, such as to photograph the animals, as well as free-roaming options, like pointing to a star and travelling through space to discover more about it.

The Experience Packs could make better use of the VR medium, as they’re pretty static, but that’s in-keeping with the View-Master experience of old. There is video content, but it’s often framed as if you’re watching it on a virtual TV, rather than letting you roam freely among the animals.

Pocket-lint

For example when you’re viewing piranhas, you’re watching video, rather than getting a 360 video in the middle of the maelstrom. Another example might be exploring the Statue of Liberty: you can view a 360 photo from one position, but examining the Statue itself is a 3D rendering where you could be looking at the real thing, as in Google Street View. Ultimately, there’s the opportunity to further enhance the VR experiences.

The packaging of the Experience Packs is fun, as is the system to unlock it, as each pack comes with a pass card. This needs to be tapped on the display in the app to unlock the content. It brings a sense of occasion and adds a little more to the event.

With the original View-Master system, these reels were everything, providing more and more content along different themes. It’s not exactly clear how far Mattel will continue to expand this system. While other VR content is available through the Google Cardboard ecosystem, if you’re putting this in the hands of children, then the Experience Packs provide a much safer environment where you know it’s going to be age appropriate content – fun yet educational. 

Mattel View-Master review: Current challenges

The biggest barrier to this reinvention of the View-Master is that you’re dependent on a smartphone. We all have these phones in our pockets and if you’re an ad hoc adult user, then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But if this is going to be keeping your children quiet on a Sunday evening, then you’ll be sacrificing your phone to do it. 

Yes, View-Master is affordable, but that’s because you’ve already paid for the technology: if you have an old (but fairly recent smartphone) then you might want to make a VR phone just for the occasion.

You also can’t avoid the fact that you have to open the viewer up to access apps when you want to switch from one to the other. You might have all the Experience Packs available to you, but there’s no way to switch from one to the other within a VR environment, which is a bit of a shame. 

We have the same criticism of Google Cardboard in this sense: unlike the Samsung Gear VR, there’s no central lobby to go to, although this is only a software barrier and with more investment in VR predicted over the next year, this may well change. 

Finally, the View-Finder is a handheld system – you’ll have to hold it to your ace. That’s ok, but for those who want to watch something longer or have free hands, that’s not something that this Mattel offering provides.

Verdict

The new Mattel View-Master rides in on a wave of nostalgia that will leave adults reminiscing and children marvelling once again. We’ve put the View-Master in the hands of children of various ages and they absolutely love the experience. For only £23 for the viewer and £7.99 for each Experience Pack it’s affordable enough to to get started, provided you have a smartphone to use. 

That cost isn’t too far removed from the price that some Google Cardboard systems will ask – and with the Mattel here you’re getting something a little more substantial. Sitting in the Cardboard ecosystem is a definite advantage as there’s a lot of content outside of that which Mattel offers. That might not all be suitable for children, but there’s plenty for adults too.

Mattel’s content could be a little better though. There are moments when we found we couldn’t quite focus on the content, perhaps because something isn’t rendered right, although this is mostly present in some of the loading screens; in contrast, most of the content is lovely and sharp. But it’s very much content for children and that should be considered when looking at it.

Overall, Mattel’s reinvention of the View-Master is a welcome addition to the virtual reality landscape. It shows that there’s a viable avenue to affordably deliver the VR experience for a younger audience. At the same time, sitting on Google’s VR platform, it’s perfectly capable of leveraging a wider app ecosystem too, making this fun for the whole family.

Tesla Model 3 to be officially unveiled on 31 March, affordable Tesla incoming

Tesla has officially announced that it will be taking the wraps of its next generation of electric car, the Model 3, on 31 March.

The Tesla Model 3 is expected to be the company’s first mass market vehicle that will be produced on a huge scale and be affordable enough to be bought by more people than ever.

The car itself isn’t expected to hit production until 2017 so how much of it will be shown off at this event isn’t clear. Judging from the tweeted teaser picture it looks like we might be able to look forward to a complete reveal of a prototype at least.

Until now Tesla has only sold its cars in the tens of thousands and for a big price. The Model 3 will make use of Tesla’s Gigafactory that will mass produde the lithium ion batteries needed to power the car. Tesla is still building this factory in Nevada and expects to hit peak production by 2020.

Tune in for the 3/31 unveiling on https://t.co/7Ol1Bw0ZaG #Model3 pic.twitter.com/P1PY0U8H4T

— Tesla Motors (@TeslaMotors) March 15, 2016

The Tesla Model 3 should be priced around $35,000 meaning it will be able to compete with other electric offerings like the similarly priced Chevy Bolt. The big pull from Tesla will be that it offers its usual long range on a charge, expected to be around the 200-mile mark.

Tesla will unveil the Model 3 on 31 March at its Hawthorne facility in California.

READ: Tesla Model S race incoming: Electric GT World Series