When will my Bell smartphone be updated?

Does your Android device have the latest update?

Bell, Canada’s third-largest carrier, doesn’t always make it easy to find out when its smartphones will be updated, but it does keep a comprehensive list of recent improvements.

Unlike Telus and Rogers, Bell doesn’t keep a list of updates, but it does have a listing for every smartphone it’s sold in the past few years, along with that device’s latest update.

To find your phone’s update, head to Bell’s device listing page and tap on Select a device. Tap on the name of the manufacturer, such as Samsung, and then scroll down to find the handset you’re looking for.

When new Android releases are made available, Bell is usually fairly good about updating its device pages, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 above.

Last updated March 17, 2016

When will my Telus smartphone be updated?

Your phone could be updated sooner than you think.

Telus, Canada’s second-largest mobile carrier, is a customer-friendly company, and one of its commitments is to keep Android users informed about when their devices will receive bug fixes, performance improvements, and significant new OS versions.

The company hosts a constantly-updated chart in its forums detailing when the next Galaxy, Moto, Nexus or Alcatel will receive an over-the-air software update, which has helped alleviate a number of emails, tweets and calls to customer service representatives, according to a company representative.

As of this writing, Telus says it plans to issue a Marshmallow update to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 on March 25, the Galaxy S6 on April 13. These numbers tend to change, but Telus is usually quick about making those updates.

Telus notes that is one of the fastest providers to turn around updates — Android updates go through Quality Assurance testing for network performance and safety, such as 9-11 access — so any delays are usually the result of the manufacturer. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see Telus committing to keeping its customers informed.

Last updated March 17, 2016

When will my Rogers smartphone be updated?

Not the most up-to-date, but it’s something.

Rogers is Canada’s largest mobile provider, and releases dozens of new devices every year. And with the inconsistency of Android updates, it’s understandable that its customers would want to know when their handsets will receive significant new updates.

Like Telus, Rogers hosts a chart detailing when forthcoming updates will be made available over the air. Unlike Telus, however, Rogers isn’t particularly good about keeping it updated.

Right now, it looks like there are no dates for major Samsung release like the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5, but the LG G3 will be receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow “soon.”

Last updated March 17, 2016

Google is going on a tour of the U.S. to get your feedback on its products

If you’ve ever wanted to give face-to-face feedback on Google products with Google employees, you may soon get your chance. The Google User Experience Research team has announced that it will be going on a road trip across the U.S. throughout March and April to get feedback direct from users.

From Google:

Google User Experience Research works hard to create the best product experiences. We test our products at many phases — at the idea stage, through development, and after they ship — by asking people to try them and tell us what they think.

But when we’re stuck in our offices, we miss opportunities to learn from all kinds of people. To get out in the world more often, we built a research van and are launching it with a cross-country road trip.

Google is vague concerning what it is seeking feedback on, but the team does say it will “help shape the future of Google.” As for where Google will be, it says to look out for a white van popping up in cities like Atlanta, Georgia; Boulder, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. For exact dates, along with the full list of cities, be sure to check out Google’s full tour map.

Rogers drops BlackBerry Priv price to $299 on contract

Canadian carrier Rogers has dropped the price of the BlackBerry Priv to just $299 on contract. For those keeping track, that’s a cut of $100 from Roger’s previous pricing of $399 for those snagging the Priv on a 2-year agreement.

Unfortunately for those looking to pick up the Priv sans-contract, you’ll still have to shell out $800 to purchase the smartphone outright. Still, if you’re interested in saving a bit on a BlackBerry Priv with Rogers, you can take advantage of the price drop at the link below.

See at Rogers

Nokia Ozo will cost £55,000 – pro-spec VR capture doesn’t come cheap

In 2016 virtual reality (VR) is tech’s big fish. So it’s apt that the pro-spec Nokia Ozo 360-degree VR camera looks like a futuristic flying fish. One priced to the tune €55,000 – expected, when we queried Nokia at the UK launch event, to translate as £55,000.

Professional VR video capture doesn’t come cheap, then – but with the product carrying a $60,000 price tag when it launched in the USA that should perhaps come as no real surprise. Besides, this isn’t available-for-all consumer tech; this is the 360-degree capture equivalent of a Red Epic camera – as used in traditional cinema.

The Ozo, which comprises eight lenses, each with 195-degree angle of view and 100-degree cross-over with the next nearest in a pair, is capable of capturing full 360-degree spatial video and audio content. It can output to a dedicated recorder or, for work in the field or, say, when strapped to a drone, the included battery and 500GB hard drive will cater for 45-minutes of capture. 

It’s not just about capture for post-production though. Wanting to show-off its live-streaming potential, Nokia had band John Bull and the Bandits take to a stage at The Park Plaza Westminister Bridge Hotel and live broadcast it for attendees at the UK launch event at Indigo at the O2 in London. Of course a VR headset was required to watched and listen – we tested it out with a Samsung Gear VR.

If £55,000 sounds like too much then there’s one time-limited introductory offer that may tempt you in: the Pioneer programme allows a €15,000 discount, for one Ozo per company. The deal is that you’ll need to input structured feedback to Nokia and provide 1-minute of example footage to feed not only the company’s understanding of the capture process – and how to improve – but also engage the community. The Pioneer programme is open until 30 April 2016.

Additional partnerships with Deluxe and The Foundry will open up opportunities for production companies to access post-production solutions, whether looking to author video content, apps, live broadcasts or beyond.

It’s expensive, but Nokia Ozo is exactly what’s needed to open the VR floodgates – and we expect to be seeing a lot more content in the near future.

‘Hellblade’ takes real-time motion capture to the next level

Yesterday, during the Epic Games keynote at GDC 2016, Ninja Theory showed off a live motion capture demo for Hellblade, its upcoming AAA indie title. The results are absolutely stunning. Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory’s chief creative director, described the real-time animation performance as historic, and people at the event seemed to validate his excitement. Interestingly enough, the game has been renamed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, paying tribute to the main character in this combat-heavy story. But you’re probably here for the video, so have at it — we promise it doesn’t disappoint.

Source: Unreal Engine (YouTube)

Latest Windows 10 preview brings Edge browser extensions

Microsoft has finally started testing the feature that could make its new Edge browser a real alternative to the likes of Chrome and Firefox: extensions. An updated browser with support for extensions is part of the new build rolling out to Preview users in the Fast ring. There are updates for both PCs and Mobile, although extensions are a desktop-only feature and there are only three of them available right now: Translate, Mouse Gestures and the Reddit Enhancement Suite. Versions of popular extensions from the likes of AdBlock Plus, LastPass, Amazon and more are promised to arrive later this year. The video below explains how the installation process works, so you can watch that while your computer updates.

Mobile users with compatible devices, can join in testing other new features, including a revamped Maps app that has local search, offline capability, 3D cities and street imagery. There’s one-tap access to many functions, and Cortana can give you turn-by-turn directions. Another interesting addition is the ability to view multiple searches on the Map at the same time — a blog post suggests trying hotels and restaurants at once to find a place to stay and plan your night out.

Source: Windows Blog

You can now binge on porn with T-Mobile’s Binge On

Earlier today, T-Mobile announced that it was adding a number of new content providers to its Binge On initiative. The blog post announcing the new additions, which included YouTube and Google Play Movies, listed a number of services by name before mentioning “and others.” It turns out “others” meant adult entertainment. That’s right, you can now watch porn on T-Mobile without having it count against that monthly data allotment.

MiKandi Theater subscribers can now take advantage of Binge On, making the most of the $20 monthly membership while on the go. Back in November, T-Mobile CEO John Legere promised any content provider that met the technical requirements would be able to offer up its video as part of the program, and now we know that includes adult entertainment.

“T-Mobile is treating adults like adults and we hope that other tech companies follow in their footsteps,” said MiKandi CEO Jesse Adams. The Un-Carrier confirmed to Engadget that MiKandi is indeed the first adult entertainment company to offer its video as part of the data-free program.

Source: MiKandi

NYT: Apple engineers may quit before cracking the iPhone

The spirit of anarchy and anti-establishment still runs strong at Apple. Rather than comply with the government’s requests to develop a so-called “GovtOS” to unlock the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, The New York Times’ half-dozen sources say that some software engineers may quit instead. “It’s an independent culture and a rebellious one,” former Apple engineering manager Jean-Louis Gassée tells NYT. “If the government tries to compel testimony or action from these engineers, good luck with that.”

Former senior product manager for Apple’s security and privacy division Window Snyder agrees. “If someone attempts to force them to work on something that’s outside their personal values, they can expect to find a position that’s a better fit somewhere else.”

In another instance of Apple’s company culture clashing with what the federal government demands, the development teams are apparently relatively siloed off from one another. It isn’t until a product gets closer to release that disparate teams like hardware and software engineers come together for finalizing a given gizmo. NYT notes that the team of six to 10 engineers needed to develop the back door doesn’t currently exist and that forcing any sort of collaboration would be incredibly difficult, again, due to how Apple works internally.

It sounds like that would be a ways off, though. Apple is expected to exhaust its legal options before relenting to Uncle Sam’s pressures to crack the device open. Another option that could be pretty far-fetched would be if every Cupertino engineer capable of writing code quit their jobs. That’d show that Apple was trying to comply with the federal request, but it wouldn’t have to follow through because it wasn’t possible to do so.

The most realistic situation on the government’s part? Probably something similar to what the it did with Lavabit during the Edward Snowden kerfuffle: daily $10,000 penalties until the company complied. Rather than doing that, though, it shut down instead. Whether or not Apple, one of the biggest companies in the world, will follow suit remains to be seen.

Source: The New York Times