OPPO launches the F1 Plus with 16MP front-facing shooter for the perfect selfie

Oppo has just unleashed the company’s second smartphone in the F series, which is focused heavily on photography. If you’re all about that next Instagram and Snapchat selfie, the F1 Plus may be the perfect choice with its “Hi-light Camera”. The tech is a first for OPPO, allowing owners of the phone to take clear, bright and more colorful selfies even in low light.

But what’s all this about the Hi-light Camera and what makes it so special? According to OPPO:

“The F1 Plus’ Hi-light Camera is four times more sensitive, has twice the dynamic range, and captures shots with four times less noise, compared to cameras without the technology. As a result, the Hi-light Camera produces exceptionally clear and bright images, and excels at low-light, back-lit and night-time photography.”

In addition to the impressive selfie machine, the F1 Plus is powered by the MediaTek Helio P10, while offering 64GB of expandable internal storage, 4GB of RAM and VOOC Flash Charge to make sure you spend as little time as possible connected to an outlet.

The OPPO F1 Plus is being launched in India, but the company plans to bring the handset to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa later this month. Online sales for Europe will commence in May. Pricing will vary by region, but those in Europe will be able to pick one up for €389 or £299.

Ikea VR Experience lets you try out that new kitchen before you buy

Ikea has launched a new VR experience for the HTC Vive allowing you to walk around your new kitchen “virtually” before you buy it.

The new app, which is a pilot available until the end of August on Steam, will allow you to step into the company’s extensive catalogue and is reminiscent of the scene in Fight Club.

READ: HTC Vive preview: An experience that’s out of this world

“Virtual reality is developing fast and in five to ten years it will be an integrated part of people’s lives,” says Jesper Brodin, managing director at IKEA of Sweden and Range & Supply Manager at Ikea Group. “We see that virtual reality will play a major role in the future of our customers, for instance it could be used to enable customers to try out a variety of home furnishing solutions before buying them.”

Fight Club

In Fight Club labels and prices are overlaid on the furniture and fittings as Edward Norton’s character walks around his apartment. 

One of the features of Ikea VR Experience is the possibility to change the colour of cabinets and drawers with a click. Another feature is the ability to shrink yourself and move around the kitchen in the size of a 3.3 foot (100 cm) tall child. You can also enlarge yourself and experience it as 6.4 feet (195 cm) tall.

The idea is that you’ll be able to get an idea of what your kitchen will look like before you buy it, as well as, see if from the perspective of others without having to get on your hands and knees in an Ikea warehouse.  

Ikea VR Experience will be continuously updated until August when this particular pilot test ends.

The HTV Vive is the new VR headset from HTC. Going up against the Oculus Rift, the headset differs by allowing you to walk around a designated area in your home. Until now most demos have focused on letting you climb Everest, shooting zombies, or exploring ship wrecks underwater.

The HTC Vive costs £689 in the UK.

New HP Spectre 13.3 laptop is thin, AAA battery thin

HP has revealed a new HP Spectre 13.3, that the company is claiming is the world’s thinnest laptop measuring just 10.4mm thick.

Launched at the New York Times International Luxury Conference in Versailles, the laptop will feature a CNC machined aluminum chassis and even come in a limited edition version complete with diamonds and 18K gold touches.

But thin doesn’t mean dumb. The new Spectre will feature an Intel Core i5 and i7 processors a HD 13.3-inch diagonal edge-to-edge display and Bang & Olufsen sound.

Think of this as the company’s answer to the Apple Macbook, but with a bigger screen, more power, and a lot more bling.

That ridiculously thin chassis has been made possible by using an array of different materials in the design including a carbon fiber bottom rather than a metal one like the Dell XPS 13 or the Apple MacBook.

The carbon fiber parts also mean the laptop weights just 1.1kg.

Going all out, the new HP laptop will “feature high gloss copper accents reflect a hand-polished, jewelry-like finish and an innovative hidden piston hinge creates the illusion of a hinge-less design to offer an unmatched premium look-and-feel,” says HP.

Further tech specs including three USB Type C connectors, two of which will support Thunderbolt, storage up to 512GB, and memory options up to 8GB of RAM. HP states that you’ll get up to 9.5 hours of battery on a single charge thanks to some clever trickery with the internal batteries.

As for the gold and diamond version? Created by Tord Boontje and Jess Hannah, a limited number of devices from each designer will be auctioned at the Cannes Film Festival in May with the proceeds going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Dutch-born, London-based designer Tord Boontje created the HP Spectre by Tord Boontje that exhibits delicate, intricate and dreamlike patterns across the laptop. The ornate graphic pattern integrates cherry blossoms, graceful florals, a peacock and an exquisite butterfly. The 18K gold plated accents provide rich contrast with the patterns that gently intertwine with embedded Swarovski crystals set in a floral pattern against a deep Midnight Blue.

Jess Hannah, a Los Angeles-based jewelry designer of eponymous line J. Hannah, created the HP Spectre by J. Hannah with opulent 18K gold. The notebook top and rear is completely plated in 18K gold with a highly polished finish. HP’s logo is encrusted with diamonds, each carefully placed by a diamond setter. Even the keyboard deck is plated in 18K gold to match the top cover and the power button is covered with diamonds for sparkling brilliance. The all over gold accented with a hint of sparkling diamonds displays Hannah’s minimalistic design philosophy.

The Spectre 13.3 goes up for pre-order on April 25th in the US for $1,170 and up. It will be available in Best Buy stores the following month, on May 22nd, with configurations there starting at $1,250.

HP Envy laptops updated with 4k, thinner design, and more

HP has updated its Envy line of laptops bringing in a thinner design, the promise of longer battery life, and 4k display options for those that need high-definition on the go.

The new line will consist of three models; two 15.6-inch versions, and a whopping 17.3-inch model for power users.

The HP Envy x360 15.6-inch model is now 21 per cent thinner, weighs 2.04kg and measures 18.8 mm thick according to HP.

Featuring a new metal design, the HP ENVY x360 promises 11 hours, compared to 8 hours, on a single charge, and Intel’s 6th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors with optional Intel Iris graphics or 7th generation AMD FX 9800P Quad-Core Processor with Radeon R7 Graphics and offers a higher resolution display option for customers who want to view or edit 4K content.

Storage and memory options consist of the ability to expand the system up to 16 GB of system memory and single or dual storage options with up to 2 TB HDD and up to 256 GB PCIe SDD

On the sound front users will get the usual HP Bang & Olufsen experience while those looking for connectivity shouldn’t be too disappointed. Both feature three USB 3.0 ports and a USB Type-C that support data transfer, as well as HP Fast Charge, which allows you to charge the battery up to 90 per cent in just 90 minutes when powered off.

The 17.3-inch HP ENVY laptop weighs 2.99kg with a 25.45 mm profile. It comes with an Intel Core i7 processor with NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics, up to 1 TB HDD or up to 512 GB SATA SSD storage and even an optical disk drive if you fancy going old skool.

The 15.6-inch HP ENVY x360 is planned to be available on HP.com on June 1 and bestbuy.com in the US on May 29 and Best Buy stores on June 12 starting at $680.

The 15.6-inch HP ENVY laptop is planned to be available on HP.com on May 25 and retailers in June 12 in the US with a starting price at $780.

The 17.3-inch HP Envy is planned to be available on HP.com on June 1 and bestbuy.com on May 29 in the US and available in Best Buy stores on June 12 with a starting price at $1,030.

HP unveils some slimmed-down, mid-range Envy laptops

No, these aren’t as flashy as that jewelry-inspired “world’s thinnest” laptop that HP just unveiled, but hey: Regular people on regular budgets need new PCs too. The updated Envy and Envy x360 are heavier than the skinny new Spectre 13.3, but they also offer more horsepower (not to mention a fuller selection of ports) at more affordable starting prices. Before we get into what makes each model unique, the mid-range Envys are all thinner and/or lighter than their predecessors, with USB Type-C ports now a standard feature. Otherwise, the aluminum builds and island-style, metal keys should look similar to some older HP laptops.

All told, the lineup includes one convertible, the 15.6-inch Envy x360, and two clamshell notebooks, the Envy 15.6 and Envy 17.3. Starting with the 2-in-1, it has the same rotating hinge you’ll find on HP’s other x360 laptops, except this one is said to be 21 percent thinner than the last-gen model, at 18.8mm thick and 4.5 pounds. Under the hood, it runs a sixth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU with optional Intel Iris graphics, or a quad-core AMD FX 9800P processor with Radeon R7 graphics. Battery life is rated at up to 11 hours, up from eight in the previous generation. It will also be available with up to 16GB of RAM and single- and dual-disk options, including up to 2TB of HDD storage and up to a 256GB PCIe SSD. Weirdly, though, a 1080p display is an up-sell here, not the standard. Come on, HP.

The clamshell offerings have a similar design (minus the flexible hinge) and both are thinner than the models they’re replacing. The 15-inch model in particular is 17.95mm (0.7 inches) thick and 4.4 pounds (half a pound lighter than last time), while the 17-incher comes in at 6.6 pounds and 25.45mm (about an inch) thick. Additionally, both have optional support for Windows Hello facial recognition, and both make use of HP’s Fast Charge technology, which restores the battery to 90 percent in 90 minutes, with the machine powered off.

Those are the similarities. There are also a few differences, aside from screen size. While the 15-inch version maxes out with optional Intel Iris graphics, the larger model will be offered with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 940MX GPU. And though both will be available with up to a 1TB HDD, the 15-incher will only go up to 256GB of solid-state storage, compared with 512GB on the bigger version. Oh, and the larger edition has room for an optional disk drive, if you still need one of those.

The x360 will go on sale online on June 1st starting at $680, and will land in Best Buy stores on June 12th. As for the clamshell notebooks, the 15.6-inch Envy starts at $780 and goes on sale May 25th. The 17-inch version will arrive slightly later, on June 1st starting at $1,030. Both should reach brick-and-mortar Best Buy locations sometime in the last week of May.

HP’s Spectre 13.3 laptop is as thin as a AAA battery

HP newest laptop, the Spectre 13.3, isn’t like anything else in the company’s lineup. In contrast to the company’s candy-colored Chromebooks and plain silver notebooks, the Spectre was inspired by jewelry and women’s purses. In fact, HP chose to unveil it not at CES or any other tech conference but at a luxury showcase in Versailles. And, at 10.4mm thin, the Spectre is about as thick as a AAA battery, making it not just the skinniest PC in HP’s portfolio but the slimmest notebook on the entire market. Think of it as HP’s answer to Apple’s 12-inch MacBook, except with a bigger screen, extra horsepower and a little more bling.

It looks striking in photos and even more so in person. Yes, it is is very, very thin, and though it’s not technically the lightest, at 2.45 pounds, it is still extremely easy to hold. The combination of metal and carbon fiber helps the machine feel at once compact and well-made. With this system, HP went with the same brownish “Ash Silver” shade that it experimented with on some high-end, special-edition machines. A company rep told me that although the tapered copper accents are indeed inspired by jewelry and even women’s clutches, the main color was meant to be more gender neutral than, say, rose gold. As a woman, I’d say that’s a safe assessment, but far be it for me to say this is manly enough for our most macho readers.

Continuing our tour, a piston-style hinge (as shown in the gif below) inspired by upscale cabinetry allows the 13.3-inch Gorilla Glass screen to almost float above the keyboard. (The skinny bezels also add to the effect.) As you’d expect, HP had to go with a non-touch screen to keep the machine’s thickness down. That said, it offers brighter colors than some other non-touch panels, thanks in part to an optical-bonding manufacturing process that enables the display to be very thin. I do suspect that some shoppers will be disappointed by the middling 1080p resolution, though a higher pixel count would have made the battery life situation even more challenging.

As on other super skinny laptops, the keys are fairly shallow, but they’re springier than I would have expected. In my few minutes of hands-on time last week, I had to train myself not to mash the buttons the way I would on a flatter, more lifeless keyboard. It’ll be interesting to see what the learning curve is over a typical weeklong review period: Can I trust the keyboard enough to type at a more gentle cadence? The glass trackpad also worked well in my initial demo. I did not experience the Bang & Olufsen speakers, though a company rep was quick to manage expectations: Though the sound is said to be balanced, even HP warns the volume doesn’t get particularly loud.

Slight flashiness aside, what makes the Spectre 13.3 different from rivals such as the MacBook is that HP didn’t need to use Intel’s lower-powered Core M chips to achieve such a thin design. Instead, the Spectre is powered by your choice of sixth-gen Core i5 or i7 processors, helped by up to 8GB of RAM and PCIe solid-state drives with up to 512 gigs of storage. It also brings more ports than you might expect: three USB Type-C connections, two of which support Thunderbolt.

Despite that skinny build, too, the notebook is rated for a healthy nine and a half hours of runtime. That’s thanks to a unique four-cell design, wherein the battery is split into smaller, thinner pieces that make better use of the available space.

The Spectre 13.3 goes up for pre-order on April 25th for $1,170 and up. It will be available in Best Buy stores the following month, on May 22nd, with configurations there starting at $1,250. HP will also make a handful of special-edition models fashioned out of lavish materials like 18-karat gold and Swarovski crystals, but realistically, you shouldn’t expect to see those anywhere other than in the press images below.

Bloomberg: Twitter will stream Thursday night NFL games

Twitter is frequently pilloried by investors for not being as successful a social network as Facebook, but that’s not really what the site is about. The service is reportedly strengthening its case for being a broadcasting platform instead of a social network after signing a landmark deal with the NFL. According to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources, Twitter has purchased the digital rights that’ll enable it to broadcast Thursday night football games online. The news wire’s anonymous sources believe that the company won out against other internet giants such as Yahoo, Amazon and Verizon — while Facebook itself dropped out of the running a week ago.

It’s not the first time that Twitter and the NFL have hooked up, although Bloomberg’s story seems to imply that the site will broadcast full games for the first time. Previously, the service has been permitted to share short highlight clips from selected games, although the league wasn’t too happy about GIFs. It’s not clear — as yet — how exactly the live streams are going to work, although we’d presume Periscope’s live video technology is involved somehow. We’ve left calls with all of the relevant people and will update this further when they respond.

Source: Bloomberg

Dog microchipping becomes mandatory in the UK

If you own a dog, it’s over eight weeks old and it’s not fitted with a microchip, you’ll be breaking the law as of tomorrow. Compulsory microchipping regulations were introduced in Northern Ireland four years ago, and come into force across the rest of the UK on April 6th. And if, somehow, the police or a local authority find your pooch lacking an electronic tag, you’ll be given 21 days to get it chipped or face a £500 fine. The same is true for dogs that are chipped, but where the owner’s details are out of date.

The new legislation will also bring about the creation of a central doggy database linking the unique identifying numbers of microchips with keeper details on a national scale. According to the government, 83 percent of hounds are already chipped, which might make the law appear slightly unnecessary, but it does have good intentions. The government hopes it’ll help reunite more lost dogs with their owners (and more quickly), in turn reducing the financial burden on authorities and charities caring for strays. Also, it is expected to hurt the illegal dog trade — stolen pedigree pups being sold in the back rooms of pubs — and make it simpler to hold the keepers of dangerous dogs to account.

With free microchipping services available at local authorities, vets and charities, it should be pretty easy to become a law-abiding citizen if you aren’t already. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimates around 1.45 million dogs in the UK aren’t chipped though, and we’re not sure exactly how the government expects the police and such to enforce this new law. We doubt bobbies will be patrolling the streets with chip readers looking for cute and cuddly criminals, at least.

Source: UK government

Facebook iOS App Gets VoiceOver Feature to Help Blind Users ‘See’ Photos

Facebook has introduced a new accessibility tool to its iOS app for blind and visually impaired people to help identify images posted on their social feed.

The function, called Automatic Alternative Text, works via VoiceOver and generates descriptions of photos that are spoken out loud as a user swipes past photos in the Facebook app.

Previously, people using VoiceOver would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term “photo”, when they came upon an image in the News Feed.

Thanks to the new function – made possible by advancements in object recognition technology – a richer description is now available. For example, a user may hear, “Image may contain three people, smiling, outdoors.”

Automatic alternative text is currently only available in English, but Facebook plans to add the function for other languages soon. To use the feature on an iOS device with the Facebook app installed, go to Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> VoiceOver and turn on the VoiceOver function.

Facebook is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Tags: Facebook, accessibility
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Pebble Brings iOS Text Replies to Verizon, Custom Vibrations and More

Pebble owners that link the smartwatch to an iPhone on the Verizon network can now use the iOS app’s Text Reply feature to respond to text messages that show up on their wrist.

Previously the feature was only available to users on AT&T, but the newly released version 3.11 update to the Pebble app brings the same functionality to Verizon users as well. After enabling the option via the updated app, Verizon customers can now send emoji, customizable canned responses, and voice replies, although the latter is limited to Pebble Time owners.

Other improvements brought by the update include more accurate sleep tracking, additional support for daytime naps longer than an hour, a snooze feature that offers up timeline alerts closer to the actual time of an event, and additional vibration patterns for Time-series Pebble owners.

The smartwatch company has also seen fit to rename its accompanying iOS app, from ‘Pebble Time’ to simply ‘Pebble’, indicating that all Pebble devices will be able to run firmware 3.0 and later.

Pebble is a free download for iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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