Android Pay to rock out at Coachella 2016 thanks to Square

Square has announced that it is bringing NFC payment support to the 2016 Coachella music festival. The latest Square Reader, which supports NFC payment systems like Android Pay and Samsung Pay, will be available as the exclusive point-of-sale during the festival, letting attendees pay for anything without needing to take out their wallets.

From Square:

If you’re headed to the festival in a few weeks, you won’t need to stand in any ATM lines. In fact, you may not even need to take out your wallet. That’s because this year, you can pay with your phone for everything. Square is the exclusive point of sale at the festival, and every vendor will be using the latest (and fastest) Square Reader.

Of course, if you still prefer paying with a physical credit or debit card, the new Square Reader also accepts EMV chip cards, which have recently started rolling out in the United States.

The 2016 Coachella festival will take place April 15-17 and 22-24 in Indio, California.

DJI will supply drones for European emergency missions

While aerial drones are opening up a whole new world for consumers, organizations are also quietly working out the best way to deploy them in high-impact situations. The UAE’s Drones for Good competition, for example, awarded $1 million to the makers of a rescue UAV that can search buildings, but drone maker DJI now wants to help set the rules for how and when they should be deployed. The company has teamed up with European Emergency Number Association (EENA) to create a set of best practices for response teams all over the globe.

As part of its new alliance, DJI says it will supply “carefully selected” teams of European pilots with its Phantom and Inspire drones, its Matrice 100 (M100) developer quadcopter (used for testing new sensors and other technology) and the Zenmuse XT thermal-imaging system. After it’s delivered specialized training, the EENA and DJI will monitor how drones are used in specific environments and then share those “insights and best practices with the broader international emergency-response community” to ensure first responders act quickly and efficiently in risky situations.

With representatives from 1,200 emergency services across 80 countries on its books, the EENA is well placed to help develop a framework for drone operators in Europe. The group also established the 112 emergency telephone number that can be called free of charge in many European countries to reach police, ambulance and fire services.

It’s been successful in signing up both the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department in Denmark and the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team in Ireland as its first two test sites. In Denmark, the team will focus on firefighting, chemical spills and large car accidents, while in Ireland, the rescue team will utilize DJI’s software kits to better conduct search-and-rescue missions in remote areas.

Source: DJI (PR Newswire)

These smart glasses became my erratic personal trainer

Fitness wearables don’t have to go on your wrist — although it makes sense that most of them are designed that way. We’ve been wearing wristwatches for generations, so it’s a place where we’re used to tethering something. But how about the original wearable: eyewear? JINS Meme is a pair of unassuming smartglasses that have highly sensitive three-axis gyroscopes and accelerometers inside. And because they’re situated on your head, the Japanese eyewear company says it can offer insight into your posture and balance and pinpoint weaknesses. To help you with all of the above, JINS recently launched a core-training application (“taikan”) to complement its existing running-coach app. It tests your core strength (think: abs, back, abductors, butt, etc.) and offers a live critique on how you’re doing. Here’s how training went.

As I’ve written before, JINS’ smartglasses are unassuming and normal-looking. In Japan, there are several frame styles to chose from (including the aforementioned running version). The only sign that there’s something different here can be found in the arms, where the battery, gyros and Bluetooth radios add some bulk. I’m a regular four-eyes, so wearing them poses no extra burden for me. I’ve already shared my feelings on running, so instead of that app, I focused on the gym- and yoga-mat-friendly core-training companion. Despite using the day-to-day frames, which are less sporty than the sunglasses, they’re well-fitting enough that I was able to lunge and plank without concern.

And now for the main piece: the training app designed to improve your posture and those all-important muscles surrounding your torso. No, these exercises don’t aim to give you a six-pack (the training is gentle, sometimes challenging, and you’re only competing against yourself), but what you get from the app is useful, applicable feedback.

Your workout is orchestrated by a JINS-glasses-wearing personal trainer (a cross between the Wii Fit Trainer and Janine from Ghostbusters) who offers detailed instructions (in Japanese), giving you reminders on what to focus on as you practice the movements. For example, when lunging, you want to maintain a vertical body line. You know this, but you may have a tendency to sag midway through the test. The digital trainer will ensure you’re at least trying to do things right.

For anyone who’s active (especially people into yoga or other activities that help with balance and core strength), you may find it all a bit too easy — but then this probably isn’t for you. It’s better pitched at rookies and anyone wanting to improve their posture or focus on their weak spots. The app is free (the glasses are not), but it doesn’t house an extensive range of exercises. Once you’re getting scores of high 90 across the board, it appears that you’ve reached the limit of what the app can help you with. (But good for you!) It’s precise too: When I wobbled on a squat or let my head drop on an otherwise simple exercise, my score dropped. It even composes line graphs after each workout, showing any imbalances to the left or right.

My terrible posture is a chronic habit, and having a robotic personal trainer tell me that I’m screwing up is a pretty good way to keep myself in check.

The app keeps a record of your score even if you don’t want it to, so you can see your numbers improve. However, the setup isn’t perfect. Those planks I mentioned? I have a constant score of zero. I don’t even know how it’s possible to be that bad at a side plank. (I attempted this exercise six times. I got the same score.)

What’s more, the primary app that you need in order to use the glasses often wouldn’t register that I was wearing them, and its eye-monitoring sensors deduced that I had the mind of 42-year-old (based on the fatigue detected in my eyes) with the body of a 63-year-old. That’s both cruel and highly specific. When it comes to your body, JINS Meme offers a score for your energy levels, posture and stability, while your mind is scored in terms of concentration, energy and composure. Sensors inside the bridge of the glasses detect minute changes in electromagnetic activity from your eyes, calculating where your eyes are looking and how often you blink. It sounds crazy, but it’s real. While the glasses can monitor tiredness in real time, there’s no kind of useful feedback for this feature just yet.

To demonstrate my aging state, the app displayed a wavering, drunken head. While my posture isn’t perfect (thus the core training), I’m no bobblehead. JINS told me that the glasses adjust to the wearer over time, getting more precise and calibrating to the user. Or maybe I am in such a bad state?

The current apps and glasses are just the start: The company has hinted at moving beyond Japanese borders (it already has a “normal” glasses store in San Francisco), so these smart glasses, or some variation thereof, might have a chance of hitting retail in the West.

As a fitness wearable, the JINS Meme is surprisingly effective, but the shallowness and erratic nature of the app limited how far I could go with it. Surprisingly, there was nothing uncomfortable about wearing a fitness tracker on my face — but then, I’m a glasses wearer. If you aren’t, you might feel a little weird wearing something while you work out.

Source: JINS Meme (Japanese)

Reuters: White House refuses to openly back encryption law

The White House is apparently refusing to publicly back a law that would force tech companies to comply with decryption requests. Reuters has spoken to anonymous sources inside the administration that claim there are deep divisions on the issue of violating individual privacy. The new bill has been pushed by senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein in the wake of the San Bernardino iPhone case. The legislation is designed to give judges the power to compel firms like Apple and WhatsApp to comply with requests to decrypt secure software.

The sources claim that the White House has read the document and offered feedback but won’t throw its weight around in public. Reuters believe that the move is largely political since a looming election and intransigent leadership means the bill is likely to remain on ice. A report from The Hill in January points out that Feinstein and Burr rejected calls to ignore a proposed national commission to research better solutions. Presumably they thought that trying to look for coherent solutions was too much effort when a jerk of the knee is so much easier.

Source: Reuters

Google’s self-driving cars to face their toughest test yet

Google is taking its self-driving cars to a fourth city in an expansion of its ongoing development. The latest location for testing is Phoenix, Arizona, which is significantly more arid than any city previously used as a proving ground.

Speaking to Reuters, Jennifer Haroon, Google’s head of business operations for the self-driving car project, noted that the desert conditions will further the company’s understanding of “how our sensors and cars handle extreme temperatures and dust in the air.” Modified Lexus SUVs have already begun to map the Phoenix area, checking for street layouts, lane markers, traffic signals and curb heights.

The move to Phoenix is the second new area for Google this year. In February, it began testing in Kirkland, Washington, which is significantly wetter than previous locations. Those previous locations were in California and Texas, though, so that’s not saying much — Kirkland is still dryer than the US average for inches of rainfall per year.

It’s suggested that, in addition to providing a new set of environmental challenges for self-driving cars, Arizona is potentially more open to the testing than California. Google’s home state recently proposed new rules that would require a wheel, pedals and a driver to be in self-driving cars — all things that are not present in Google’s current prototype.

Source: Reuters

T-Mobile Offering Two Lines With 6GB LTE Each for $80/Month

T-Mobile has announced a limited time promotion offering two lines, each with unlimited talk, text, and 6GB of LTE data, for $80 per month starting April 8. T-Mobile does not charge access or data overage fees, and instead limits each line to unlimited 2G data once the LTE data included has been used.

As a comparison, Verizon charges $100 per month for two lines with unlimited talk, text, and 6GB of LTE data combined — not per line. The cost breakdown is $60 per month for Verizon’s “large” 6GB data bucket, plus an access fee of $20 per month for each smartphone line. Data overages are charged at $15 per GB.

As with all Simple Choice plans, the two lines will both have access to T-Mobile’s unlimited video and music streaming incentives Binge On and Music Freedom. Data Stash also allows unused LTE data to roll over for up to one year for no additional charge. Other perks include Carrier Freedom and Mobile Without Borders.

Tag: T-Mobile
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FBI Director Says Method of Unlocking iPhone Can’t Be Used on iPhone 5s or Newer

After disclosing its method of accessing the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook to a few U.S. Senators, the FBI today released a new sliver of information regarding the highly secretive invasive steps the organization has taken to get into the iPhone in question.

FBI director James Comey gave a few hints about “a tool” from a private party that it used to gain access to Farook’s iPhone (via CNN).

In a speech at the Biennial Conference at Kenyon University, Comey mentioned that the tool purchased from the private party — reportedly Israeli mobile developer Cellebrite — only works on a “narrow slice of phones,” which does not include models of the iPhone 5s and after. Although that range allows the FBI to enter into Farook’s iPhone 5c, the beefed up security of the A7 chips of the 5s and onward limits the organization’s ability to use Cellebrite’s tool for any of its more recent security-locked iPhone cases.

After the FBI said it found a method of getting into the iPhone used in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, the Cupertino company promised it would insist on obtaining the details of the exploit if the case were to move forward. Since the Justice Department officially dropped the case against Apple, the company can’t ask for that information, and Comey said the government is contemplating the pros and cons of looping Apple in on the situation.

“We tell Apple, then they’re going to fix it, then we’re back where we started from,” he said. “We may end up there, we just haven’t decided yet.”

Even though the official legal battle is over, Apple’s statement at the end of the lawsuit referred to the company’s continuing promise to “increase the security” of all its products as the threat against user data becomes “more frequent and more sophisticated.”

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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This is the Huawei P9 Lite, hands-on shots from behind closed doors

Huawei has now officially launched its P9 and P9 Plus smartphones, but the rumoured P9 Lite didn’t get mentioned at the main event. Now photos of the handset have appeared.

The Huawei P9 Lite, which has been rumoured for months now, appeared in hands-on photos on Russian tech site Hi-Tech Mail. The fact that this phone has had no other announcement suggests it will be limited to certain areas for release.

The P9 Lite appears to be a mid-range handset with just a single camera on the rear, unlike the dual-camera toting P9 and P9 Plus. The build quality appears to feature a metal bumper frame.

The specs are also less impressive than the flagship models. The screen is a 5.2-inch 1080p display, but there’s no mention of nits and colour levels. While processors were not mentioned there will be 2GB and 3GB RAM models available and 16GB storage with microSD expansion. Everything is powered by a 3000mAh battery.

The rear camera is a single 13-megapixel snapper while the front-facing selfie camera is 8-megapixels. On the rear is a new fingerprint scanner, likely the same as in the flagship P9.

Pricing, release date and even release location are unknown. Huawei hasn’t mentioned anything yet, although the Russian site still has the photos live suggesting it wasn’t just a leak.

READ: Huawei P9 preview: Monochrome is the new black

Apple iPhone SE review: Great things can come in small packages

There are two ways of looking at the iPhone SE, the “special edition” smaller-scale 4-inch iPhone.

One is that it’s Apple simply churning out a 2-year-old design with a spec update; the other is that it delivers what many people actually want: a small but powerful phone for those who believe the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are just too big.

So should this £359 handset be given a look in, or does the more powerful iPhone 6S make it one to ignore? We’ve downsized for the week to find out.

iPhone SE review: Design

If the iPhone SE looks familiar, that’s because it features a near identical design to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S. So no surprises here, other than the more recent colour options being available: silver, space grey, gold and rose gold (although we prefer the term “bros’ gold”).

It is so similar that it even fits cases built and made for the iPhone 5 range. And with a weight of just 113g, the SE is certainly small, light, and compact. Meaning it’s very pocketable – which is refreshing in among a world of gigantic phones.

The SE will fit most pockets without showing a bulge; fit in your running gear without weighing you down; and can comfortably be used one-handed without having to stretch or contort your thumb to the upper reaches of the screen like you need to with the 6S Plus.

Having used an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S for the last 2-years, downsizing to the SE has been a surprising breath of fresh air, without compromise to the modern power we’ve become used to. For all intents and purposes the SE is an iPhone 5S in design with a stack of iPhone 6S tech inside – which we’ll get to later.

And we’re okay with that. The iPhone 5S was a great phone that was critically well-received – and while most of us have moved on to bigger devices it is clear that many still want something small scale.

The main physical difference we’ve noticed between top-tier 6S and SE are the latter’s matte edges around the screen. And if we’re being particularly picky, we miss the curved edges of the glass screen on iPhone 6 and 6S over the defined edge of the screen on the SE – it’s not as smooth against your thumb when scrolling, but hey, we can live with that. Oh, and it stands upright due to that flat bottom. Little things, but such things makes us happy.

iPhone SE review: Screen

The iPhone SE sports the same 4-inch 1136 x 640 pixel screen as the iPhone 5S, which means that while it is lower in terms of resolution than the iPhone 6S, it is still just as sharp.

It’s not the highest resolution on the market, which makes it sound like it’ll look well out of date, but with a pixel density of 326ppi it makes for ample sharpness. Just not class-leading sharpness. However, there is no blurriness or softness to the images, while colours are bright and exhibit natural tones. In some instances apps look better than they do on the iPhone 6S to our eyes.

Small scale and smaller price does come with some compromise in terms of feature set though. There’s no 3D Touch – Apple’s pressure-sensitive touchscreen technology – in the iPhone SE. If you’re an iPhone 5 or 5S user then you won’t have used it yet anyway, and if you’re particularly keen then you’ll just have to upsize to 6S and spend some more cash. Although we’re yet to hear from an 6S user that actively uses it all the time anyway – we think it’s down to habitual memory.

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The biggest issue with the iPhone SE is trying to cram everything on screen. Apple’s iOS software has evolved and squeezing everything onto a 4-inch panel is hard – especially if you’re used to something larger. It’s tougher for reading long message conversations, once you’ve included the keyboard on screen, or simply reading emails and web pages. We’ve caught ourselves a couple of times rotating the phone landscape to read more, which is something we don’t do on the iPhone 6S. 

iPhone SE review: Performance

Where do we start? If you are still using the iPhone 5 range then the SE gives you 2-years worth of technical upgrades. Apple hasn’t held back, or made the SE a poor man’s version of the iPhone 6S, bringing virtually all the tech from its flagship device to the iPhone SE (ignoring the 3D Touch point).

That means you get the company’s A9 processor – effectively doubling the performance capability over the iPhone 5S – and M9 processor that improves on the motion-sensing capabilities too.

Apps load fast, menus are smooth, and the whole device is as quick as you would expect a phone to be from Apple regardless of whether you are editing photos or playing a game. At no point have we experienced lag or had the feeling that we were waiting for something to happen. It just works.

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The powerful processor is there because of all the rest of the toys Apple has brought to the table. The SE comes with TouchID fingerprint recognition technology and support for Apple Pay (so you can pay for goods with a fingerprint at participating vendors).

READ: What is Apple Pay and how does it work?

There is faster LTE support, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, although only standard antennas rather than the MIMO Wi-Fi ones found in the iPhone 6S. That final point is noticeable if you’ve got weak spots in your home Wi-Fi, certainly when you glance down and see your iPad has full bars and the SE doesn’t.

The battery capacity hasn’t been made any bigger than in the iPhone 5S, but due to savings from processor performance it should last longer than the older handset. And we’re easily getting a full day’s use out of the SE – getting to around 10pm with about 20 per cent of battery left, which is similar to a lot of competitor flagships these days.

That does vary based on not only what you do with the phone, but also your movements. Twitter and Facebook still kill battery like you’re attacking a free all-you-can-eat buffet with only 10 minutes before it closes. 

The bottom line is that the iPhone SE might look like it’s from 2014, but it is very much a 2016 phone in terms of performance. Just because it’s smaller scale doesn’t mean it’s not big on power.

Pocket-lint

iPhone SE review: Camera

Wow. The SE’s camera is great. It features the same 12-megapixel rear camera found on the iPhone 6S, giving any iPhone 5S users a huge leap from the 8-megapixel camera.

The new iPhone SE camera supports 4K video recording (3840 x 2160) at 30fps or 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps, as well as the huge 63MB panoramas introduced on the iPhone 6S in September 2015. You also get Apple’s TruTone flash for more natural photos in low-light situations and a bunch of other Apple photography enhancements and tweaks.

All those technologies, including Live Photos support, combined with a number of processing enhancements means you’ll visibly see the difference straight away if you are an iPhone 5 or 5S user.

Regardless of whether you are upgrading or moving to Apple for the first time, you get a cracking camera in your pocket. Photos are good in the sun, in the rain (we’ve had plenty of that during our testing), and low-light too. Skin tones are well catered for, and there’s not a bad thing to say about the quality.

This is effectively the same camera Apple has used for its huge global billboard campaign (“Shot by iPhone”) and if you like those pictures then you can expect the same creative potential here from the iPhone SE. And remember: the £359 price tag is about the same as a dedicated compact camera, not the £600-odd price tag of Apple’s and other makers’ flagship devices.

As for the front-facing camera, the SE has the Retina Flash which changes the screen to act as a flash, but the camera resolution is only 1.2-megapixels, and that is noticeable in its performance. It’s not a complete disaster, but shots taken with this camera look soft and lack detail. It’s a strange move to go so low-res, given that so many of us take selfies these days. This is really the only chink in Apple’s photography armor when it comes to the iPhone SE. We would have liked to have seen the 5 megapixel camera found on the iPhone 6S here too.

iPhone SE review: Software, iOS 9.3.1

The iPhone SE runs iOS 9.3 – taking full advantage of all the functionality of the company’s operating system.

READ: iOS 9.3 tips and tricks

Because the SE is as capable as the flagship models you get all the software toys including the newly added Night Shift that changes the screen colour to a warmer hue a night to stop you being kept awake by “blue light” and of course things like Apple Pay so you can pay at most contactless pay machines across the world.

The only thing we’ve noticed you don’t get is the double-tap feature to make the top of the screen accessible to your thumb. It’s not surprising given you can reach the top of the SE’s screen with your thumb anyway without having to change your grip.

Verdict

The iPhone SE is a great smartphone that brings plenty of power in a small package. It’s designed to appeal to those who aren’t fussed by today’s typically large flagship phones.

If you are upgrading from the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5 and don’t want a larger phone then the SE is a no-brainer. It’s faster in every aspect and delivers a phone that will feel familiar but deliver the goods at today’s current top-spec level.

Current Android users, too, looking to shift over but avoid inflated flagship costs or the large-scale budget pitfalls that swamp some poorly built and frustratingly sluggish mid-level devices may find recompense in Apple’s smaller-scale offering. Apple is hoping that by offering powerful, but small, it will appeal to those who haven’t gone to Sony.

While iPhone 6S users are likely to turn their noses up at the SE, during our review time we’ve really enjoyed the liberating dinkiness of the SE, especially when out running. Perhaps it’s a radical idea, but we can easily see some wealthier iPhone 6S and Plus users finding appeal in the iPhone SE being a weekend or running phone.

As far as shortcomings go, the SE lacks some of the top top spec features sound in the 6S, such as 3D Touch, while the front-facing camera isn’t particularly good. Plus, and it almost goes without saying, that 4-inch screen isn’t going to suit everyone.

Bigger is normally always better, but sometimes great things come in small packages too.

Apple iPhone 7 may censor your music to stop swearing

Apple is working on software capable of automatically censoring swear words out of music and audio books. The feature could appear in the next iOS update or with the launch of the iPhone 7.

Apple has a patent for a smart system that’s able to use metadata to recognise and remove offensive words in audio. It can replace those words with sounds, like a beep, or simply with silence. It may also be able to detect the music behind the words and continue playing seamlessly while only extracting the offensive words.

The question of whether there will be a choice or if this censorship will be automatically imposed is not clear. Apple’s Beats 1 streaming radio station only plays non-explicit versions of songs.

It’s likely Apple will add this as an option for parents who would like to control content that children are exposed to. Use of iPads in schools would likely also benefit from this new software.

The patent states that this will also apply to audio books. The software would access its library of offensive words and remove any deemed unsuitable.

Of course this is just a patent right now so may not appear soon, if at all. But it could be a useful tool to have, especially for parents.

READ: Apple Music: 8 tips to master before you start streaming

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