Meizu’s 10-core phone gets a 10-LED camera flash

You may recall that the world’s first 10-core mobile chip, the MediaTek Helio X20 series, is expected to hit the market this month. Indeed, today Meizu announced its Pro 6 smartphone which has nabbed exclusivity over the flagship Helio X25, yet it only starts from 2,499 yuan or about $390 off-contract. The specs don’t disappoint: You get a gorgeous 5.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen, 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3, 4GB of RAM, internal storage starting at 32GB, front-side fingerprint reader, LTE Cat 6 radio and a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port (up to 5 Gbps). The only thing missing here is NFC, if you’re a fan of that.

Despite the smaller 2,560 mAh battery (the Pro 5 had 3,050 mAh), it’s somewhat compensated by the 24W rapid charging feature that takes just one hour to go from zero to 100 percent. Just to ease our minds, Meizu added that the appropriate thermal and short-circuit protection mechanisms are all there. Depending on your usage behavior, the Helio X25’s tri-cluster architecture should also help extend battery life, but we’ll see about that when the reviews roll in.

The Pro 6 comes in a smooth aluminum body that’s only a tad thinner than the iPhone 6s Plus, and while its general shape, bottom edge layout plus color options — gold, gray and silver — will unfortunately remind you of Apple’s offerings, Meizu tries to distract you by curving the ends of the two plastic antenna bands on the back, as well as applying a more symmetrical design all over by repositioning the camera parts. Strangely, the result is a nice improvement over the iPhone 6s’ aging design.

Alas, the Pro 6 also comes with “3D Press” which, as you can tell by the name, is a cheeky clone of Apple’s 3D Touch: Depending on how hard to press the screen, you can toggle a shortcut menu and preview contents such as images, messages, e-mails, URLs and more. Meizu says many popular Chinese apps like WeChat, Weibo, Youku and QQ will be supported at launch. It’ll be interesting to see whether Apple will take action (it wouldn’t be the first time, anyway), but then again, Huawei already has a similar touch pressure recognition feature on its Mate S and its more recent P9 Plus.

Given the same old mid-range Sony IMX230 sensor featured in this 21.16-megapixel f/2.2 main camera, chances are it won’t beat those offered by the mainstream smartphone brands; plus it is now covered by a piece of Gorilla Glass 3 instead of the harder sapphire, which is clearly a cost-cutting move. That said, it does come with an improved laser autofocus, along with a small ring flash consisting of 10 LEDs — a first for smartphones — which is quite fitting given the phone’s 10-core CPU. On the other side, you have a 5-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera just like before, and as you’d expect with any Chinese smartphone these days, the Pro 6 comes with beautification features to save you money on cosmetics.

Perhaps the most interesting feature here is “mSound”: It’s a fancy name for Meizu’s combination of NXP’s third-generation smart amplifier system and its loudspeaker at the bottom, which not only claims to produce loud audio with little distortion, but it can also use the speaker — by detecting the vibration on the diaphragm — for noise suppression while recording audio. As for headphone playback, you can take advantage of the Pro 6’s Cirrus Logic CS43L36 DAC chip for supposedly cleaner audio with a wide dynamic range. Naturally, lossless audio formats like FLAC and APE are supported here.

There’s no word on global availability yet, but the dual-SIM Pro 6 is already available for pre-ordering in China, starting with 32GB version for 2,499 yuan (about $390). The 64GB version will arrive later for just 2,799 yuan (about $430).

Via: Engadget Chinese

Source: Meizu

Amazon’s high-end Kindle Oasis is sleek, sharp and pricey

Jeff Bezos probably wasn’t pleased to see his surprise spoiled this week, but e-book fans still have reason to get pumped. Amazon just pulled back the curtain on its new premium reader, the Kindle Oasis, and it’s the slimmest and sleekest model the company has put out yet. Of course, with a price starting at $290 (£270), it’s also one of the most expensive. As Amazon tells it, all the decisions were made with one goal in mind: to let the hardware itself almost disappear from view so that readers can lose themselves in their stories.

“We’re not going to be happy until we’ve got this magic sheet of paper that contains all the books in the world,” said Chris Green, VP of industrial design at Amazon’s Lab126. “Edge-to-edge, all content, no device. And when we get there, I might be out of a job.”

Realizing that ideal is going to take a while, but the Oasis is a fascinating step in that direction. To get the Oasis as light and sturdy as it is, Amazon took a plastic chassis and electroplated it with a special metal alloy. I’m told it’s an expensive process, which no doubt helps explain the Oasis’s steep asking price. There’s no question, though, that the end result — a reader weighing a mere 4.6 ounces — is impressive.

The company also used a startlingly thin Paperwhite display and fitted even more LEDs along one side for brighter, more consistent lighting. Amazon let me toss a few books onto their demo Oasis, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World looked fantastic on it. That said, don’t expect the Oasis to be any sharper than current models: It has the same 300-pixel-per-inch screen density as the Kindle Voyage and new Paperwhite.

So, the screen is still pretty great. The Oasis’s design, on the other hand, is sure to be… divisive. For the most part it’s incredibly thin (think: 3.4mm) but it has a flared edge designed to fit comfortably in your palm. The asymmetric look takes a little getting used to, certainly, but let’s not forget that Amazon is no stranger to asymmetry. Remember how kooky the original Kindle looked?

Anyway, after using it for about half an hour, I’m down with Amazon’s deign decision. I’ve always gripped (or tried to grip) my e-readers with one hand, and the Oasis’s odd design makes that easy. Its hump is easy to hang onto, and the bezel — also home to two physical page-turn buttons — is spacious enough to accommodate my fat thumb. The Oasis is also the first Kindle with an accelerometer, so lefties can turn the device over and use it just fine. Alas, though, it’s still not waterproof. Amazon wouldn’t comment on future plans when I asked, but one of the Kindle’s designers seemed very well-versed on what it takes to waterproof a gadget. Make of that what you will.

That slimness does come with a tradeoff: The Oasis has a battery that lasts about two weeks on a charge, down from the nearly six weeks on the Voyage. To compensate, Amazon crafted a leather-backed case which houses an additional battery that adds about seven weeks of runtime. Don’t worry, though: It’s free and comes packaged with the Oasis. Slap the cover onto the device and it automatically starts charging, and if you charge the Kindle while the case is connected, both charge at the same time. Throw a new hibernation mode into the mix and the combined Kindle-and-case can sit untouched for even longer without needing a charge — perfect for when the pull of paper books is too hard to resist.

You’ll be able to pre-order the Oasis starting today, with your choice of black, “merlot” or “walnut” leather cover. What remains to be seen is whether the Oasis is worth it for anyone but full-tilt e-reading fanatics. Stay tuned for our verdict in the weeks to come.

ICYMI: Ford night riding, AI sphere that delivers and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: Ford is testing self-driving cars on a completely dark night course, designed to be used without headlights. An automation company built a flying sphere that can pick up and deliver things with a very sphincter-like gripper system. And Schaft Inc. is showing off its new bipedal robot that can walk on rocky beaches easily.

The physicist who is thrilled about his job specializing in snowflakes is a must-watch (post-Zombie fakeout, of course). As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

The latest band to embrace VR is … New Kids on the Block?

Here’s a sign that virtual reality has lots its veneer of cool before it even really arrived. Pop TV has revealed that it will use the tech for the next season of Rock This Boat featuring New Kids on the Block. If you’ve no idea what any of those words mean, the show is about fans on a cruise ship with the ’90s boy band (NKOTB, if you’re cool), “as they engage with each other and rock out with their fans, both on- and off-stage.”

The channel says it teamed up with VR network Littlstar, to create “experiences [that] will include live performances with the band, selfies with Donnie, surf lessons with Joey and Jonathan, and more.” (Also, plenty of shots of butts and ripped abs, showing the band is still in shape at 40-plus.) If nothing else, it’s clear proof that virtual reality is no longer reserved for experimental artists or huge pop stars. Rather, it’s apparently front-of-mind for every producer looking to generate buzz for acts that need it a lot more than Taylor Swift.

Source: Pop TV

Goals in Google Calendar will help find some time for yourself

Google Calendar’s latest feature for those on mobile is Goals. This handy addition to the cloud-based service will automatically book time out of your day to achieve set goals. Should you want to learn a new language or get fit, Calendar will be able to work around meetings, scheduled events and more to ensure you stick to it. You’ll be able to configure these goals and set how frequently you wish to set time aside in any given week. Calendar will then monitor your list of events and re-arrange goals accordingly.

Deferring, editing or even removing set goals will provide Calendar with better understanding as how to approach that specific goal around your busy life. It’s a neat feature and is one we’re sure many will take full advantage of if they rely on Calendar (or similar apps) to free up some time and get stuff done when out of the office. There’s no longer the excuse of “I just don’t have the time to do it,” as Calendar will ensure you have that set time aside for any life goals or self-improvement sessions.

The feature made good timing too as Calendar turns 10 years old today.

Marshmallow beta will soon begin rolling out to first wave of Priv testers

BlackBerry is preparing to roll out Marshmallow to Priv beta testers who have opted into the program and completed necessary enrollment steps. The company has confirmed in the beta zone that Marshmallow will be released to the program from today.

So, how will you receive the update on your Priv? Should you be in the beta, you’ll receive Marshmallow as you would a normal system update. Either the OS will ping you with a notification to upgrade, or you can check manually by heading into Settings > About phone > System updates. Be patient if the update isn’t quite hitting your handset yet as only some participants will receive it today.

“Some participants will start to receive Marshmallow software tomorrow (Wednesday, EST). We will take a similar approach to how we brought people into the program when rolling out the software update: start with a small group, monitor for any critical issues, then expand to larger and larger groups. We expect to have everyone updated by the end of the week.”

As a side note, be sure to have diagnostic reporting enabled on your Priv. Android 6.0 will not be fired to your Priv if you have not completed this step or have disabled diagnostics. Haven’t signed up to the beta program yet? There may still be time for you to get on the wagon before the roll out commences.

This is the HTC 10 you won’t want: HTC 10 Lifestyle

When HTC launched its latest flagship smartphone, which we preview in full here, it revealed there will actually be two variants shipped globally. There is the top-of-the-line HTC 10, which we will get in the UK and US, but also a version with less impressive specifications for other regions.

That handset has been given the name HTC 10 Lifestyle and is now listed on the company’s websites for India, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. There might be others too, but Android Police has so far discovered all of these have the “HTC 10 Lifestyle” tag attached.

HTC fans in those locations might be disappointed to discover that their version of the HTC 10 lacks the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM found in the model we’re getting.

READ: HTC 10: Release date, official specs and everything you need to know

The HTC 10 Lifestyle runs on a Snapdragon 652 chipset instead, and has only 3GB of RAM. Those will affect performance somewhat in comparison.

In addition, the Lifestyle variant comes with just 32GB of storage rather than 64GB.

Of course, the Snapdragon 652 processor is still very capable, so the phone will still offer a premium experience – just not as premium as the flagship model.

It still looks the part though, with exactly the same design flair we’ve crowed about. And every other aspect is seemingly identical.

Cortana’s international versions get instant translations

The French-, German-, Italian- and Spanish-speaking versions of Microsoft’s voice assistant Cortana are now much better travel companions. Just like their English- and Chinese-speaking counterparts, these versions can now instantly translate words and phrases into other languages, so long as you’re running Windows 10. For instance, you can ask it for help by saying “Hey Cortana, translate where is the toilet in Japanese” in any of the four languages above, and it will quickly respond with the result.
In case you can’t talk out loud, you can also type the phrase into the assistant’s toolbar. Pretty handy if you travel all over the world. Speaking of traveling, Microsoft’s Translator apps for other platforms might become indispensable tools for your trips, as well. It recently updated its iOS Translator app with the ability to work offline and added even more languages to its Android application.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Microsoft Translator

Motorola hired a graffiti legend to tag the Moto X Pure

Legendary graffiti artist Futura has teamed up with everyone from The Clash, Nike, streetwear clothing company Supreme and even the 2000s trip-hop group UNKLE — now he can add one more name to that list: Motorola. In the video below you’ll hear Leonard McGurr wax poetic about his decade-spanning career, and talk about how street art speaks to an innate desire for people to stick out from the crowd “It’s getting harder and harder to maintain your individualism,” he says. This is a pretty logical extension of Motorola’s focus on customization with things like the Moto Maker, and it looks really cool.
The video shows McGurr tagging some 30 Moto X Pure handsets with his signature style, but precisely how many of these Moto will release isn’t clear at the moment. Same goes for how much they’ll cost or when they’ll be available. We’ve reached out to Motorola for more information and will update this post if there’s a response.

Source: Motorola Mobility (YouTube)

Google Calendar Celebrates 10th Anniversary With iOS ‘Goal’ Events

Google is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Calendar service with the addition of a new feature in its iOS app that aims to help users meet personal goals.

The new feature uses machine learning in an effort to help users stick to projected goals by sending reminders and rescheduling around other events in their calendar if necessary.

Tapping on the new Goal option in the Add menu brings up a list of preset goal choices. Goal types include “Exercise”, “Build a Skill”, and “Me Time”, or users can create their own.

After choosing a goal type, users are asked how often they’d like to achieve it and what time of the day is best for them, after which Google Calendar will attempt to automatically find an open slot in the diary and offer to send notification reminders.

If another event is added that conflicts with a set goal time, Google Calendar automatically reschedules it for another available time. Google claims that the more the feature is used, the better the app gets at choosing ideal times for set goal activities.

Google Calendar is a free download in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Tag: Google Calendar
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