HTC reportedly cooking up two Nexus products with Google

HTC is reportedly building a pair of Nexus products in partnership with Google, likely for release later this year. The devices are said to be built around Android N, and according to noted leaker Evan Blass, the devices have the codenames M1 and S1.

HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google internally dubbed M1 and S1 #nexus

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) April 27, 2016

Apart from that, there’s not much to say about these supposed devices. Previous rumors also point to HTC creating the 2016 Nexus phone (or phones), we as we’ve previously pointed out, getting into the Nexus game might be a smart move for HTC to make.

Hands-on with the Nextbit Robin update — a major improvement

Nextbit has addressed issues with the Robin in the latest update, and we had a look to see how they did.

Nextbit released the Android 6.0.1 update for the Robin, promising better performance and battery life, improved camera response and better audio tuning for both the front speakers and through the headphone jack. They’ve also made the Robin available through Amazon Prime, which makes it easier to buy.

I’ve had early access to the update, and have used it long enough to have a few things to say.

I liked the Robin with its original software configuration. The cloud syncing sounds a little gimmicky — backing up infrequently used apps to save space on your phone — but I found it worked exactly as intended without interfering with the day-to-day operation of the phone itself. The phone’s design is a bit different from anything else out there, and it’s done very well. You’ll have a phone that looks great and handles well while being unique and stylish.

Coincidentally, three areas where things were “adequate” at best were battery life, the camera and the audio. Let’s have a look at what’s changed in those areas and see if things have moved beyond mediocre.

Battery life and performance

For a lot of people, how long you can use your phone between charges is one of the most important parts of the buying decision. In our original testing, I found the battery life to be enough to make it through an average day, though I was skeptical how it would hold up under heavy use and wanted to spend more time with it.

With the latest update, I’m pretty pleased.

What stands out the most is the standby time. Even with the Nextbit cloud software running alongside syncing everything Google on multiple accounts, an idle Nextbit Robin does little more than lightly sip at its battery capacity. Left sitting and doing whatever it needed to do under the hood for Five days and a handful of hours, the battery still had over 50 percent of its charge and the software tells me there are five days left of this type of non-use.

Robin feels faster and has better battery life.

How it performs with heavy use is something that still needs more testing, but there’s obvious improvement here. Watching half of a Let’s Play series on YouTube, spending time on Twitter, Google+ and Steam’s forums on top of the normal emails, messages. Slack, Skype and general goofing-off — with mixed time on Wi-Fi and on T-Mobile’s LTE — left me with no fear that my battery would be dead before I put my head on the pillow and my Robin on the charger. I still need to spend time doing the things I want to do somewhere the signal’s poor so I can compare that to other phones, but as I mentioned above, there’s obvious improvement here, and I like what I’m seeing.

Something that got barely a passing mention in the update notes is improved performance. I didn’t think the performance of the shipping software was poor, but the new update makes the phone feel like it does everything better. We’ve remarked how a recent update fixed many performance issues on the Nexus 5X — which shares some of the internals with the Robin — and you’ll experience something similar here. Things have been changed that allow the processor to run better without reaching its thermal throttle point, and the result is a phone that “feels faster” in many ways. Doing so without adverse affects on battery life is a nice part of the update, and deserves a specific mention. Well done, Nextbit.

A faster camera

Nextbit says it tackled the sometimes sluggish camera on the Robin, and they certainly have. This doesn’t seem to affect image quality — the Robin still takes pictures that are good enough, but doesn’t match what we see from phones at the top of the camera (and price) game like the Galaxy S7 or the LG G5. It’s no slouch, and in capable hands you’ll be able to get beautiful pictures, but it lacks the “idiot-proof” ease of use from some of the others.

Fast focus now matters because the shutter is faster.

A serious gripe was how long it took to actually produce a picture after you tapped the shutter button. On the shipping software, you’d regularly experience a delay of a full second or more — especially in HDR mode — once things were focused and ready until you actually took the picture.

That’s gone. Nextbit says that this is now at least twice as fast, and it looks like they’re spot-on with this assessment. The fast focus that comes from using laser-assist matters now, because taking the actual picture is also fast. This makes the Robin’s camera acceptable, and you’ll be using it more often because it works well. I was hoping to see some improvement to the white balance here (even though nobody at Nextbit claims it was adjusted or improved), especially in low light and under incandescent light, but image editing software like Snapseed can easily adjust the output now that you can get the picture you wanted instead of watching everything move out of frame while you were waiting for the shutter to fire. One other neat feature for the camera is a quick-launch ability. Double-tapping the power button brings up the camera, even while the screen is off.

Audio tuning

Disclaimer — this is an area where I pay close attention, so I might notice the impact of small improvements more than someone who isn’t dialed-in on how things sound. Having said that, this is a pretty drastic move up in quality.

Nextbit worked with the French audio enhancement company Arkamys to improve the signal processing software, and it’s instantly noticeable — in a good way. Music from both the front-facing speakers and the headphone jack sounds fuller, more separated and cleaner. This carries well when turning the volume up, and even at maximum levels you’ll appreciate clearer (and louder) sound.

Compared to other phones using the same hardware, the audio improvements are remarkable.

Audio and the way your music sounds is a subjective thing. But these are improvements everyone will recognize and enjoy, no matter what kind of music you listen to or how you listen to it. And it doesn’t just improve music — all audio, including the new custom ringtones from DJs Lauren Lo Sung and Giraffage benefit from the newly-tuned signal processing, and even the speakerphone is improved.

These changes won’t transform the Robin into one of those products audiophiles will rave over, but they do make for a remarkable improvement. I was admittedly skeptical over these claims at first, but find that Nextbit has done a wonderful job with the Snapdragon 808’s on-board Qualcomm Hexagon QDSP V56 DSP, and compared to other phones that use the same hardware like the Nexus 5X, the difference is remarkable.

I didn’t have a chance to try the new AIAIAI TMA-2 headphones specially tuned for the Robin, but I imagine they make things even better here. I’ll see what I can do about finding a pair to test with, and will revisit if I can make that happen.

The bottom line

This is a great update. That’s simple, but sums it up nicely. Not only does the Robin get Android 6.0.1 (with the April security patch) with overall improvements to performance and security (and emojis!), but specific areas where the Robin needed improvement were addressed in demonstrable ways.

With the phone now available through Amazon, I’m even more apt to recommend it to anyone looking for a phone in this price range who doesn’t want to be tied down to a carrier’s whims.

See Nextbit Robin on Amazon (Mint) See Nextbit Robin on Amazon (Midnight)

Nextbit Robin

• Nextbit Robin review
• Nextbit Robin unboxing
• Nextbit Robin specs
• Join the Nextbit Robin forums

See at Amazon

Beijing Auto Show in pictures: The best cars from the China show

You might have heard that China is the second biggest car market in the world. But when it comes to Chinese car brands most Westerners are still blissfully unaware of the homegrown Chinese car market. If you do have an impression of such brands, it’s probably that they’re shameless copiers, ripping off vehicles like the Range Rover Evoque with cars like the Landwind X7.

However, we’ve been going to the Chinese Auto Show — which annually alternates between Shanghai and Beijing — for about five years now, and it’s safe to say that in 2016 the Chinese brands have truly got it together.

If you’ve read elsewhere that the show is full of copycat designs, you’re being misled. There are still one or two rip-offs, but you have to seek them out. For the most part, leading Chinese brand design has quickly caught up — and is level-pegging — with mainstream European, Japanese and American models. That’s something that would have been unthinkable, say, five years ago.

Our round-up takes you through the important debuts from some brands you’ll have heard off, and takes a look at some you won’t have — but ones that you might want to watch out for in the future. The message in Beijing was clear: watch out Europe, China is coming.

Click here to open our full-page gallery, featuring 17 cars from the show.

BlackBerry Rome and Hamburg: New leak reveals mid-range Android phones

BlackBerry wants to go mid-range with two Android devices, and a leak has revealed what those new devices might look like, be called, and cost.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry said it thinks the high-end phone market has gone soft, so it plans to launch two new Android phones this year aimed at the mid-range segment. Even though it just launched the Priv Android phone at the end of 2015, the company is eager to offer more devices, as it feels the $700 Priv is probably too expensive for people.

John Chen, BlackBerry’s CEO, has already said the upcoming new devices will include a keyboard-equipped model and a full-touch model, and now, thanks to image leaks spotted by PhoneArena, we’re getting our first glimpse of these devices. We also learned what they might be called: Hamburg (full-touch model) and Rome (keyboard-equipped model).

Times News

As you can see from the images, Rome looks somewhat similar to the BlackBerry Vienna, sans the grille design and camera placement. Rome is also thought to feature a Priv-like curved-screen OLED panel. As for the Hamburg, all we can decipher from the leaked images is that it could have a big bottom speaker. It’s also thought to cost around $400.

That price would would of course be in line with BlackBerry CEO’s previous comments about the company going mid-range.

Times News

Nintendo might stop making the Wii U by March 2018

Nintendo might not be axing the Wii U just yet, but that doesn’t mean the console will stick around for very long. While discussing its finances, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima has revealed that production of the one-of-a-kind system could stop by March 2018, or a year after the NX arrives. The timing wouldn’t be surprising. While Nintendo has a habit of keeping old systems around for a while after a new device launches, that rarely lasts — and the Wii U hasn’t been a strong-enough seller to merit sales well after its successor appears. From all indications, Nintendo wants everyone to move on to the new hardware once the last wave of big Wii U games is out the door.

Source: Reuters

Cassini flybys probe the depths of Titan’s methane sea

As Cassini makes the final rounds of Saturn on its roughly 20-year mission, the spacecraft has maneuvered into position over Titan to explore Ligeia Mare, the second-largest methane sea on the planet’s largest moon.

While Cassini has flown over Ligeia Mare before, the latest study from a French research team published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets confirms what earlier passes suggested back in 2014: that “this sea is predominantly made of pure methane.” Combining this data with earlier radar probes of the sea’s depth, the French team concluded that the sea is likely fed by “fresh methane rainfall” and its sea floor is “covered by a sludge layer of organic-rich compounds.”

Here’s more from NASA:

In the atmosphere of Titan, nitrogen and methane react to produce a wide variety of organic materials. Scientists believe the heaviest materials fall to the surface. [Study author Alice] Le Gall and colleagues think that when these compounds reach the sea, either by directly falling from the air, via rain or through Titan’s rivers, some are dissolved in the liquid methane. The insoluble compounds, such as nitriles and benzene, sink to the sea floor.

Ligeia Mare is about the size of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron combined, and those radar probes from 2013 created a detailed topographic map of Titan that marked the first time the human race ever found the bottom of an extraterrestrial sea. “It’s a marvelous feat of exploration that we’re doing extraterrestrial oceanography on an alien moon,” Steve Wall, the deputy radar lead for Cassini at NASA/JPL explained. “Titan just won’t stop surprising us.”

Those radar probes also made for a nifty 3D-rendered flyby of the moon’s surface. Observe:

Cassini itself has about 40 more laps around Saturn on its 2016-2017 farewell tour. After spending roughly half that time exploring Titan, Cassini will move into position inside the planet’s innermost rings, before it eventually burns up in the planet’s atmosphere around September 15th, 2017. Meanwhile, Cassini’s little buddy, the ESA’s Huygens lander, was left behind on Titan back in 2005. The probe managed to send back data for about 90 minutes after making the most distant landing ever achieved.

Babymetal is coming to ‘Super Mario Maker’

Nintendo announced that it will debut a new costume set and Event Course for its popular level creator, Super Mario Maker, based on Japanese pop-metal band, Babymetal. The “Mystery Mushroom” costume will feature all three band members mashed together in unison. It’s apparently the same basic sprite structure that we saw in December when a Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam mashup came to SMM, though obviously with a different skin and sound effects. Of course, this isn’t the trio’s first foray into video games. Their first single (and breakout hit), “Gimme Chocolate” made it into the a recent Rock Band 4 DLC.

Source: Nintendo News

NASA gets new Dragon capsule training simulators this year

With both the SpaceX Dragon and Starliner modules just a few years from their maiden launches, NASA has already started training the crews that will operate them. To that end, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Eric Boe recently spent some time at Boeing’s St. Louis facility trying out a pair of the company’s brand new part-task training simulators for the Dragon.

These simulators operate like the command consoles from the USS Enterprise — that is, everything is a touchscreen. “We can run multiple simulations by just changing software,” Williams said in a statement. “then [we] put that same software into a bigger crew simulator, which we will use to train the whole crew for a spaceflight.”

“The simulations are important for the flight tests, because this is the place to put it all together,” Boe added. “Think of the part-task trainer as our training wheels. As we get more familiar with the systems, the training wheels will come off and we will start advancing to the next systems. Eventually, we will work with another crew member, then with the whole flight control team.”

Astronauts will initially train individually on the simulators, learning how to operate the capsule under a variety of nominal and emergency situations that could arise on a trip to the ISS. However, once the simulators are shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston later this year and wired into both the Boeing and NASA networks, astronauts will be able to interact with each other as well as mission and launch control to get the fullest training experience. Plus, once Boeing finishes building its full-size Starliner flight deck simulator, astronauts will be able to train on that as well.

Source: NASA

Spotify buys CrowdAlbum to give artists a fan’s perspective

It’s no secret that Spotify and other audio streaming apps are constantly looking for ways to help artists connect with fans. Today, Spotify announced that it’s acquiring CrowdAlbum, a company that builds a library of photos and videos from fans so that artists can gauge the reaction to live performances. The two companies are no strangers, teaming up on a Fan Insights feature for musicians and concert recommendations for listeners. Under the streaming service’s roof, CrowdAlbum will continue to work on products for artists. In fact, it already lends a hand to over 1,000 performers and venues in the US, including Lil Wayne, Diplo and Fall Out Boy.

Source: Spotify

Undersea robots find key clue to a mysterious shipwreck

Robots just helped shed light on a maritime tragedy. The US Coast Guard, National Transportation Safety Board and Woods Hole Oceanographic have used both an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and a fiber-controlled craft to find the voyage data recorder of the El Faro, a cargo ship that sank near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin last October. That’s no mean feat when its remains are 15,000 feet deep, and the recorder is roughly the size of a coffee can. The recovery should not only help explain the exact circumstances of the El Faro’s final moments, but provide some closure to the families of the 33 crew members that lost their lives.

Source: NTSB, WHOI