Xiaomi about to launch mobile payments service in China

Xiaomi has been rumored to launch a payments service in China for some time now, and the vendor has announced today that it is partnering with China UnionPay over the service. There’s no mention of a timeline, but Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun told Xinhua that the service will be an NFC-based solution.

It makes sense for Xiaomi to come up with its own payments service, as the vendor sells a series of lifestyle products in addition to phones and tablets. Its latest phones — the Redmi Note 3 and the Mi 5 — offer fingerprint sensors that can be used to authenticate payments. The vendor has teamed up with NXP earlier this year to enable mobile payments using the Mi 5 at public transit stations across the country.

However, Xiaomi will face an uphill battle in this segment, as it will not only have to go up against local players like Alibaba and Tencent, but will also have to compete with Samsung Pay and Apple Pay in the country.

Dlodlo V-One attempting to be the world’s first portable VR glasses

How good it will actually be is still the number one question.

Is the VR dream that you can put on what amounts to a regular pair of glasses and be transported into a whole new world? The Dlodlo (pronounced do-do, don’t ask why) V-One claims to be the first product of its kind that will do just that. Transport you into a virtual world wearing a fairly regular sized pair of glasses. I’ve been careful to say “claims to be” because as of the recent CE China event in Shenzhen, there was no working sample to put to the test.

The actual product will be launched in New York City at some point later in 2016. And while there are many, many questions to be answered, here’s what we know about it so far.

The first thing is that the V-One will run Android. Dlodlo is building its own operating system for the glasses and it’ll be based on top of Android Lollipop. They’ll weigh 78g and are 16mm thick, which in both regards is higher than your average pair of sunglasses, but definitely not too big and heavy to be comfortable. They’re a little odd feeling at first, possibly because they don’t quite sit as nicely as a pait of glasses over the bridge of the nose. Equally, all I got to try on was a non-working prototype so it could still be improved.

You’ve got a focus switch for each individual eye, and Dlodlo wasn’t too sure on how well folks who need actual glasses would be able to experience the V-One. But, they did seem to suggest that there will be something built in that may help them out. But we’ll keep a big question mark over that for now.

You’ve got two microUSB ports on the glasses as well, one for charging and one for plugging in the D-Box.

While I didn’t get to see one, the D-Box is an external interface that allows Dlodlo to expand the VR experience by allowing other devices to plug in to the glasses. It’s essentially the size and shape (it seems) as a regular USB battery pack and with a microHDMI input you should be able to connect up your PC, games console and the like as well as generally improving the quality of the overall VR content that can be delivered.

There’s also a microSD card slot and the D-Box has its own touchscreen interface.

So, there are definitely two sides to the V-One. Dlodlo seems to have plenty of financial backing out in China which means the chances are fairly high that it’s going to eventually be a real, finished product. On the one hand its an incredibly exciting concept that we’re eager to see for ourselves. On the other there are still plenty of questions to be asked, and lots more to be answered.

With a U.S. based launch event planned for later in 2016, hopefully we’ll know everything soon enough.

Audi RS Q3 Performance first drive: RS thrills and spills in an SUV guise

Audi’s quest to give every car in its range the S treatment or RS treatment rolls on unrelenting, with the RS Q3 probably the oddest RS of the lot.

Giving the regular A3 the RS treatment makes sense, as it results in a typical hot hatch, albeit one that’s decidedly premium. Making an RS version of your large estate (or Avant in Audi parlance) is perhaps less common, but we can still see some of the appeal in a larger performance model.

When that high performance makeover is applied to one of the company’s baby SUVs, we’re left scratching our heads. We were when we first encountered this model in 2014, but now it’s lifted higher, in the Audi RS Q3 Performance, boosting its performance credentials. 

Pocket-lint

Audi RS Q3 Performance design

The Audi RS Q3 takes the Q3 and lowers it some 25mm and packs in RS suspension, moving this from baby SUV to a tighter, hunkered-down, sports model. But it retains its SUV stance, riding high and offering a higher driving position.

That’s great for visibility, retaining the profile that SUVs enjoy and makes them popular: in urban environments the extended views around traffic gives a distinct high and mighty advantage.

To the exterior there aren’t a huge number of changes over the RS Q3 that came before, a nose redesign since the 2014 original sees the matte silver grille surround meeting the lights, but this is otherwise very much what you expect, which a nice sporty stance and more aggressive styling.

The RS Q3 Performance does get some exclusive features though, like the 20-inch titanium-finish wheels giving a healthy view of the big red brake callipers. If you prefer, you can have a stealthy black finish for those wheels too.

More aggressive bodywork stands the RS Q3 aside from the regular Q3, giving this car a visual boost, although it doesn’t quite go to the lengths that some of the RS models do: there’s only a single exhaust, for example, so you don’t quite get that tail end lift.

But overall there’s something aggressively cute about the RS Q3. It’s like a friendly pit bull, a cuddly and affectionate hulk of muscle, attracting nervous smiles, while you try to decide whether the beast is going to bite or offer its belly for scratching.

Pocket-lint

Audi RS Q3 Performance interior

One of the great advantages of the added ride height means you’re not breaking your back to slip into a bare bone sports seat. One of the practical appeals of an SUV is ease of access, especially if you’re loading a baby into the backseat for example, and that’s exactly what you get. But the interior benefits from a sporty lift, again carrying a couple of exclusive features to reflect its Performance pedigree. 

The carbon highlights laced with blue thread, matching the blue colouring of the exterior and the seat stitching is a nice distinctive touch. We’ve seen coloured stitching around mats in the past and adding this deeper hint of colour to those carbon inlays adds something special. 

But as interiors go, the RS Q3 perhaps reflects the position that the Q3 sits in Audi’s range. Things haven’t changed much on the interior over the past few years and the manual pop-up display lacks the thrill of the powered versions offered elsewhere across the Audi family. It feels a little budget sitting atop the dash in a car that costs nearly £50,000.

Aside from those carbon highlights, much of the interior here is pretty typical. Giving the RS treatment to an SUV means that you have a cabin that’s more spaced out. With a driving seat that’s more sit up and beg, you don’t quite get the same sporty cockpit feel that Audi’s regular-stance models offer.

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This is an SUV and that cuts both ways: added interior space is a distinct benefit, especially if you’re packing kids into the back, but it’s inherently less sporty in ambience, and the layout here doesn’t work quite as well as it does in something more compact, as it’s a bit of a reach to get to the centre controls and using the Audi MMI system is a little more difficult to use at arm’s length: pressing the buttons in the Q3 central column is more of a stretch than in a model where you’re sitting alongside a more pronounced transmission tunnel. 

You also don’t get Audi’s latest driver display, sticking instead to two conventional dials and rectangular centre, where others models are offering the digital dash, or digital centre, which is much more dynamic. 

But Audi offers wide range of extras, and bags of tech to pimp your ride. The panoramic sunroof is a perennial favourite (£1125) and as you’re looking at a seriously fast SUV here, the speed limit display is a useful addition. This reads signs and puts the speed limit in the display so you can see how fast you’re supposed to be going. 

The comfort package (£500) is your parking companion, giving you a rear-view camera and great guide lines so you know where you’re heading without craning your neck too far. Auto-dimming rear mirror, cruise control and high-beam assist are also great additions for motorway driving, especially at night.

Pocket-lint

Audi RS Q3 Performance on the road

The Audi RS Q3 is equipped with a 2.5-litre TFSI petrol engine, here offering 367PS, stepping up from the “regular” 340PS of the normal RS Q3. But even that’s fairly moderate for an Audi RS model when you consider the RS 6 Performance is offering an eye-watering 605PS. Thankfully there’s no escaping the exciting surge of power from this popular Audi engine, matched with an equally exhilarating exhaust note as you accelerate off the mark.

You’re rewarded with 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds, which is fast enough to frustrate many sports car drivers. Imagine setting off from the lights, only to find there’s an unrelenting SUV constantly nipping at your heels, 2.4 kids destroying the backseat and a dog in the boot. The RS Q3 will also out-pace many of the larger sports SUV models languishing at the luxury end of the spectrum. If you’re an SUV fan looking for performance, then the RS Q3 is an attractive proposition indeed. 

Of course there’s no escaping the stance of the RS Q3 and that means that there’s plenty of body to lean when you hit those corners fast. There’s no adaptive suspension here, instead picking a middle ground between providing a comfortable ride and controlling the normal SUV wallowing.

In some ways that makes a lot of sense. Where you might accept a much more unforgiving ride in a hot hatch, that’s not really what you want from a baby SUV. There will always be those who do want to take this beyond the road, even if it’s just down that well potted unsurfaced road taking the dog for a walk. This is a form and function compromise, but that’s ok. 

First Impressions

In some ways the Audi RS Q3 Performance is a silly idea. It’s an SUV playing at hot hatch, but the addition of a Performance boost to this model suggests there’s still a demand. There’s rivalry from the likes of the Mercedes GLA AMG, so Audi isn’t alone in offering the super-fast SUV, and life would be awfully dull if silly things didn’t exist. 

Where this might be a silly idea, it’s exciting too. It’s a smooth and sophisticated car to drive, fusing exciting acceleration and assured Quattro all-wheel drive grip, with practicality and comfort. This is an RS you can drive over the kerb and across the park, load Ikea flat pack in the boot and do it all at speeds that will have the neighbour’s Porsche Boxster scratching its head and there’s plenty of merit in that.

The new Audi RS Q3 Performance is available from £49,185, available now.

Make your own ladders and leagues with Gfinity’s Xbox One app

Gfinity is backing eSports heavily: if it’s not a gaming arena, its an app that lets you arrange your own tournament, ladder or league. It’s a first for consoles (and it’s just Xbox One for now), but it lets you create and manage tournaments from the Microsoft game box. The company is hoping it’ll see use both at the professional level as well as to settle scores in the office and at home.
You’ll need a Gfinity account to access everything, but you’ll also be able to register for its series of FIFA, CoD and Rocket League pro competitions. Conveniently, the company is taking the launch as an opportunity to launch a $2,000 Rocket League tournament, exclusive to the app. Curiously, Gfinity CEO Neville’s Upton claimed that the Xbox One had “18 million users globally”, although this was scrubbed from later releases. The company claimed it derived the figure from previous estimates — which would still put it a ways behind its rival.

Source: Gfinity

Blood flows in PS4’s ‘Shadow of the Beast’ on May 17th

You’d be forgiven if you didn’t play Shadow of the Beast when it first came out on the Amiga in 1989, but don’t make the same mistake with the upcoming PlayStation 4 version. The absolutely brutal side-scroller looks like a throwback to beat ’em ups of yore like Streets of Rage, however the combat appears to have a fair bit of depth to it. Protagonist Aaraborn may start out in chains but he’s far from helpless: there are a pair of positively massive claws attached to his hands he uses to rip enemy creatures apart. Combat is heavily timing-based and, well, vicious.

But there’s more to the game than just gore and violence. It’s also really pretty! Maybe Shadow’s biggest asset, though, is the diversity of environments you’ll leave soaked in blood. In the video below there’s a gorgeous grassland that gives way to a sinister looking forest, for starters. The game has platforming and exploration elements, too, and it even dips into 2.5 dimensions, allowing you to solve puzzles on the Z-axis (depth).

I can’t quite put my finger on why, but the game is giving me some serious Ori and The Blind Forest vibes. Just with fewer adorable, magical cat-like creatures and a lot more bloodshed. The game releases exclusively on PS4 this May 17th and if you pre-order it now you’ll unlock a dynamic theme for Sony’s latest console. For an idea of how it stacks up to the original, compare the two embedded clips against each other — I know which one I prefer.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Steve Wozniak Says Apple Should Pay 50% Tax

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has spoken out in favor of Apple and all other companies in the world paying the same 50% tax rate he does, calling anything less “unfair”.

In an interview with the BBC published this morning, Wozniak, who left Apple in 1986, said that every company in the world should pay the same rate he pays as an individual. “I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50% of anything I make in taxes and I believe that’s part of life and you should do it,” he said.

Tax avoidance has been brought back into focus by the recent Panama Papers revelations, a huge leak of documents that lifted the lid on how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.

Ask about companies maximizing profit and the related issue of tax havens, Wozniak said he was personally never interested in making money, unlike his former partner, Steve Jobs. “Jobs started Apple Computers for money, that was his big thing and that was extremely important and critical and good,” he said. “[But] we didn’t think we’d be figuring out how to go off to the Bahamas and have special accounts like people do to try to hide their money.”

Asked if he worried that Apple had moved so far away from its founding principles that it was now looking to actively pay less tax, Wozniak replied: “The company we founded in 1976 knew that we would be a worldwide company selling huge amounts of computers everywhere, and we just assumed we would pay taxes on it. And maybe the tax rates are different for a company than they are for a person, but that’s something that bothers me to this day.”

Apple is one of several multinational corporations that have been targeted for possible corporate tax avoidance in Europe. In September 2014, the European Commission formally accused it of receiving illegal state aid from Ireland, where it has reportedly paid a reduced tax rate of around 1.8% on its overseas profits.

In a March hearing at the European Parliament’s tax committee, Apple claimed it was the “largest taxpayer in the world”, paying 13.2 billion dollars in 2015 taxes worldwide at an effective tax rate of 36.4%.

Earlier this month, candidate for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination for the United States, Bernie Sanders, said he wished Apple would stop trying not to pay its fair share of taxes and move some of its manufacturing to the U.S.

Tim Cook has previously said that Apple pays all of the taxes that it owes. In a December interview with Charlie Rose, he said accusations Apple avoids taxes on revenue held overseas is “total political crap”. “There is no truth behind it,” he said. “Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.”

A decision in the European Commission’s probe of Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland is unlikely to be reached soon, according to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, who told reporters querying its conclusion, “Don’t hold your breath.”

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.

Tags: corporate tax, Steve Wozniak
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Galaxy S7, S7 edge pick up minor update in India

Following the touchscreen and camera fix update, Samsung is rolling out a minor update to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in India. Coming in at just 1MB, the update includes bug fixes and stability improvements.

Samsung already rolled out the April security patch in last week’s update, so it looks like today’s offering is aimed at fixing any lingering bugs. If you’re rocking either the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge in India, head into Settings > About device > Download updates manually to manually install the update.

Thanks Harsh Jhaveri for the tip!

Xiaomi’s making the excellent Redmi Note 3 available for everyone on April 27

Looking to get your hands on the Redmi Note 3? Xiaomi has announced that it will make the budget handset available in general sale on April 27 at 2PM IST.

https://t.co/S0qbbVlM73 – More #RedmiNote3 stocked, no registrations required for next sale! Get it 27 April, at 2pm pic.twitter.com/zXVoWNNsCG

— Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) April 21, 2016

The Redmi Note 3 is available in two storage variants: the base model with 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage is available for ₹9,999, and the variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage goes for ₹11,999. Other specs include a 5.5-inch FUll HD display, hexa-core Snapdragon 650 SoC with four Cortex A53 cores at 1.4GHz and two newer Cortex A72 cores at 1.8GHz, 16MP camera at the back, 5MP front shooter, LTE, and a 4000mAh battery along with MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop.

Given that Amazon is still taking registrations for the upcoming sale, it is possible that general availability will be limited to Xiaomi’s own portal. We’ll let you know once the phone is up for grabs.

Phiaton BT 100 NC Bluetooth Headphones – Great sound, style, and comfort marred by unreliable Bluetooth (Review)

I must confess that prior to this review, Phiaton was not a brand I was familiar with. When these headphones arrived in the mail, I was totally oblivious as to what to expect from them. Let me tell you: I was pleasantly surprised…at first.

What’s In The Box?

The packaging for the BT 100 NC’s was some of the nicest I’ve seen for any product; especially for a pair headphones. The box felt sturdy, strong, was visually appealing, and wasn’t overly difficult to open. I like the contrasting elements Phiaton used with an all-white outer packaging against a black and silver inner packaging. I was also very impressed at how well the headphones and accessories were packaged in the box.

Packaging

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Front of box

Back of box

Left side of box

Right side of box

Inner packaging

Bottom of inner packaging

Inner packaging interior

In the box you get:

• Instruction manual
• Warranty info
• Additional ear pads of varying sizes
• Additional brackets for holding the wiring to the neckband
• 3.5mm to micro USB cord – this can be used if the BT 100’s battery has died or if you are using them with a device that does not have Bluetooth or NFC
• USB to micro USB cable

You basically get everything you need in the box. However, I would like to have seen Phiaton include an AC adapter of some sort, so that you could charge the BT 100s using a wall outlet.

Design

The Phiaton BT 100s are drop dead sexy. The white with red accents looks phenomenal. The red accents that surround the Phone and Play/Pause function keys are a cherry apple color that complements the shiny white plastic, quite well. The plastic build feels sturdy and of premium quality. Nothing about these headphones feels cheap. They feel solid enough to survive mild to moderate abuse without needing to worry.

On the left side of the BT 100s you have your volume switch, Phone function key (which also doubles as the power button), and an NFC toggle switch. On the right side, you have a Play/Pause function key.

I liked the placement of the function keys and volume rocker. They were very convenient and easy to access. The function keys did feel a bit stiff and had very little play to them, so it was hard to know whether or not you were actually pressing them.

One thing about the BT 100’s that really bugged me was the absence of a retraction mechanism for the ear buds. Phiaton, instead of including a retraction mechanism, opted to include two silos (one on each side) to place the ear buds inside of (partially). The problem is that they don’t fit securely. Instead of the earbuds themselves being a bit over sized to get a secure fit in the silo, you instead have a small peg that is supposed to fit in the hole in the ear pad to secure them. This solution was a glaring design oversight on Phiaton’s part. The peg not only does not secure the earbuds properly, but it is also an utter pain trying to get it into the hole in the ear pads. Consequently, the earbuds frequently fell out of the silos with very little external influence.

Earbud silo

Function

Overall, the Phiaton BT 100s were easy to use. It was not straightforward, out of the box, how to pair them with a device or even turn them on, but once I read the instructions, the process was pretty simple. To turn them on, you hold down the Phone function key until you see the indicator light turn on. To pair them with a device, you hold down the Play/Pause function key until you feel the headphones vibrate and the indicator light begins to flash red and blue in an alternating pattern. The instructions tell you to hold down the Play/Pause button for 2.5 seconds to put the headphones in pairing mode. I had to hold the button down for 3-4 seconds.

The BT 100’s are rated for approximately 7.5 – 12 hours of use while listening to music. This rating is pretty accurate with my experience. I found the charge time to be roughly three hours from dead to fully charged.

Call quality with the BT 100s was okay, not spectacular. The calls themselves sounded good in the earbuds, but the BT 100’s microphone makes your voice sound a bit muffled to the person on the other end of the line. I did like that the BT 100s have a vibration feature that activates when you receive a phone call. I also liked that I could answer and end calls with the Phone function key.

I ran into some issues with the Bluetooth. Specifically, the BT 100’s had a problem with keeping a stable pairing with my devices. I used them on a BLU VIVO XL, and also on an iPhone 6 Plus. The sound from music and video would quite frequently cut in and out while connected to my VIVO XL. It was almost like listening to a skipping CD. This phenomenon occurred far less frequently with my iPhone, but it still occurred nonetheless. I tried to give the BT 100s the benefit of the doubt and blame my BLU phone, but when the issue occurrs on the iPhone as well, I have to draw the conclusion that the issue lies with the headphones themselves and not my devices.

Sound

The sound quality of the BT 100s is a mixed bag. The most accurate word I can use to describe it, is balanced. The mids and highs were right where they needed to be, and I really appreciate that there is no “tinniness” to the highs. The bass is nothing to write home about but it blends in well with the rest of the spectrum. The problem is this: when I compare these $100 Phiatons to a $30 pair of Syllable G600 headphones, the difference is night and day. The Syllables sound deep and immersive, while the Phiatons sound like a cheap pair of Walmart headphones, in comparison. For $100, the Phiatons need to create an experience that makes me feel like I am physically in the concert hall if I close my eyes while listening to music.

Conclusion

This is tough for me. I like the Phiaton BT 100s. If it were not for the Bluetooth issue that I ran into, as well as the price, I would give you a thumbs up and purchase recommendation without hesitation. They feel good, they sound good, and the features are great… but the Bluetooth is hit or miss and the sound quality is not immersive enough for something that costs $100. I would definitely approach these with caution.

The Phiaton BT 100 NC Bluetooth headphones are available at Amazon.com for $98.99

Phiaton’s official website

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Billboard mimics human sweat to entrap Zika-carrying mosquitoes

A couple of ad agencies in Brazil installed two special billboards in Rio de Janeiro, which don’t endorse any kind of good or service. Instead, these billboards were designed to lure and kill Zika-carrying mosquitoes. They attract any Aedes aegypti up to 2.5 miles away by emitting a solution containing lactic acid and carbon dioxide that mimic human sweat and breath, respectively. Once the mosquitoes flock to the billboards, they get sucked inside the glass panel, where they’re trapped until they die.

The agencies, Posterscope and NBS, released the installation’s technical blueprint online and are encouraging other companies and cities to build their own. It costs around $192 to make one of these billboards. Dr. Chris Jackson, a pest control expert from the University of Southampton, told the BBC that anything that can reduce the prevalence of Zika-carrying mosquitoes is a good thing. The Zika virus continues to threaten the health of pregnant women and their babies in Brazil, after all — the CDC even confirmed that it causes severe birth defects, including microcephaly. He warns, however, that these types of installations might be more suitable for low-density locations. “[O]therwise,” he said, “you’re pulling in hungry mosquitoes and providing them with exposed human flesh.”

Via: The Verge, Motherboard, BBC

Source: The Mosquito Killer Billboard