Galaxy J2 2016 render shows off Samsung’s Smart Glow notification feature
Samsung is said to be working on an alternative to the notification LED that includes an illuminated ring that around the camera sensor at the back. Called Smart Glow, the ring will light up for incoming calls and notifications, with users getting the ability to customize alerts based on colors. The feature will also allow you to take selfies using the rear camera. Smart Glow is likely to make its debut on the Galaxy J2 2016, based on leaked renders of the handset.
The Galaxy J2 2016 is slated to make its debut in India later this week, which is when we’ll get a more detailed look at how Smart Glow functions. What do you guys think of Samsung’s implementation of the notification LED?
Samsung adds new features to S Health to make exercise more fun
Samsung launched an update for the company’s S Health app to coincide with the release of the Gear Fit 2. With this latest release, the company aims to make exercise more enjoyable and fitness goals more attainable. Having trouble getting into shape? Perhaps with Samsung adding some game-like elements to S Health, this will provide the motivation required to get going.
With the latest release of the app, you’ll be able to challenge friends to a one-on-one match. A target can be set and the first to reach the agreed goal will be named winner. During the match, S Health will monitor just how much you’d need to do to take the lead, providing automated support to pour yet more effort into keeping fit. No one wants to miss out on obtaining ultimate bragging rights.
The steps total displayed in the app can be compared against friends, those in your age group or from all around the world to see just how you rank against other S Health users. It’s a neat system that takes step counting to the next level. From the announcement:
“With the new S Health, you also have access to more comprehensive step count information. In addition to being able to monitor step count and distance walked data from each individual source—like your smartphone or wearable device—you can also estimate your total step count with the All steps option. Should you enable All steps, your total number of steps across all devices and select third-party apps will be displayed in the Steps Tracker and the S Health widget.”
As well as adding game-like functionality to S Health, Samsung also feature improved organization and user experiences. With detect workouts activated in the background, the app will automatically detect and log specific exercises, be it walking, cycling or even hiking. When you’re preparing to set out into the environment, the S Health dashboard can be configured and personalized to your liking.
A detailed weekly summary, rewards received, history of programs and a catalog of personal bests can be found on the updated My page. The app will even use this data to suggest goals and targets to work towards, so there’s always something new to keep things fresh.
Finally, S Health will enable you to measure your own heart rate without having to launch the app itself. Simply activate Quick Measure and you’ll now be able to place a finger on the heart rate sensor and wait for a reading. It’s a solid update, especially for those who rely on the app for fitness tracking. More details on what’s new can be found on the Play Store. This latest update is compatible with the Galaxy S6, Note 5 and S7.
The OnePlus 3 will now cost you more in the UK from July 11, thanks to a weaker pound
OnePlus has confirmed the company will be raising the price of the OnePlus 3 in the UK, thanks to the pound weakening over the past number of years. Currently priced at just £309, the OnePlus 3 will set purchasers back £329 from July 11. The drop in value post-Britain’s Brexit referendum vote has led OnePlus to reluctantly make its handset more expensive to purchase.
You will still have a few days left to get the OnePlus 3 for £309 if you act quickly. From the announcement:
“Given the effects of the unstable markets on our extremely thin margins, we’re reluctantly going to have make some small changes to our pricing structure for the device. In practical terms for our customers, this means that from July 11, 2016 (that’s next Monday), the OnePlus 3 will be £329 in the UK.”
It’s worth noting that only the OnePlus 3 is affected. Pricing for accessories will remain the same.
Best smartphones 2016 under £350
Choosing a new smartphone isn’t as simple as it used to be. They may not come in more than one shape, but they do come in lots of different sizes, with plenty different features and most importantly, at plenty of different price points.
There are numerous factors that come into play when upgrading your smartphone. For some the camera is super important, for others it will be the battery life, or perhaps the addition of a fingerprint sensor.
These days it isn’t just the flagship smartphones that offer these features. There are a new breed of smartphones in town – the mid-rangers – that offer almost flagship specs but at a lower price.
That’s what this feature is all about: it’s for those looking for a new smartphone that isn’t necessarily bargain bucket, but won’t break the bank either. We have rounded up the best devices that sit between the £200 mark and the £350 mark, all fully reviewed here on Pocket-lint.
If £200 is stretching too far, then check out our best budget smartphones under £200 feature, or if you want a round up of the best smartphones across all budgets, we have a feature for that too.
For those after the top mid-ranger, click here to see the best smartphones for under £350
National Geographic won’t ‘cheat’ with digital photos
There’s been a backlash against digitally manipulated photos in the media, and frequently for good reasons: heavily edited shots set unrealistic expectations at best, and are outright misleading at worst. And National Geographic is no exception to this truth-in-pictures trend, apparently. The magazine has published a piece both promising “honest” shots and explaining how it screens for Photoshop trickery. It insists that photographers (both pros and Your Shot amateurs) hand over RAW files when possible, and will question anyone who doesn’t have those files on hand. This isn’t just a theoretical exercise, either — Nat Geo says there have been times when it rejected images.
This doesn’t meant that the publication is completely against the concept of tweaking photos. It’s fine with some processing, which is understandable — a photographer may need to punch up the colors or brightness to reflect what they saw with their own eyes. However, Nat Geo is determined to avoid a repeat of the mistakes it made in the 1980s, when it doctored a few high-profile photos (such as a 1982 shot of the Pyramids) to make them look better on the magazine cover. As a rule, you can assume that dramatic landscape shots or cultural portraits are just as impressive as they were in real life.
Via: The Online Photographer, PetaPixel
Source: National Geographic
Google UK’s ‘Summer Squad’ offers kids free coding lessons
As a parent, nothing brings more joy than the start of the summer holidays. Time spent at the park, visits to the local swimming pool and trips to the zoo often figure on many family’s six-week agenda, but activities laid on by Google are probably the last thing any mum, dad or grandparent expects to budget for. In a bid to help kids learn how to code, the search giant has launched “Summer Squad,” a free eight-week series of tech-focused classes for kids aged between 8 and 13.
Many of Google’s sessions focus on the Raspberry Pi and include coding sessions that let kids explore space, craft a virtual ferris wheel in Python and build a bespoke photo booth capable of snapping selfies. Children can also create simple robots using Lego’s Mindstorms EV3 kit and beat machines by navigating through a computer maze.
For each activity completed, kids will be rewarded with a special badge and a t-shirt. If all six badges are collected, Google says it will hand out a “secret” seventh badge. Google will host the activities between July 12th and September 1st in three of its official shops, which are basically Currys PC World locations with a Google theme.
Two are in London — one in Tottenham Court Road and the other in Fulham — with the third located in Thurrock, Essex. If that’s too long to wait, the search giant has created a special listing of Summer Squad coding apps, which can be found on Google Play.
Source: Google Summer Squad
Apple will use the iPhone to encourge new organ donors
Apple CEO Tim Cook knows firsthand the agony of watching a close friend wait for an organ donor, so the company is doing something to help ease the shortage. With iOS 10, Apple will add a new button to the Health app that will allow users to enroll in a national donor registry, according to the Associated Press. The software is expected to arrive this fall, probably in September, when Apple rolls out its next iPhone and mobile OS.
Cook famously offered to donate part of his own liver to his friend, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, telling the AP that Jobs’ lengthy wait on the transplant list was “excruciating.” Apple isn’t the first company to offer the option, as Facebook has allowed users to sign up as organ donors on their timelines since 2012. At the time, Mark Zuckerberg said that he, too, was inspired by Steve Jobs to add the feature. Jobs himself helped shepherd a California organ transplant bill into law in 2010, making it easier for residents to find donor matches.
Source: Associated Press
Apple to Add Organ Donor Registration Option to Health App in iOS 10
Apple is set to give U.S. users of its mobile Health app a one-tap option to sign up as organ donors when the company releases iOS 10 this fall (via CNBC).
The option to enroll in the national donor registry will be made available via a button in the operating system’s native Health app, which allows users to view and manage their health and fitness data.
Speaking to The Associated Press, CEO Tim Cook said he hoped the new option would help ease a longstanding donor shortage, a problem that hit home when Steve Jobs endured an “excruciating” wait for a liver transplant in March 2009.
Cook reportedly offered to donate a portion of his own liver because the two men shared a blood type, but Jobs turned down Cook’s offer and later received a full liver transplant.
Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in October 2011, aged 56.
The U.S government is currently pushing an initiative to speed up the donor and matching service, while Facebook, Google and Twitter are also developing tools to achieve greater automation in the process, as part of their own public advocacy campaigns.
According to government statistics, someone is added to the national organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes and 22 people die while waiting for life-saving transplants every day.
Apart from an interface overhaul for the Health app, iOS 10 includes major updates for Messages, Siri, Photos, Maps, Apple Music, News, Apple Pay, Control Center, and more.
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.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Tag: health and fitness
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Sennheiser PXC 550 wireless headphones take on Bose QC 35 with noise cancellation and 30hrs battery
Bose recently updated its QuietComfort range of ANC headphones for discerning travellers by introducing a wireless model, the Bose QC 35. Now it’s Sennheiser’s turn, as it takes on the US firm head(phones) to head(phones) with the PXC 550.
Coming soon – “mid-July” – the Sennheiser PXC 550 wireless headphones are a premium pair with the company’s proprietary NoiseGard adapative noise cancellation tech and extended battery life. Sennheiser claims they can last up to 30 hours. Even with the ANC active they will “span the world on a single charge,” it says.
There is a touch-control panel on one of the ear cups, which includes a voice prompt system to select settings. The PXC 550s also recognise when they are worn, so pause music automatically when removed.
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There are three microphones on board for clear, uninterrupted speech during voice calls. And the Bluetooth technology has NFC pairing for phones that support it.
The headset is lighweight and can be folded flat when not in use. It is compatible with Sennheiser’s CapTune app for iOS and Android, which can tailor audio output with four different presets. Precise adjustments can also be made to the equaliser. Even noise cancellation can be personalised.
The Sennheiser PXC 550 headphones will cost £329.99 when available soon.
Truecaller aims to be the most important app on your phone
After garnering over 200 million users globally for its caller ID service, Truecaller is now looking to offer mobile identity as a service that ties in with other mobile apps and services.
In 2007, two Swedes, Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, created möbeljakt.se, a furniture aggregator app. A year later, they launched jobbigt.se, a website where employees could review their employers. You may not have heard of the two unless you live in Sweden.
But, of course, you you’ve likely heard of Truecaller, the duo’s third venture, and one that became a global, unrivalled success story. Launched in 2009, Truecaller offers an integrated caller ID service that automatically searches for contact details behind the scenes when a user receives a call. The phone number database is created by crowdsourcing contact details from users’ address books.
Interestingly, even if you’ve never used the service, your name and number could be in Truecaller’s database — a privacy concern that many have strongly criticized. Truecaller insists that everything is ‘permission-based’ to safeguard privacy, and a number will not be stored in Truecaller’s servers if the owner has denied permission.
When I met Mamedi and Zarringhalam on a recent visit to India, both reiterated the company’s vision to provide as much information as possible to users in meaningful ways. They also stated that after Truedialer and Truemessenger, the company will release all new features within its existing Truecaller app.
Partnerships with OEMs
The first step to partnership with OEMs is of course pre-bundling, and Truecaller has seen some success there with Samsung, Microsoft, LG, Micromax, and Gionee, but recently they’ve been working on tighter integrations with OEMs.
To that end, the company recently partnered with BLU Products to bring Truecaller’s communication applications to BLU smartphones. The partnership will allow BLU users to enjoy Truecaller’s smart dialer as the default on their smartphones. The integration will bring caller ID, spam detection, and search as part of the default dialer for over 15 million BLU devices.
There was also a partnership with Intex, one of the top handset makers in India, to replace the native phone dialer with the Truecaller experience.
According to Nami, such integrations are a big priority for the company, and partners are also excited to have such native, deep integration. They are already working with a couple of more Indian OEMs for tighter integrations like the one with BLU. Nami insists that this is an area they find a lot of interest in since it’s the experience where only a small amount of innovation has happened in recent years. He believes that the primary call experience for most smartphones is still very barebones while it is the app which has a high engagement rate.
TrueSDK
Earlier this year, Truecaller announced TrueSDK which enables registered third party apps to easily onboard users with their Truecaller profile and verified phone number. The service can be used by developers to offer sign up, update a user’s information, or purely verify the user’s phone number based identity in their mobile apps, with their consent.
At the moment, TrueSDK is only available for selected partners on Android, but will be open to public in near future.
In many parts of the world, though phone numbers have become a mode of personal identification, the solutions today are usually mapped to emails. Authentication solutions by Facebook, Twitter, and Google too are linked to email addresses. Incidentally, TrueSDK was launched in India partnering with popular apps and services like Quikr, Mobikwik, redBus, CarDekho, BharatMatrimony.com, ixigo, OYO Rooms, TO THE NEW Digital, FreshMenu, Terraa, Cash Care, and ShopClues. The company claims that they have around 400 partners currently, a mix of both well-known brands as well as new, innovative startups.
The TrueSDK is aimed to help apps to deliver services that can tie into the Truecaller experience in a more integrated way. As a next step, the company will be looking at how they can potentially open it to more developers and create experiences within the app with more partnerships.
Truecaller for Business
Truecaller Business allows businesses to update their information and take control over how their business can be discovered and presented in with the app. All they need to do is register the business, claim the business number, add a contact number, correct the spelling, or add a photo.
Truecaller Business allows you to expose your brand and have your business properly identified, and discovered locally through keywords.
I wondered if signing up for Truecaller for Business takes the number off the spam list. However, Nami stated that the only way to get off the spam list is to, well, not spam. Of course, if you haven’t spammed in a while there is a bit of decay that happens for a certain time, and the number is likely to be marked spam less and less. There are other factors too like how intense was the spamming.
Top Markets
Home to 130 million of its 200 million users, India is the top market for Truecaller. India has a growing number of smartphones and internet penetration, and the company claims that two out of every three smartphones in India have the Truecaller app. With features like Hindi translation and availability in 11 local languages, Truecaller is the third most downloaded app in the country after Facebook and WhatsApp and the company aims to add 100 million Indian users annually.
“We want to be on every smartphone in India.” – Alan Mamedi.
During their visit to India, Mamedi and Zarringhalam went from house to house in a residential area in New Delhi to gather feedback from consumers and jotted down notes for potential India-specific features.
Apart from India and Middle East, the two biggest markets for Truecaller, the company is seeing tremendous growth in the US, Brazil, and Russia. They’re on 25-30% of smartphones in Sweden, and are also pretty big in Norway and Denmark. All this leaves the company is a great position to appeal to casual users and OEMs alike.
Download: Truecaller (free)
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