Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers
Apple today released the fourth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. macOS Sierra beta 4 comes two weeks after the release of the third beta and almost two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Developers can download today’s beta update through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center.
macOS Sierra is a significant update bringing Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an “Auto Unlock” option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a Universal Clipboard for copying something on one Apple device and pasting it on another.
Deeper iCloud integration makes files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac available on all of a user’s devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There’s a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and “Tapback” response options.
Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, and optimized storage are also available.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
During the beta testing period, Apple will tweak and refine the features introduced in macOS Sierra. Any changes found in the fourth beta release will be listed below.
macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.
Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
Discuss this article in our forums
iOS 10 Beta 4 Includes Dozens of New Emoji Promoting Gender Equality
Today’s iOS 10 update includes more than 100 new emoji with expanded gender options for a wide range of activities and professions, allowing users to choose a man or a woman when expressing themselves through emoji.
Emoji that previously only featured men, such as the cyclist, swimmer, police officer, and construction worker, are now available for either gender, and emoji that previously featured only women, such as the haircut emoji or the massage emoji, now also feature men. All of the new emoji are also available in a range of different skin tones.
The new emoji come following changes to Unicode implemented in July by the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, which include male and female versions of 33 existing emoji. The change also included a range of new professions from scientist to doctor to cook, but Apple does not appear to have added these.
iOS 10 beta 4 is currently available for developers and can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air on devices running previous iOS 10 betas. Apple will likely release a new public beta containing the emoji later this week, and a worldwide public release will come in the fall alongside new iOS devices.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Discuss this article in our forums
10 shortcuts for regular YouTube watchers – CNET
YouTube
YouTube
Make your next stay at YouTube a more pleasant one. And if not more pleasant, then at least a bit more efficient by employing a few keyboard shortcuts.
1. Tab for control
Hit the tab key to gain control of the video player. Tab lets you cycle through the various controls on the video player, cycling through play/pause, next video, mute, volume, settings, theater-mode and full-screen buttons before jumping down to the elements below the video player, including the add-to, share and like buttons.
2. Play/pause
Hit the spacebar or K key to pause a video. The K key works no matter where you are on the page, but you must have the video player selected by clicking on it or using the tab key for the spacebar to pause or play a video instead of paging down.
3. Skip forward or back 10 seconds
Conveniently located on either side of the K key: hit the J key to skip back 10 seconds and the L key to skip forward 10 seconds.
4. Skip forward or back 5 seconds
For 5-seconds skips, use the left and right arrow keys.
5. Jump to specific point in video
The number keys let you cut the video timeline into tenths. Hit 1 to jump the video playhead to 10 percent on the timeline; 9 to jump 90 percent of the way through a video; 5 places you at the midway point…you get the idea.
6. Restart video
Hit 0 (zero) to restart your video. On a Windows keyboard, you can also use the Home key.
7. Super slow-mo
With a video paused, hit the period key to move forward one frame at a time. Hit comma to move back a frame.
8. Turn it up
Or down. Use the up and down arrows to adjust the volume. The M key mutes the sound.
9. Fullscreen
Hit the F key to go fullscreen and Esc to exit out.
10. C for closed captioning
Hit the C key to turn on closed captioning. You can use the plus and minus keys change the font size.
You can now customize your avatar in Pokemon Go, here’s how – CNET
There are a lot of customization options to choose from.
Alina Bradford/CNET
Thanks to a recent update you can now change your avatar on Pokemon Go whenever you feel like you need a new look. Before, you could only choose customizations for your character at the start of the game.
To access the customization menu, tap on the face of your avatar at the bottom of the map screen. Then, tap on the green menu button on the lower right-hand side of the screen and choose Customize from the list.
Once you have the customization menu open, you can change almost everything about your character. Your choices are skin color, hair color, eye color, hat style, top style, pants style, shoe type and backpack type. You can even change gender if you like.
Just tap on the icon of the item you would like to change and use the arrows at the bottom of the screen to scroll through your options. Once you find what you’re looking for, tap on it and it will be placed on your avatar.
Don’t forget to tap on the checkmark button on the bottom right-hand side of the screen to save your choices. If you back out of the customization screen without clicking this button all of your changes will be lost.
17 tips for Pokemon Go
1 – 5 of 17
Next
Prev
Xiaomi Mi QiCycle Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
If Xiaomi’s cheap-but-great phones aren’t enough to help it conquer the world in the very near future, it has plenty of other cards up its sleeve, such as a superthin laptop, a drone and now a foldable electric bike.
The Mi QiCycle is made by Xiaomi and its partner iRiding. It’s a three-speed Shimano internal hub bicycle powered by a 250-watt 36-volt high-speed motor, with a range of around 45 km (27 miles). It sells in China for 2,999 yuan, which converts to $450, £340 or AU$600.
Weighing at 14.5 kg (32 pounds), the QiCycle isn’t the lightest of bikes. It’s actually not too heavy compared to other foldable bicycles, but there are some compromises made to hit this relatively light weight.
Xiaomi’s Mi QiCycle folding electric bike…
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 5
Next
Prev
For one, the wheels are of the 16-inch variety, similar to Bromptons, which means you’ll have to pedal more compared to a larger 20- or 24-inch bicycle. It’s not too big a problem, of course, since the QiCycle comes with an electric motor that kicks in for an extra boost to make uphill climbs a breeze and flat roads really zippy.
Testing it out under the hot Beijing summer sun, I found myself merrily whizzing along. The controls for power assist are pretty simple — you can choose between full-powered assist, eco mode or completely off. Climbing hills was a breeze even in third gear, and I was able to hit 28 kph (17.4 mph) on flat ground without trying. You can connect the bike to your phone via Bluetooth to track your distance traveled.
Xiaomi says the electric motor is rated at a maximum speed of 20 kph (12.4 mph), when you’re not pedaling and just coasting along. There’s no regenerative braking to help you gain back electric power, and charging to full from flat takes a solid 3 hours.
Key specs
- Shimano three-speed internal gear hub
- 14.5 kg (32 pounds)
- 16-inch wheels
- Electric motor with up to 20 kph speed
- 5,800 mAh, 36V battery with 45 km range
- Bluetooth enabled
The 36V battery is tucked into the frame of the bike, and has a hole for the seat post to hold it in place. I’m not too big a fan of this design, because the QiCycle requires two locks to be opened before you can adjust the height of the seat post.
Using two hinge locks for the seat post makes it quite a pain to adjust.
Aloysius Low/CNET
Furthermore, the QiCycle doesn’t fold as well compared to Terns or Bromptons. You have to lift up the seat post, then give a nudge to the rear wheel to fold the bike in half, then lower the seat post back down to prop up the bike before folding the fork downwards.
While it sounds easy, it’s actually pretty clunky, as you have to keep a firm grip on the bike until you can lower the seat post (or it falls down). Folding a Tern or a Brompton is quicker and easier, that’s for sure. You’re better off leaving it unfolded most of the time.
Lastly, the front handle bar is a bit too low and more suited for a speedier bike. On an electric bike I prefer sitting upright in comfort without having to lean forward like I would do on a more sporty road bike, since it’s supposed to be more relaxing.
Still, at $450 for a really well-built bike, it feels ridiculously affordable. The QiCycle bike will likely be only sold in China until Xiaomi decides to start selling more of its products in other countries, so you’ll probably have to be willing to import it.
Alienware Aurora review – CNET
The Good The Alienware Aurora can fit two graphics cards into a relatively small case. Interior access doesn’t require a screwdriver, and future GPU upgrades should be easy.
The Bad This is still big and heavy for a mid-size gaming desktop, some components are hidden behind the power supply, and some of the latest highest-end component options aren’t available yet.
The Bottom Line Alienware’s mid-size Aurora is very flexible, and one of the smallest dual-GPU-ready gaming desktops, but it’s still going to hog a lot of floor space under your desk.
Alienware’s desktop gaming lineup has seen a recent shuffle, mixing up the catalog of products available, while keeping the same general small-medium-large division between them. Losing out in the reshuffle is the X51 desktop, a slim but flexible small form factor system. In its place, Alienware has launched the Aurora, a new mid-size tower with a more accessible chassis and wider configuration options. Anchoring the small and large slots in this lineup are the newly refreshed Alienware Alpha and the giant Area-51 desktop.
In one sense, it’s a shame, because the X51 was one of the smallest desktops that could be configured to run current-gen virtual reality headsets (which have very heavy hardware requirements). But the switch-up also makes sense because the revamped Alpha — itself smaller than a living room game console — now has desktop-level processors and graphics, making it a much more practical entry level gaming rig.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Taking over that middle spot in Alienware’s lineup is the Aurora, a new system that uses a resurrected name previously used on other Alienware products from the mid-2000s until just a few years ago.
Like most Alienware systems, the Aurora offers a deep set of configuration options. Our test unit included an Intel Core i7-6700K, the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, and a 256GB SSD/2TB HDD storage combo, for a total of $2,279 (the closest similar configurations in other territories go for £1,609 and AU$3,667). The least-expensive configurations (which are decidedly not VR-ready, start at $799/£699/AU$1,599.
Alienware Aurora
| $2,279 |
| 4GHz Intel Core i7-6700K |
| 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2400MHz |
| 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 |
| 256GB SSD + 2TB 7200rpm HDD |
| 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit) |
Design and upgradability
This new Aurora is a relatively svelte 14 inches deep by 18 inches tall by 8 inches wide, and the chassis takes a good deal of its design DNA from the larger Area 51, with three side lights on the angled case echoing the pyramid-like design on that larger desktop. It’s very sharp-looking, without going over the top. And keep in mind that this is a custom design, while gaming desktops from smaller PC makers almost always come built into off-the-shelf cases, despite costing as much or more than an Alienware.
Nvidia GeForce 1080 gaming desktop roundup…
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 12
Next
Prev
This is the smallest Alienware desktop that can handle dual graphics cards, and if you want to start out with a single card and add another later, the traditional side panel screws have been replaced with a simple rear latch, making it easy to access the case interior. That’s often called a “tool-less” design, as you don’t need a screwdriver or other tools to get to the motherboard and accessory slots.
Inside the easy to open case, you can access the second graphics card slot, as well as the hard drive bays, but the CPU and RAM are hidden away behind the power supply, which folds out on a hinge after undoing a couple of screws. It’s all part of how the relatively small chassis can hold two GPUs, three hard drives and more in a very compact space.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The end result is an interior where everything fits, but also one that feels cramped, with its internal cables densely packed, at least compared to the full-size desktops from Origin PC, Velocity Micro, Digital Storm and others we’ve tested recently. Despite this, we didn’t notice any heat issues or excessive fan noise, even when running high-end VR applications.
Best wallet cases for Samsung Galaxy Note 5
What are the best wallet cases for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5?
Whether you need to take every card with you or just some cash and your ID, a wallet case for your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is a perfect way to merge all of your necessities into one convenient case that’s functional and fashionable.
- IZENGATE Classic Series wallet case
- TabPow wallet flip case
- iNNEXT wallet case
- Verus Layered Dandy slim fit wallet
- Abacus24-7 wallet case
- Starry Day genuine leather wallet
IZENGATE Classic Series wallet case
This PU leather wallet case from IZENGATE comes in four colors: black, purple, turquoise, and mint. Just snap your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 into place and load up to four cards, as well as some cash in its own pocket, and head out on the town.
The detachable wristlet lets you use the wallet as a clutch; no worries about dropping it when it’s connected to your wrist. The case also folds easily into a kickstand for hands-free viewing or talking. The snap closure isn’t magnetic but it holds the wallet securely closed.
Well-reviewed, well-made, good looking; tough to pass up the IZENGATE Classic Series wallet case.
See at Amazon
TabPow wallet flip case
With room for up to seven cards and a special spot for a few bills, the wallet flip case from TabPow has a unique design. The two-fold system is surprisingly not bulky and it comes in black, white, or brown.
The magnetic closure holds everything in place and TabPow even sends along a screen protector for your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for a little extra scratch protection. The actual phone case within the wallet is removable for the times when you don’t want to use the full wallet.
For a full-sized bill fold and a little extra room, the TabPow wallet flip case is an excellent choice.
See at Amazon
iNNEXT wallet case
If you have 10 or more cards that you absolutely can’t leave the house without and you’re the kind who tends to carry pockets full of coins, the wallet case from iNNEXT is exactly what you need. You also get to choose from eight lovely colors to go with your Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
The zippered pouch is perfect for cash and even a house key. The PU leather is manufactured to look like cowhide, and that gives the wallet a nice textured, grippy feel. The interior phone case is held in place with strong magnets and the whole wallet is secured on one side with a magnetic clasp and on the other with a snap closure.
The only issue here is that there’s no back cutout for the camera, which means you have to take your phone out in order to snap a photo. Considering how much you get to take along with you and how secure everything is, that’s not a bad trade-off at all.
See at Amazon
Verus Layered Dandy slim fit wallet
The Verus Layered Dandy slim fit wallet is about as slim as they come if you’re looking to avoid any kind of extra size or bulk at all. Your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will fit nicely inside along with three cards and a little cash.
The faux leather is dyed to look and feel aged, while the PC interior protects your phone against drops and bumps. The precise cutouts on the back allow you to use the camera without removing the case, and the magnetic clasp closure won’t fly open on you after you’ve snapped it shut.
The wallet comes in black, coffee brown, and the wine red that’s pictured here.
See at Amazon
Abacus24-7 wallet case
Abacus24-7 is a popular brand in the world of wallet cases and for good reason. Like many of its wallet offerings, this one converts easily into a kickstand, while keeping a good hold on the three cards and cash that it stores in addition to your Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
The synthetic leather exterior comes in six different colors and the protective TPU interior protects against bumps and shocks that can’t be avoided. Ports, buttons, and access to the S Pen remain open, and the strong magnetic closure keeps everything in its place.
For a popular brand that does the job and then some, Abacus24-7 is a good choice.
See at Amazon
Starry Day genuine leather wallet
If you’re prepared to spend just a little more, you can get your hands on a genuine leather wallet from Starry Day in the beautiful olive green pictured here; alternate colors include light and dark brown, black, and pink.
Two oversized interior pockets store several cards and a little cash while the snap closure secures everything under the cover of a stylish brass button. The removable wristlet turns the wallet into the perfect clutch for an evening out.
Starry Day will even customize your wallet with a monogram, making it a fantastic gift for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 owner in your life, or a treat for yourself to go with your new favorite phone from Samsung.
See at Etsy
Grab everything and go!
Which wallet case are you using right now for your Samsung Galaxy Note 5? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
ZTE Axon 7 review: Incredible hardware, dicey software
ZTE’s second designed-in-America flagship hits all the right notes.
ZTE impressed a lot of people, including me, with its Axon and Axon Pro flagships in 2015. Accessible, stand-out designs met high quality build materials, great performance, a focus on audio quality, and impressive cameras. They even ran what amounted to an approximation of stock Android.
The Chinese company’s follow-up takes a number of cues from its predecessors, while improving several aspects of the hardware to better compete with 2016 rivals like the OnePlus 3.
The bottom line
The ZTE Axon 7 is an impressive blend of high-end hardware and mostly unblemished Android 6.0.1-based software that skimps on little to get to its $399 price point.
The Good
- Excellent build quality and unique design
- Competitive price
- Extremely compact for a 5.5-inch phone
- Fantastic daylight camera
The Bad
- Software gimmicks distract from the experience
- Camera struggles in poor light
- Some translation issues
- 6GB version limited to Chinese market
 |
5.97 in151.7mm |  |
| 2.9 in75mm | 0.31 in7.9mm |
- Display:
- 5.5-inch Quad HD
- AMOLED Display
- 2560×1440 resolution (538ppi)
- Camera:
- 20MP, ƒ/1.5 lens, OIS,
- 8MP front camera, ƒ/2.2 lens, OIS
- Battery:
- 3250 mAh capacity
- Quick Charge 3.0
- Chips:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
- Quad-core 2.2GHz
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage
- microSD slot with adoptable storage
About this review
I (Daniel Bader) am reviewing the Axon 7 after spending a week with it in Toronto, on the Bell network, and in New York, on T-Mobile. During that time, the phone ran Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with build A2017UV1.0.0B18, security patch May 1, 2016. No updates were issued during my testing period.
ZTE Axon 7 Hardware
I am truly impressed by the Axon 7. As someone who prefers smaller phones, its compact body, which happens to accommodate an excellent 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, is one of its signature features.
How ZTE managed that is by reducing the size of the bezels above and below the display, and by minimizing the area filled by the capacitive buttons. Like many recent Android phones, the navigation buttons are capacitive, but these touch targets are very, very small. And while their functions can be reversed in software — either dot can be assigned either “back” or “recents” — they are not backlit, which can make it very difficult to locate the right area in a darkened room. Come on, ZTE, you’re better than this.
More: ZTE Axon 7 specs
Using the phone reminded me how accustomed I have become to using, say, the Galaxy S7’s physical home button to orient my thumb, and how that isn’t possible on something like the Axon 7. Unlike the OnePlus 3, there is no option to enable on-screen buttons, and the Axon 7 saves vital front-of-phone real estate by placing the fingerprint sensor on the phone’s back, under the 20 megapixel rear camera sensor.
While I received the gold version of the phone, both colors — Ion Gold and Quartz Gray — are made from unibody aluminum that curves around the shallow sides. Though it impresses no more than the OnePlus 3 did for its price, it’s clear that the investment ZTE has made in its manufacturing, and the collaboration with BMW’s Designworks team, has paid off.
Around back, the 20MP rear camera sits at the top of a symmetrical strip of hardware, flanked by a fingerprint sensor below and a flash in the middle. That fingerprint sensor is no better than many of its competitors, but having transitioned from a number of devices with front-facing varieties, I still find myself preferring it on the back while the phone is in a pocket, but getting frustrated when it is sitting on a desk.
It’s clear that the investment ZTE has made in its manufacturing, and the collaboration with BMW’s Designworks team, has paid off.
Thankfully, the Axon 7’s 3250 mAh battery is good enough to hold up for a decent day’s usage. While the phone doesn’t support wireless charging due to its metal back, it supports Quick Charge 3.0, and gains about 50% in 30 minutes — a number that we already take for granted, but is still astonishing. Moreover, the Axon 7, at 7.9mm thin, has larger battery than most phones in its class, and certainly better uptime than many devices we’ve recently reviewed.
While we typically shy away from performing synthetic battery benchmarks, I’ll say this: after using the Axon 7 for two weeks as my primary device, I only once had to charge it for a few minutes midday, largely from an abundance of caution. Every other day it just lasted from the time I woke up until I went to bed. And I get up early and go to bed late.
Finally, there’s the audio side of things. Few phones have great speakers, and even less have ample hardware to push high-resistance headphones. The Axon 7 has both. The legacy of what the company calls Hi-Fi audio began with the original Axon, which saw, in addition to a dedicated Digital-to-Analog converter (DAC) a secondary audio codec used to enhance audio recording, particularly with video. While the average person isn’t going to notice a big difference in headphone output quality between the Axon 7 and, say, a Galaxy S7 or iPhone 6s, ZTE has included some very high-quality components from AKM, a company that sells its audio conversion equipment primarily to very manufacturers of very expensive audiophile equipment.
Few phones have great speakers, and even less have ample hardware to push high-resistance headphones. The Axon 7 has both.
Aspects of the phone’s sound, from a very low signal-to-noise ratio to extremely accurate (for a phone) audio input when recording video, will likely go unappreciated by the vast majority of users — but to those who care, this phone is a dream.
What will be noticed immediately is the robust sound from the dual front-facing speakers, which are powered by a comparatively massive amplifier. Remember HTC BoomSound? Think of this as ZTE BoomierSound.
ZTE Axon 7 Software
ZTE’s software, while still mired by translation issues that will hopefully be cleaned up in a future build, is impressively restrained for a Chinese manufacturer. Even the stock launcher — humorously called Stock Android — is free of that type of affect that Americans have widely rejected from companies like Xiaomi and Huawei.
But there are remnants of a more playful and experimental side within the settings, such as the ability to unlock the phone with your voice. That’s right, ZTE is all-in on voice actions, allowing you to launch apps and even unlock the phone with a voice command. The problem isn’t the ideas, though, but the implementation: like so many proprietary voice-based services, the feature rarely works, and when it does you have to enunciate the words with the precision of a radio announcer. After several attempts at getting the feature to work, I turned it off and promptly forgot about it.
Then there’s a feature called Mi-Pop, which surfaces a set of virtual navigation keys in the vein of a chat head — by default, it’s a back button, but holding down on it reveals a full set of back, home, and multitasking options that attempt to ameliorate the fact that the physical home buttons are static. I’m sure over the years you’ve seen iPhone users resorting to the on-screen home button accessed through the iOS accessibility menu, and this is similar, though slightly more full-featured. After a few moments of opaqueness, the Mi-Pop overlay turns translucent, waiting for yet another input.
The fact that Mi-Pop replaces the basic option of adding on-screen navigation buttons irks me to no end.
Here’s the thing: I understand that ZTE is trying something new (well, a new take on something old), but the fact that Mi-Pop replaces the basic option of adding on-screen navigation buttons irks me to no end. Especially since, strangely, the model we handled in our preview did have on-screen buttons. I’m not asking ZTE to confirm to the industry, but if you’re going to throw the kitchen sink at a problem, at least make sure the plumbing is installed correctly. As a feature, Mi-Pop is buggy and poorly animated, and requires a secondary swipe to open the menu that reveals the remaining Home and Recents menu buttons. Like so many of the Axon 7’s “value-added” features, Mi-Pop is a good idea implemented poorly.
The good news is that neither voice unlock nor Mi-Pop nor Dolby Atmos — a nicely branded but terrible equalizer app that comes bundled with the phone — are necessary to enjoy the close-to-stock software experience. ZTE didn’t mess with the Settings nor the notification shade, and aside from a few quirks with the lock screen, there is little to complain about. The phone runs like a dream — with a Snapdragon 820 and 4GB of RAM one would hope so — and because it is so compact I found myself using it with one hand with no major problems. That is, only after I inserted the ultra-slippery metal body into the clear TPU case that comes in the box.
ZTE did see fit to include some useful gestures with the Axon 7. A three-finger pinch quickly takes a screenshot, while a strong shake of the phone while idling on the lock screen activates the flashlight.
DeviantArt junkies (or fans of moody wallpapers in general) will also appreciate the on-by-default cycling of lock screen backgrounds whenever the phone is turned on. Most of the photos are over-the-top HDR depictions of popular tourist locations such as the Eiffel Tower or Arizona’s Coyote Buttes rock formation, but I began to look forward to seeing what was going to appear next on the occasional time I didn’t use the fingerprint sensor to skip the lock screen altogether.
The phone runs like a dream and because it is so compact I found myself using it with one hand with no major problems.
The Axon 7, despite having no carrier bloatware to speak of, does come with a couple of non-essential apps that purport to offer value, but really don’t. The most egregious is ZTE Rewards, which asks you to download a number of apps from Perk, a loyalty company that offers free stuff in exchange for a bunch of personal information. More useful is WeShare, an app that allows you to transfer contacts, texts, photos and other phone-specific content from one phone to another.
ZTE Axon Cameras
Eschewing its predecessor’s second sensor used for depth augmentation, the Axon 7 comes with a bevy of camera features all its own. The 20MP Samsung ISOCELL sensor is comparable in quality to what you’d find on any mainstream flagship device today. The sensor measures 1/2.6-inch and sports pixels of 1.12-microns in diameter, similar to that of the LG G5. The f/1.8 lens appears to be sharp in the middle with a hint of distortion at the corners while allowing for impressive and true depth of field.
In practice, the Axon 7 is capable of some magnificent photos. The daylight photos appear color-true and free of significant noise, through chromatic aberrations are common in scenes with high-contrast subjects transposed on a bright sky. The lens is able to focus nearly as close to a subject as the Galaxy S7, our macro leader, and one of the best-performing phone cameras on the market.
As with all phones, the less light available to the sensor, the more grainy and less impressive the photo. That is especially true here, even with optical image stabilization playing an important role in keeping the shutter open as long as possible without introducing motion blur. The problem is the size of the pixels; most phones are moving towards sensors with fewer but larger pixels. The Axon 7 bucks that trend by focusing on resolution and detail. As a result, low-light photos — even those taken with ample indoor light — emerge yellow and splotchy, with a lack of fine detail. It’s also worth noting that the sensor is actually 16:9 by default, a blunder Samsung corrected this year with the Galaxy S7.
The 8MP front-facing camera is good, and features plenty of ways to turn one’s skin “beautiful,” which by phone maker standards means soft and artificial. Still, despite a few-second delay in opening the app the camera app itself is nicely designed, with an auto mode that is easy to use and a manual mode that features all the granular settings a photographer like me would care about. And because the Snapdragon 820 is so much faster than the Axon’s Snapdragon 801, 4K video capture is smooth at 30 fps and lacks the judder we’ve come to expect from unsteady hand movement. It’s no Galaxy S7, but it’s close.
Unfortunately, ZTE decided to crib from the wrong company inside its camera app; not only did it blatantly steal the iPhone’s live filters, but it also coopted Apple’s Live Photos feature down to the name. Activating LIVE Photo (sic) captures a short 1080p video clip stored in .mp4 format that can be played alongside the static photo, but, like Apple’s own faltering format it (though fun) answers a question that nobody asked.
Odds and ends
This phone is interesting for a number of reasons, least of which is the fact that it supports two SIM cards and a microSD slot. I used the phone on a recent trip to New York and back home to Toronto, placing a T-Mobile SIM card in the secondary slot. While the phone is able to field incoming calls and texts from either number, a single data connection must be specified (for obvious reasons), and the handoff is seamless between the two. Having no use for a dual-SIM phone in Canada, my first experience taking advantage of one was largely positive. Some of the user experience (UX) around setting up the individual SIM cards could be improved, but those are minor criticisms.
The Axon 7 is one of the best phone surprises I’ve had so far in 2016.
The Axon 7 also sports a USB Type-C port, which is becoming increasingly common among Android phones in 2016. And while the company ships a Quick Charge 3.0 charger and Type-C cable in the box, it generously provides a micro-USB adapter for those who want to keep using those older, far more ubiquitous cables. It’s one of many nice touches in a box that includes a very decent pair of headphones and the aforementioned clear TPU case.
Another nice addition is the Passport 2.0 protection plan, which is included alongside every Axon 7 purchased directly from the company in the U.S.. Because the phone is unlocked and carrier-free, it does not include any bloatware — a bonus on top of a two-year warranty, easy warranty exchanges, low-cost repairs and more. It’s great that ZTE is maintaining this program, but it’s only available to buyers in the U.S., and it only honors hardware; there is no equivalent promise on the software side. And that is something to be concerned about.
ZTE has an awful reputation for keeping its phones updated. Indeed, the Axon and Axon Pro, while eventually receiving an update to Android 6.0 earlier this year, have each received only one update, and are still on the May 1, 2016 security patch (which, ironically, is the same as the Axon 7).
Should you buy it? Yes
The Axon 7 is one of the best phone surprises I’ve had so far in 2016. Like the OnePlus 3, it provides tremendous value for its $400 asking price, and despite a few software quirks is without major compromise.
Not only is it wonderfully compact for a 5.5-inch phone, but it is well-made and nicely designed, replete with an excellent camera setup and superlative sound. If you can overcome the need to have the latest software (or expeditious software updates, for that matter), the ZTE Axon 7 is one of the best unlocked smartphones you can buy today.
See at Amazon
Instagram should have had harassment prevention tools years ago
I was never sure when it was going to happen next. I’d open Instagram and see the heart-shaped notification icon lit up. Maybe three of you liked my latest #nofilter sunset shot! Except sometimes, instead of hearts, what I saw were comments from strangers. Usually mean ones.
Each time, I did the only thing you can do when you find yourself abused on Instagram: I swiped on the comment, hit the block button and reported it as hate speech. Most recently, a stranger left comments on half a dozen of my photos, one of which was from two-and-a-half years ago (meaning, you’d have to spend some time digging through my archive to find it).
After spending however many minutes it took to flag each comment about my neck flaps (what?), my fivehead (fuck you) and my “hopefully-cancerous” moles (sigh), I decided I was done. Not done with Instagram, but done sharing my photos with the world. I don’t like feeling like I’m giving in to the trolls, but with barely any control over who can see or comment on my posts, I don’t feel safe enough on Instagram to stay public.
To be clear, this isn’t about me having thin skin. Calling me gay because I posed for a picture with my future sister-in-law isn’t as cutting as you think. And to the guy who thinks I’m flat-chested, well, you’re just wrong. No, this is about my sense of safety. It’s a creepy feeling when a stranger goes out of his way to insult me, and to not even know why.
This is about my sense of safety.
But according to a Washington Post report published Friday, I might soon be able to reopen my account to the public. After speaking with Instagram’s head of public policy, the Post was able to confirm that the company is testing improved comment-moderation tools for “high volume comment threads,” including the ability to block certain words and disable comments on individual posts. “High-volume threads” is, of course, a euphemism for celebrity accounts — the Taylor Swifts and Kim Kardashians of the world — but Instagram told the Post that these features will eventually roll out to the rest of the community as well. In addition, an Instagram spokesperson tells me that the company has a team dedicated to keeping the community safe.
That’s great, but also too little, too late. This should have been a priority when Instagram launched six years ago. Even now that it is, the moderation tools are skimpy, and only famous people have the privilege of using them. Meanwhile, these features have long since been available on other social networks — in some cases even on Facebook, which owns Instagram.
These are not esoteric tools, either; many people would benefit from them. Not just public figures like me, but everybody — all 500 million users. Think of everyone whose posts became more widely visible just because they used a popular hashtag. And think of the teenagers who could be spared some public bullying if they, too, had finer control over their comments.
And it’s really those people who Instagram should have been keeping in mind all these years. As painful as harassment has been for me, I’m at least in a privileged position: I help run a large tech-news site that frequently covers Instagram. I have the platform to write an editorial like this one, and I can email a human at the company and tell her about my experience.
In Instagram’s defense, it’s not the only social network with a bullying problem. Twitter has long been a hotbed for harassment, with a racist campaign against comedian Leslie Jones being the most recent high-profile example. What makes Instagram different, though, is that the solutions have always seemed painfully obvious. Instagram was correct: We do need the ability to disable comments on select posts, or all of them, for that matter. But there are so many other no-brainer solutions not mentioned in that Post report. Give us the option of approving all comments before they go live, or to allow comments only from people we follow. Oh, and add a mute function, please.
None of these features would fundamentally change the site, either. This isn’t Twitter, whose entire premise is predicated on people speaking in public. For many of us, it’s really about the likes.
The solutions always seemed painfully obvious.
Besides, fewer comments would be good news for Instagram as well. If you let me disable comments from randos, I would never have to block anyone or report abuse, which means no one at Instagram would have to read my harassment report to decide if the comment in question fits their murky definition of hate speech. Not that Instagram ever responds to abuse reports anyway — it doesn’t. For all I know, no one’s even reading. Regardless, with granular privacy controls in place, Instagram wouldn’t have to be an arbiter of hate speech, as Twitter so frequently does. I’m not sure why that didn’t occur to them earlier.
What rankles most is that these tools would probably not have taken long to implement, what with all the engineers Instagram has at its disposal. Even if this were a serious undertaking, the company has already had plenty of time. Indeed, Instagram’s silence on harassment has been damning. This calendar year alone, the company has taken it upon itself to block swear words in comments, add an in-photo text translator, lengthen the video limit to 60 seconds, block links to Telegram and Snapchat, and screw with the order of people’s feeds. That’s to say nothing of the energy the company has invested in censoring nipples, launching a failed Snapchat competitor and trying to make Instagram Direct a thing.
It’s not that Instagram didn’t have the time or resources before now to take on harassment — it’s that until now, it wasn’t a priority.
Clinton and Kaine will answer your questions on Quora
Donald Trump’s Reddit AMA was a bizarre affair, as the Republican candidate answered just a dozen questions while mods banned some 2,000 accounts. Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, will go in a completely different direction with a group Q&A on Quora, the hive mind site that answers any question, however idiotic. The session is now open, and the top question so far is “how will [Hillary Clinton] address Trump supporters’ major concerns?”
Quora may seem an unusual choice for such a thing, but it previously hosted queries from the White House following President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address. Founder Adam D’Angelo said in March that the site has 100 million monthly unique visitors, with about half of those from the US. Reddit, by contrast, hosts around 230 million users per month. (Trump’s AMA was not hosted on the main forum, but rather the Trump-friendly “r/the_donald” subreddit.)
Quora recently launched its “Sessions” platform to host Q&A sessions, and VP candidate Kaine was one of the first guests. With the new format, the site promises more Q&As with “economists, authors, political scientists, doctors, movie casts, etc.” You can now put your questions to the Democrat party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees, who will respond at a session on August 8th.
Via: The Verge
Source: Quora
AIVAnet 