ZenFone 3 series lands in India, along with Snapdragon 821-toting ZenFone 3 Deluxe

At a media event in New Delhi, ASUS has launched the ZenFone 3 series in India. All three models in the series — the ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and ZenFone 3 Ultra — will be going up for sale shortly. The highlight in the series is the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, which is the first phone to ship with the Snapdragon 821 SoC and 256GB internal storage.

ASUS has had remarkable success with the ZenFone line in India, selling over 4 million units to date. Here’s what you get with its latest offerings:

As always, ASUS is launching several configurations of each handset, so here’s what you need to know about the pricing of the ZenFone 3 in India:

• ZenFone 3 Laser (ZC551KL) – ₹18,999 ($285)
• ZenFone 3 (ZE520KL) – 5.2-inch FHD display/3GB RAM/32GB storage – ₹21,999 ($330)
• ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) – 5.5-inch FHD display/4GB RAM.64GB storage – ₹27,999 ($420)
• ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) – ₹49,999 ($745)
• ZenFone 3 Deluxe – Snapdragon 820/64GB storage – ₹49,999 ($745)
• ZenFone 3 Deluxe – Snapdragon 821/256GB storage – ₹62,999 ($940)

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe with the Snapdragon 821 SoC will be costlier than the Galaxy Note 7 in the country, which has a street price of ₹59,900 ($900). You’re getting a lot for your money with either phone, but it is unlikely ASUS has the brand cachet to entice buyers. That said, it is great to see the Taiwanese manufacturer bring the highest spec variant of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe to India (looking at you, Xiaomi).

The ZenFone 3 is up for sale on Amazon India right now, and other variants will be available from next month.

See at Amazon

Strap a Moto 360 Sport to your wrist for £129

There’s a promotion currently ongoing for the Moto 360 Sport in the UK. You can pick up the smart wearable for just £129 after applying two discount codes. Originally covered over on Hot UK Deals, the listing on Motorola’s own store also includes free delivery, which is an added bonus for an already superb deal on the watch.

All you need to do is add the Moto 360 Sport to your cart, hit check out and add the following discount codes: UKHOT164 and UKWELCOME10. The two promotion codes should take off a combined total of £90, bringing the original listing price down to just £129. Not too bad!

See at Motorola

Samsung Gear VR 2016 review: a master class in refinement

Seven small but important changes come together to shape the next wave of smartphone-based VR headsets.

With all the excitement surrounding the more powerful and more interactive desktop-class VR headsets, it’s easy to forget that most VR users today are mobile VR users. It’s not hard to guess why, either. The barrier to entry is often an order of magnitude less if you already own a compatible smartphone, and with mobile VR there’s an inherent portability that makes sharing the experiences you discover that much easier.

In many ways, Samsung has cornered the market on smartphone-based VR through their partnership with Oculus. There’s nothing quite like the Samsung Gear VR right now, but that hasn’t stopped either Samsung or Oculus from repeatedly enhancing their hardware and software, respectively, to raise the bar even higher when competition finally does arrive.

The latest update comes alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to ensure those with the new USB-C device are still able to use the Oculus-powered VR experience we’ve seen on previous Galaxy phones. In the process of updating to support this new Note, Samsung has refined the hardware in ways that make the ability to swap between USB-C and microUSB through an interchangeable port the least significant change to the headset.

One size might actually fit all

Samsung Gear VR Hardware

It’s bigger, it’s blacker, and it’s without a doubt the most comfortable Gear VR to date. The glossy white plastic from Samsung’s first Gear VR revision has been replaced with a matte black plastic — only unlike the original Gear VR the darker plastic is on the outside as well. It’s a superficial external change, but it gives the headset a much more polished look. The previous generations looked almost like a toy; this new Gear VR stands out as something more mature.

This new Gear VR stands out as something more mature.

The matte black interior is the opposite of superficial. The goal here is to stop glare from the displays bouncing around and causing distortions or distractions, and to that end Samsung has succeeded. This has been a multi-step process for Samsung, which actually switched away from a matte black interior in early models to help deal with light bleed distractions. Light bleed on the original Gear VR was a design decision to help deal with air circulation and reduce lens fog. Both were largely resolved in the updated Gear VR that was given away with the Galaxy S7, but the update introduced new points of frustration.

This third version aims to reduce ventilation and light bleed concerns even further, and almost nails it. The only source of outside light when wearing this new headset comes from a slight gap between the top of the nose gap and my nose. It’s something I’ve only noticed when the Gear VR displays are entirely off, though, which is better than what I get using an Oculus Rift in the same conditions. It’s possible this could be tweaked further with a facial gasket that touches the nose bridge, but the potential for discomfort likely wouldn’t be worth the tradeoff.

Not only is the inside of the headset darker, it’s also noticeably wider and taller. More of your face fits inside the opening with the lenses, and that is fantastic news for glasses wearers. Whereas the original Gear VR was nearly unusable with glasses, and the first revision was usable if you were careful, this new Gear VR is downright spacious. Just about everyone will be able to easily wear eyewear inside the headset without having to worry about them being pressed up against their face or cramming them up to the lens before putting the headset on. In fact, the comfort level on the new Gear VR is second only to Sony’s PlayStation VR.

Samsung has set the bar incredibly high in creating a refined experience you actually want to wear.

Samsung still relies on a pair of straps to wear the Gear VR, but the setup is a little different this year. Out of the box you set up a single strap to wrap around your head, and if you are comfortable you can leave it at that. Should you decide to add the top strap, however, a small velcro spot in the back strap makes do so simple. This is a lot more comfortable than the plastic spacer that was there before, especially when laying down with your Gear VR, and makes it feels just as secure on your head as with previous iterations of the three strap system.

Once you have the Gear VR securely attached to your head, you need to set the lens distance to match your eyes. Samsung has always made this easy with a simple scroll wheel on the top of the headset, but this year that wheel has almost no resistance to it. Such a small change would only be notable if you’ve used the previous two headsets, but that smooth scroll wheel makes it so much easier to dial in the perfect lens distance for your eyes. Sitting all three headsets together, the increase in polish on this simple tool exemplifies the refinement Samsung has aimed for in this revision.

One final example of Samsung’s borrowing from the original design of the Gear VR to enhance the overall experience is the touchpad. The original Gear VR had a touchpad with no texture to it at all, aside from a small dip in the plastic so you knew where it was when you ran your finger across it. Samsung “fixed” this in the next Gear VR with a D-Pad groove embedded in the plastic with a circular section in the middle to act as a button for selecting things. While this was helpful for casual navigation, it became a pain when gaming.

Samsung’s latest Gear VR goes back to the all-flat touch area, with a single raised line in the center to help you determine where the middle of the pad is when wearing the headset. It’s a welcome return to form with a little enhancement to meet everyone halfway, and to take things forward there are now two buttons above the touchpad instead of the single back button. This makes it a little easier to jump back home, and since the two buttons feel very different as you run your fingers over them this couldn’t be simpler.

For those keeping score, the last 800 words represent a remarkable amount of polish that most people won’t see at first glance. Samsung applies the same level of careful attention and engineering to this new Gear VR that we’ve seen recently on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 7, and the difference is subtle and fantastic. Knowing there’s going to be significant competition in the not-so-distant future in the form of Google Daydream, Samsung has set the bar incredibly high in creating a refined experience you actually want to wear.

Getting better all the time

Samsung Gear VR Software

Building a virtual environment is a lot more complicated than the app launcher you use on your phone. It’s the first thing every user sees when jumping into VR, and has to offer more than merely icons represented in 3D space around you. It’s where you adjust the headset to make sure it’s comfortable, where you check to see which of your friends is online, and where many people buy apps and adjust settings. What makes this a unique space is how the creator approaches it, and whether the space is inviting or deeply technical. In a Gear VR this experience isn’t a launcher but a special room where all of your favorite VR experiences live. It’s warm, relaxing, and all-encompassing. It’s a killer backstage room, with your apps existing on the main stage.

As expected, interacting with apps on the new Gear VR isn’t any different than its predecessors. Samsung offers a slightly wider field of view with this new Gear VR — 101-degrees over the previous 96-degrees — but the difference is imperceptible in most situations. If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy S7 instead of an S7 edge or Note 7, you’ll notice you need to be a little more specific about where your eyes are positioned in front of the lenses. This means you’ll need to adjust where the headset is on your face until things come into total focus. Other than this minor adjustment, it’s the same overall experience. All of your games and apps work the same, and all the settings are in the same place.

The biggest difference in day to day user interface controls on this Gear VR is the home button. In the past you had to hold down the back button and tap on the home icon in the Oculus Menu. Now, if you want to close an app and move on to something else, pressing the home button immediately raises the prompt asking you if you want to return to Oculus Home. A small change to be sure, but one that feels a lot faster than the previous implementation.

Samsung’s big design decision this year also left off the front cover that came with all of the previous Gear VR headsets. Samsung claims this is so app developers can start better taking advantage of the camera, which had already started in small ways with a handful of apps. Apps that let you take photos with active filters, or place a pretend Terminator vision in front of you are cute, but exactly as limited as they sound. Also, given the position of the camera relative to the rest of your body, it’s still a bad idea to try walking around with Samsung’s camera as your eyes. The Note 7 and Galaxy S7 have awesome cameras, but the 2D video positioned on the left half of your body presented as a stereoscopic image is still very disorienting.

The Gear VR puts you in a special room where all of your favorite VR experiences live. It’s warm, relaxing, and all-encompassing

All told, this is the same Gear VR software we’ve seen slowly evolve separate from the hardware. After the last update, the software is not much more in line with what you see with an Oculus Rift, and the new navigation button doesn’t really change much. Head tracking is still smoother than anything else you’ll see on a smartphone right now, and the new frictionless touchpad makes playing games a little nicer. In the future it’s possible we’ll see some new software to take advantage of the USB-C port on the Gear VR, which Samsung says could possibly be used for accessories but currently doesn’t do anything but charge the phone. It’s nice to know this headset is reasonably future-proof, but first we’ll need to see what exactly that means.

Until that happens, there are still a ton of things to do in the Gear VR.

Far from passive VR

Samsung Gear VR Experience

The sharp sound of polished metal grinding against a socket in the wheels under me persists through the pounding and the screams as I’m wheeled down a hallway. The nurse to my left is reassuring, trying to explain away the sounds and make it clear that everything will be alright. The look of the guy pushing me makes that difficult to believe, and as she wanders off to attend another patient he makes it clear we’re going somewhere less than pleasant. The lighting in the next hallway flickers constantly, and with each flash it becomes obvious we’re in a wing of the hospital built on nightmares. There’s no elevator, so he carelessly pushes me along a flight of stairs until we reach the filthy surgical room at the bottom. Another nurse comes around the corner with a massive needle in her hand, and before this can get any worse I rip the headset off and stare out into the daylight, pleasantly reminded that I’m safe at home and no one is about to cut into my brain.

This new Gear VR is the golden standard by which everything else will be judged

In 2016, having a smartphone means you have more entertainment than you could possibly experience at your fingertips. Music, video, games, books, and so much more live in your pocket at all times. We consume so much through that 5-inch screen, many ask what’s the benefit in adding a plastic face harness to something you can already conveniently take with you everywhere. When the Galaxy S7 launched, we said the answer was presentation. You weren’t just watching a show, you were sitting in a crazy future space station watching TV. I think we got that wrong, though. VR isn’t just the entertainment center that holds your virtual game console and streaming video services. It certainly can be that, but if you limit yourself to those experiences you’re barely scratching the surface.

Great VR experiences are deeply emotional. Some of them are designed to scare you half to death, while others are designed to make you fully alert and ready to act. You might be tasked with escaping a room, or you might be guiding an animated bumblebee through a leaf maze. There’s no one thing VR offers, but nearly everything is immersive enough that as the user you feel something you’d never experience by just touching the screen on your phone. Even 360-degree videos aren’t a truly passive experience. You’re meant to feel like you are there, and in many situations that illusion holds.

Samsung’s latest headset improves this experience subtly. It’s more comfortable to wear and an improved design makes it considerably easier to feel fully immersed in what you’re doing. That immersion is the most important part of being in VR, and these little changes make a big difference when you’re in the seat of a gun turret defending your ship against wave after wave of enemy vessels. It’s not something you need to have with you at all times like a smartphone, but it’s absolutely something you’ll want nearby to enhance those relaxation times.

Good luck competing with this

Samsung Gear VR Bottom line

Samsung could have easily released the exact same Gear VR we already had with a USB-C port and Note 7 users would have been just as happy. The change had to happen, Samsung needed to support USB Type-C, and having a phone as amazing as the Note 7 without this great VR experience would have been a huge disservice to its growing VR audience.

The coolest part of this headset is the way it all comes together. None of the individual changes Samsung made are particularly impressive. They’re nice to have, but are neither necessary nor a massive step forward in any significant way. Together, however, these changes take an already great VR experience and make it the most comfortable mobile VR experience by far. This new Gear VR is the golden standard by which everything else will be judged.

Should you buy it? Most likely

As cool as these little changes are, calling this headset a need if you already own a Gear VR is a stretch. If you plan to purchase a Galaxy Note 7, this is clearly what you want. If you own a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge and have not yet purchased a Gear VR, this is clearly what you want. If you have already shelled out the $100 for a last-generation Gear VR and are curious about this being a worth upgrade, you should try one before you put your money down.

Where to buy the Samsung Gear VR

You can find this updated Gear VR available for pre-order from Amazon and Best Buy. As with previous versions of this headset, you can expect the headset to also be available in carrier stores alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

See at Amazon

Want more Samsung Gear VR information? Check out VR Heads!

Follow VR Heads on Twitter!

Follow VR Heads on Facebook!

Follow VR Heads on Google+!

Kobo Aura One has massive 7.8-inch screen, waterproofing and a sleep-friendly front-light

Those who thought tablets would kill the eBook reader market have had to eat their words over the last year or so. Not only are they still going strong, we are still treated to new innovations in the tech.

The Amazon Kindle Oasis came out earlier this year, with a new, super-light form factor and a battery charge cover, now Kobo is redefining the top-end of the eBook reader field, with an extraordinary, premium device.

Available from 30 August in Canada and rolling out to other regions throughout September (6 September for the UK and US), the Kobo Aura One has a mammoth 7.8-inch Carta E Ink touchscreen with a 1872 x 1404 pixel resolution (300ppi).

It is designed, therefore, to offer a reading area akin to a hardback book. You can have many more words on a page than with a conventional reader, so less page turns will be needed.

Regardless of the size though, the Aura One is still light. It is 230g so considerably lighter than an iPad mini.

Kobo also worked with a select group of its own customers to add other features, with a new ComfortLight Pro system being added for late night readers. It is a front-light technology that emits less blue-light than other devices, so is less likely to impact sleep.

In addition, light sensors detect the ambient surroundings and adjust the light to mimic the sun’s natural progression. Users can also change the settings to suit their own personal taste. 

Like the Kobo Aura H2O from 2014, the Aura One is waterproof. It has IPX8 protection so can be used in the bath or on the beach without worries. It can actually be completely submerged thanks to coated protection inside and out. The ports do not even need covering.

• Kobo Aura H2O is the eBook reader you can drop in the swimming pool
• Kobo Aura H2O eBook reader survives our water test, perfect for the bath
• Amazon Kindle Voyage vs Nook GlowLight vs Kobo Aura H2O: Which eBook reader should you choose?

OneDrive library support means you can borrow eBooks if you have a library card from one of the certified libraries. And there are more than five million titles available to buy from Kobo.com too.

The Kobo Auro One has 8GB of storage, 512MB of RAM and Wi-Fi connectivity. It’ll be priced at £189.99 in the UK.

Kobo has also announced a refreshed version of the Kobo Aura.

The Kobo Aura Edition 2 has a 6-inch Carta E Ink touchscreen with a 1024 x 768 resolution (212ppi) and ComfortLight front-light system. There is 4GB of storage on-board and battery life lasts for up to two months.

It will be available from 6 September in many regions, including the UK and US. We’re yet to find out UK pricing for this but it’ll retail for $129.99 Canadian dollars in Canada (around £78 at the current exchange rate).

Android N Nougat: How to enable and use split-screen mode

While some Android phones have had split screen multitasking for a while, Android N, or Nougat, is the first to have it built in to the OS. Once Android 7.0 Nougat starts its rollout, every phone with the software installed will be able to take advantage, providing they don’t have severely underpowered processors or stingy amounts of RAM. 

If you’re reading the web, and want to shoot someone a text quickly with something you’ve seen, or checking Google Maps for an address you’ve been sent in an email, split-screen could be coming to your rescue very soon. This is how you use it. 

How to use Android N split-screen: From an app

There are two ways to launch the split-screen mode when you’re looking at an app in full screen. The first way is by just pressing and holding and the recent apps button. 

This pushes your app to the top half of the screen and opens up a recent apps selector in the bottom half. Presuming you’ve not removed the app you’re looking for you simply scroll through the cards on that bottom half of the screen and select your second app.

If the app you want isn’t in the recent apps screen, hit the home button and then choose any app from your home screen or the app drawer as normal. While you’re looking, it pushes the split-screen mode off-screen completely, leaving you with an unobstructed view of your phone.

The second way to launch it requires digging in to settings a little. And it may depend on the phone you have.

Go to Settings > About Phone and repeatedly tap on “Build number” until it says Developer options are enabled. Then, swipe down from the top of your screen, press and hold the settings cog at the top of the notification shade until you get note saying System UI Tuner is added to your settings.

Now when you head to the settings menu you’ll find System UI Tuner right next to the Developer options. Go in to the settings, dismiss the pop-up message that comes on screen and choose “other”. Tap the “Enable split-screen swipe-up gesture” toggle to the on position.

Once enabled, any time you’re in an app, you can swipe up from the recent apps button and it’ll smoothly transition to the split-screen.

How to use Android Nougat split-screen: From the recent apps screen

As well as launching from any app, you can launch the split-screen mode from the recent apps screen. All you have to do it drag and drop the desired app from the cards on to the top portion of the screen.

Pocket-lint

How to use Android Nougat split-screen: Move the split position

By default, Android N split-screen sets the split position right in the middle of the display. Moving it, as you can imagine, is as simple as just dragging it to wherever you want it.

How to: Deactivate Android Nougat split-screen

To deactivate split screen mode, you just press and hold the split screen icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.

That’s pretty much it. As of right now, Android N is in beta mode, and isn’t likely to hit your phone until later this year. If you have a Nexus phone, you’ll get it before most. More than likely by October time.

To find out when Nougat is likely to arrive on your phone, check out our guide. And for everything else, be sure to read up on everything we know about Android 7.0 so far. 

Uber takes legal action against TfL over new taxi rules

It’s safe to say that Uber isn’t particularly happy with the changes to London’s private hire regulations. The Transport for London (TfL) board approved new measures earlier this year, but only recently did the authority publish the finer details, which paint them as more stringent than first thought. Last week, Uber kicked up a fuss over what it deemed to be a threat to “the livelihood of thousands of drivers,” also asking users to lobby London’s Mayor to revisit the new regulations. This conflict has taken a much more serious turn today, however, with Uber launching formal legal action against the transport authority.

“This legal action is very much a last resort. We’re particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process with Transport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber,” General Manager of Uber London Tom Elvidge said in a statement.

Uber has taken particular issue with a new English language test any driver originating from a primarily non-English-speaking country will have to pass in order to apply for or renew a private hire licence. The updated regulations provided for a demonstration of “a certain standard of English,” but as it has turned out, this means passing a two-hour, B1-level exam complete with essay questions. Uber argues this goes way beyond what is necessary and will impact the number of private hire drivers on the road, who already have to go through a “rigorous and costly process” to obtain a licence. According to the ride-hailing service, this requirement contravenes the Equality Act.

TfL, however, believes it’s necessary for drivers to have a level of English that allows them to discuss fares, routes and safety information, as well as be able to read and understand material the authority sends their way.

The new measures require every private hire driver to have year-round commercial insurance. TfL says this is to guarantee drivers have the appropriate insurance in place whenever they are using their vehicle for work. Uber contends this is unfair to seasonal and part-time drivers who fit shifts in when they can — the expense of year-round insurance leaving them out of pocket or putting them off driving altogether.

Uber also isn’t happy with having to notify TfL before making changes to its “operating model.” For the ride-hailing outfit, this means it can’t add new services or features to its app without running them by the authority first. TfL says this is to ensure changes don’t diminish passenger safety and meet legislative requirements, while Uber claims it stifles innovation.

Though Uber allows users to call and message drivers, as well as seek additional support through its app, new guidance states passengers must be able to talk to someone other than the driver based in a call centre in London. Uber isn’t keen on the idea of establishing a round-the-clock call centre in the capital to meet these requirements, also arguing black cabs aren’t subject to any such rule. TfL, however, considers centralised support “an important safety requirement.”

In response to Uber’s belief the rules are unlawful, a TfL spokesperson said the authority “will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations. These have been introduced to enhance public safety when using private hire services and we are determined to create a vibrant taxi and private hire market with space for all providers to flourish.”

It’s now up to the courts to decide, of course, but Addison Lee has already made it clear that Uber doesn’t speak on behalf of the entire private hire industry. When Uber began its lobbying efforts last week, the CEO of Addy Lee penned a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan saying his company fully supported the updated regulations. He also indirectly accused Uber of attempting to “water down” the rules, specifically the commercial insurance requirements.

Being both a more traditional and high-end private hire service, though, it’s likely Addison Lee already has internal English language and insurance requirements that mean the regulations are of no consequence to them. Whether all private hire operators feel the same is a different matter.

[Inline image credits: Alamy & Addison Lee]

Via: Bloomberg