Mobile Nations Weekly: Ludicrous zero-day nougat

Android goes to 7, Apple goes to the repair kit, and Tesla goes for maximum speed.

Android 7.0 Nougat is finally here! … if you have a Nexus phone. If using a modern Nexus phone, it might be a while before you get the update — or never. But does that really matter?

Apple found itself in sticky security waters following the disclosure and prompt patching of a trio of particularly nasty zero-day exploits. What’s more terrifying than these sort of “fix it immediately” exploits is who is making them: private malware firms that cater to governmental desires for ever-more-prying eyes. Thankfully, Apple did the right thing and moved fast to patch their products.

The long-awaited HP Elite x3 is finally here. Kind of. Almost. But Windows Central got one and went hands-on with the latest and greatest Windows Phone anyway. It’s the first Windows Phone to tout both a fingerprint scanner and an iris scanner, and all sorts of high-powered bits.

The Tesla Model 3 is set to start at $35,000. Tesla’s newest Model S option, the P100D, starts at $134,500. It’s just a small difference. But that P100D is the quickest production car on the planet, making it to 60mph in a dizzying 2.5 seconds. If you can afford it… and the inevitable speeding tickets.

So you’re interested in getting into VR, but which headset should you be donning? VRHeads sits down and looks at the desktop-class options to figure out which is better: HTC Vive or Oculus Rift?. It’s a tough call with how many variables are at play here, but rest assured that both are pretty damn cool.

Android Central — New-gat software

Though we’ve had months of Developer previews to play with, Android 7.0 Nougat was finally made official this week. Updates started hitting Nexus devices, and we got to dig into the headline features of the final release version. The Developer Preview track is sticking around, too, and we’re in line for a new version by the end of the year.

If you’re wondering why phones like the Nexus 5 and Xperia Z3 Compact won’t be getting Nougat, Jerry has a great explainer for you. It basically comes down the Snapdragon 800 not offering the right specs for the software, and that’s unfortunate.

Further on in Nougat land, we got a couple more teases of the upcoming LG V20, which will be the first phone to ship with Android 7.0. Google teased it with the launch of Nougat, and a later leak showed off what seems to be another “second” display ticker like the V10.

• Your phone may never get Nougat, but does it really matter?
• Moto Z, a second opinion — Mods shouldn’t make the phone
• Will my phone be updated to Android 7.0?
• Top 5 Android 7.0 Nougat features you need to know!
• How to manually update your Nexus
• How to fix Galaxy Note 7 battery life problems

CrackBerry — DTEKing around the globe

BlackBerry’s rollout of the DTEK50 continued this week. Multiple Canadian carriers have made the device available in-store and across their online store-fronts. Additionally, BlackBerry has now added the device to the BlackBerry Beta Zone which offers up beta versions of BlackBerry’s applications and upcoming OS releases. In other news, BlackBerry’s software business continues to gain momentum with new customers in Australia and New Zealand.

• BlackBerry’s software business continues to grow with new customers in Australia and New Zealand
• BlackBerry DTEK50 now available from multiple Canadian carriers
• BlackBerry adds DTEK50 and Hub+ Suite beta programs through Beta Zone

iMore — The age of the zero-day

Both Apple and the iMore staff are getting busier and busier as event season nears, and this week was no exception. The company disclosed and patched three nasty zero-day exploits, released two new betas (one as a result of the aforementioned patch), and had another headphone jack-less rumor come to the forefront. Over on our side, we released our Back to School Gift Guide, took a look at the Logitech Create for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and dug into the hidden history of educational gaming on the Mac. And on the Network, special guest Jason Snell of Six Colors wonders if betas and leaks have spoiled the magic mystery of Apple events — but if so, it’s probably going to be okay.

• How to use Siri with CarPlay
• How to stop WhatsApp from sharing your number with Facebook
• How to use iOS 10’s new Bedtime feature
• Apple Talk 11: iPhone upgrade pressure

Tesla Central — P100D

While everybody might be anxiously waiting for the relatively affordable Tesla Model 3, Tesla’s not stopping work on their much more expensive Model S and Model X electric cars with the introduction of the P100D option. The new 100kWh battery pack makes the Model S now the fastest-accelerating production car ever, with a 0-60 time of a mind-numbing 2.5 seconds.

At the same time, it’s also the longest range production EV ever, with 315 miles on a charge. There’s just one catch: it starts at $134,500. Of course, it’s worth noting that Tesla is using the P100D battery as a testbed for some of the new advanced battery tech that will find its way into the Model 3, so it’s not bad that Tesla’s still tinkering on the high end.

• Tesla Model S P100D goes for maximum Ludicrous Mode: 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and 315 miles range
• Where’s the non-performance Tesla 100D and how much range will it have?
• Have a Tesla P90D? You can upgrade it to a P100D… for a price

VR Heads — Tripping the Rift

Choosing between the two big Desktop-class VR headsets is no small decision, for several reasons. Arguably the most important of those reasons is that we’re not really at the beginning point for “New VR” yet. Developers are still figuring out what works, and hardware manufacturers are still tweaking to service everyone. It’s an exciting time, which is what makes the choice so hard.

• HTC Vive vs Oculus Rift: Which is best?
• RevolVR is a huge next step in smartphone-based VR!
• Exploring multiplayer shooters and their limitations in VR

Windows Central — The Elite-ist

Windows 10 Redstone 2 is only beginning but what it packs for features is slowly starting to come into focus. Our exclusive report this week highlighted the return of OneClip – a cross platform copy, paste functionality – as one productivity-focused tool destined for Windows 10.

Our Jez Corden sat down with Xbox marketing chief Aaron Greenberg to discuss the new One S, Beam, and more.

There were no new Fast Ring releases this week, but we did see a Release Preview for a new cumulative update appear.

Finally, the HP Elite x3 superphone with a Snapdragon 820, front-facing speakers, and every bit of technology jammed into is starting to hit store shelves. We did a quick unboxing and compared its fingerprint and iris scanners for performance.

• Mozo’s Surface Sleeve brings a stylish look while delivering some protection too
• Pokémon Go app PoGo-UWP adds Pokedex, line inventory and more with the latest update
• CBS All Access is now on the Xbox One and Xbox 360
• The best graphics card for under $200

The case for a Material Dark theme in Android

I love hex black and a dark UI!

You Nougat-lovers can’t deny,

That when an app installs in an itty, bitty space,

With a dark theme in your face,

You get sprung!

Google and Android are filled with white, white, white UIs. It wasn’t always that way, but it is now. The only real dark system UIs available right now are downloadable TouchWiz themes, and Google’s apps are whiter than my jean-365-days-a-year legs. Night modes have been toyed with in Developer Previews the last two years but have never amounted to much of anything. And really, even if they had stuck around, it wouldn’t’ve been the dark theme we wanted anyway.

A dark theme, a night mode, and a Material Dark app.

Let’s get some terminology straight first, because we keep interchanging some similar but distinct terms. A dark theme is a UI that is primarily a dark color rather than white. Android itself used a dark theme back in the Holo days. There are a lot of apps with dark themes out there, frequently calling them night modes, but they’re wrong. Night mode should be reserved for the blue light filter that’ll keep your screen from keeping you up while you surf YouTube in bed. Some manufacturers have included blue-light filters in the past, and third-party apps have offered it, too.

We shouldn’t be lobbying Google for this. We should be lobbying everyone.

Then we have what I’m affectionately calling Material Dark, a Material Design-compliant UI based on a dark gray or black background with strong pops of accent colors. It’s not enough to ask for an app to have a dark theme; it needs to be a well-designed and tested dark theme that fits current developer guidelines. Material Dark is what we should push for in Google’s apps and in every app that we use and care about.

We’ve begged for a device-wide dark theme, but that’s not what we really need. We don’t need a toggle that switches your whole system from light to dark, because there are apps that I’ll always want in a Material Dark UI, apps I’ll only want to be dark at night, and apps that work better in white. Fun as it was to have that night mode toggle in my Quick Settings on the developer preview, it just wasn’t going to work.

And we shouldn’t be lobbying Google for this. We should be lobbying everyone. Lobby Google to give us Material Dark Google Apps — please, please lobby Google for Material Dark Google Apps — but ask the developers of your favorite apps if they could add a dark theme. Samsung has a dark theme for most of its system apps, so ask Motorola and LG why your Moto Z and your V20 can’t have a dark dialer for when you’re calling your designated driver at closing time.

Lobbying for Material Dark for individual apps rather than begging for a magical device-wide dark theme because individual apps can be easily updated with a dark theme without a system or device upgrade like any Nougat night mode would’ve required. It can reach more people and improve the experience for more users without having them shell out money for a new phone.

Think of this: how often do you open the Settings app on your phone? How often do you open YouTube? On which one would a dark theme matter more to you day-to-day? So why is it we bitch more about Settings not having Material Dark than YouTube?

The white, bright Material Design theme on YouTube can take users out of the videos they’re trying to watch and strain their eyes, meaning they’re watching fewer videos and Google is losing views. Why doesn’t YouTube use Material Dark — like YouTube Music already does — when users will get far more use out of it?

Google Apps aren’t the only apps that need to go dark. Facebook needs Material Dark. ABC News needs Material Dark. Pokémon Go really needs Material Dark, if not Material Black for the amount of power it could save AMOLED users. It can potentially double the UI work for a developer, but it’s a feature that users actively seek out in their apps, and can help apps stand out from the pack.

But we have to ask for it. Politely, repeatedly, and in numbers. I’ve been asking for a Material Dark Google Play Music app since the day they announced the current white/orange color scheme. I love pumpkin seeds — I will rock the jack-o-lantern music player! What apps do you want to see go Material Dark? Sound off in the comments!

Android 7.0 Nougat

• Android 7.0 Nougat: Everything you need to know
• Will my phone get Android Nougat?
• All Android Nougat news
• How to manually update your Nexus
• Join the Discussion

Russia’s search giant is making a self-driving shuttle bus

Internet search giants making self-driving cars appears to be a trend, and Russia’s Yandex wants in. It’s partnering with Daimler, truck maker Kamaz and government-backed researchers at NAMI on an autonomous shuttle bus that could carry up to 12 people and travel about 124 miles on a charge. Yandex is contributing its experiences with artificial intelligence, computer vision and voice recognition, and it’ll even be central to the interface — you’ll use a Yandex-linked mobile app to pinpoint your destination.

NAMI will start testing the self-driving bus on closed circuits in 2017, and it’s bound to be a while after that before you can see one (or something like it) cruising the streets. There’s no guarantee that you’ll ever get to ride this bus beyond Russian borders, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Yandex’s technology finds its way into more vehicles. If nothing else, this is further evidence that driverless transportation is quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Fortune