Jabra Sport Pulse Special Edition Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Jabra’s original Sport Coach and Sport Pulse in-ear wireless sports headphones were close to being excellent but fell a little short in a couple of areas, most notably their fit and sound quality.
Now Jabra’s announced the next generation of those models, labeling them “special editions,” with ship dates sometime in September.
On the outside, they look essentially the same as the originals, but Jabra’s made a few changes on the inside and now bundles in added ear tip options. The company says both models are more durable and the Pulse, which is equipped with an integrated heart rate monitor — it gets a pulse reading through your ear — has added a new feature: it can calculate your Vo2 Max level and automatically measure your fitness level.
Jabra bills its Sport Pulse Special Edition as the world’s first sports headphones with automatic fitness testing.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Sport Pulse Special Edition lists for $160 while the Coach Special Edition lists for $120 (Best Buy has the original Sport Coach on sale for $100). No word yet on UK or Australian pricing, but the current Sport Pulse lists for £200 and the Sport Coach for £120, though both sell for less significantly less online.
Also new: Jabra is offering an extended three-year warranty against sweat (you do have to register the headphones), which is unusual. Most headphones offer one- or two-year warranties.
I did notice that the protective carrying pouch that’s included with the special-edition models isn’t as protective, but it does the job.
Close
Jabra Sport Pulse: A wireless headphone with a built-in heart-rate monitor
Drag
Smart sports features
Jabra has sought to differentiate its headphones with its integrated fitness app, Jabra Sport Life.
With the Sport Pulse, you can do timed runs, and the app will track your current heart rate as well as your average heart rate over the the course of a workout. It saves your history, updates your distance and pace (GPS must be activated on your phone) with intermittent voice prompts, and includes some built-in tests and a music player that taps into your music library.
Alternatively you can use a music service such as Spotify while the Jabra app is running (the voice “coach” prompts will lower the volume of your music but not pause it). You can also use the headphones with other fitness apps like Endomondo and RunKeeper. The heart rate monitor works with a lot of fitness apps but not necessarily all of them. As I said, the VO2 Max data generation is new and Jabra bills the Sport Pulse Special Edition as the “The world’s first sports headphone without automatic fitness testing.”
Jabra’s Sport Life app.
The Sport Coach Special Edition doesn’t have the integrated heart rate monitor but it has a TrackFit Motion Sensor that now automatically counts your reps. You can follow a set of simple workouts integrated into the app that you can do in your home that mixes exercises such as high-knee running (in place), push-ups, squats, planks and stomach crunches.
Important note for owners of the original Sport Coach and Sport Pulse Wireless: Jabra says automatic fitness testing (for the Pulse) and automatic rep counting (for the Coach) will be available as free upgrade features via a software upgrade.
More ear tip options
Jabra talks about the headphones having “enhanced sound,” but I’m not sure it’s done anything to enhance the sound except to try to create a better fit by including a set of Comply foam tips along with the usual set of ear gels and ear wings, which do a good job locking the bud in your ear.
With in-ear headphones, getting a tight seal is crucial to getting better sound and the foam tips do help. I still wouldn’t call these fantastic-sounding headphones, but for in-ear Bluetooth headphones they sound quite decent, and if you can achieve a tight seal, bass response improves dramatically. I also thought the headphones worked quite well as a headset for making cell phone calls. That’s not surprising considering Jabra’s background in headsets.
The included tips, ear wings, cord shortener and carrying pouch (folded on the right).
Sarah Tew/CNET
It’s worth mentioning that these earphones are designed to seal out the ambient noise (they’re noise-isolating), so you won’t be able to hear traffic if you’re biking or running outside and are playing your music at modest to high volumes. That may be a safety issue, which is why a lot of runners prefer open headphones like Bose’s SoundSport Wireless (Bose also has a SoundSport Pulse coming out in September that has an integrated heart monitor).
While it’s good that Jabra has included the Comply foam tips, those can get dirty and break down over time. I’d personally would like to see Jabra redesign its gel ear tips, particularly the larger size, which is too flat and rounded (it should be more conical).
Jabra bills its Sport Coach Special Edition as the worlds’ first sports headphones with automatic rep counting.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Anyway, I’m going to take a few weeks to test the review samples I received before I render a final verdict, but my initial impression is that Sport Coach and Sport Pulse have indeed been improved and when you factor in the three-year warranties, they’re compelling wireless sports headphones that give Jaybird and other competitors a run for the money.
Here’s a look at their specs, courtesy of Jabra.
Jabra Sport Pulse Special Edition — $160, €160 (EU):
- New automatic (continuous) VO2 Max fitness testing
- In-ear biometric heart rate monitoring
- Advanced planning and tracking based on heart rate
- Resting and orthostatic heart rate tests
- Smart in-ear audio coaching
- Dust- and water-resistant (IP55)
- Lightweight (16 grams)
- Up to 5 hours of talk/music time
- Up to 10 days of stand-by time
- New Comply foam tips included
- New three-year extended warranty against sweat
- Ships in September 2016
Jabra Sport Coach Special Edition ($120, €160 (EU):
- NEW Automatic repetition counting with TrackFit motion sensor
- Smart in-ear audio coaching
- Dust- and water-resistant (IP55)
- Lightweight (16 grams)
- Up to 5 hours of talk/music time
- Up to 10 days of stand-by time
- New Comply foam tips included
- New three-year extended warranty against sweat
- Ships in September 2016
Kenmore Elite 81072 dryer review – CNET
The Good The Kenmore Elite 81072 dryer has attractive modern styling and intuitive controls that are easy to operate. The appliance also removes moisture from fabric quickly, has a large 9-cubic-foot capacity along with 14 separate dryer modes plus steam abilities.
The Bad Unlike other appliances that use an attached water line, the Kenmore Elite 81072 obtains the water for its steam modes from a small reservoir you must fill by hand. The Elite 81072’s lightweight door feels flimsy and can’t be slammed shut.
The Bottom Line Though you have to fill its steam feeder with water by hand, the Kenmore Elite 81072 dryer’s excellent performance, huge 9-cubic-foot capacity and included drying rack make this laundry appliance very enticing to big families.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
There aren’t many dryers for sale that can swallow 9 cubic feet worth of wet laundry at once, but the $1,400 Kenmore Elite 81072 can do just that. Thanks to its massive drum size and speedy cycle times, the Elite 81072 is a good fit for large families who need to power through hefty laundry loads often and quickly. The Kenmore Elite 81072 has other alluring attributes, too, including straightforward controls, plus numerous specialty drying modes and steam functions.
Saddled with a cantankerous door and manually fed water supply for making steam, however, this dryer isn’t perfect. If your weekly routine demands frequent laundering of monster-size bedding or handling enough dirty clothing to outfit a small army, the Elite 81072 will serve you better than sleeker but smaller units like the $1,500 LG DLEX 5000 and $1,099 Electrolux EFME617S Perfect Steam.
Kenmore’s Elite 81072 dryer is huge, fast…
See full gallery
1 – 2 of 7
Next
Prev
Design and features
Standing a full 40.8 inches tall, 29 inches wide and 33.9 inches deep, the Kenmore Elite 81072 dryer is positively massive. While roughly the same size as the also gargantuan 8-cubic-foot capacity GE GFDS260EFWW, this machine takes up more space than both the LG DLEX 5000 and Electrolux EFME617S Perfect Steam, which measure 7.4 and 8 cubic feet, respectively.
The benefit to the Kenmore Elite’s extra girth is that its roomy dryer drum that offers 9 cubic feet of capacity. It’s enough to accept two large washer loads simultaneously from its companion appliance, the Kenmore Elite 41072 washing machine. Additionally, the Elite 81072 dryer’s big format helps it to process bulky items like comforters, blankets and bath mats with less stress than with compact dryers.
The Kenmore Elite 81072 dryer offers a big 9-cubic-foot capacity.
Chris Monroe/CNET
I found the Elite 81072’s controls a breeze to operate as well. A central knob swivels and clicks softly in increments to select the dryer cycle you desire. 14 options in all, choices range from treating specific garment types such as Bulky/Comforter, Khaki/Jeans or Workout Wear, just to name a few. The appliance comes with steam modes, too, with labels such as Sanitize, Touch Up or Steam Refresh.
All these controls plus the dryer’s other buttons are backlit by blue LED lights or sport indicators of the same hue. A matching blue LED screen lives on the control panel’s right-hand side and displays the remaining cycle time in minutes. While small, the screen is bright and clearly legible from various angles or from across the room.
The controls are intuitive and fun to use.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Honestly, the Kenmore Elite 81072’s interface felt eerily familiar, and as it turns out, there’s a good reason. Like its matching Kenmore Elite 41072 washer, this dryer is really an LG appliance in disguise — specifically, the LG DLEX 8100. The smaller LG DLEX 5000 I reviewed also has a similar control panel.
The Elite 81072 dryer relies on a tiny water reservoir to supply moisture for its steam modes. While the machine will flash a warning light when the tank is running low, it’s a drag to have to fill it by hand. For an appliance this expensive, I expect the convenience of a dedicated water line. And like the lid on the LG DLEX 5000, this dryer’s door feels disconcertingly lightweight. You can’t slam the door shut either — an action I find deeply satisfying — but must gently push it closed. It’s a minor quibble but an annoyance nonetheless.
Nokia Ozo Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Virtual reality isn’t going away. But it’s nothing without content.
That’s where cameras like the Nokia Ozo come into play.
Looking like something that stepped straight out of a sci-fi movie, this is a 360-degree stereoscopic camera ready for the VR revolution. We had hands-on time with the camera over several weeks, learning the ins-and-outs of creating 360-degree video with a professional setup worth US$45,000. (The camera was originally priced at US$60,000 when it was first announced back in December.)
Note that this isn’t a full rated review, but hands-on impressions of using the camera and what it’s like to navigate the Ozo workflow.
CNET
Let’s check the specs
Each of the camera’s eight lenses has a 195-degree field of view with a fixed aperture of f/2.4. Behind every lens is a 2K x 2K sensor. There is significant overlap from one lens to another which gives the user much more control at the stitching stage. The Ozo shoots at 30 frames per second, which is the “live video” standard rather than 24 frames you usually see with film.
The camera uses a global shutter as opposed to a rolling shutter, generally considered more accurate in representing motion. There are eight microphones dotted around the exterior to capture spatial audio synced to the video capture.
The eight eyes of Nokia’s Ozo VR camera (pictures)
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 11
Next
Prev
Apart from the camera unit itself, the Ozo needs additional components to complete the package. The first is a digital cartridge that contains both the battery and 500GB of storage. It holds around 45 minutes of footage and the entire cartridge slots neatly into the protrusion at the back of the camera. The second is a docking station that acts as a charging hub for the cartridge and as a transfer device to get footage to a computer.
All these components fit in a hard-shell rolling case that comes with the camera, which you’ll need because the unit weighs 9.3 pounds (4.2kg). The Ozo also has a removable cover that protects the lenses from the elements.
Ozo easy?
But wait, there’s more. On top of the camera and digital cartridge, you also need an SDI and Thunderbolt cable, a computer, plus a BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder to get things going. These components are not included with the Ozo.
The SDI cable sits in the back of the Ozo, feeding into the BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder. This BlackMagic box allows for real-time monitoring through the Ozo Remote app that can only run on a Mac Pro or a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro with discrete GPU. The best part about this configuration is that you can actually live monitor the shot before you hit record.
Once everything is plugged in and ready to go, load up the Ozo Remote app to set the exposure, check framing and start and stop recording. Adjustments can also be made to the shutter speed and color temperature, though the camera’s ISO is set at 400.
Viewing footage from all eight individual cameras.
Screenshot by Jason Pepper/CNET
Using the Ozo Remote software is straightforward. Once you set exposure for lighting conditions, you don’t need to keep the computer tethered. That being said, it would be incredibly useful for Nokia to release a mobile app that could do away with the computer when shooting in the field.
All this equipment and the setup process might seem like a lot of hassle, but other professional-grade 360 cameras on the market like the Freedom 360 spherical camera rig have their own quirks. With six GoPro cameras, that means six microSD cards, six record buttons to press and six resulting video files that need to be stitched together in post-processing. (GoPro’s own 6-camera rig, the GoPro Omni, looked promising in an early demo, but we haven’t yet tried it ourselves.)
Processing and crunching
The Ozo can produce both monoscopic and stereoscopic video, with the user being able to select shooting with either the four cameras around the center ring or all eight simultaneously.
Monoscopic video is created from a 360-degree image where both eyes are seeing the same file. Stereoscopic video is when two separate files are viewed with each eye. This creates the appearance of depth, otherwise known as 3D.
Once you have the video file from the Ozo, it gets imported into the Ozo Creator software. Like Ozo Remote, this requires specific hardware to run. A late-2013 Apple Mac Pro 6-Core CPU, and either Dual AMD D500 or Dual D700 FirePro GPUs running OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Stitch lines can be manipulated on the fly.
Screenshot by Jason Pepper/CNET
Stitching also happens at this stage. The software creates a default stitch although you can adjust the lines and the overlap as necessary by moving around the seams across the image. When you’re happy with the stitch, you have a number of export options such as creating an MP4 image or a DPX file for a cinema experience.
Once the software crunches the footage into a 360-degree image — this will take several hours or overnight depending on how much you’ve shot — it can be imported into an editing suite like Adobe Premiere. Alternatively, you can complete the cut within Ozo Creator.
For our workflow, we imported the footage from Ozo Creator into Premiere, which allowed us to add titles, and effects and also sync audio taken with an external recorder. The latest update to Premiere lets you view 360-degree footage, although it’s not as fluid as using a third-party plug-in like Kolor Eyes that reflects edits in real time.
Sample footage
We took the Ozo on three very different shoots. The first, which you can see below, involved attaching the camera to the interior of a car for CNET’s sister site Roadshow. The exposure was set for the exterior rather than the interior of the car to avoid blowing out highlights. For this shoot we also mounted the Freedom 360 rig with GoPro cameras to the exterior for an alternate viewpoint.
The second was at the manufacturing plant for Green Toys in San Leandro, California. With overhead fluorescent lighting and little natural light, it was a good test to see how the camera coped with interior shots.
Lastly, you can explore a vista of San Francisco from Crissy Field in the sample below.
Bear in mind that YouTube compresses video so these samples are at a different quality to the file that comes straight out of the camera.
So by now you probably want to know if this camera worth the $45,000 asking price?
As VR continues to evolve, you can use it to do much more than just create 360-degree footage — which is how we primarily used the Ozo. This camera will let the producer, filmmaker or studio grow into it. Even in our time testing the camera, Nokia continued to push out new software and updates to add functionality.
Admittedly, the Ozo is not a camera that’s designed for the hobbyist consumer. It’s for professional video makers and Hollywood studios who want to experiment with an all-in-one VR capture experience.
It’s easy enough to use once you understand the quirks of the workflow, but it’s not as straightforward as plugging it in and going on a shoot.
On the less expensive end of the spectrum sits a multi-cam solution like the aforementioned GoPro Omni. It consists of six GoPro cameras in a rig that automatically syncs recordings. While we haven’t yet fully reviewed the Omni, on paper the editing and post-production process appears to be much simpler than the Ozo, with the software quickly creating a stitch and render within a few minutes for a short 1 minute 4K video.
The Ozo is an incredibly innovative camera system. Given Nokia’s track record of rolling out new functionality and improvements (as well as a significant price drop) it’s definitely going to make waves in the VR production field, but whether it becomes industry standard or not remains to be seen.
The Ozo is available in the US for US$45,000 and Europe for €40,000. It will be released in September in China with equivalent pricing announced soon.
Motorola Moto Z Force vs LG G5 – Modular or Mods?
It just might be the future of smartphones: modularity. Though there are a number of different ways to look at this new technological step, we have here the first two phones to bring the concept to users’ hands. In one case, it is an involved process of removing parts of the phone and rebuilding it into a more capable device.
- LG G5 review
- Moto Z and Z Force review
In the other, it is a matter of simply slapping the new features onto the magnetic back. Which one does mods better? We find out in this comparison between the Moto Z Force and the LG G5.
Design
Before we get started, we want to make it clear how we want to name these features. While modularity is definitely what you can call what the LG G5 does, it is a bit different in the Moto Z. For that reason, we will generally call the act of adding features to a phone ‘modding.’ When speaking specifically, ‘modularity’ will be used primarily when describing the LG G5.
Before we even get into the two different methods of modding, it’s important to remember that we are still dealing with two standalone smartphones, capable of plenty on their own. The LG G5 was a drastic change from previous flagships, putting aside the curved body and display that defined the G4, and instead employing a different design language.
While the power/wake button is still found on the back, it now has a fingerprint embedded into it, and the volume rocker is now in a more conventional spot on the side. The metallic body has a rather rounded shape, but a noticeable sharpness can be felt due to the slightly protruding metal skeleton.
A slight curve can be found at the top of the display, there to provide a little more comfort when actually talking on the phone. And, of course, there is the removable bottom portion that is the crux of the phone’s modularity. Overall it is a rather drastic change that longtime LG fans may have needed to get used to, perhaps alleviated by the new modular features.
The same can be said for the Moto Z Force, the more powerful device in the brand new Moto line. What made the Moto X line well received is here in a few tiny ways, including the wooden cover that slaps onto otherwise shiny and fingerprint prone backing. Taken alone, however, much has changed as this fully metal body almost looks like blank canvas with obvious cues to its capabilities.
The chamfer on the sides makes it clear this is the thicker device with the bigger battery, and all buttons are where they should be. A new fingerprint reader is denoted by the small square under the display, which can be an eyesore and confusing because it is not a button. A large bezel above and below the display adds to the overall size of what is already a 5.5 inch phone, though on the backside of these areas are the magnets and connector pins for Moto Mods. The main issue we had was with the very large camera hump, which protrudes out quite a lot – thankfully, the Moto Covers make it flush.
It’s clear that both phones had to take on pretty drastic changes in design language to make modding a reality – whether or not that is a sacrifice of what made previous phones so recognizable is up to the user.
Display
Power is not lacking in either case, however. Though the displays are slightly different in a few key ways, Quad HD is the resolution across the board. The LG phone is 5.3-inches in size and is an IPS panel, making it less saturated than the 5.5-inch AMOLED display found on the Moto Z.
Color output is a rather subjective matter, but we will say that there have been no problems with either of these phones when enjoying everything from sharp text to gaming. AMOLED is generally a little more pleasing to users’ eyes, so the Moto Z may be the way to go if you want the more punched up colors.
Performance
Underneath the hood, the stories are the same however, with both featuring the Snapdragon 820, the Adreno 530, and 4GB of RAM. There’s no questioning the speed of either device, as these are what flagships are supposed to sport, and it’s more a question of what the software feels like in this case, and a bit of streamlining on LG’s part helps the G5’s case.
Though a pretty stock-like experience in the Moto Z is bolstered by a number of Moto additions like the Moto Actions and Voice, there isn’t too much bogging down the system. On the other hand, the G5 still rocks a very familiar looking LG UI, but has shed a few features so that they’re not all up in one’s face. LG even opted for no app drawer in initial builds of the interface, but that can be rectified with a downloaded UI update.
Hardware
Hardware features keep things pretty simple, minus the mods, of course. The lone 32GB of onboard storage in the Moto Z Force goes up against the 32 or 64GB options for the G5, but no matter which phone you get, there is still microSD card support to bolster it all.
The Moto Z also sheds the microphone jack, opting for an adapter that requires insertion into the USB type C port. In either case, the USB-C ports provide fast charging, though Quick Charge 3.0 for the LG phone seems just a step behind Moto’s own solution. In either case, a short stint connected to the wall can mean all the difference between no power and half battery in about half an hour.
Speaking of the battery, the Moto Z Force has the advantage here, with it packing a larger 3,500 mAh battery, compared to the 2,800 mAh unit of the LG G5. Both will comfortably allow for a full day or day and a half of use with average usage. Of course, if battery life is a huge concern, the battery of the G5 is replaceable, giving you the option of carrying around a spare. And in the case of the Moto Z Force, Motorola’s solution is a 2,200 mAh battery mod that you can easily attach to the device.
Camera
The first thing worth mentioning when talking about the cameras of these two devices is the 8 MP wide angle lens on the back that is coupled with the primary shooter of the LG G5, giving you something extra without needing any mods to be tacked on. Along with this wide angle lens is a 16 MP rear camera, with a f/1.8 aperture and OIS, while the Moto Z Force features a 21 MP rear shooter, also with a f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization.
As we mentioned during the full G5 review, the wide angle lens of the LG G5 is an absolute joy to use. It may not offer the highest quality or the sharpest image, but it’s great to use when you want to do things like take interesting selfies, or footage for vlogging. You get a lot more of the scenery into the shot with the secondary camera of the G5, and is certainly better suited to taking a picture of a landscape.
The more conventional camera setup found with the Moto Z Force are pretty standard. It doesn’t particularly excel in any single aspect, but the camera certainly isn’t bad by any means, and works well as a daily companion. When comparing the two, we did notice that the shots taken with the Moto Z Force feature a warmer tone than those taken with the G5.
Looking at the respective camera applications, there are quite a few features LG has packed into the app of the LG G5, including a variety of modes, and also returning is a robust manual mode that we have praised in the past. The Moto Z Force comes with a good manual mode as well, but in both cases, the viewfinder can get cluttered and messy pretty quickly if you are looking to make adjustments to a lot of aspects.
LG G5 camera samples
One very nice feature of the Moto Z Force camera is that it can be launched really quickly by using a gesture that involves a double twist of your wrist.
Moto Z Force camera samples
Up front, the LG G5 comes with an 8 MP front-facing camera, while the Moto Z Force features a 5 MP unit. However, users may prefer the latter, with the Moto smartphone coming with a front-facing flash. It’s certainly a rarity to see this feature with smartphones, and the Moto Z is one of the few that is available with it.
Software
The standalone experiences end on the software, in which the LG phone got a welcome streamlining. The LG UI still retains the rather bloated and somewhat cartoonish look – with icons stretching when reaching the homescreen threshold – and the initial lack of an app drawer that expected users to put up with all these icons crowding the homescreens.
Thankfully users were given the option to put the app drawer back on, and in the same vein, much of what used to be way too in people’s faces has been toned down. QSlide doesn’t take up so much space in the notification shade, and there are far fewer prompts for features that people simply weren’t using in previous LG devices. The bottom line here is that if you were not a fan of LG’s UI in the past, there might not be enough change here to make you feel differently. That said, we notice and appreciate what was slimmed down, minus the app drawer (which, again, isn’t much of a problem anymore).
It might come as no surprise that the Moto Z software is an easier pill to swallow. Historically, the Moto line has used interfaces that are very close to stock Android, with quite a few extras that are mostly out of the way. That is definitely the case with the Moto Z, which might have a few miscues, but overall provides a familiar but powerful suite of features.
Putting aside the fact that the fingerprint reader looks like a home button, holding it down to lock the screen is a very nice touch. Moto Actions still bring useful gestures like chopping twice to turn on the flashlight and the double twist to open up the camera. Finally, sing a custom phrase to wake the phone straight into a Google Voice Search never gets old. Here at Android Authority we tend to gravitate toward feature sets that have more we would use rather than options we would never touch. In this case, the Moto Z line succeeds where the LG G5 falls just short of the mark.
Modularity vs Mods
Coincidentally, this is the same story when it comes to the mods. In a nutshell, the Moto Z line is simply a more accessible and easier way of doing mods than LG’s brand of modularity. If you want another one liner to describe this battle, you need look no further than how many mods we have for either phone.
Modularity on the LG G5 is a process. Basically, one has to press a small release button on the bottom left side of the phone so that the bottom portion can be pulled and slid out. Bear in mind that the phone should be turned off before doing this, much like clicking “Safely Remove Hardware” before pulling out a USB device in Windows. The battery that is quite literally clipped into the bottom piece then has to be snapped off in what can only be described as a precarious manner, so that it can be snapped into any of the LG Friends (the name they gave the mods).Then the phone needs to be powered on again.
These mods are a CAM Plus camera module that gives the phone more battery, and hardware buttons to use for picture and video taking, and a Hi-Fi audio DAC by Bang & Olfsen, that can enhance headphone listening experiences. The usefulness of either Friend can depend on the user, but in our experiences with the CAM Plus, we found that although the hardware buttons and grip made picture taking pretty comfy, the added bulk and odd shape quickly took away from its practicality.
Ultimately, the biggest issue with LG’s modularity is the process, but there is also the problem of Friend availability. Even though the G5 has been around for months, there are only two currently on sale with no news of any other ones even in development. The usefulness of LG’s modding way requires proofs of concept, and that simply is not the case for a phone that will become old news by the time the LG V20 arrives soon in less than month, or when the next G device comes around the time of the Mobile World Congress next year.
Proof of concept is probably the best way to describe how Moto presented modding. While it is not full modularity by nature, it is still a way to add features not already available on the standalone device. The procedure to add these Moto Mods is simple – almost too simple – and just requires a lining up of the connector pins and magnets. Easily snap the phone and the mod together and it works immediately.
The Moto Mods include the Moto Covers for further customization, Incipio battery pack mods for much more available power, the JBL SoundBoost speaker for better onboard audio, and a Moto projector mod that is surprisingly powerful and fun but ultimately impractical. A closer look at the different mods is available here on Android Authority, but here is the gist – the most useful of them is definitely the Incipio Power Pack, which adds much more available battery life to the normal capacity Moto Z and the large unit in the Moto Z Force.
Moto’s way of modding is the clear winner when it comes to convenience, because simply attaching the mod makes it work immediately, provided each unit is charged – yes, each Mod has its own batteries so they don’t just feed off of the phone’s own battery to work. There are three main types of Mods with the promise of more to come, but at the very least there are different colored and styled Covers and Power Pack Mods so the look of the Moto Z can be changed in multiple ways. Though all of the mods add a significant amount of heft to the phone, only the Power Pack Mod has to be handled on the phone – even then, it isn’t weirdly shaped so as to make it a pain to use.
See also: Moto Mods Review: Blast, Power and Project in a snap8
Though LG was the first one to bring modularity to the mainstream, it just wasn’t accessible enough for the masses. Moto’s version of modding is the clear winner, not just because it is a simple plug and play method, but also because every Mod has proven their usefulness, even if overall practicality is up to the end user.
As far as cost goes, the Moto Mods can range in price, with the Power Pack costing $60 and the Projector costing a whopping $299. In the other camp, the CAM Plus for the LG G5 can be bought for $70. So adding features via mods to these phones can cost a pretty penny, but when judging them by cost and value, the Power Pack Mod is rather nicely priced for its utility – the rest of the Mods and Friends, maybe not so much.
Specs comparison
| Display | 5.5-inch AMOLED display Quad HD resolution, 535 ppi |
5.3-inch IPS LCD display Quad HD resolution, 554 ppi |
| Processor | 2.15 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor Adreno 530 GPU |
2.15 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor Adreno 530 GPU |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage | 32/64 GB expandable via microSD up to 256 GB |
32 GB expandable via microSD up to 256 GB |
| Camera | 21 MP rear camera, f/1.8 aperture, dual LED flash 5 MP front-facing camera |
16 MP (f/1.8) + 8 MP (f/2.4) rear cameras, LED flash 8 MP front-facing camera |
| Battery | 3,500 mAh | 2,800 mAh |
| Software | Android 6.0 Marshmallow | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Dimensions | 155.9 x 75.8 x 7 mm 163 grams |
149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm 159 grams |
Gallery
Final thoughts
Taken alone, there is a lot to like about either of these devices. The Moto Z line has a new design language that may be different but it retains much of the DNA that made the Moto X line so well liked. It’s nice to have a powerful phone with the option to use the Mods and yet never truly need to.
On the other hand, quite literally, the LG G5 has some trouble convincing us to use its modularity. And not just us, either – I personally have come across a few people recently who were using the G5 without mods. Upon asking, these people said that they didn’t ever get a Friend or use the ones that may have come with their phones. What they did enjoy was the camera package, where the wide angle shooter totally added to their picture and video taking experiences. We tend to feel the same way, as the wide angle camera is the most fun we’ve had shooting with a smartphone in a while.
Is that enough to put the overall package of the LG G5 over the overall package of the Moto Z? Probably not, as nearly every other aspect favors the Moto Z – software, modding, and even customization.
- LG G5 review
- Moto Z and Z Force review
And so, there you have it – the Moto Z and the LG G5. The two main modularity or modding smartphones available right now. As we said in our full LG G5 review, we applaud LG for taking a chance and a crack at modularity, but Moto simply put a little more thought into its execution and accessibility. Taken alone as phones, there’s plenty to enjoy from either company’s brand of Android, and it is ultimately up to you to decide which one better suits your needs. Which one would you pick? Let us know in the comments below!
Washington, DC apartment building offers an ‘Uber room’
While developers in San Francisco are subsidizing Uber rides for residents, one forthcoming apartment building in Washington DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood is offering to make the actual experience of waiting even more comfortable. As the Washington Post reports, the 85-unit Vintage on 16th is appealing to car-free city dwellers by doing away with onsite parking and replacing it with bike storage, communal electric bikes and a dedicated space where residents can keep themselves occupied as they way for their shared ride to arrive.
The “Uber room,” as the developers have taken to calling the space, is definitely not just a regular lobby, but distinctly separate place to wait out the no-doubt interminable four to seven minutes of average wait time for an Uber in the nation’s capital. The Post notes when the building opens this fall it will still have a main lobby where residents can take care of their usual lobby-based business like picking up a package or chatting up the doorman. The Uber room, on the other hand, will be a separate 260 square-foot space containing couches and a TV, as well as an outside view and a separate entrance. Perhaps most helpfully, the room will also contain a TransitScreen showing arrival times for buses and Metro trains as well as the current wait time for an Uber.
“There will be magazines and stuff to kill time,” developer Joe Bous explained, apparently unaware that everyone who uses Uber also has a smartphone full of ways to kill time. “The idea is to be physically comfortable and intellectually stimulating while you wait for your Uber.”
Via: Washington Post
Source: Urban Turf
Gene editing helps spot evolutionary link between fins and hands
Gene editing technology isn’t just useful for curing the world’s ills, it seems. University of Chicago scientists have used the CRISPR technique to discover a key evolutionary connection between fins and hands. Researchers edited fin-related zebrafish genes to make the appropriate cells glow as they develop, and discovered that there’s a similar glow in a mouse’s digits. In other words, there’s a strong similarity in the genes governing fins and digits — they’re both telling embryonic cells to show up at the end of an appendage.
The finding suggests that the biggest difference between a fin and a hand may be the tissue involved, such as the dermal bone in fish or the endochondral (cartilage-based) bone in humans. That, in turn, helps explain intermediary species where fins grew increasingly limb-like. And it’s safe to say that the CRISPR work raises hope of using gene editing to spot other evolutionary patterns. Aspects of biological development that have remained mysterious for decades might become a little bit clearer.
Via: New York Times
Source: Nature
Astronomers witnessed a white dwarf going nova
When a star explodes, astronomers usually scramble to point their telescopes in its direction, hoping to catch a glimpse of the aftermath. While this is a fine way for learning about the results of a nova or supernova, much less is known about the events leading up to a star’s death. But, according to a new study published in Nature, when the white dwarf in the binary star system V1213 Cen exploded in 2009, it gave astronomers the first opportunity to view a classical nova from start to finish.
A classical nova happens in a binary system, where the gravity around a dense white dwarf steals the hydrogen off of a nearby companion star until it eventually explodes in a thermonuclear flash of white light. In the case of V1213 Cen (aka Nova Centauri 2009), astronomers had been observing the system for six years, watching as it would occasionally flash with smaller bursts of hydrogen. As lead author Przemek Mroz told The Verge, the flashes showed hydrogen was being pulled off of the companion start at a slow, erratic rate in the lead up to the 2009 explosion. Unlike a much more powerful supernova, both stars survive in a classical nova, but the wave of radiation given off by the blast leaves the companion star much brighter and slightly larger — as was the case in V1213 Cen.
With the balance adjusted in the binary system, the white dwarf also started to draw hydrogen off its companion at a consistently higher rate, leading astronomers to theorize it will eventually explode again in an ongoing cycle of hibernations and classical novae. Don’t bother waiting around for the next one though, scientists estimate it won’t occur for at least another million years.
Via: The Verge, Space.com
Source: Nature
LG adds brighter, more portable projectors to Minibeam lineup
For the very truly dedicated cord-cutters out there, LG has just announced two new portable, battery-powered projectors that can be set up blissfully free of any audio, video or power cables. The two models in LG’s Minibeam lineup will debut next month at IFA 2016 in Berlin and hit retailers in the US shortly after.
First up is the PH450U (and the PH450UG version with built-in TV tuner), which LG claims is among the brightest battery-powered, short-throw projectors at 450 lumens. The projector only needs 13 inches of distance to put up an 80-inch screen, and can actually be set up sideways to project an image on any horizontal surface — in case you want to project some trippy visuals on the dance floor at your next house party. According to LG’s estimates, users should be able to get about two and a half hours of screen time out of the internal battery, so you won’t be having any outdoor Godfather marathons without a backup battery just yet, but you can still stream a couple episodes of Stranger Things in your blanket fort before you need to plug in. The PH450G will retail for $649.99 when it goes on sale in September.
The second addition to the Minibeam lineup, the PH150G comes in at a diminutive 1.1 pounds for a cool $349.99. While the less expensive model needs more room to work, it can put up a 100-inch screen and has the same two and a half hour battery life as its short-throw sibling. (At 150 lumens, the brightness rating also takes a hit.) Both models offer wireless mirroring or streaming from a smartphone or tablet, plus the ability to stream audio out to Bluetooth headphones, portable speakers or home audio setup.
Pinterest is betting big on video ads for brands
While showcase site Pinterest is still releasing features in line with its image-focused brand, it’s finally expanding its advertising options beyond still photos. Today it’s introducing promoted video ads, letting users expand its cinematic pins into full auto-playing vids.
As Ad Age points out, Pinterest has had video on its platform for five years, but it’s never been core to their content curation. Facebook encouraged its users to upload their own for awhile before introducing video advertising. Instead, this will be the first move in a larger push for more moving visual content across the board on the image curation site, a senior global sales executive for Pinterest told Ad Age.
While video is trendy, that means it’s where users are looking at and connecting with content. It’s another ecommerce tool for Pinterest to offer brands in its quest to shorten the gap from browsing individual to interesting product. The video ads are currently only available to larger advertisers in the US or UK working directly with the site’s sales team. So far, these include Kate Spade, BareMinerals and Behr Paint. Agency executives told Ad Age that the site is offering ad units for a minimum of $500,000, with or cost per thousand impressions ranging from $15 to $20.
Source: Ad Age
Hulu cozies up to Marvel, starts working on a ‘Runaways’ series
Netflix has been milking its relationship with Marvel with great success, churning out critically acclaimed — and badass — series like Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Now Hulu’s getting in on the action, too. As first reported by Deadline, the streaming service inked a deal to turn Marvel’s Runaways into a series co-written by (gulp) the folks who adapted Gossip Girl for television.
In case it’s been a while since you wandered into a comic book store, Runaways tells the tale of teenagers who fled home after learning their parents are secretly supervillains. Well, that’s how it starts, anyway. Presumably, the show will focus on the comic’s original cast of six characters, but it’s not unheard of for television series based on comics to go beyond the boundaries of the original work. Preacher, anyone?
Anyway. The superpowered setting gives showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage plenty of room to get weird — one of the six travels with a genetically modified Deinonychus, after all — but we’re expecting plenty of angst and millennial drama as the characters come to grips with their new lives on the lam. Frankly, though, it’s about time Runaways got a proper adaptation. For a while there, it seemed as though a movie would be the first to bring Brian K. Vaughan’s and Adrian Alphona’s world to life, but talks on that front have long since fizzled.
Source: Deadline
AIVAnet 