Huawei-made Google tablet with 7-inch display slated to debut later this year

Google is reportedly set to unveil its 2016 phones on October 4, and it now looks like the company has plans to launch a tablet as well. According to the reliable Evan Blass, Google’s tablet will feature a 7-inch display along with 4GB of RAM.

Google’s Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 5, 2016

The Android tablet segment hasn’t fielded great products of late, with the exception being Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S series. The South Korean vendor was able to differentiate its products by offering the ability to run multiple apps simultaneously through Multi Window on TouchWiz. The feature is now baked into Nougat, and should make devices like the Pixel C — which was let down by software — much more usable.

As to what we can expect from the 7-inch tablet, it is likely Huawei will stick to what it knows best: great industrial design with excellent build quality. If the 8.4-inch MediaPad M3 is any indication, the upcoming Google tablet will be a looker.

Rumors of a Google tablet have been making the rounds for some time now, and with the search giant also set to launch two own-branded smartwatches later this year, we’re in store for a lot of exciting products. October 4 event is slated to bring new phones, a 4K Chromecast, and Google Home, and we may also see the 7-inch tablet make its debut.

What would you like to see from Google’s 7-inch tablet?

New Huawei-made Nexus 7 should hit before end of 2016

After a few years off, it seems that Google has plans to bring back the Nexus 7 tablet. A Huawei-made 7-inch device is reportedly set for release before the end of 2016.

The original Nexus 7 really shook up the tablet market on its release in 2012, while its 2013 follow-up was one of the best devices around at the time. However, stores were soon flooded with 7-inchers of varying qualities and the sector became over saturated.

Google moved onto other screen sizes, with the HTC-made Nexus 9 being the most recently available, and it was thought that the age of the 7-inch tablet had passed.

According to @evleaks though, the Nexus 7 is to return.

Google’s Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 5, 2016

We know little about it at present, with the serial leakster only posting its existence and that it will have 4GB of RAM, but his Twitter posting does correlate with one former rumour. Huawei filed a trademark for the name “Huawei 7P” in spring leading a few to suggest a new Nexus tablet could be on its way, or even a massive phone.

Thankfully, now it looks like it’ll be a Nexus 7P tablet rather than a stupidly large mobile handset. Let the floodgates open for the inevitable flood of leaked pictures and specs.

EE starts Cat 9 rollout, achieves 360Mbps download speeds on an HTC 10

EE has announced its intention to roll out network compatibility for Cat 9 devices to cities in the UK this year, with the first venue to get the service being the EE-sponsored Wembley Stadium in London.

The company has promised that central London, and sites in Birmingham and Manchester will get the superfast connectivity for supported handsets before 2016 draws to a close.

Cat 9 handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge and Galaxy Note 7 (when it finally arrives), are capable of download speeds of up to 450Mbps.

EE has tested its new service in the real world with a HTC 10 and claims to have achieved 360Mbps. That’s considerably faster than any home broadband service is currently capable of.

Cat 9 phones will work on other networks, but they require much more bandwidth than many services are capable of.

BT-owned EE will offer 55MHz of bandwidth in supported areas, available across its 2600MHz and 1800MHz spectrum. Its 4G+ service already uses two blocks of spectrum to achieve high speeds in 150 towns and cities across the UK, the further roll out will add a third block for Cat 9 handsets to utilise.

EE is also continuing its roll out of 4G services to remote areas in the UK. It now covers more than two thirds of the country’s landmass and will cover 95 per cent of the country by 2020.

Intel buys Movidius to build the future of computer vision

Intel is making it extra-clear that computer vision hardware will play a big role in its beyond-the-PC strategy. The computing behemoth has just acquired Movidius, a specialist in AI and computer vision processors. The Intel team isn’t shy about its goals. It sees Movidius as a way to get high-speed, low-power chips that can power RealSense cameras in devices that need to see and understand the world around them. Movidius has already provided the brains behind gadgets like drones and thermal cameras, many of which are a logical fit for Intel’s depth-sensing tech — and its deals with Google and Lenovo give nothing to sneeze at, either.

This isn’t Intel’s first AI-related buyout. However, it shows that Intel is increasingly determined to find new avenues to explore now that it can’t count on large jumps in processor performance to maintain the bottom line. An acquisition like this could make it the go-to source for chips in fields that are still growing quickly, such as robotics and smart homes.

Source: Intel, Movidius

You can now own this old robot that helped NASA test space suits

Believe it or not, NASA used to utilize a decidedly creepy robot to test space suits meant for real-life astronauts.

Now it can be yours if you so desire, as it’s currently up for sale as part of RR Auctions’ Remarkable Rarities Auction. The Power-Driven Articulated Dummy was designed specifically for NASA by the IIT Research Institute between 1963 and 1965 for the express purpose of testing space suits.

Given the many hazards that utilizing a robot could avoid, NASA went with this robot to measure things like how much pressure was being applied by their space suits, what kind of internal pressure was being kept stable, and various other pieces of data integral to keeping astronauts safe in space.

The robot could be adjusted between 5’5″ and 6’2″ to represent the typical American male, with nylon tubes acting as its circulatory system with oil flowing through it. There were only two of the robots ever made, and the aforementioned circulatory system kept leaking while hydraulic pressure was applied. One robot is housed permanently at the Smithsonian, but the other, slightly damaged one could go for over $80,000 to the right bidder during the upcoming auction.

If you’re interested in dropping the cash on the robot, online bidding begins on September 15th and the live auction is happening on September 26th.

Via: CNET

Michael Kors Dylan Access review: Android Wear for everyone

Can the Michael Kors brand command the same influence when it comes to smartwatches as it does when it comes to fashion jewelry?

The Android Wear market has been relatively quiet for the past few months, but as we near the back to school season, the release schedule is set to pick up pace. And as we’ve seen from so-called fashion brands like Fossil, as well as well-known mainstream watch brands like Casio, Android Wear has found its way into practically any and every retail opportunity. Like Android itself, its versatility is its biggest strength.

Another such fashion brand looking to capitalize on the (admittedly slowing) smartwatch trend is Michael Kors, releasing two lines of its Access smartwatches today starting at $350. And despite some minor issues, the watches are destined to be successful largely because of Michael Kors’ existing distribution model of watch dealers and box stores and every mall in between. But next to the ultra-sleek Huawei Watch, Moto 360 and upcoming Asus ZenWatch 3, is the Access smartwatch right for you?

About this review

I (Daniel Bader) am writing this review after using the black stainless steel / black silicone band Michael Kors Dylan Access model for two weeks. It is running Android Wear version 1.5.0 based on Android 6.0.1 with the July 5, 2016 security patch.

Michael Kors Access Specs

Michael Kors Access Hardware

Keep in mind that I am only reviewing one style of one model of the Access line; like all things department store, there is a color and style for everyone. Specifically, I have been using what is clearly the least provocative of the options — black stainless steel with a comfortable, textured black silicone band — that include multiple shades of gold-casing-on-gold-band and a snakeskin-style embossed leather.

More than a few times during my testing period, several people came up to me to ask about the watch on my wrist.

But between the two overarching styles and multitudinous color and strap variations, one thing is clear: this is a big, heavy, imposing piece of jewelry. At 112 grams, and a chassis that despite its round face juts out at angles to meet a set of 28mm lugs, the Dylan Access is present. When compared to the subtle, minimal and delicate design of last year’s Moto 360, it’s clear Michael Kors intends for this to be worn by people who want it to be noticed. And noticed it was.

More than a few times during my testing period, several people came up to me to ask about the watch on my wrist. Aside from my early days with the Pebble, and a few times with the original Moto 360, this has rarely happened to me. It appears the size gambit worked.

The Michael Kors branding is subtly entwined into the product itself; the crown to the right of the watch face has a clear MK emblem, giving texture to the button that, though it appears designed to twist like a regular crown, can only be depressed. Its function is limited to waking the screen from sleep or, when held down, activating Android Wear’s app drawer (behavior that is set to change drastically with the release of Android Wear 2.0). On the other side is a set of microphones to enable Android Wear’s excellent voice-activated “OK Google” support.

Underneath the watch is a metal plate sans heart rate sensor, an omission not mourned for due to its unreliable nature in previous Android Wear devices. In the silicone strap, with is surprisingly comfortable despite the heft of the metal, my wrist felt comfortable and, in the time I normally took to warm to an analog watch, I grew used to the Access on my wrist at all times. That strap can be swapped out with other silicone or leather options, but the lugs are specific to the Dylan Access line itself, which precludes the use of standard 28mm bands.

Like the Sony SmartWatch 3 before it, the Access has a transflective display, which denotes a reflective layer just above the LCD backlight meant to make it easier to read in direct sunlight. And while this is true, the relatively low-resolution 320×290 pixel screen appears to have a muddy sheen atop it in most all other situations, with poor viewing angles and blacks that appear milky. It’s actually a better display than the SmartWatch 3 despite the lower pixel density — colors are more vibrant and, straight on at least, it offers a pleasant enough experience — but after using the Huawei Watch and Moto 360 (2015), this just doesn’t cut it anymore.

There’s even a “flat tire” towards the bottom of the screen just to reiterate just how far behind the watch’s display chops are. That flat tire area doesn’t even include an ambient light sensor, so you’ll be adjusting brightness manually (though the transflective screen somewhat makes brightness a moot point).

After using the Huawei Watch and Moto 360 (2015), this kind of low-resolution display just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Internally, the Dylan is a mix of new and old: it is running Qualcomm’s specialized Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC, which offers a slightly more power-efficient mix of Cortex-A7 cores than the Snapdragon 400 in most Android Wear watches to date, a chip that was built for phones and coopted for wearables.

At 1.2GHz, the Wear 2100 cores are clocked identically to the Snapdragon 400s found in most Wear devices, and it is built on an identical 28nm process, so it’s no surprise that the Access lasted roughly the same amount per charge as any previous Android-based wearable I’ve used. The main difference is the optional integrated X5 baseband, which will allow future watches 3G connectivity, a feature Michael Kors clearly doesn’t care for. There is also 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage — standard on Android Wear devices since their debut.

While battery life is on par with other smartwatches in its class, the charging experience certainly isn’t. Taking design cues, without the know-how from Apple, the Access line charges wirelessly from its underside via a white, circular magnetic cable. While this allows the watch to be water resistant up to 10 meters (33ft), it is otherwise near-useless. The magnets are not nearly strong enough to latch on for any length of time, and I was forced to weigh it down the entire bundle with a book to get keep it connected. Even then, the orientation is such that it often slips off. I woke up to more than a few mornings of the Access fully dead despite being ostensibly attached to its charger.

Michael Kors Access Software

If you’ve used Android Wear since its inception, the experience here is a known quantity. While Michael Kors bundles its “Access” app, which allows for customizations of its varied and colorful watch face collection, there are no particularly unique tricks to note. It’s also interesting that this is one of the least fitness-oriented Android Wear watches I’ve seen, with no native exercise or tracking app to speak of other than Google’s own Fit experience.

The Access app is at once confusing and ultra-simple, and more than a little useless.

Like all Android Wear devices running the latest version, the Access supports a number of gestures to navigate through its Google Now cards — twist up or down to scroll through the cards; push down or pull up to move in and out — and I’m happy to report they work as well here as they do elsewhere. Similarly, the newly-implemented app drawer, which is accessed by swiping to the right of the watch face or holding down the crown, is alive and well. The dark theme, at least on my review unit, somewhat encourages a dark watch face, and thankfully most of the pre-installed options err towards an evening palette.

Those watch faces are not my personal liking — I am more of a spare, minimal kind of watch wearer — but unlike the Apple Watch, Android Wear supports downloadable third-party faces. Still, I settled on one that I liked, called Speedometer, and changed up the colors to suit my style. Most people won’t get much out of the included Access app, though: it is at once confusing and ultra-simple, and more than a little useless. Many of the included faces also include support for complications, which Michael Kors calls Subeyes, that include shortcuts for alarms, a pedometer, calendar, and battery count.

Michael Kors Access Bottom line

The Michael Kors Access line is available September 6 starting at $350 for the model above (metal/silicone), going up to $395 for the more exclusive gold-tone Bradshaw varieties. Bands begin at $40, rising to $50 for the embossed versions). (In Canada, watch prices begin at $420, rising to $475, with bands running $50 to $60.)

Despite the issues with the charger, and the imperfect display characteristics, I grew to enjoy the Access, and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to engage with the more fashion-forward varieties of Android Wear. Like the Fossil Q Founder, this smartwatch is more about the brand than the product, and it’s clear that certain decisions were made to reinforce its place alongside similarly-designed analog watches in endless glass displays.

But somehow it works: it is both fashionable and functional, the comfortable enough (with a sizeable battery) to wear all day.

See at Michael Kors

Scientists build a laser using human blood

No, this isn’t one of your childhood sci-fi dreams brought to life — it’s real. University of Michigan researchers have developed a medical observation laser where human blood is a key ingredient. When the team shined a laser into a small cavity full of dye-infused blood, they discovered that they could process the laser’s light according to their needs. They could amplify the light to exaggerate small changes in cell activity, or filter it to reduce background noise. Existing techniques combine dyes with infrared or visible light in a way that makes it difficult to spot tiny differences.

This isn’t the first time biological lasers have come to fruition. Harvard used proteins and kidney tissue for a laser back in 2011, and Michigan itself has worked with chlorophyll and gelatin. However, this latest breakthrough could be particularly helpful for doctors. It’d do a better job of tracking changes in cells or bodily tissues, for one. Surgeons could also use it to spot the very edge of a tumor, helping them remove every last bit of cancer. All told, the blood laser is far from creepy — that unusual material choice could save lives.

Via: Mental Floss, Gizmodo

Source: University of Michigan