Apple Increases iPhone 7 Component Orders for Q4 2016

Apple has increased its part and component orders for the iPhone 7 series this year, with orders for the fourth quarter said to be between 20 and 30 percent higher than expected (via DigiTimes).

According to sources from Taiwan-based touch panel makers General Interface Solution (GIS), which is a subsidiary of Foxconn, increased touch panel orders from Apple mean the supplier will see revenues grow significantly in Q4 2016.

Initial demand for Apple’s iPhone 7 series has been high, with excitement for the company’s jet black color option and its larger dual lens camera-equipped handset leading to long wait times as regions struggle to re-stock following the first wave of orders.

Some analysts believe the timing of Samsung’s exploding battery problem is leading a number of consumers returning defective Note 7 devices to choose an iPhone 7 over a like-for-like replacement. According to one online poll conducted by SurveyMonkey, 26 percent of Note 7 owners plan to use their refunds to switch to Apple’s flagship phone, while 35 percent said they would keep the refund, without specifying what phones they would use in the future.

Those numbers compare to 21 percent who said they would swap for a different Samsung model, while only 18 percent said they planned to get a rectified Note 7, which remain in short supply.

Samsung claims its own data shows a much higher retention rate, and says about 90 percent of Note 7 owners had chosen to get a direct replacement, after the corrected devices became “widely available”. So far, more than 60 percent of defective devices in the U.S. have been exchanged, the company said in a statement.

Shipments of iPhone 7 units are expected to reach 80 to 84 million units in the second half of this year, compared to 85 to 90 million iPhone 6s devices shipped in the latter half of 2015, according to original design manufacture sources.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
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Public Skeptical of Self-Driving Cars Despite Race to Perfect Technology

Despite accelerating hype surrounding the possibility of self-driving and fully autonomous vehicles in the near future, most Americans would rather drive themselves.

That’s according to the results of a new study published today that aimed to assess public opinion on the subject. The survey commissioned by Kelley Blue Book showed that out of 2,264 U.S. residents polled, 64 percent said they need to be in control of their own vehicle and 62 percent said they enjoy driving.

The results also revealed that 80 percent of participants believed people should always have the option to drive themselves, while a third of respondents said they would never buy a fully autonomous car.

When asked if they would live to see a world in which all vehicles are fully autonomous, 62 percent of respondents answered no. Baby boomers were the most resistant to the idea (72 percent), followed by Gen X (64 percent) and millennials (60 percent). Gen Z (ages 12-15) respondents were the most optimistic about a future of cars with no drivers, with only 33 percent believing such a scenario unlikely.

“This shows that while many of us have been reading a lot about progress being made on self-driving cars of late, to most people it’s still like a flying car, something out of The Jetsons,” said Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer. “But we also learned that while it’s hard to get people on board, any level of exposure changes perceptions quickly.”

The poll showed that most people aren’t familiar with the term “autonomous vehicle” – one with no steering wheel or pedals, and no way for a human to intervene – and are wary of such technology. Meanwhile, just over half of respondents preferred to have full control of their vehicle, even if that made roads less safe overall, while 49 percent said they would be willing to cede some control to a computer if that meant having a safer roadway.

The poll results will be seen as a challenge for companies hedging their bets on an emerging market for self-driving vehicles. Ford, BMW, and Volvo aim to offer autonomous cars for sale within the next five years. Google and Uber are actively researching the area, while Lyft recently claimed that private vehicle ownership would be phased out in major cities by 2025, largely because of self-driving vehicles.

Although Apple’s vehicle plans seem to be in flux, the company does have hundreds of employees working on a car project. Following Bob Mansfield’s takeover of the car initiative earlier this year, Apple is said to have laid off dozens of employees as part of a “reboot” that will see focus shifting towards the development of an autonomous vehicle system.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
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BlackBerry DTEK60 passes through FCC, renders appear online

The BlackBerry DTEK60, the company’s 2016 flagship phone, could soon be with us. CrackBerry has found that the phone has arrived with the FCC and WiFi Alliance sites, where it has been registered as the BBA1001 with both, and the DTEK60 at the WiFi Alliance.

While there isn’t a lot of information to be gained from the phone passing through either, it does at least confirm its existence and that it’s nearing a launch date.

• BlackBerry’s next flagship, DTEK60: What’s the story so far?
• BlackBerry publishes full Argon specs online

German site WinFuture believes that launch date to be October 11th, in Canada at least. The site has also obtained some rendered images purporting to be the new phone that confirm the 5.5in touchscreen and absence of physical keyboard.

On the back there’s the expected 21-megapixel camera and a fingerprint scanner underneath it. The display looks as though it has slightly rounded edges All in all, it looks a lot like the Alcatel Idol 4S, which we expected given that BlackBerry has started using TCL Communications’ reference designs.

The DTEK60 is expected to feature a 5.5in 2560 x 1440 Quad HD AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage and will come running Android 7 Nougat. WinFuture believes the new phone will cost around CAD 699 when it launches, which converts to $599 (£460), but given various import costs we expect it will cost closer to £500 when it arrives in the UK.

You’ll finally be able to buy a blast-free, safe Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from 28 October

Samsung will finally, officially sell the Galaxy Note 7 in the UK and Europe from 28 October, as long as safe shipments have arrived and all replacement devices have been issued by then.

The company confirmed the new on-sale date in a press release sent to Pocket-lint, but added that it depended on “full completion of the exchange programme”.

CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, David Lowes, also urged customers who received phones from carriers before the recall to exchange their phones: “We have worked hard to bring replacement Galaxy Note 7 phones to Europe so we can ensure the safety of our customers and minimise their inconvenience,” he said.

“We would like to thank our customers for their patience and loyalty to Samsung and the Galaxy Note 7. For our remaining customers, we urge them to act now, exchange the device and get a brand new Galaxy Note 7 today.”

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review: Take note, this is the big-screen phone to beat
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7: How to determine if your replacement or new phone is safe

It has been a troubling and hugely expensive time for Samsung, although as the phone wasn’t to be fully released until 2 September in Europe, the main stock hadn’t yet got into customers hands.

The global recall has been more painful in the US and Korea.

Brighter news for Samsung is that the vast majority of early Note 7 owners were happy to simply exchange them for direct replacement.

Since the replacement programme began last week, 57 per cent of European Note 7s have been exchanged. And around 90 per cent of customers chose another Note 7.

IBM Watson’s new job: third grade math teacher

IBM’s famous supercomputer has accomplished many, many things these past years, from making movie trailers to saving a person’s life. Now, it’s also helping teachers make lesson plans by powering Teacher Advisor, a program IBM developed with the American Federation of Teachers. If you’re thinking “How hard could a grade school lesson plan be?” Well, have you seen Common Core mathematics? It’s not the same math from back in the day, and teachers who didn’t grow up with it might have a tough time conjuring up a way to make it more understandable. Watson’s Teacher Advisor can help them create exercises and lessons to make it easier for kids to grasp Common Core math.
According to The New York Times, the program will be available for free to third-grade math teachers later this year, but that iteration’s far from being the final one. IBM plans to continue developing it to add other subject areas and features that will make it useful for those teaching other topics and grade levels, as well.

Source: The New York Times

LG V20 available in Korea starting ‘this week’

V20 hitting North America, Latin America, Middle East, and other parts of Asia over ‘next several weeks.’

Sales of LG’s big-screened, Nougat-powered V20 begin this week — at least in the company’s home market of South Korea. In a press release this morning, LG confirmed that sales would begin sometime this week, but bizarrely neglected to mention a specific date.

Other markets — specifically North America, Latin America, other parts of Asia and the Middle East — will get “over the course of the next several weeks,” That’s exceptionally vague, but broadly in line with the U.S. date of October 21 date teased by phone leaker Evan Blass a couple of weeks back.

Conspicuously absent is any mention of a European launch. LG’s been cagey in the past on any plans to launch the V20 in the region, and the phone’s predecessor, the V10, only got a limited European release some time after it had launched in other areas. (It’s possible European carriers were cool on the V20 following the G5’s less than stellar performance.)

To wit, get your LG V20:

• Korea: This week!
• Europe: Maybe never!
• Anywhere else: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

LG V20

• LG V20 preview
• LG unveils the V20
• LG V20 specs
• LG V20 vs. Galaxy Note 7
• Discuss the V20 in the forums!

Allo’s best chance of beating WhatsApp in India depends on Google Assistant

Google is betting on native Hindi support for Google Assistant as a way to tackle India’s ubiquitous messaging service.

At its second annual “Google for India” event, Google launched several new features and services targeted at getting the next billion users online. Allo was prominently featured at the event, with Google stating that it is working on adding native Hindi support for Google Assistant by the end of the year.

The AI-driven Google Assistant is in its preview mode right now, and while it understands a few Hindi words and phrases, it mostly says that it is trying to learn the language. Localization is Allo’s biggest advantage in a market dominated by WhatsApp. The Facebook-owned service is ubiquitous in India, and everyone from financial institutions to government agencies uses it to engage with their customers.

WhatsApp’s simplicity is what enabled its meteoric rise over the last two years. For the uninitiated, WhatsApp is very straightforward to use: just enter your phone number, invite your friends, and chat away. You won’t find any ads; the user interface is spartan, and most importantly, the service works great on 2G networks and across all platforms. With end-to-end encryption and voice calling now standard, the service is now indispensable. For a majority of the online populace in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, WhatsApp is becoming the primary source of information.

Allo has WhatsApp’s simplicity combined with Google’s AI smarts.

Google has incorporated the same principles into Allo. The messaging service relies on your phone number, and it has a minimalist UI that merges into the background, putting the focus on your chats. While it currently lacks the ability to sync messages across devices, you do get group messaging, ability to share media with ease, stickers, and Google Assistant. The last feature could prove pivotal in taking Allo mainstream in India.

Localization is a big deal. While there are 100 million people in the country that can converse in English, nearly 300 million count Hindi as their native language. The segment is severely under-catered to, as most services — WhatsApp included — don’t offer a lot of options. That’s where Google’s work over the years in machine learning comes in handy. The company’s Knowledge Graph now understands Hindi queries, and when using Chrome on Android, Indian users can seamlessly switch between English and Hindi search results.

Localization is the differentiator for Allo.

By integrating all of these features into Assistant, Google is making its AI smarts accessible to a wider audience. Instead of switching to a browser to search on Google, people can directly type @google in a chat and get their queries answered in Hindi.

As for the initial push, Google may also decide to pre-install Allo on new handsets sold in the country. Micromax has already begun pre-loading Duo on its latest sub-$100 phones, and the company’s co-founder has said that the video calling service’s simple UI has the potential for mass adoption.

Allo is also in the same category. At its core, Allo is a lightweight messaging service powered by the Google Assistant. The conversational nature of the AI chatbot puts it ahead of WhatsApp, and the localization feature will entice local handset makers to pre-load the app as a way to differentiate their devices for their audience.

Brands like Micromax, Intex, and Lava don’t have the engineering resources of major international brands like Samsung or LG, and as such they rely on Google for software services. With Allo and Duo, the company is offering two compelling products aimed at the local audience. While not a unified solution, this is Google’s best chance of beating WhatsApp.

Pixel + Pixel XL versus Nexus 5X + 6P: Google’s new phones compared, to scale

Big Pixel and baby Pixel side-by-side, in context.

As reported yesterday, we know have the first official-looking renders of Google’s new Pixel phones, thanks to leaker Evan Blass. No surprise: Both the 5-inch Pixel and 5.5-inch Pixel XL look basically identical. In fact, the change in wallpaper is more noticeable than the difference in size, when viewed individually.

However, with a bit of simple math, it’s easy to put these two alongside each other in context, since we know the relative screen sizes. So here you go — here’s how Google’s two new phones should look relative to each other. (Note that the phones are only to-scale relative to each other. Obviously they’ll all appear larger or smaller than real life depending on the size of your screen.)

For greater context, here’s 2016’s Pixel phones next to the previous year’s Nexus 5X and 6P — once again, to scale.

Left-to-right: Pixel (5.0-inch), Nexus 5X (5.2-inch), Pixel XL (5.5-inch), Nexus 6P (5.7-inch). Click to enlarge.

This year’s Google phones are each smaller than their immediate predecessors, with the regular Pixel sitting below the 5X and the XL below the 6P. What’s most striking here is how the Pixel XL’s footprint isn’t actually much bigger than the 5X, despite the substantial increase in screen size.

Specs won’t be confirmed until launch day, but here’s a comparison of what we’re expecting, based on the most reliable leaks so far.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Everything we know so far
• New navigation buttons
• Google UI + circular icons
• Android 7.1 Nougat
• Pixel vs Pixel XL
• Older Nexus phones