Best Laptop 2016: EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards nominees
It’s that time of year again where the team here at Pocket-lint is gearing up ready for our annual Gadget Awards. Our awards are now in their 13th year and with them will come 14 categories, each celebrating the amazing devices we have seen appear and reviewed in full over the last 12 months.
Every year we post a series of features in the the run up to the awards, each diving a little deeper into the individual categories and the nominees within them. The idea is to give you a run down as to why they have been shortlisted and what we think is great about them.
So far, you’ll be able to find the breakdown of the Best Game, Best Camera, Best Phone and Best Tablet / 2-in-1, all of which you can find in the Awards hub. Here we are looking at the nominees for Best Laptop of 2016. This is an exciting category this year, with several manufacturers really upping their game when it comes to design, but which of the six laptop nominees will take home the trophy?
Click here to see the Awards nominees for 2016’s Best Laptop in a little more detail to help you make your mind up about which one should get your vote.
Voting in the 13th annual EE Pocket-lint Awards is now open so you can let us know which one of these great devices you think should win the Best Laptop award for this year and give us your verdict on all the other tech across the 13 select categories.
Winners will be announced at the exclusive event in London on 23 November in association with EE. For now, keep an eye on the EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016 hub for all the latest on how the voting works, who the elite judges are and the EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards shortlist.
Here’s how to make a robotic dress that can pour cocktails
This one’s for the ladies (and gents) tired of the same ol’ party dresses you can buy. Dutch fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht has shared detailed instructions on how to recreate her robotic, cocktail-pouring, leather-and-electronic masterpiece. She calls it the Drinkbot, and it looks like something Lady Gaga, the Hunger Games tribute from District 3 or the alien bartender on a space cruise would wear.
The designer listed out all the materials you’ll need and even where to get them, along with instructions on how to put it all together. If you have the technical skills to make it work, just follow the instructions, and you’re golden. Take note that you’ll need to do some coding on top of tinkering with hardware components. You’ll even have to 3D print the front piece that houses the shotglass if you have a printer — otherwise, you can get Shapeways to do it for you.
Wipprecht is known for creating out-of-this-world high-tech clothing. Back in 2014, she teamed up with Intel to create a 3D-printed spider-inspired gown that can defend its wearer when it senses motion. Compared to that one, this already looks much tamer and more approachable.
Source: Instrucatables
Amazon Prime now includes a ‘Family Vault’ for sharing photos
Slowly but surely, Amazon has built out its Prime subscription to offer access to more online services. Faster deliveries and streaming video often dominate the headlines, but over the past couple of years, the company has also offered unlimited photo storage. In its bid to lure users away from and close the gap on Google’s free image hosting, the retailer today announced the launch of Family Vault, a new feature that lets anyone with a Prime subscription invite up to five friends and family members to join their account and upload as many photos as they like.
Amazon’s Family Vault focuses on collecting and organizing images taken on multiple devices and accounts. While videos and other files can be stored too, storage is capped at 5GB across those five additional users. Once uploaded, the company says its new smart search capability can find matches based on “people, places or things.” If those features sound familiar, Google’s been doing the same with its AI-powered algorithms for quite a while.
It appears that Amazon has quietly been building other services around the expansion of Photos. Just last month, the retailer confirmed its intention to cash in on users storing their photos online with a new printing service. With Family Vault, Prime account holders can combine their images with those taken by others and order photo books, cards and other prints with free delivery.
Although the official launch is limited to US customers, it appears Prime subscribers outside North America can utilize the service via the web with their existing account. I was able to access Family Vault on Amazon.com using my Amazon UK account details, for instance.
Via: Amazon Press Office
Source: Amazon Prime Photos Family Vault
Netflix Shares Soar on Surprise Third Quarter Subscriptions Boom
Netflix has reported surprisingly strong third quarter results, sending the company’s share prices soaring 20 percent in late trade (via Reuters).
The streaming content company added over 50 percent more subscribers than expected, owing to original shows like Stranger Things and Narcos drawing significant numbers of new international viewers and retaining U.S. customers despite a price hike. The news led to a share price rise to $119.82 in extended trade from a close of $99.80.
The company’s performance signaled a distinct turnaround from its previous quarter, which indicated largely disappointing subscription growth. Netflix said it was on course to start collecting yields on its global profits next year, even though it was increasing spending on original programming.
Netflix said it had added about 3.2 million subscribers in Q3, far higher than a 2 million average estimate. In the U.S., the company added 370,000 subscribers, also above analysts’ estimate of 309,000.
Netflix has expanded into more than 130 markets worldwide, including most major countries, except China. It said on Monday it was temporarily dropping plans to launch a service in China in the near term, opting instead to license its shows for “modest” revenue.
The company plans to increase spending on original TV shows and movies from last year by $1 billion, for a total of $6 billion earmarked for 2017.
Netflix’s shares have surged in the past few years, thanks to rapid growth as the company achieved a significant shift in television watching habits. However, stock was down 12.7 percent this year as investors worried about slowing growth in the U.S. market and increasing competition from the likes of HBO Now, Amazon Video, and Hulu.
Tag: Netflix
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Samsung Sets up Note 7 Exchange Booths in ‘High Traffic’ Airports
Samsung has coordinated with aviation officials around the world to set up exchange booths in “high traffic” airport terminals for owners of recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones (via The Verge).
The booths first appeared in South Korean airports, with similar exchange sites set to open across Australia and the U.S. for travelers to hand in the potentially dangerous devices.
According to one reporter, a Samsung exchange desk manned by the company’s staff is already operational at San Francisco’s international airport.
It’s now a federal crime to board a flight with a Note 7 phone, following two global recalls by Samsung that failed to stem reports of the devices setting on fire, which caused property damage and injuries. Anyone caught with a Note 7 on a plane risks facing fines and up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Samsung is said to have cut its third quarter operating profit by $2.3 billion and adjusted profit expectations from $6.9 billion to $4.6 billion, following its discontinuation of the ill-fated Note 7.
Samsung has a team of representatives at SFO to help customers with the Note7 phone. It’s banned from US flights. pic.twitter.com/2IiEcg6hsU
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) October 17, 2016
The company is set to overhaul its mobile strategy next year to ensure product quality, according to one report. A supply source told the Korea Herald that the company is likely to scrap its annual two-flagship models strategy in favor of focusing on a single device.
Speculation suggests that would be the Galaxy S8, expected to launch in late February 2017, although Samsung will probably shake up its marketing strategy before then, meaning the new phone could be rebranded.
Tags: Samsung, Galaxy Note 7
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Five reasons to invest in a HomeKit device for your home
Apple’s HomeKit technology has many benefits. With support for HomeKit built into some connected devices, such as Elgato’s Eve range and its Eve Room indoor sensor, you can turn any home into a smarthome quickly and easily. You can then manage it from your mobile device using Apple’s Home app, as well as control it with your voice through Siri.
Your HomeKit-enabled connected devices can be controlled locally via your phone, or remotely via an Apple TV connected to your home Wi-Fi network.
You can program time-related commands, such as having your connected lamps turn on or off at specific times each day, for instance and HomeKit also supports non-scheduled events, such as turning on all your connected lamps when a connected motion sensor is triggered.
Here’s everything you need to know about HomeKit and a number of reasons why, when turning your home smart, it should be at the top of your list.
What is HomeKit?
Apple’s HomeKit technology might seem really confusing, but it’s not.
It basically allows connected devices from various manufacturers to work together, and it gives you a uniformed way of controlling all those devices at once, in a given scene, using an iPhone, iPad, and even an Apple Watch.
HomeKit lets you create “scenes” to control your connected devices in different combinations. You could create a scene called “leaving home” for example, which might turn off your smart lights, lock all your doors, and lower your smart thermostat – all with a single command.
Siri can recognise any HomeKit-enabled connected devices you have in your home, so you can ask Siri to turn a device on or off.
HomeKit-enabled connected devices are smart accessories with built-in support for Apple’s HomeKit technology. They can be lights, locks, thermostats, plugs, switches, sensors, shades, etc. Over 50 brands worldwide make accessories that work with HomeKit, including Elgato Eve.
Elgato’s Eve range currently consists of Eve Energy (switch and power meter) (Buy: UK, US), Eve Room (wireless indoor sensor), Eve Weather (wireless outdoor sensor), Eve Thermo (thermostatic radiator valve), and Eve Door and Window (wireless contact sensor).
Why should you invest in a HomeKit device?
Here are five reasons why you should invest in HomeKit-enabled devices:
Energy efficiency
HomeKit-enabled devices can offer energy efficiency opportunities. The Eve Energy Switch and Power Meter, for instance, lets you instantly see how much energy your devices are using and see their consumption at a glance over a set time. You can view graphs by week, day, or minute historically, with the accompanying Eve app being intelligent enough to forecast what your yearly electricity bill will be given your current usage. No more shock bills. Thanks to Bluetooth Smart, all Eve accessories are energy efficient enough to run on battery power (except for Eve Energy (Buy: UK, US) which obviously uses wall power).
Comfort
HomeKit-enabled devices are all about streamlining your day-to-day process, making life more automated and thus easier. The idea is you can not only make your home smart, but also make it just the way you like it. The accompanying free Eve app lets you seamlessly connect your devices, gain insights, build scenes, create automations and control your home right from your mobile device and even by voice commands.
Portability
While some HomeKit devices will involve bridges and installation, not all of them do. The Elgato Eve range for example, uses Bluetooth LE rather than Wi-Fi to connect directly to your phone or Apple TV.
That means you don’t have to invest in a starter kit or a costly installation, but also that you can easily move the devices around your home or take them with you when you move.
If you rent, it also means you don’t have to get permission to make your home smart. That’s especially handy when it comes to the Eve Thermo, the intelligent radiator thermostats that make individual radiators smart without having to call out a plumber.
All Eve devices can be installed in five minutes or less. Simply use the Eve companion app to connect an Eve device to your Home Wi-Fi network, then you can use Apple’s Home app in order to control it through Siri, as well as make it communicate and work with other devices. That’s it.
Siri control
One of the cool features about HomeKit is that is has been baked into Siri. Yep, you can simply tell Siri to turn your lights down, unlock your front door, or turn off a device plugged into the Eve Energy (Buy: UK, US), for example. There are a number of commands to give, and as you set up scenes, Siri automatically adapts. “Hey Siri, it’s movie night!”
Automation
Being able to control lights, plugs, and or check room temperatures from your phone is one thing, but where things get really clever is that HomeKit offers an array of automation options if you have an iPad or Apple TV 4 connected to your Wi-Fi network.
By doing so, HomeKit allows you to create a number of rules or triggers based on things that are happening in your system. That could be turning on devices when you get within a set distance of your house, or having something happen if a certain accessory is controlled. You can even go as far as automating things based on the time of day, giving you one rule for daytime and another for after hours.
Unlocked LG V20 costs $799 at B&H and Newegg, includes free LG G Pad
The LG V20 will be available unlocked from B&H and Newegg for $799. The phone will go up for pre-order starting October 19 at B&H, and all customers purchasing the phone will receive a 7-inch LG G Pad valued at $149 for free. The tablet has a 1200 x 800 display, Snapdragon 400, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB storage.
Newegg is now taking pre-orders for the phone, with deliveries expected to commence from November 11. The retailer will also throw in an ORICO Power Bank along with the LG G Pad for all customers purchasing the handset.
While the unlocked pricing is lower than the AT&T’s $829 price tag, it isn’t as enticing as T-Mobile’s $769 retail price. Both AT&T and T-Mobile are bundling a pair of $150 B&O BeoPlay H3 in-ear headphone for free, and they’re also offering a free tablet if you’re willing to buy the phone via monthly plans. If you go with AT&T’s Next plans, you get an LG G Pad X 10.1 for free. T-Mobile is giving out an LG G Pad X 8.0 or an LG G Pad to those buying the phone through its monthly plans. In-store sales kick off October 28 at both carriers.
Meanwhile, Verizon will kick off LG V20 orders starting October 20, with the phone slated for an in-store debut on October 27.
As for the phone itself, the LG V20 offers a 5.7-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, dual cameras at the back with a 16MP standard sensor and an 8MP lens for wide-angle shots, and a 3200mAh removable battery. The phone runs Nougat out of the box.
See at B&H See at Newegg
LG V20
- LG V20 preview
- LG unveils the V20
- LG V20 specs
- LG V20 vs. Galaxy Note 7
- Discuss the V20 in the forums!
Qualcomm’s X50 modem will make smartphone downloads lightning fast
Qualcomm has announced the world’s first 5G modem for smartphones, called the Snapdragon X50. The new chip is capable of download speeds of up to 5Gbps, which is crazily fast and nearly 400 times faster than the current average 4G download speed of 13.5mbps. The company has even said phones could theoretically access saved files in the cloud faster than from the phone’s internal flash storage.
Qualcomm has said it plans to send samples of the new chip to smartphone manufacturers by the of next year, and they should start appearing on the market in 2018.
But to take full advantage of the faster download speeds, mobile network providers need to install new 5G infrastructure. 5G works on the millimetre wave spectrum in the 28GHz band, but signal waves can’t be sent over long distances or travel through walls.
It means that instead of installing a few mobile network masts like the ones you see on top of tall buildings for coverage, several small-cell base stations will need to be installed, which will take some time.
- Best smartphones 2016: The best phones available to buy today
It’s likely we won’t see 5G take off in the UK until at least 2020, but South Korean network operator KT says it will launch the first 5G network in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
BMW’s new 5 Series does CarPlay without the wires
BMW has recently unveiled the new 2017 5 Series saloon and with it, a whole host of technologies to improve the driving experience. Chief among them is the addition of Apple CarPlay, but the 5 Series is the very first car to deliver wireless CarPlay.
- What is Apple CarPlay and which cars support it?
Wireless functionality has been built into Apple’s in-car system since iOS 9, but car manufacturers haven’t installed it in their cars. To access the features at the moment, you need to plug your iPhone into the car’s USB port.
With the new 5 Series that will be a thing of the past, as your iPhone connects through BMW’s iDrive system and presents the familiar CarPlay interface on the car’s 10.25-inch touchscreen display. Everything is controlled via BMW’s iDrive Touch Controller, voice commands, gestures and by pressing on the touchscreen itself.
BMW’s infotainment system is capable of multi-tasking apps and services and also offers a split screen mode, which can be used with CarPlay, meaning for example, you can view car data on one side and Apple Maps on the other.
To keep the car wire-free, you can also have a Qi-based wireless charger installed in the 5 Series, and BMW will also sell you an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 wireless charging case. Other technology highlights in the car include a head up display, assisted driving modes, adaptive cruise control and an optional Wi-Fi hotspot.
- BMW promises autonomous vehicles by 2021, partners with Intel, Mobileye
The new BMW 5 Series will be available from February 2017 with prices yet to be confirmed.
Audi’s all-electric vehicle line will be called the ‘E-Tron’
You won’t have a tough time remembering the name of Audi’s first electric vehicle, not when the automaker says the SUV will simply be called the E-Tron. That’s it — no model designation, no numbers, nothing else. The automaker told Autocar that it’s using the tactic it used back in the ’80s when it named its all-wheel drive the Quattro. “It is comparable to the first Audi Quattro, which was known simply as the Quattro,” Audi chief Rupert Stadler told the publication. “In the long term the name E-Tron will stand for a pure electric driveline structure.”
Audi used “E-Tron” for a couple of hybrids in the past, as well as for the premium R8 electric supercar that it recently killed off. What Stadler is saying, though, is that the E-Tron name will eventually represent a line of EVs. Clearly, the automaker is gearing up to compete with new and long-time rivals getting into the EV business, including BMW and Mercedes. Besides the SUV, which will be the first one to carry the name, Audi also plans to release a hatchback and a sedan (pictured below) under the line before the end of 2020.
[Image credit: Autocar]
Via: Autoblog
Source: Autocar
AIVAnet 