Amazon Developing Echo Speaker With 7-Inch Touchscreen to ‘Fend Off Competition’ From Apple and Google
Amazon’s next iteration of the Echo speaker will be a “premium” model that includes a touchscreen measuring around seven inches, marking “a major departure” from the tall, cylindrical design of the Echo currently on sale. The company is said to be upgrading Echo for two reasons: to capitalize on the device’s success, and as early preparation to “fend off competition” from Google Home and Apple’s rumored entry into the smart home speaker market (via Bloomberg).
The logic behind adding a touchscreen to Echo is reasoned as a way “to make it easier to access content,” like the weather and upcoming calendar events. Currently, Echo is a voice-activated device with limited volume and mute buttons on its topside. While the exact design of the speaker wasn’t pinned down, people familiar with the plans said it will be larger and “tilt upwards” so users can read the screen when the Echo sits on a kitchen counter or desk.
The new device will have a touchscreen measuring about seven inches, a major departure from Amazon’s existing cylindrical home devices that are controlled and respond mostly through the company’s voice-based Alexa digital assistant, according to two people familiar with the matter. This will make it easier to access content such as weather forecasts, calendar appointments, and news, the people said. They asked not to be identified speaking about a product that has yet to be announced.
Amazon’s planned expansion of the Alexa-powered line coincides with growing competition from Alphabet Inc.’s Google Home speaker and Apple Inc.’s interest in building a home device using its Siri digital assistant.
The upgraded Echo is also believed to get a major boost to speaker quality and “sound much better” than the current line of Echo speakers. One version of Amazon’s prototype of the upcoming device placed the speakers below and behind the screen, which is said to help the new generation of Echo “play high-quality audio at all volume levels.” The current Echo was designed to sound better at only moderate volume levels.
In total, Amazon is now selling the Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Echo, for $50, $130, and $180 respectively, and the upcoming speaker — believed to be announced as early as Q1 2017 — is expected to be the most expensive Echo in the line.
On Apple’s side, the most recent reports placed the Cupertino company’s Siri-fueled, Echo-like device in the prototype phase. The Siri speaker is expected to include the usual support for music playback, search queries, and dictation, with additional potential for new technology, like facial recognition.
Tags: Amazon, Amazon Echo
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4.7-Inch iPhone to Feature Wireless Charging Next Year
Apple’s next-generation 4.7-inch iPhone will feature glass casing with wireless charging, according to the latest research note from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo obtained by MacRumors.
Our rationale is as follows: (1) the OLED model may trigger replacement demand among high-end users given its completely all-new-design form factor and notably superior specs in comparison to the TFT-LCD models; and (2) the new 4.7” iPhone, featuring glass casing and wireless charging, looks well positioned to tap replacement demand at the entry level.
Kuo previously said all new iPhones are “likely” to support wireless charging next year, so 5.5-inch and all-new OLED models will likely gain the feature as well in addition to the now-confirmed 4.7-inch model.
Kuo believes Apple will switch to glass casing for next year’s entire iPhone lineup in order to support wireless charging, with Pegatron being the exclusive supplier of the new 4.7-inch iPhone and a wireless charger expected to be included with at least some models. The wireless charger will allegedly have wider availability by 2018.
The new 4.7-inch iPhone and an OLED model featuring a “completely all-new-design form factor and notably superior specs” are predicted to drive “potentially unprecedented replacement demand” from existing iPhone users. Kuo forecasts Apple could sell 120-150 million new iPhones in the back half of 2017, topping an iPhone 6 sales record.
To our understanding, while demand visibility in 2H17F is as yet unclear and presumed pull-in demand may change anytime, upstream suppliers may be around now setting ramp-up targets for new iPhone pull-in of somewhere between 120mn and 150mn units in 2H17F, exceeding previous iPhone 6, 6s and 7 cycles of 110-120mn, 100-110mn and 90-100mn units, respectively. In other words, ramp-up for 2H17F pull-in may exceed the previous peak for iPhone 6, and hit a historical high.
Apple will presumably announce its next-generation iPhone lineup in September 2017.
Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: wireless charging, KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo
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Lenovo K6 Power unveiled in India with Snapdragon 430, 4000mAh battery for ₹9,999
Lenovo is on a roll in India.
Lenovo rolled out the Z2 Plus to a lot of fanfare last month, and the Moto E3 Power, Moto G4 as well as the Moto G4 Plus continue to top the charts in the budget segment. The company is now the second-largest smartphone vendor in the country behind Samsung with a market share of 9.6%, with quarterly shipments going up by 46.1% from Q2 2016.
The company is now launching the K6 Power, a budget handset to go up against the Xiaomi Redmi 3S. The K6 Power features a 5-inch Full HD display, 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC, Adreno 505 GPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage, microSD slot (up to 128GB), 13MP camera, 8MP front camera, Cat. 4 LTE (Bands 3/5/40), VoLTE, dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, and a huge 4000mAh battery.
As is becoming the norm, the K6 Power offers a metal unibody design with a fingerprint sensor located at the back. On the software side of things, Lenovo is offering Android 6.0 Marshmallow along with its Vibe Pure UI (oh, the irony).
The K6 Power will be available in grey and silver color options. Sales kick off exclusively on Flipkart at 12 p.m. IST, December 6. Who’s interested in getting one?
Top five things to do after switching to Nova Launcher
There’s a lot to love in Nova Launcher.
Nova Launcher has a lot of great settings for you to explore, and plenty of potential for awesome themes and customizable layouts. First things first, though, you have to actually download the launcher and get yourself used to it. Now, there is a learning curve to every launcher out there, but we have a few simple tips to help make your transition as smooth as possible.
Import your layout
You do not want to have to put everything back the way you had it on your old launcher, and Nova gets that. That’s why before you go futzing with element styles and shaders, you should import your old launcher’s layout so that you’re starting out from what you had rather than scratch.
Open Nova Settings.
Tap Backup & import settings.
Tap Import.
Read the warning that comes up and tap OK.
Tap the launcher you wish to import from.
If the data summary from what Nova Launcher found looks correct, tap Import.
Now, given the limitations on how launchers read and share widget data, you might have to re-create a few of your widgets on your newly imported home screen, but if you’re lucky, the placeholders will be the same size. Starting from the layout you had means that instead of fussing with getting back to speed, you can hit the ground running in Nova and start experimenting.
Desktop grid size (and subgrid positioning)
When screens were four inches, a 4×4 grid made sense. Screens are not four inches anymore. Home screens do not need to be confined to such a small grid. They waste space. They significantly limit the amount you can fit on a single screen. Here’s how to change that.
Open Nova Settings.
Tap Desktop.
Tap Desktop Grid.
Slide the row and column numbers to the size you want.
Tap Done.
While 5×5 will allow your icons to better line up with your dock, don’t be afraid to try out even bigger grid sizes — I use a 8×6 grid on my HTC 10 and it’s worked out quite well for me. Also, did you notice the setting hiding in the Desktop Grid screen?
Subgrid-positioning allows you to place things between the regular grid spaces, helping you better resize widgets and line things up to your desires. You might not want it on right this second, but once you turn it on, placing elements on your home screen gets a whole lot easier.
Icons
Icons on Android have always been kind of a mess — that’s how it is when you don’t force everyone to be the same rounded rectangle. That doesn’t mean we have to settle with the mishmash of icon styles that inevitably happens between your various apps. No, we have these wonderful things called icon packs to replace your boring old icons with something new, beautiful, and consistent.
Before you set an icon pack, though, you need to go download one. There’s a lot of great icon packs out there, but these five are tops in my books:
- Whicons (Free): This is the icon pack that goes with everything. I’ve used it in dozens of themes on and off this site, and the monochrome shader for unthemed icons works beautifully.
- Zwart (Free): It’s like Whicons, but black. Also free, also awesome, and also goes with so many wallpapers and themes.
- Glim (Free, $1.99): When it comes to material icon packs, Glim’s selection is spectacular, and the color variants that ensure at least my dock can match any theme color I need.
- Dives ($0.99): When we made our recent Pixel theme I dug deep into the Play Store for a circular icon pack that worked well and played well with a variety of themes, and Dives hit the spot and then some.
- Perfect Icon Pack ($1.49): Drumdestroyer Themes does some damn good work, and this pack is vibrant, crisp and quite honestly, perfect. It also includes an alternate icon of a Mickey Mouse hand hanging ten and flipping the bird, so there’s an icon in there for anything.
Once you’ve got your icon pack, you can apply it like so:
Open Nova Settings.
Tap Look & feel.
Tap Icon theme.
Tap the icon pack you wish to use.
You can also edit individual icons in Nova.
Long-press the icon you wish to edit on your home screen.
Tap Edit. NOTE: if it’s an app with Android 7.1 shortcuts, you will tap Icon options before tapping Edit.
Tap the icon to edit it.
Select the icon pack or gallery source you wish to pull your icon from.
Scroll through your desired pack and tap the icon you want to use.
Tap Done.
Hide unwanted apps
On most phones, there’s a laundry list of apps you don’t use and don’t need cluttering up your launcher. On most launchers, your choices are simple: disable the app or stick it in a folder. Nova Launcher gives you another option for apps that you can’t disable but still want to not look at: hide them from the launcher.
Open the app drawer.
Press and drag the app you wish to hide up towards the top of the screen.
Drag and drop the app you wish to hide on Edit.
Uncheck the Apps box to hide it from the drawer.
Tap Done.
Back it up once you’re happy
Once you have things the way you want them, you should back up your Nova setup. This will make it easier to set things back up once you go to a new phone, or a error forces you to factory reset your phone. It’s also helpful if you mess something up in your layout and want to get what you had back. Backups are easy, and we can send them directly to Google Drive so that they’re available on every phone you set up.
Open Nova Settings.
Tap Backup & import settings.
Tap Backup.
Name your backup. It defaults to a date and timestamp, but that doesn’t really tell you what the layout/theme is.
Tap the dropdown menu below the backup’s name.
Select Share.
Tap OK.
Nova will create the backup and bring up the Android Share menu. Select Save to Drive or whichever cloud service you wish to store your backup on.
Ensure the account and folder listed are where you wanted to back up to, then tap Save.
If you need any more help getting acclimated to Nova Launcher, sing out in the comments below, and in our forums!
We also have a wonderful article to explain the rest of the Nova Launcher settings we ignored this go around.
Leica and the bigger picture: 20 fascinating facts you didn’t know about the camera maker
Think you know Leica? Think again. The German camera maker has always been synonymous with quality and craftsmanship. Its cameras have adorned the necks of famous photographers such as Elliot Erwitt and Henri Cartier Bresson. Even Her Majesty the Queen has been pictured many times over the years with her Leica M6.
But since its inception the world has changed. More images are taken now than ever before. Phone cameras are the go-to snappers for many. It’s adapt or die, with Leica opting for the former. The company even has a partnership with Huawei in the latest P9 and Mate 9 smartphones.
Leica also remains true to its core photographic roots. Its M-series rangefinder camera continues to be praised with celebrity fanfare. In 2015 the company introduced a brand new full-frame mirrorless camera, the Leica SL, which was a world first. And in 2016 it is chasing down the compact system camera market with the brand new TL system. That’s all the bases covered.
- Reflecting on the Leica SL: Three photographers reflect on the mirrorless marvel
From the early days through to the present day, Leica has a rich history. You might know the cameras, but probably not the bigger picture. Here are 20 fascinating facts about the company.
1. What’s in a name?
Leitz, an optics company, was founded in 1849. The first use of Leica – the joining of “Leitz” and “Camera” – wasn’t until 1925.
In 2014 the company completed its new headquarters where it all began: in Wetzlar, Germany.
2. Created the 35mm format
A Leitz worker, Oskar Barnack, started working on portable camera prototypes from 1913. The so-called “full-frame” 35mm format – which was far more portable than large film and plates – was the result of his endeavours.
3. Inadvertently created photojournalism
With 35mm under its belt, photographers were free to shoot with ease using kit more portable than ever before. That’s how street photography and, ultimately, photojournalism began life. It’s all because of Leica.
4. The first Leica camera
The first Leica camera, the Leica I, had a fixed 50mm f/1.8 lens. Only 1,000 of these were ever produced, back in 1925.
5. Most expensive camera sale at auction
Before the first Leica camera, 25 O-Series prototypes were made.
One of these sold in 2012, at auction, for €2.3-million – the most money ever paid for a camera.
6. Digital offerings from 2006
Although well known for its film cameras, Leica has always been at the forefront of digital – offering its first digital M-series camera back in 2006. All M-series, whether digital or film, are compatible with M-series lenses from 1954 onwards.
7. Beyond rugged
Where digital can’t roam, however, Leica’s mechanical cameras can achieve the otherwise impossible. The battery-free Leica M-A was used on an expedition to the North Pole, operating in temperatures below -50C at the hands of photographer Martin Hartley. The results are beautiful.
8. Out of this world (literally)
If the edges of the Earth aren’t enough then, well, why not leave the planet altogether? Astronaut John Glenn used a Leica 1G to take the first human-operated photo of the Earth from space.
9. Even makes a screenless digital camera
Your read that correctly: Leica makes a digital M-series camera without a screen, the M-D (Typ 262).
The camera takes its design inspiration from the film era, with the rear dial – which would usually be to unlock the rear film container – acting to control ISO sensitivity.
10. An optics compact first
Long touted as the best lens manufacturer in the world, which is how the business began in 1849, Leica currently has around 60 lenses across its various ranges, including SL, TL, M and S. Older R series lenses can still be used on M and SL, too, via an adapter, taking that count even higher and providing a huge choice.
11. Top dog lenses
The Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH lens might be its most famous. Perhaps the most heartfelt is series of Leica lenses, Hektor, which were named after Max Berek’s dog. He was the man who created the very first Leica lenses, so it was a fitting tribute.
12. Oscar winning
Perhaps the company’s most extraordinary lenses are its cine optics. Leica Summilux C-Lenses have been used in Hollywood for years due to their unbeatable clarity. Four time Oscar-winning film Birdman was shot with these very lenses.
13. Best binoculars going
During World War One Leica binoculars – which have been made since 1907 – were so sought after that donations to the US Navy were met with a letter from the President and $1. Many pairs were returned to their owners after the war was over.
14. The Freedom Train
During World War Two, Leica helped thousands of Jewish workers, families and friends to escape Nazi rule in Germany under the guise as employees.
Each of them arrived as refugees in either France, Britain, Hong Kong or New York, wearing a symbol of freedom around their necks: a brand new Leica camera.
15. Everything is hand finished
It’s no secret that Leica cameras – and everything else the company makes, from binoculars and beyond – costs a pretty penny. Because everything is meticulously hand finished. We’ve even been to the headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany, to see the well-oiled machine at work. It’s an incredible spectacle.
16. That Che Guevara image
Of course it’s all about images. You know the one we’re talking about: the iconic frame of the Cuban revolutionary, Che Guevara.
It’s been on t-shirts, posters, reappropriated for street art and, quite simply, is one of the world’s most iconic images. It was shot on a Leica M2 by Alberto Korda in 1960.
17. Celebrity endorsement
It’s not just about famous images, though, in this modern world it’s about famous faces too. And there are heaps of celebrities with lots of Leica love. Current users include Brad Pitt, Bryan Adams, Seal, and many more. Not forgetting Her Majesty, of course.
18. Monochrome for the modern world
In a world full of colour, Leica recently reverted to its black and white film heritage by releasing a true monochrome sensor in its M Monochrom camera. Without the colour array the sensor’s “pixels” receive a pure signal for the perfect, low-noise B&W images.
19. In an instant
Always expanding, it was only in 2016 that Leica released its first instant film camera: the Leica Sofort. There’s something for everyone.
20. Tailored to fit, unique for you
Not only a camera but also a collectible: Leica cameras come in special edition forms, or can even be tailored to suit – just take a look at the Leica M A La Carte configurator. If you’ve got the cash you can get a custom-made model, with control over colours, materials and engraving. No other camera maker offers a service this in-depth.
The Morning After: Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Hey there, did you miss us?
Hopefully your Thanksgiving wasn’t too much of a good thing, because we have even more for you today. SF’s Muni went all “Mr. Robot,” AT&T is launching IPTV and there’s big news in the world of nuclear fusion.
Pay $73K or else! (They chose the “or else.”)San Francisco’s MTA suffered a ransomware attack this weekend
The big winners in an SFMTA breach over the weekend appear to be train riders, who got free fares on Friday and Saturday. Due to what the agency is calling a ransomware attack, it turned off ticket machines and fare gates but kept the trains running from Friday evening until Sunday morning. The people behind the attack claim they demanded a $73,000 Bitcoin ransom, but they didn’t get it, and the systems have been restored to service. Now it’s time to find out if they will follow through on a threat to leak MTA data or if that was just a bluff.
Socialization starter kitHoliday Gift Guide 2016: The Entertainer
We are officially inside the gift-giving window, and you probably know someone who loves to invite a few friends over. These gift ideas can cover your friend’s needs for cooking, drinks or entertainment, and on an extremely reasonable budget. But if you forget to wrap that countertop beer system, don’t worry — everyone can still enjoy it when they visit your place.
Sign up now if you want the $35 promo priceAT&T will launch DirecTV Now streaming on November 30th
The latest player in internet-provided TV is AT&T, which is leveraging its recent satellite TV acquisition as the brand name for an over-the-top service that follows in the footsteps of PlayStation Vue and Dish Network’s Sling TV. If you sign up during the initial period, you can lock in a $60, 100-channel package for $35 per month, but that promo price will only be available for a little while. At launch, it will work with Apple TV, Fire TV devices, iOS, Android, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari, while Roku support is due early next year. At the moment, however, it’s missing a DVR feature, CBS and Showtime channels.
Follow the “White Rabbit” December 9th“Mythbusters” alums have a new science-based investigation series
Amazon has resurrected the “Top Gear” crew to form “The Grand Tour,” and soon Netflix will follow a similar path with “Mythbusters.” Former Build Team members Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara will premiere “White Rabbit Project” December 9th, where they will be “ranking history’s weirdest inventions, heists and happenings, and seeing how science makes them possible.” Check out the first trailer here.
The laws of nature might be more flexible than you think
Test can show if the speed of light has changed
An assumption underpinning many theories in physics (including Einstein’s theory of relativity) is that the speed of light is constant. But some scientists think that’s not true, and now they have a prediction that could help prove it.
But wait, there’s more…
- DroneGun jammer disables radio controls from over a mile away
- Tesla’s Autopilot updates start rolling out next month
- Diamonds convert nuclear waste into clean batteries
- A new theory on plasma could help scientists figure out solar flares and fusion power
Cables connecting Channel Islands to UK cut by ship’s anchor
It’s easy to forget in this wireless world that much of the infrastructure that keeps Instagram feeds updating and WhatsApp conversations flowing is under the sea, with large cables carrying all that data from one place to another. Residents of the Channel Islands are being reminded of that fact today after three cables connecting the islands to the UK were severed yesterday, thought to be caused by a ship dragging its anchor across the English Channel.
JT, the region’s largest telecoms provider, has called the situation “exceptionally unlucky and unprecedented,” and is warning customers they can expect service disruption for the next week or more as the cables are repaired. The area’s other major provider Sure has also confirmed its services are affected. For now, all memes, fake news and spam emails are being routed through a back-up cable connecting the islands to France.
Via: BBC
Source: JT, Sure
Samsung Pay won’t reach the UK until sometime next year
2016 has been a good year for mobile payments, thanks to the arrival of Android Pay and the majority of big banks adopting Apple Pay. Samsung was also meant to join the party, but the company has confirmed that Galaxy smartphone and Gear smartwatch owners will now have to wait until next year to use its payment service. The Telegraph reports that the launch has been “tied up amid negotiations with banks,” a story that some British banking customers are already all too familiar with.
Samsung first touted a 2016 launch for its payment service at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. It then reiterated that desire at the unveiling of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 in August. The company already allows customers in the USA, Canada, Korea, Spain, China, Australia, Singapore, Puerto Rico and Brazil to use Samsung Pay.
While Samsung Pay, like Apple and Google’s mobile services, supports NFC for contactless payments, it does have one advantage over its rivals. It supports Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), a technology that emits a signal that can mimic the magnetic strip on the back of a debit or credit card. That means Samsung Pay can be used on terminals that don’t already allow contactless payments.
Source: The Telegraph
SwiftKey for Android’s clipboard is a godsend for lazy typers
So, you don’t like typing out your address or any other information you usually send other people again and again — SwiftKey gets it. In fact, its latest update for Android devices adds a couple of new features you’ll enjoy. First is the keyboard’s brand new Clipboard, which you can use to save phrases you often use and anything else you want. You can simply copy and paste items you saved onto a messaging or email app whenever you need to.
In case it’s an address or any other pertinent info you’d like to keep in your Clipboard indefinitely, you can take advantage of another new feature: Shortcuts. You can assign a shortcut to any info you clip and type it in lieu of that information when texting or emailing someone. For instance, if you mark your address as “home” or “office,” you only need to type either shortcut to bring up the complete address on the prediction bar, which you can then insert into whatever you’re composing.
Besides these two related features, the updated SwiftKey for Android also comes with Incognito mode. It keeps the app from learning words and phrases you don’t want anyone else to know you’ve been typing on your phone — you only need to swipe right on the hamburger menu and enable it through the SwiftKey Hub. Since the keyboard is now powered by a neural network and serves better predictions that before, incognito sounds like a great addition to keep its vocabulary safe for work and kids.
Source: SwiftKey
Samsung May Split Company in Two to Allay Investor Concerns
Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday it is considering splitting itself into a holding company and an operating company in order to boost shareholder value, in what could be the biggest shake-up in the South Korean tech giant’s history.
According to Reuters, the move is part of a bid to improve investor returns after Samsung came under pressure from shareholders to simplify its business structure. Critics argue that the current structure makes it difficult to value Samsung since its assets are spread across various sister companies and affiliates. Establishing a separate holding firm would bring these under one name, improve transparency, and make it easier to value Samsung Electronics’ business.
Samsung said it would also increase returns to shareholders by one third and accelerate its share buy-back program. The plans come after U.S. hedge fund Elliot Management, which owns 0.6 percent of Samsung, called for a managed split of the company last month.
A split in two of the company has been a subject of speculation among market analysts for a while and would allow Samsung to list on additional stock exchanges around the world. However, some say any potential split could hand more control back to the original family owners and be a particularly favorable outcome for Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-Yong, who was recently nominated for a seat on the company board.
Despite the announcement, Samsung offered little detail on the potential restructuring and said it was “absolutely neutral” about whether to proceed. “The review does not indicate the management or the board’s intention one way or another,” said the company in a statement, adding it had hired external advisers for a potentially six month-long review process.
While Samsung moves to assuage investor concerns, the company still has to win back confidence in its consumer mobile division after its disastrous Galaxy Note7 recall in early September. Samsung’s share of the smartphone market dropped in the third quarter of 2016 to its lowest level in nearly two years, with financial results for the fourth quarter expected to suffer more after the subsequent discontinuation of the flagship phone.
Tag: Samsung
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