BlackBerry’s final phone, the Mercury, set for CES 2017 revel

BlackBerry’s swansong, the DTEK 70/Mercury, is expected to be unveiled at CES 2017 in January in Las Vegas. It’s said to be the last phone developed in-house by the struggling Canadian company after it handed over manufacturing, marketing and distribution responsibilities to TCL.

• BlackBerry Mercury: What’s the story so far?

Before the launch, some more photos alleging to be of the Mercury have appeared online and they show what appears to be a fingerprint scanner integrated into the space bar.

The purported images look incredibly similar to renders we’ve already seen, adding some real weight to the rumour. The front-facing camera on the top right of the device has been made a bit smaller compared to the pictures we’ve seen before, but otherwise everything looks the same.

The BlackBerry Mercury is expected to come with a 4.5-inch full HD display which curves off at the edges, with a speaker grille placed along the top edge and sensors on the top left.

It’s a mid-range smartphone, so don’t expect top-of-the-range internals, instead the Mercury should come with a 2.02GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor and 3GB of RAM.

Around the back there will be an 18-megapixel camera and the front-facing should come in at 8-megapixels. Like previous BlackBerry DTEK smartphones, the 50 and 60, the DTEK 70 will run on Android 7.0 Nougat.

• TCL now officially makes BlackBerry phones

The CES 2017 reveal hasn’t been confirmed by BlackBerry, but with a matter of days until the show, we don’t have long to wait to find out.

Here Maps is expanding to China with the help of new investors

Here, the mapping company owned by German automakers Audi, BMW and Daimler, plans to bring its products and services to China. To make that happen, it has enlisted the help of three new Asian investors: Chinese internet giant Tencent, digital map provider NavInfo and Singaporean investment firm GIC. They’re acquiring a 10 percent stake in Here together, and they’re tweaking the company’s products to make them ready for the Chinese market.

NavInfo, for instance, plans to launch high definition mapping and location services with Here for autonomous cars. It will also share its data, so the German company can launch its products in China. Tencent will then use Here’s improved offerings with its own apps and services both within the country and elsewhere around the globe. Here began as a Nokia-owned mapping service until the German automakers snapped it up for around $3.07 billion in 2015. It almost became an Uber property, but the ride-sharing provider was no match for the combined powers of Audi, BMW and Daimler.

Source: Here

FDA issues final guidance on medical devices’ cybersecurity

The Food and Drug Administration has issued its final guidance on protecting medical devices like pacemakers and insulin pumps from cyberattacks. To start with, it wants manufacturers to boost their cybersecurity measures by incorporating a way to monitor and detect vulnerabilities into the products they make. The FDA also wants them to establish a process for receiving information about potential vulnerabilities from cybersecurity researchers. If they do detect any exploitable flaw, the agency wants the companies to assess the risk it poses to patients. Finally, it wants the medical device makers to issue software patches to fix any vulnerability it finds.

According to the FDA, this final guidance “recognizes today’s reality” that “cybersecurity threats are real, ever-present and continuously changing.” It applies to all medical devices, including those already out on the market such as those manufactured by St. Jude Medical. The agency is currently investigating St. Jude’s products after an investment firm and a cybersecurity company claimed that they lack even the most basic form of cybersecurity.

The FDA promises to adjust its guidance or even issue a new one if needed, since cyberthreats can evolve and hackers can become even more capable:

“Digital connections power great innovation — and medical device cybersecurity must keep pace with that innovation. The same innovations and features that improve health care can increase cybersecurity risks. This is why we need all stakeholders in the medical device ecosystem to collaborate to simultaneously address innovation and cybersecurity. We’ve made great strides but we know that cybersecurity threats are capable of evolving at the same pace as innovation, and therefore, more work must be done.”

Source: FDA 1, 2 (PDF)

LG G6 renders reveal dual camera setup, no sign of modular design

An early look at the LG G6 shows off several changes, and a few similarities.

LG hasn’t fared well in its attempt to build a modular phone with the LG G5, and it looks like the company is shelving the platform after just one generation. Renders of the upcoming LG G6 have surfaced on Gear by way of OnLeaks, giving us an early look at the device.

From the renders, it looks like the company is continuing where it left off from the LG G5. The G6 will likely feature a dual camera setup at the back, with a fingerprint sensor located beneath the camera. One major change is the modularity aspect — or lack thereof. It’s no secret that LG failed to gain any momentum whatsoever for its Friends modular accessories, and the company’s implementation wasn’t ideal as it involved sliding out the battery and restarting the phone to switch out an accessory.

Other details include a USB-C charging port at the bottom, 3.5mm jack up top, and a metal frame round the sides. The back is said to be made out of “highly reflective metallic material,” and will be available in a glossy finish. The renders also highlight a matte back, and LG may include wireless charging this time around. And it looks like the days of removable batteries in LG’s flagships are numbered as well.

Given that we’re still a few months away from the unveil and that the renders are based off of CAD designs, it is likely that the retail model of the LG G6 may differ from what’s highlighted above. What would you like to see in the LG G6?

Qualcomm hit with $853 million fine in South Korea for violating antitrust laws

Qualcomm could end up paying a hefty fine in Korea and amend its business practices.

Qualcomm has been fined a record 1.03 trillion won ($853 million) by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) over antitrust violations. The regulator said that Qualcomm’s “unnecessarily broad patent licensing requirements” resulted in phone makers paying more royalties than required for its modem chips.

Qualcomm was also found to be in violation of competition law as it limited access to its standard essential patents to competing chip makers. In addition to the fine, the KFTC said that it will issue a corrective order specifying the business practices it took an issue with.

Calling the move “unprecedented and insupportable,” Qualcomm said that it would file for an “immediate stay of the corrective order and appeal the KFTC’s decision to the Seoul High Court.” The company said that it will also appeal the amount of the fine and the method the KFTC used to calculate it.

Qualcomm’s executive vice president and general counsel Don Rosenberg talked about the inherent value of Qualcomm’s patents, and said that the current business practices are an industry norm:

Qualcomm strongly believes that the KFTC findings are inconsistent with the facts, disregard the economic realities of the marketplace, and misapply fundamental tenets of competition law.

Importantly, this decision does not take issue with the value of Qualcomm’s patent portfolio. Qualcomm’s enormous R&D investments in fundamental mobile technologies and its broad-based licensing of those technologies to mobile phone suppliers and others have facilitated the explosive growth of the mobile communications industry in Korea and worldwide, brought immense benefits to consumers, and fostered competition at all levels of the mobile ecosystem.

For decades, Qualcomm has worked hand in hand with Korean companies to foster the growth of the wireless Internet. Qualcomm’s technology and its business model have helped those companies grow into global leaders in the wireless industry. This decision ignores that win-win relationship.

The regulator’s decision doesn’t go into effect until it issues a written order, which according to Qualcomm could take anywhere from four to six months. Should the decision be upheld, it could lead to Qualcomm changing its lucrative business model in the country.

Qualcomm earned more than $26 billion in revenue last year, of which 30% came from licensing its patents. The chip maker collects royalties based on the price of a handset, and with 11% of its sales coming from Samsung, the ruling could limit Qualcomm’s earnings from South Korean manufacturers.

Qualcomm had to pay a $975 million fine in China last year after a 14-month investigation by the country’s antitrust regulator. The company also agreed to lower its royalty rates for Chinese manufacturers.

LG’s latest audio product is a speaker you wear around your neck

How about a speaker that you wear around your neck?

LG is all set to unveil two interesting audio products at CES. The first is the LG Tone Studio, which is a neckband with built-in speakers that blasts music up at your ears. The Tone Studio has four speakers — two at the top and two vibrating speakers at the bottom — that provide a “personal surround sound experience when watching a movie, playing a video game or simply streaming music.”

LG says that it collaborated with DTS to bring a “realistic theater-like sound for a cinematic experience wherever you may be.” The idea is intriguing, but it’s hard to imagine anyone putting up with a neckband solely for streaming audio particularly when there are so many decent portable Bluetooth speakers around.

Speaking of Bluetooth audio devices, LG is also set to introduce a floating Bluetooth speaker next week. It’s called the Levitating Portable Speaker, and it hovers over a round base. The base contains the electromagnets required to levitate the speaker, which offers 360-degree sound and a 10-hour battery life.

As soon as the battery starts to run low, the speaker descends to the base station to charge wirelessly. The base also has a subwoofer for deep bass, and the speaker is certified IPX7 for water resistance.

LG will showcase the products — along with other additions in the Tone series — next week at CES, so stay tuned for more.

VW’s latest acquisition helps you pay for parking by phone

Volkswagen wants to turn itself into more of a mobility company than a pure automaker, and it just made an acquisition that should help make that a reality. It’s snapping up PayByPhone, a Canadian company that lets you pay for parking through smartphone apps, calls and text messages. The terms of the deal are hush-hush, but PayByPhone handles about $300 million in transactions per year across major cities that include Boston, London, Paris, San Francisco and Seattle.

It’s not clear what VW’s exact intentions are. However, this would give it an easy way to help people buy considerably more than just some time at a parking spot — it could help you buy all kinds of products and services, whether you’re shopping with your phone or a connected car. VW could profit from parking requests, but it could also strike lucrative deals with companies eager to pitch their wares. While this might lead to some obnoxious sales attempts, it could also remove some of the stresses of driving… especially when you’re hunting for an elusive downtown parking space.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Lenovo’s latest ThinkPads ship bloatware-free

It’s virtually a tradition for Lenovo to unveil new ThinkPads around CES time, but this year it’s doing something a bit different: its systems are defined by what they don’t have. The PC builder has just unveiled a slew of mid-tier ThinkPad laptops that all run Microsoft’s Signature Edition image of Windows 10 — that is, you shouldn’t expect bloatware bogging things down or introducing security holes. While ThinkPads have had cleaner software than Lenovo’s non-pro systems as a general rule, this is good news if you’re more interested in getting to work than dealing with unwanted apps.

Of course, there are plenty of hardware updates. All of the new systems use 7th-generation Core processors, and some of the larger models (the ThinkPad T470, T470p, T570, L470 and L570) have the option of using Intel’s extremely fast Optane 3D storage. You can only have up to 16GB of the cutting-edge memory, so it won’t replace the main drive in your system, but it should help in those situations where even a fast SSD isn’t enough. You should also expect improved trackpads (using Microsoft’s Precision TouchPad spec) and protection against dodgy USB-C cables.

As for the specific systems? The headliner is the ThinkPad Yoga 370 2-in-1 (shown at top). As its numbering scheme suggests, it slots neatly between the 200- and 400-series Yogas with a brand new 13.3-inch design that’s tough enough to meet MilSpec certifications. Its 3.2-pound weight, 1080p screen and 10-hour battery life aren’t huge breakthroughs, but it touts Thunderbolt 3 support to connect to Lenovo’s new docks and displays (more on those later). It ships in March starting at $1,264.

The remaining systems are mostly the customary performance updates, although there are a few highlights: the 15.6-inch T570 has an optional 4K non-touch display (up from “just” 3K in the T560). Thunderbolt 3 is common across most T-series laptops, and the 12-inch X270 adds USB-C. It won’t shock you to hear that prices and ship dates will vary widely. The most affordable rig is the updated ThinkPad 13, which begins at $674 when it arrives in January, but you can drop $1,099 on the 14-inch T470s (arriving in February) if you’re determined to meld Ultrabook portability with an abundance of ports.

And yes, Lenovo is upping the ante on its docks and displays. The $280 ThinkPad Thunderbolt 3 Dock gives you power, two DisplayPort connectors, HDMI, VGA, five USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, audio and another Thunderbolt 3 port using a single cable attached to your PC. It ships in February. If that’s overkill, you can get a $200 ThinkPad USB-C Dock in January; it ditches Thunderbolt 3 (naturally) and HDMI, and downgrades two of the USB ports to 2.0. Prefer to hook things up to a display? The 24-inch ThinkVision P24h and 27-inch P27h both support charging, video and 4 USB 3.0 ports through a solitary USB-C cable. The smaller screen will cost you $259 when it ships in March, while the P27h will sell for $329 and arrive at the same time.

Source: Lenovo

Sylvania smart light bulb talks to Siri without a hub

If you’ve set up smart light bulbs like Philips’ Hue, you’ve probably had to link your bulbs to a central hub — and if you didn’t, you may be making-do with only basic control. Sylvania is trying to do better. It’s introducing a Smart Multicolor A19 bulb that doesn’t require the hassles of setting up a hub, but can still give you advanced control through Apple’s HomeKit — and by extension, Siri voice commands. You only have to sync the Bluetooth lighting through iOS’ Home app to illuminate a room.

As you might guess, Bluetooth imposes some limitations. You’ll need an Apple TV or iPad to serve as a hub if you want to control the bulb when you’re not within range. Still, this is potentially a wiser choice than many smart lights if you live in an Apple ecosystem and feel that a hub would only get in the way. There’s no mention of pricing as of yet, but you should see Sylvania’s latest bulb reach Amazon by early 2017.

Source: BusinessWire

Samsung Powerbot VR7000 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Samsung says its VR7000 robot vacuum is 28 percent smaller than previous models.

Samsung

Samsung today introduced a new robot vacuum to its floor-cleaning lineup, the Powerbot VR7000. With a slimmer design than previous Powerbots, this lithuim-ion-fueled bot should be able to pass under chairs and beds that might have been too low for its predecessors.

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We reviewed the $1,000/£700/AU$1,499 Samsung PowerBot VR9000 back in 2015 (video below). While it did relatively well stacked against powerful Neato and iRobot cleaners, it ultimately struggled to pick up debris scattered near the walls of our test pen. It also clocked in at over 5 inches tall, making it significantly larger than its sub-4-inch competitors.

Samsung seems to have made some significant improvements with its VR7000, though. In addition to being 28 percent shorter than older Powerbot models, the VR7000 also claims strong 20W suction and an Edge Clean Master feature that promises to clean closer to walls.

And while Samsung made no mention of integration with its SmartThings smart home platform in its official press release, the VR7000 is supposed to have a companion app and Amazon Alexa compatibility when it reaches stores. Samsung isn’t the first robot vacuum manufacturer to offer an Alexa Skill, though. Neato’s Botvac Connected already offers this functionality.

Samsung hasn’t yet shared pricing or availability on its new Powerbot VR7000 robot vacuum, but I’ve reached out for more details. Stay tuned.

Click here to find out what else is happening at CES 2017.

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