ZTE is learning crowdfunding requires a crowd

A few days ago, ZTE’s Jeff Yee posted a mea culpa on a company forum, explaining that his team had made a mistake. He was referring to Hawkeye, the culmination of the CSX project to design a smartphone with suggestions from the community. It was much-hyped, but the phone that emerged at the end was something of a lame duck. With mid-range specs and a key feature (self-adhesion) missing, the device has earned less than $35,000 on a Kickstarter goal of $500,000 half-way through its campaign.

Back in August, ZTE launched CSX (Crowd Sourced X), a project whereby users suggested products that the company could build. Aside from a few rules around originality and realism, people could let their imaginations run (kinda) riot in dreaming up concepts. Around 400 ideas were sent in, which would eventually be narrowed down to five for a final showdown vote.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that ZTE was trying to rig the vote, since three of the final five options were pretty easy picks for a smartphone company. The shortlist included a stock Android phone and smart covers similar to Alcatel’s magic flip as well as an eye-tracking, self-adhesive phone. The latter device was designed to be stuck to a wall and used hands-free — for reading books in the bath or while cooking. At no point was there any serious discussion about how much the device would cost, or that ZTE was thinking about a $199 pre-order price for Kickstarter backers.

The winner was Hawkeye, the self-adhesive, eye-tracking smartphone as designed by Team One Technology. The original pitch outlined a device with a Snapdragon 823 paired with 4, or more likely 6GB RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage. A belated announcement of Hawkeye’s spec list came with a whole heap of disappointment, paired with a Snapdragon 625, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.

Not to mention the fact that while the device was pitched as a self-adhesive, eye-tracking smartphone, you won’t be able to stick it to anything unless you use the additional case. This made the phone about as unique as the hundreds of third-party self-adhesive phone cases you can buy online. It’s not as if eye-tracking phones are anything new either, since several Samsung devices have offered some form of the feature for years.

At the time of writing, only 182 people had chosen to open their wallets and back the project, which has more than 90 comments. Many of those missives are from annoyed fans claiming that ZTE has “stripped off everything great about this phone” and built a “cheap and generic” device. Others are annoyed that the phone will only use a Snapdragon 625, rather than anything higher-end.

“ZTE didn’t seem to mention [during voting] that the phone would ship at a fixed price of $199 to Kickstarter backers.”

In his apology, Yee explains that the company wanted CSX to “reach the masses around the world,” justifying the middling specs and low price. That $199 fee is fixed, and ZTE was initially unwilling to tweak the spec list since it’ll eat in to its already slender profits. Now, however, Yee has said that one change will be made — the choice of which is being left to a public vote. Users can pick between a faster chip, bigger battery or stock Android, with little room for other changes.

It’s easy to be cynical and think that ZTE built a smartphone and then orchestrated a crowdfunding campaign to promote it. What’s more likely, however, is that the company was happy to ride a hype train that garnered so much interest from its customers. Now that the commercial realities of building the device have become apparent, ZTE has been forced to fight fires.

Hopefully CSX will serve as a reminder to established companies that crowdsourcing isn’t a shortcut to get customers invested in your products. With that emotional and financial investment comes a feeling of ownership, and when you fail to explain what’s going on, or simply remain quiet, people are going to get angry.

Via: Phone Arena

Source: Kickstarter, ZTE, Project CSX

Samsung will keep using the Galaxy Note brand

Now that Samsung has pinpointed the suspected causes of the Galaxy Note 7’s battery fires, there’s one question on many people’s minds: will the Galaxy Note brand carry on, or is it tarnished forever? If you’re a fan, you can relax. The company’s DJ Koh tells CNET that the Note name is very much alive. There are “lots and lots of loyal customers,” he says. And while there wasn’t much doubt that there would be a Note successor this year, Koh isn’t shy about hinting at a “better, safer and very innovative” Galaxy Note 8.

The rationale seems to check out. It’s no secret that Galaxy Note fans are not only widespread, but occasionally protective to a fault — witness the Note 7 owners who stuck to the recalled device even after an update was supposed to have disabled charging. While similar phones under a new name wouldn’t necessarily prove disastrous, there’s enough goodwill left in the Note brand that it’s likely to help more than it hurts.

Via: The Verge

Source: CNET

Google Voice gets a long-overdue visual refresh

Google Voice is undoubtably useful, but it has also been neglected for a long time. Fortunately, the rumors were true: Google just released a pretty major visual overhaul of Voice, and there are a handful of new features on board as well. Most obvious is that service now fits in with Google’s Material Design language, something that rolled out to just about all of Google’s apps a long, long time ago.

The new interface is anchored by three different tabs for your content: calls, voicemails and messaging. Messaging has gotten a few new features, as well — it now supports group messaging and group MMS, so it’s a lot easier to share photos with multiple people. These are super-basic features for any messaging service out there, but it seems like Google is making Voice a more viable option. (Confusing if you’re using Hangouts or Allo, but Google’s messaging strategy has been all over the place for a long time now.) As before, Google offers the option to integrate your Google Voice number and messages with Hangouts, but you can also opt-out if you want to keep those two worlds separate.

While this is primarily a visual refresh, Google also says that it is working on the technical side of things as well. Foremost among those improvements should be better voicemail transcriptions and improved call quality and reliability. Voicemail transcriptions in Spanish are also supported for the first time. And messaging should get better before long, as TechCrunch notes Google is working to support RCS, a new messaging protocol that’ll bring iMessage-like features to standard texting — it should be a big improvement over ancient SMS.

If you don’t see these updates yet, don’t fret. As per usual, Google says they’re rolling out to users over the next few weeks. Once the update hits your phone, you’ll also see the new interface on the web. It’ll be coming to Android first, but iOS should follow in short order.

Source: Google

Snapchat fights clickbait in Discover stories

Clickbait headlines and fake news aren’t limited to the web and social networks. They’re also problems in mobile services, and Snapchat wants to do something about it. The company is instituting rules that prevent Discover publishers from misleading users. Creators can’t use headlines or images without editorial value, and they can’t produce or link to fake news. The aim is to create an “informative, factual and safe” space for news, the company tells the New York Times.

Snapchat also hopes to make Discover more kid-friendly. A tool arriving in February will let publishers set age gates for content, and in some cases block underage users from seeing content in the first place. This wouldn’t prevent determined teens from looking at racy or graphic stories, but it would reassure nervous parents — not to mention advertisers worried that their promos might run alongside salacious material.

The stricter guidelines say a lot about Snapchat’s long-term plans for Discover. It’s determined to treat the service much like TV, and that means both raising expectations and filtering what you see. Yes, it means that Discover will be a tamer place than before, but look at it this way — Twitter is struggling in part because it’s having trouble with trolls and other nasty content. The Snapchat crew likely doesn’t want to risk a similar outcome.

The rules are coming at an appropriate time, too. Snapchat is now rolling out its updated design to everyone, not just a handful of Android users. As before, the centerpiece is a universal search that helps you find whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s a friend to chat with or a Discover story. You’ll also see an overall visual upgrade and a greater emphasis on Bitmoji avatars. The software improvements will definitely be the most noticeable thing you’ll see today, but don’t be surprised if the Discover guidelines make a greater impact in the long run.

Via: The Verge

Source: New York Times

Apple Releases iOS 10.2.1 With Bug Fixes, Performance Improvements

Apple today released iOS 10.2.1 to the public following several weeks of testing. iOS 10.2.1 also comes more than a month after the release of iOS 10.2, the second major update to the iOS 10 operating system.

iOS 10.2.1 is a free over-the-air update available to all iOS 10 users. It can also be downloaded and installed on iOS devices using iTunes on a Mac or PC. The update is still rolling out and may not be immediately available on all devices.

No outward-facing changes or new features were discovered during the beta testing process, suggesting the update focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements.

The iOS 10.2.1 update will soon be followed by a new iOS 10.3 beta, if rumors are correct. The first iOS 10.3 beta, with a new “Theatre Mode” was rumored to be coming out on January 10, but has not yet appeared.

Related Roundup: iOS 10
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Releases tvOS 10.1.1 for Fourth-Generation Apple TV

Apple today released a new update for tvOS, the operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10.1.1 comes five weeks after the release of tvOS 10.1, the first major update to the tvOS 10 operating system. Apple only seeded two betas of tvOS 10.1.1 to developers before releasing it to the public.

The tvOS 10.1.1 update can be downloaded on the fourth-generation Apple TV using the Settings app. Go to System –> Software Update to install. For those who have automatic software updates turned on, the Apple TV will be upgraded to tvOS 10.1.1 automatically.

No new features or changes were discovered in the tvOS 10.1.1 beta, but as a 10.1.x update, it’s likely to be minor in scale, primarily focusing on introducing bug fixes and performance optimizations.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Finally Releases New Apple Watch Update, watchOS 3.1.3

Apple today released watchOS 3.1.3, an update that follows the watchOS 3.1.1 update that was released on December 12 but pulled later that same day due to installation issues.

watchOS 3.1.3 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. An iPhone running iOS 10 or later is required to download the new software, but it is available for all Apple Watch models.

No significant changes or feature additions were discovered in watchOS 3.1.3, but presumably, it fixes the 3.1.1 installation issues that were bricking some Apple Watch Series 2 models, allowing customers who did not get a chance to download 3.1.1 to finally get the bug fixes included in that update.

watchOS 3.1.1 included several bug fixes for Messages, notifications, Activity, Maps, Calendar, and more.

There was no watchOS 3.1.2 update, as Apple appears to have gone straight to watchOS 3.1.3.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.3 With Graphics Fixes for 2016 MacBook Pro

Apple today released macOS Sierra 10.12.3, the third update to the macOS Sierra operating system that launched on September 20. macOS Sierra 10.12.3 comes over a month after the release of macOS Sierra 10.12.2, and has been in testing since December 14.

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 is a free update for all customers who are running macOS Sierra. The update can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store.

No specific changes, bug fixes, or feature additions were discovered during the beta testing process, and Apple only said the update “improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.” Apple’s release notes paint a more complete picture, stating that the update improves graphics switching for the new 15-inch MacBook Pro, fixes issues with Adobe Premiere, and includes important fixes for Preview.

The macOS Sierra 10.12.3 Update improves the stability and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users.
This update:

– Improves automatic graphics switching on MacBook Pro (15-inch, October 2016).
– Resolves graphics issues while encoding Adobe Premiere Pro projects on MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (13- and 15-inch, October 2016).
– Fixes an issue that prevented the searching of scanned PDF documents in Preview.
– Resolves a compatibility issue with PDF documents that are exported with encryption enabled.
– Fixes an issue that prevented some third-party applications from correctly importing images from digital cameras.

Enterprise content: Resolves an issue were network or cached user accounts (such as Active Directory accounts) using the maxFailedLoginAttempts password policy were becoming disabled.

macOS Sierra 10.12.3 will likely soon be followed by another update, as Apple has been committed to regularly making updates to the operating system since its September release.

Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
Discuss this article in our forums

All 2017 Chromebooks will support Android apps

Play Store access is coming to all Chromebooks launched in 2017.

Google introduced Play Store support for Chromebooks last year, opening up over 1 million Android apps to Chrome OS users. Currently, there are three Chromebooks that let you access Android apps in the stable channel — the Acer Chromebook R11, ASUS Chromebook Flip and the Chromebook Pixel (2015). That’s set to change over the course of the year as Google adds support for dozens of Chromebooks already available in the market.

In an update to the Chrome OS support page, Google has stated that all Chromebooks launched in 2017 will support Android apps. If you’re in the market for a new Chromebook, you no longer need to worry about whether a particular model is compatible with the Play Store.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Qube’s Wi-Fi light strips aim to be the most affordable option with the best features

Looking to make your house smarter with some Wi-Fi light strips but don’t want to go broke in the process? A small company named Qube is looking to make it even more affordable, and right now you can back the company’s fundraising efforts with a Starter Kit for just $24. Qube has run successful campaigns in the past to bring its products to life, and this is another great way for you to get in on the action early, and for a better price. The Starter Kit comes with one Smart LightStrip and a power adapter, and from there you can expand the setup with extensions galore.

The LightStrip will offer tons of great features to make it more useful in your daily life as well. Some of those include:

• Control your lights anywhere
• Wake up to the sunrise
• Dim from 10PM to 6AM
• Location-based triggers
• Amazon Alexa integration
• 24/7 connectivity

There is only a limited amount of time left to get in on the discounted prices, so you’ll want to act quick. Qube has already passed its goal by more than 500%, and has launched a few other products successfully through Indiegogo. If you back the campaign now, your order is expected to ship by the end of March. This indicates that the product is near complete and production is ready to begin, since the company had a much longer lead time on its LED bulbs. Which set will you be picking up? Let us know in the comments.

See at Indiegogo