Google I/O 2017 developer event will be held on 17-19 May

Google has announced, rather cryptically, the location and dates for its annual I/O event. This year’s convention will take place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, the same location as 2016. It’s a space that’s basically in Google’s backyard, and is larger than the long serving Moscone Events Center. Google is obviously hoping for a large turnout, then.

The Google Developers Twitter account sent a tweet on 24 January with a cryptic clue and within 24 hours the internet responded with the answer. Google said there would be five puzzles that needed to be solved, each one getting progressively harder. We’re not entirely sure how it was solved ourselves, but this page on Android Police gives some insight.

Google has also now made live the official I/O website, although there are no details about to expect on there at the moment. We expect Google to announce updates to Google Assistant, including integration with more devices. There could also be updates to Google Home, Google’s Amazon Echo rival.

• What is Google Assistant, how does it work, and when can you use it?

There may be some talk surround the next iteration of Android, Android O, but it’s likely to just be a passing mention such as what we can expect to see when the full version is released later in the year. 

There’s still a few months to wait until Google reveals all, so we’ll no doubt be hearing rumours and leaks in the run up to May.

Mini Countryman S 2017 first drive: Mighty improvements for the massive Mini?

Do you remember the exact moment that every manufacturer scrambled to add a high-riding SUV to their line-up? It was around the time the Nissan Qashqai started to become a runaway sales success and as a result, all sorts of bizarre shapes started to appear on forecourts.

Not content with simply creating a fun, quirky and stylish hatchback, Mini started to expand its model line-up in 2007, first with with the launch of the Clubman and then the larger Countryman in 2010.

The idea was to entice those families wanting a trendy small car but who also demanded the chunky body addenda, additional space and raised driving position afforded by rival SUVs.

It has always been a slightly odd proposition, because the Countryman isn’t actually that spacious, the suspension isn’t jacked-up enough to warrant any proper off-roading and, to some eyes, it’s hideously ugly.

That said, it has proven a success with Mini owners looking to upgrade to a larger vehicle and the latest iteration is 20cm longer than its predecessor, increasing interior roominess and boot space, while the quality of the interior fittings has been vastly improved too.

Mini Cooper S Countryman (2017) review: Design

Although unmistakably a Mini Countryman, the latest model has undergone some pretty serious, if subtle, stylistic changes.

Pocket-lint

The elongated wheelbase and wider body give it a more imposing road presence, while a new hexagonal radiator grille, jewel-like additions to flanks and refreshed headlamps make it look more modern – but arguably don’t do much to improve the overall aesthetic.

The dimensions still look a little awkward, like a Mini has eaten too much over Christmas, but the extra length and width make it look slightly less bulbous than the previous generation.

All new Countryman models come with roof rails as standard, giving it a more purposeful, almost outdoors-y appearance, while the addition of a neat Picnic Bench make it ideal for tailgate parties or taking off muddy wellies.

This foldout leather cushion comes part of an optional Comfort Access package (which also adds an electric tailgate) and sees a leather cushion appear from a compartment in the boot floor.

Pocket-lint

It neatly covers the top of the rear bumper and offers a nice place to sit out of the rain, or a comfortable pew for pulling on wellies or ski boots.

Mini Cooper S Countryman (2017) review: Interior and infotainment

Previous generation interiors, although quirky, were festooned with cheap plastics, budget cloths and basic infotainment systems. The latest iteration of Mini, however, has gone decidedly upmarket.

The interior of the Countryman Cooper S models driven here feature leather, electrically-adjustable seats, ambient lighting and stylish soft-touch materials covering the dash and surrounds.

Pocket-lint

The infotainment system now resides in the infamous circular binnacle where the speedometer once lived and this Premier version features an 8.8-inch touchscreen for the first time, exclusive Harman Kardon speaker system and advanced navigation.

It all comes at an eye-watering cost but Mini’s Connected Suite now goes beyond simple smartphone tethering for music and hands-free calls and offers a virtual assistant.

Sync the app and the system informs the driver of the optimum departure time based on calendar entries and current traffic data, for example. Regularly visited places can be saved to the sat nav system automatically and frequent routes are stored so the car can inform of any traffic delays.

There’s more head, shoulder and legroom in the back, too, with the rear bench able to slide backwards and forwards to reveal more boot space or increase passenger comfort.

Pocket-lint

As a result, the boot boasts an extra 100-litres of space, which puts it on par with the Nissan Qashqai and will likely prove a big selling point for those looking to upgrade their Minis.

Mini Cooper S Countryman (2017) review: How does it drive?

It’s difficult to pass judgement on slightly less fruity models, as the only engine available for our first drive was the nippy turbocharged 2.0-litre unit in the Cooper S (that develops 192bhp).

Acceleration is mildly exciting, with the vocal powerplant able to drag the Countryman from 0-62mph in 7.4-seconds when the smooth eight-speed auto ‘box is specified.

Pocket-lint

Mini is fond of touting its go-kart handling abilities and the Countryman remains a fun little thing to throw into tight corners, although many will find the steering far too heavy and the suspension irritatingly firm.

Even with the expensive optional active dampers fitted, the Countryman we tested proved jarring across the broken B-roads that took up so much of the route and felt out of sorts with the soft SUV styling and raised ride height.

Most owners will want something comfy and forgiving in which to cruise the school run and longer motorway commutes but the Cooper S Countryman felt more like the marque’s performance models – it’s probably best sticking with the lower powered diesel and petrol offerings if this is to be an everyday runaround.

Mini’s clever All4 all-wheel-drive system was also bolted onto the test car (possibly making it the most expensive Countryman in the world), which sees power automatically shifted between the front and rear axles depending on the circumstances.

Pocket-lint

Under normal driving conditions, 100 per cent of the torque is transmitted to the front axle but more will be directed to the rear axle during cornering to reduce understeer. Similarly, if the system senses a wet of slippery surface, it will direct torque to the rear, sometimes as much as 100 per cent when a loss of grip occurs at the front.

First Impressions

It’s glaringly obvious that Mini buyers flock towards the badge because it represents a certain sense of style and the latest model will impress with its modernised interior, sharper exterior styling and infotainment tweaks.

The increased roominess is also a big plus and the latest Countryman is on par with the Nissan Juke and Mazda CX-3 in terms of overall footprint but it still doesn’t feel like a hugely practical family machine, especially given that even basic Cooper and Cooper D models cost more than much larger SUV rivals.

In addition, the Cooper S Countryman is just a niche too far in our book, lacking the giggles promised by the S badge and possessing a firm ride that jars with the bubbly SUV exterior.

That said, the suite of in-car technology on offer is impressive and the typical Mini quirkiness manifests itself in multiple areas.

The Morning After: Wednesday, January 25 2016

You’re here, in the middle of the week. Over the last 24 hours, you may have missed that Sprint is buying a huge chunk of Tidal, how Samsung’s Note 7 debacle came and went, and the mixed future of games for both the Xbox One’s Kinect and Nintendo’s 3DS.

Choppy waters in the world of streaming music.
Why is Sprint throwing money at Tidal?

After reports last week that Tidal hasn’t been honest about its subscriber numbers, Sprint announced that it’s buying a third of the streaming service. It’s no secret that Tidal has struggled to gain ground on Apple Music and Spotify, even with a portfolio of artist exclusives. The company reportedly has financial issues to contend with as well, so a big influx of cash likely made the decision easy for Jay Z et al. But why did Sprint open its wallet?

CyanogenMod is back.The first builds of LineageOS are out

With the close of 2016, Cyanogen Inc. decided to get out of the operating system business, and the open source CyanogenMod project has rebranded. Now it has delivered the first builds of LineageOS, which continue its run of community-driven, Android-based software, just with a new name and logo. There’s only support for a few devices so far, but we’re expecting the list will grow quickly.

Burned.With its Note 7 apology, Samsung finally gets something right

After most of the furor over its flaming phones had died down, Samsung moved to end the Note 7 fiasco once and for all. Last Sunday, Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh — followed by a cadre of technical experts — laid out exactly what caused the company’s incredibly well-received phone to fail so spectacularly. In doing so, he sought to move Samsung past the mess that had consumed it for the past five months. Its humble, apologetic approach won’t last forever, though — once the the Galaxy S8 (and possibly the Note 8) are unveiled in the coming months, the message will pivot back toward the company’s drive for “innovation.” How many flashy phones and glitzy ads need to be released before most forget (or forgive) those failures? That’s the question we’ll watch Samsung try to answer in the months to come.

Unless you’re looking for another ‘Just Dance’ update…
Don’t bank on Kinect games in 2017

Mattia Traverso, the creator of Kinect-exclusive game Fru, has a unique perspective on the ever-shrinking Kinect marketplace because he’s one of the last video-game developers to build a title specifically for Microsoft’s motion-sensing peripheral. The Kinect may not be officially dead, but it is clearly not a priority for Microsoft. In 2016, the Xbox One’s Kinect 2 received just two notable games from third-party studios, Fru and Just Dance 2017. Microsoft hasn’t released a motion-sensing game itself since 2014, the same year the company announced it would start selling the Xbox One without the Kinect bundled in the box. Support for the peripheral has disappeared over the past three years, and with it, so has public attention.

Pause.
Trump administration freezes grants and contracts at the EPA

In a move that could disrupt projects such as toxic cleanups and water quality testing, the new administration has put things at the EPA in a “holding pattern.” That also includes the imposition of an apparent gag order, preventing employees from releasing public-facing documents or speaking to the media. Despite that rule, some EPA personnel are speaking out anyway, including a few who told reports that the climate change section of its website could go away today.

Capture the Rooster.
‘Overwatch’ Chinese New Year celebration includes a new CTF mode

The first 2017 even for Overwatch is here, but the most interesting addition is its Capture the Flag mode. According to the developers, they’ve been trying to add the feature for a long time but had trouble properly balancing it. Now the dual-flag mode is available for a trial run in the Arcade section, so grab your favorite hero and see how things work.

Yes, it can run Photoshop.Adobe’s apps are coming to ChromeOS

Everyone has that one thing they absolutely need their computer to do, and if yours is support for the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, then Chromebooks are finally an option. That’s because it is launching a beta test for its Android apps on the platform, so that users can run Photoshop Mix, Lightroom mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Comp CC and Creative Cloud Mobile.

Don’t get too personal.
Amazon Echo has a new wake word: Computer

Until now, Echo owners had a choice of Echo or Alexa as the magic word that activated their device’s voice-controller capabilities. Now, the company has added one more option, with a Star Trek twist. Just say “Computer,” and you can tap into the power of Alexa as though you were on the bridge of a Starship, despite actually being in a drab living room. Don’t you think it’s time to hang up a painting or something?

You still can’t afford one.
Vertu’s latest luxury Android phone is built for jetsetters

Say hello to the Constellation, Vertu’s latest high-priced Android handset. Built around Android Marshmallow, this one targets world travelers with its dual SIM card slots and access to the iPass WiFi network. As usual, it’s not rocking the latest technology, but these devices are more about the included 24-hour Concierge service than regular software updates, and with prices that start in the thousands, you probably won’t need to worry about that anyway.

But wait, there’s more…

• Now Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’ app can help find your lost AirPods
• How an animated-GIF camera morphed into a nascent chip empire
• Google I/O 2017 returns to Mountain View
• Nintendo isn’t ready to abandon the 3DS yet, here’s the plan for 2017

LG loses money, thanks to smartphones (Updated)

It no longer feels hyperbolic to say that LG’s persistence with mobile, while laudable, is also a pretty toxic business decision. After all, the conglomerate has been propping up its flagging handset division for a good long while now. The final quarter of 2016 saw the company take a severe blow, actually losing $223.98 million, mostly thanks to its failing handset division.

The company also threw some blame at the feet of its nascent vehicle components business, which managed to lose around $12 million. But there’s optimism coming out of that bureau, since that loss came from R&D spending and it isn’t very big. Now that sales of the LG-developed Chevy Bolt are swinging and other companies want to buy LG’s in-car tech, things are looking pretty rosy.

LG handset sales vs. operating income

The same can’t be said for the folks over at mobile, and the company excised both the smartphone sales and operating profit from its official releases. The numbers are buried deep in its figures, however, revealing that the firm hawked 14.1 million units in the quarter. Operating losses, meanwhile, sunk to around $400.2 million despite “strong sales” of the V20. But any boost that the V20 offers only serves to offset the soul-sucking failure of the G5, still chewing through money long after the company began announcing its replacement.

The full year figures weren’t so doom-laden, and the company did coin an overall net profit of $109.31 million for 2016. LG’s not going to stop making phones, however unwise that may be, and we know that the G6 will arrive at MWC this February. Shortly afterward, the company will also release more “mass-tier” devices with lower prices for the rest of the world.We’ll leave you to decide if that’s a good idea or not, but the question as to how long LG will remain in a market it can’t make a profit on still lingers.

Update: The company did excise sales from its main release, but its full financial document does still have both divisional losses and handset figures. The story and graph have been edited to reflect this. (Thanks, Jeroen!)

Source: LG, LG (.PDF)

Airbnb is eyeing an international payment app

Airbnb is taking its all-inclusive aspirations one step further. Now, the short-term rental service is close to buying mobile payment app Tilt for $10 to $20 million, according to The Information. For the uninitiated, Tilt’s wrinkle is that it can process cross-currency payments — which should help with Airbnb’s international expansion plans. And as far as what users will notice, it sounds like people will be able to split the bill on a room rental in the future. If you’re looking to outfit your rental pad with augmented reality area rugs, that’s the other Tilt, Tilt Textiles.

As the publication notes, the application itself will likely be shuttered and Airbnb will take advantage of its tech, and “many” existing employees will be offered jobs within the company.

Source: The Information

Classic FM to host weekly show on orchestral video game music

Final Fantasy. Skyrim. The Legend of Zelda. These and so many other video game franchises offer beautiful, sweeping scores for players to get lost in. Unfortunately, however, they’re not always known or appreciated by people outside of the gaming community. Recognition is improving through live concerts and awards, but there’s still a long way to go. The latest effort to champion and broaden its appeal is a new radio show on Classic FM. It’ll be hosted by Jessica Curry, co-founder of British game studio The Chinese Room and composer of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and will focus on symphonic video game music in particular.

The programme will run for six weeks, starting on April 22nd. It’ll be broadcast every Saturday from 9pm to 10pm, with the option to listen online, through DAB and FM radio, and the Classic FM app.

So, I’m very, very (over) excited to announce that I’m going to be a new presenter on @ClassicFM!!! Presenting a show on video game music 🎶 https://t.co/dBiVa69XXw

— Jessica Curry (@jessicacurry2) January 25, 2017

It’s not the first time a radio station has shown an interest in video games. The BBC commissioned ‘The Radio 1 Gaming Show,’ presented by YouTuber Julia Hardly almost a year ago. BBC Radio 5 live also has a programme called ‘Let’s Talk About Tech,’ which regularly dives into video game news and analysis. Few shows focus on gaming music, however, and the composers and musicians behind them. A few podcasts have taken up the slack, such as The BGM Show, but their listenership is typically small. Classic FM has the chance to do something different, educating a large, casual audience who may have tuned into the programme by chance.

Source: Classic FM

Jawbone Leaves Users in the Lurch as Customer Support Goes Silent

Owners of Jawbone products have been met with a wall of silence from the speaker and activity tracker company’s customer support, it was reported on Wednesday.

Customers told The Verge they had contacted Jawbone in recent months or weeks about faulty products and had not received any response, while calls to the company’s support number are being continually met with automated messages about busy lines.

The company’s support Twitter account hasn’t tweeted since December 21, 2016, and the Jawbone Facebook page does not respond to comments left by frustrated customers, with many of the comments apparently hidden from public view. Meanwhile, review aggregator website Trustpilot.com currently gives Jawbone an average one-star rating.

Jawbone did not respond to requests for comment regarding its lack of customer support, despite the fact that the company’s products are still available to buy through Amazon, if not Jawbone’s own website.

Reports that the company has been struggling to stay afloat date back to May of last year, when it ended production of its UP line of fitness trackers and sold its remaining inventory to a third-party reseller at a discounted price.

At the time, Jawbone denied claims that it was going out of business and said it was focusing on advanced sensors to sell to other wearable makers, but recently both the head executive of product and the chief financial officer left the company.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Fitbit attempted to buy Jawbone last year, but it only offered a fraction of the $1.5 billion valuation the company had at the beginning of 2016. Jawbone and Fitbit have also been involved in a series of lawsuits over patents and trade secrets over the last year.

Tag: Jawbone
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Apple Has ‘Constructive’ Meeting With India About Local Manufacturing Opportunities

Apple on Wednesday said it appreciated the “constructive” dialogue it had held with officials from India regarding the expansion of its local operations in the country.

Earlier this month, reports indicated that a high-level meeting would be taking place between the two sides, with Apple seeking concessions from the Indian government if it agreed to manufacture products locally. That meeting now appears to have taken place, although in a statement given to Reuters today, Apple offered little hint as to the outcome of those discussions.

“We’ve been working hard to develop our operations in India,” Apple said in a brief statement. “We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we’ve had with government about further expanding our local operations.”

Apple was said to be going into the meeting looking for a number of tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, but the Indian government recently appeared to push back against those demands, suggesting that it would review its entire mobile manufacturing policy instead.

However, the government’s IT ministry offered the most recent indication that the government was willing to listen to Apple, saying it would consider any requests for incentives with an “open mind”.

In a report by The Times of India last month, Apple was said to be looking into building an iPhone manufacturing plant in Bangalore, with Wistron as a partner. Earlier this week it was revealed that Apple had tapped Wistron as its first major supplier in India for this year’s iPhone 8.

Tag: India
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Researchers design sensors that can detect single protein molecules

Carbon nanotubes promise to lead to some exciting new breakthroughs in computing, but researchers at MIT are now putting them to use in medicine and chemical engineering as well. According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, MIT engineers have modified carbon nanotubes to create instruments sensitive enough to detect a single protein molecule as it is secreted by a cell.

The nanometer-thick carbon nanotubes naturally glow or fluoresce when exposed to laser light, but in order to turn them into sensors, the research team had to first coat them with materials that can bind to target molecules. In this case, the researchers coated the nanotubes with chains of DNA called aptamers. When the target molecule binds to the DNA chains, the nanotube’s glow changes in a measurable way. The “sensor array” can be set up on a microscope slide and when a bacteria, yeast or human cell is placed inside the array, the sensors will detect the presence of the target protein.

Although the researchers have only tested the system with two different proteins so far, they believe the system could lead to new breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical treatments as well. Other researchers are already working on ways to re-engineer a patient’s own cells to secrete beneficial proteins and the new MIT sensor array system would be crucial to testing those treatments, as well as studying viruses, neurotransmitters and quorum sensing — the process by which bacteria colonies communicate.

Via: MIT News

Source: Nature Nanotechnology

Chinese manufacturers dominate in India as local handset makers retreat

Chinese manufacturers have all the momentum in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.

Chinese brands now account for over 46% of the smartphone market in India, with the likes of Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Lenovo pushing out local handset makers. According to data compiled by Canalys, 28.1 million smartphones were shipped in Q4 2016, with Samsung taking the number one spot. Samsung has the lion’s share of the market at 22%, followed by Xiaomi at 11%, and OPPO at 9%.

The growth has come at the expense of Indian brands Micromax, Intex, and Lava Mobiles, which saw their collective market share decline from over 30% in Q4 2015 to just under 11% in 2016. The sales figures in the last quarter were particularly affected by the India’s demonetization, in which the government banned high-value notes, wiping out 85% of the currency in circulation. The shortfall in cash led to a decline in sales for local vendors, who primarily rely on brick-and-mortar stores to push phones.

Local handset makers had a 30% market share in Q4 2015. In Q4 2016, that number decreased to 11%.

While overall sales decreased by as much as 17% last quarter, Counterpoint Research noted that the Indian smartphone segment crossed 300 million sales over the course of 2016, a YoY increase of 18%. If we look at the yearly sales figures, Samsung is leading the pack with a 25% share, followed by Micromax at 11% and Lenovo (including Motorola’s sales) at 9%.

The figures highlight the predicament faced by local handset makers as they try to compete with their Chinese rivals. The likes of Micromax and Intex were able to weather the initial influx of Xiaomi and Lenovo relatively unscathed as these brands focused on online sales. But the entry of OPPO and Vivo has led to local brands losing a lot of ground in the offline market.

Micromax, in particular, hasn’t released a compelling phone in a long time, and its current offerings don’t come close to what’s on offer from Chinese brands. Samsung also lost a few percentage points over the course of the year, but the company’s Galaxy J series has once again turned out to be a moneymaker.

Xiaomi and Lenovo are winning online; OPPO and Vivo are winning offline.

Xiaomi crossed the $1 billion revenue mark in India last year, with the company’s Redmi Note 3 turning out to be one of the best-selling devices of the year with over 3.5 million sales. The company is looking to continue the momentum this year with the Redmi Note 4, which has a better design and improved internals.

Heavy marketing spend combined with a strong offline presence contributed to OPPO and Vivo’s massive increase in sales last year. Both brands sell primarily offline, teaming up with thousands of brick-and-mortar stores to promote their handsets. Vivo bagged the lucrative title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League, the country’s premier cricketing league, and OPPO launched an ad blitz that featured prominent Bollywood celebrities.

It looks like we’ll see much of the same this year as well. Lenovo has announced that it wants to be the second-largest smartphone vendor in the country, and is launching phones at a steady cadence to get there. Xiaomi is similarly off to a great start, with the brand already netting over 250,000 sales for its Redmi Note 4.