Asus launches LTE version of the ZenPad 3S 10 with an improved processor, battery
Why it matters to you
If you liked the look of the Asus ZenPad 3S 10 but wanted an LTE-capable tablet, you’re now in luck — if you live in Malaysia.
The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 was first formally unveiled at a press event in Taiwan in August, after which it was shown off at a press conference at IFA in Berlin, Germany.
Now, a new version of the tablet has been unveiled, called the ZenPad 3S 10 LTE, meaning that customers have a few options for the tablet they want to buy, if they want to buy a ZenPad.
Asus launches the ZenPad 3S 10 LTE
The new variant of the tablet offers quite a few different specs compared to the original tablet. As the name suggests, the device boasts LTE support, and it has the model number Z500KL. Apart from that, however, the tablet packs a new Snapdragon 650 processor, along with a 9.7-inch display and a pixel resolution of 1,536 x 2,048. The tablet also boasts 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
The tablet offers an 8MP rear-facing camera and a 5MP front-facing shooter. On top of that it boasts a whopping 7,800mAh battery, which really improves on the original, and it runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 LTE comes in Slate Grey, and is available in Malaysia with a price tag of RM1,799, or $405.
Of course, the new ZenPad 3S 10 LTE isn’t the only version of the ZenPad 3S 10.
The original Asus ZenPad 3S 10
Asus reintroduced the ZenPad 3S 10, an Android-based tablet which the firm formally unveiled at an event in Taiwan in early August, but it also showed the tablet off at IFA in September. The specifications, as you might expect, didn’t change in the intervening weeks.
The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 leans somewhat toward the larger end of the Android tablet spectrum at 9.7 inches. But unlike some of the plastic competition (I’m looking at you, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2), it features a unibody of sandblasted aluminum, curved edges, a matte texture, and diamond-cut chamfered sides. All the more impressive? It’s a mere 5.8mm thick — thinner than both Apple’s iPad Pro 9.7 (6.1mm) and Google’s Pixel C (7mm). Asus’s is targeting the premium market, and it shows.
On the hardware end of things, the ZenPad 10 doesn’t disappoint. It sports a high-resolution, 9.7-inch QXGA 2,048 x 1,536-pixel screen with a wraparound, 5.3 mm-thin bezel that Asus claims is the “thinnest” and “most compact” on a tablet of the ZenPad 10’s size. Internally, a MediaTek processor and 4GB of RAM juggle all the software tasks and 64GB of onboard memory handles storage. There’s a MicroSD Card in tow that supports cards up to 128GB in capacity, and a fingerprint sensor, too — an Asus tablet first.
The ZenPad 10’s other highlight is high-end audio. The tablet’s stereo system packs two five-magnet speakers paired with a built-in NXP amplifier that Asus said provides protection against the “distortion” and “long-term … damage” that sometimes occurs at high volumes. A separate Hi-Res Audio (HRA) component supports 24-bit, 192kHz audio — “4x the quality of CD audio,” Asus said — and, when you’re using headphones, delivers optional virtual surround sound (courtesy DTS Headphone:X) that mimics a 7.1 setup.
Related: Asus outs the ZenPad 3 8.0, boasting a 2K display and up to 4GB of RAM
Powering the ZenPad 10 is a 5,900mAh battery that Asus said last around 10 hours if you watch movies and shows all day, or 12 if you limit usage to browsing the web on Wi-Fi. And it supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 — the electronics maker said you can expect a full recharge in about three hours, give or take a few minutes.
ZenPad 3S 10 Glacier Silver
ZenPad 3S 10 Glacier Silver
The ZenPad 3S 10 ships running Android Marshmallow 6.0 — no word on when to expect Nougat, unfortunately. One facet of software worth mentioning, though, is system-level stylus support: the ZenPad 10 works with the Asus’s Z Stylus. Another is Asus’s Tru2Life, proprietary tech that the firm said automatically optimizes the “sharpness,” “color,” “brightness,” and “contrast” of video content by analyzing each frame. It’s not new, per say — it’s been a staple on Asus’s Android tablets since at least last year — but the company claims it’s been improved substantially since then. We’ll put that to the test when we manage to get our hands on a test unit.
Related: Want a sleek Android Marshmallow tablet for $250? Asus and Verizon may be able to help
Asus has yet to announce global availability or pricing, but if the latter is in line with the sticker price in Asus’ home market of Taiwan (TWD 11,000), we’re expecting somewhere around $350. That’s put it within striking distance of Samsung’s Tab S2 — the 9.7-inch model starts at $400.
We do know, though, that the ZenPad 10 will ship in two color configurations: silver and grey. We’ve reached out to Asus for all the juicy additional details.
Updated on 01-26-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added news of ZenPad 3S 10 LTE launch.
Google Maps now shows parking availability in ’25 metro areas’
Why it matters to you
If you live in one of these 25 metropolitan areas, Google will show you where parking is available in real time.
There’s nothing worse than driving to a busy downtown megaplex and coming to the sudden, horrifying realization that there aren’t any parking spaces in sight. It can easily ruin a night if you’re pressed for time, and that’s why the ever-astute Google is offering salvation: Parking availability alerts in Google Maps.
References to parking alerts were first discovered in a teardown of the beta version of Google Maps by Android Police, but the feature is now live according to Google. The alerts will do exactly what you’d expect it to: Indicate how difficult finding a parking space is likely to be in a given locale. The app will describe congestion in levels of increasing severity — easy, medium, and limited.
More: Google is crowdsourcing information to help make maps more accurate
Parking availability will be shown through a small “P” icon next to the driving duration estimate. If parking is limited, that icon will turn red.
Google says the feature is rolling out in “25 metro areas” in the U.S.: San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, and Houston; as well as Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Tampa, Florida.
The data is based on historical parking data, and Google says it’s similar to how it calculates Popular Times and Visit Duration — with aggregated and anonymized data from users that opt in to Google Location History.
You’ll have to be in one of the 25 metro areas in the U.S. to see the feature in action, and Google doesn’t mention an update so you may just have to wait for a server side switch if you don’t see it yet.
Updated on 01-26-2017 by Julian Chokkattu: Added official details from Google.
Put an emoji on it: Study finds popular symbols can boost app downloads
Why it matters to you
Adding an emoji to an app’s description is all it takes to boost downloads, if a recent study is any indication.
Turns out that people really, really love emoji. Marketing firm Emogi calculates that more than 2 trillion messages incorporating one of the colorful characters were sent by smartphone users in 2016 alone. Marketers used 775 percent more emoji in 2016 than the prior year. There’s an emoji search engine, touch bar, and even feature film. So perhaps it’s not all that surprising that apps with emoji in their description attract more downloads than those with plain old text.
That’s according to app developer Novoda, which conducted a study using Google’s Developer Console. It tracked the performance of three different app listings in the Google Play Store, three of which had emojis at the end of the description: a rocket ship, a humanoid holding waste over a recycling bin, and a double-underlined one hundred. A fourth listing — a control group — didn’t have any. Novada exposed 25 percent of Google Play Store users to the emoji-fied descriptions and 25 percent to plain text.
More: Google’s experimental new feature lets you search with emojis via Twitter
The results were surprising. In Germany and Italy, the “rocket” emoji and “100” emoji boosted downloads by a whopping 20 percent compared to the control group. Users in Poland, meanwhile, showed a clear preference for the “recycling” emoji — downloads did 7 percent better with it than without.
The data from other countries wasn’t as clear-cut. Would-be downloaders in Russia, France, Spain didn’t appear to prefer any one emoji over the other. And U.S.-based users preferred the description without the emoji over the emoji-fied listings.
More: Apple and Microsoft put the kibosh on a proposed rifle emoji
The breakdown likely has something to do with cultural differences. According to a Swiftkey study published last year, countries like Canada were found to use the greatest number of “raunchy” emojis (money, violent, and sports emojis), while France used four times as many “heart” emojis than other countries. Brazil, meanwhile, used more than double the amount of religious emojis (prayer hands, church, star in night sky) than the average. Australia used clothing emoji at nearly twice the average rate. And users in Arab countries were more than four times as likely to use the “flower” and “plant” emojis.
The takeaway, Novado said, was that tailored app listings perform better than generic ones. Apps with emojis did 4.5 percent better on average than those without. “[Optimization] has real and measurable effects on [developer’s] revenue,” it said. “Localize your tests to get better results.”
One thing’s for sure: Emojis aren’t going away anytime soon. The world’s approximately 2 billion smartphone users send six billion emoji each day. Fully 92 percent of internet users employ emoji in everyday conversation, one-third of them daily. And nearly half of all posts on pic-sharing network Instagram contain an emoji of one form or another.
Put it where? Perifit combines gaming and kegel exercises
Why it matters to you
Ladies, Perifit combines a vaginal sensor and an app to let you play video games with your pelvic muscles.
Perifit is a combination of an app game and a pelvic floor strengthening device. Currently a campaign on Indiegogo, Perifit is a vaginal sensor that connects to a smartphone app via Bluetooth. It is designed to help improve bladder control, improve core strength, and even improve sex. The vaginal sensor is made of silicon to promote flexibility and comfort. Within Perifit lies an on/off button, circuitry, and two different sensors that allow women to play video games on the Perifit app using solely their pelvic muscles.
More: Kickstarter’s first Crowdfunded sex toy raises $30,000 on its first day
After inserting the flexible silicon device, users can launch the app and choose a program option — postpartum, sex, or incontinence, for instance. Users can also choose various levels and track their progress through the app. Think of it like Flappy Birds, except you control a butterfly instead of a bird, and the game is hands-free, of course.
Artem Rodionov and his team, which includes experts ranging from designers to physiotherapists, will begin shipping the product in April 2017. The Paris, France based team has been developing the product since March 2015, and the Indiegogo Campaign began in December 2016.
The device surpassed its funding goal by more than 1600 percent. The Indiegogo campaign met its flexible goal of $10k almost instantly, and to date, the campaign has brought in more than $162k from 1282 backers. For Indiegogo backers, Perifit costs $99 for the vaginal sensor and the app, and $119 if you add an accessory pack, which includes a velvet sleeve, medical lube gel, and antiseptic cleaning gel. For the first month available, however, you can buy it for $89 with limited quantities available. It will come with the sensor, accessories, and the dedicated app compatible with both iOS and Android.
If you are experiencing bladder control issues, or you just want to strengthen your pelvic muscles, Perifit appears to be an interesting and viable option. Before backing any product on crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo, it’s wise to remain aware of that backing a product is not the same as buying it from a store or an online retailer.
Nvidia is now rolling out Software Upgrade 5.0 to older Shield TV units
Why it matters to you
Owners of the Shield TV set-top box released in 2015 can now benefit from the new features introduced with the 2017 unit now hitting store shelves.
Nvidia said on Thursday that owners of the original Shield TV set-top box can now download Software Upgrade v5.0. The update adds everything found on the latest Shield TV (2017) unit launched in early January, such as support for Nest cameras, 4K HDR content via Amazon Video, and more. The platform update also brings the older Shield TV unit up to speed with an upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat.
First up to bat is support for the new Nvidia Games app, which replaces the Shield Hub and its associated links. That said, exclusive Android games, GeForce Now, and GameStream games are thrown into one application for a more centralized feel. All other games installed on the set-top box will be shoved into the games row on the home screen.
“This update will be a staged rollout and will happen over the next few weeks via app update on the Google Play Store,” Nvidia says.
More: Nvidia improves ‘Resident Evil 7,’ more with latest GeForce drivers
On the Android 7.0 front, Shield TV (2015) owners will benefit from several enhanced features provided by the upgrade including a new settings menu that’s provided vertically on the right side of the screen. Android 7.0 also adds picture-in-picture support in apps like Live Channels and provides a recent apps page accessible by double-pressing the home button.
Here are additional features provided with the Shield TV 2015 update:
- 4K HDR streaming video support in Amazon Video, Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies, and VUDU
- Direct access to Steam Big Picture in the Nvidia Games App
- Support for 4K HDR streaming in Nvidia GameStream
- Nest Aware support through the new Nest app
- New apps: NFL, Twitter for TV, Comedy Central, Vimeo, and Viki
- Cast support for HBO GO
- 1, 6.1, and 8.1 speaker configurations for Plex
- USB and SD card storage support
- Pause and Play functionality on the Shield remote
Nvidia said support for Google Assistant will come to the Shield TV (2015) unit soon. However, this feature will require the new $50 Shield Remote to take advantage of Google Assistant on the older set-top box. The peripheral includes an internal microphone built for voice-based commands and searches, providing a hands-free experience when looking for games or other content.
The 2015 Shield TV model will soon receive support for SmartThings Hub technology, allowing owners to turn the device into a smart home hub. It will also be compatible with Nvidia Spot, the company’s upcoming microphone/speaker hybrid based on Google Assistant. The Shield TV unit will play as the central hub while Spot units can be placed throughout the home (or office) at $50 apiece.
For customers who have yet to purchase a Shield TV set-top box, the 2017 model is available now in “vanilla” ($200) and “pro” ($300) versions. The vanilla model only has 16GB of internal storage while the pro unit includes 500GB of storage, but both are bundled with a controller and a remote. Owners of the vanilla unit can expand the storage by connecting an external drive to the USB 3.0 port.
Xiaomi won’t announce the Mi 6 — or any products — at Mobile World Congress
Why it matters to you
Xiaomi may not sell smartphones in the the U.S., but it has a sizeable market in India and China. A decision to sit out Mobile World Congress could affect its future.
If Mobile World Congress seems a little light this year, there’s a good reason why — Samsung has said it will not be announcing the Galaxy S8 at the annual trade show, and now Xiaomi has revealed it will have zero announcements.
Last year, Xiaomi announced its flagship smartphone, the Mi 5, at MWC in Barcelona. While the Mi 6 was rumored to make a splash this year, it seems like Xiaomi fans will have to wait a little longer. According to TechCrunch, a Xiaomi spokesperson said the company is skipping the show.
More: Facebook’s new head of virtual reality is former Xiaomi, Google man Hugo Barra
Most smartphone manufacturers debut their flagship devices for the year at MWC. Despite the no-show by Xiaomi, there’s still quite a number of devices to look forward to — such as LG’s G6, Sony’s upcoming Xperia lineup, and BlackBerry’s keyboard-laden flagship.
Xiaomi is still relatively new to the show, and a key reason for its absence could be due to slow growth in smartphone sales. The company recently said it will not reveal how many smartphones it sold in 2016, which marks the first time it has not done so. In an open letter to staff, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said the company grew “too fast.”
The Chinese company attended CES 2017, where it announced a white variant of the Mi Mix, as well as a 4K TV.
More: Hands full with the 6.4-inch Xiaomi Mi Mix: Our first take
Hugo Barra, a former Googler that helped put Xiaomi on the world stage as vice president of international, recently left the company citing health issues and homesickness. Barra just announced that he has been hired by Facebook to head its virtual reality efforts. Xiaomi’s loss of Barra could also have affected its decision to attend MWC.
Either way, don’t expect a new Xiaomi phone any time soon.
Researchers are programming robots to learn as human babies do
Why it matters to you
Robots are becoming more and more useful. Thanks to Carnegie Mellon’s approach, robots could become even smarter by learning as a human would.
Google is betting big on artificial intelligence. Robots have come a long way over the past decade or so, but they’re still not as good at interacting with humans as they could be. In fact, robots still struggle to do some basic tasks.
A team at Carnegie Mellon, however, is trying to fix that. The team, led by assistant professor Abhinav Gupta, is taking a new approach — allowing robots to play with everyday physical objects and explore the world to help them learn — exactly as a human baby would.
More: Bots_alive uses your smartphone to drive artificially intelligent spider robots
“Psychological studies have shown that if people can’t affect what they see, their visual understanding of that scene is limited,” said Lerrel Pinto, a PhD student in the group, in a report by The Verge. “Interaction with the real world exposes a lot of visual dynamics.”
The group first showed off its tech last year, and the demo helped it land a three-year, $1.5 million award from Google, which will be used to expand on the number of robots that are being used in the study. More robots allows the researchers to gather data more quickly, which basically helps the group build increasingly advanced robots.
But the team isn’t just looking toward more robots to help speed up data gathering. It’s also trying to teach robots skills that will, in turn, help the robot learn other skills. The team also uses adversarial learning — which, according to the Verge report, is akin to a parent teaching a child how to catch a ball by pitching increasingly difficult throws. Apparently, taking this approach results in significantly faster learning than alternative methods.
It will certainly be interesting to see what comes of the project, and we’ll likely hear more about it as time goes on. Check out the video below to see the robots in action.
Deep learning algorithm does as well as the pros at recognizing skin cancer
Why it matters to you
The new AI may one day help you monitor your own skin’s health.
Worried about a strange mole on your back? Why not let an algorithm look at it!
That’s the broad idea behind a recent project created by computer scientists at Stanford University, which applied the extraordinary machine vision powers of cutting-edge deep learning neural networks to the world of dermatology.
Using a database of close to 130,000 images of skin diseases, the team was able to create an artificial intelligence algorithm able diagnose skin lesions with a performance level matching trained experts.
“[We trained it to] classify images of skin conditions as benign or malignant, and found that it matches the performance of over 21 board-certified dermatologists at three key diagnostic tasks: identifying keratinocyte carcinomas (the most common human cancer), identifying melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer), and identifying melanoma when viewed using dermoscopy,” co-first author Andre Esteva told Digital Trends.
More: AI can diagnose 17 different diseases based on a patient’s breath
The neural network the researchers used was one originally designed by Google and trained to recognize 1.28 million images, with the somewhat frivolous purpose of distinguishing cats from dogs.
“We saw that it was demonstrating superhuman performance at distinguishing between 200 different types of dog,” co-first author Brett Kuprel told us. “We thought we could apply this to something more useful, such as skin cancer diagnosis.”
Prior to the project, neither Esteva or Kuprel had any background in dermatology, which means the algorithm they created was able to achieve expert-level performance without benefitting from any specially encoded domain-specific knowledge.
However, if the algorithm was to be used by trained physicians, they could take advantage of a so-called “salience map,” revealing how important each pixel in an image was in the AI’s prediction process. In other words, rather than replacing dermatologists, this could prove to be a useful tool in their arsenal — the equivalent of a smart X-ray that offers its own interpretation about what it sees.
For now, though, that’s jumping way ahead. “There are definitely regulatory rules to get the FDA to approve it,” Kuprel said. “That would be important before any application could be deployed.” Beyond this, though, the investigators aren’t saying what is next.
“We are still deliberating on next steps and cannot yet comment,” Esteva said.
Best accessories for Porn in VR [NSFW]
Adult entertainment in VR gets even better with accessories.
VR has brought porn into a whole new realm. Now, you can watch your adult entertainment, in a venue where you are completely surrounded by it. So, it’s only natural that accessories can bring it up a notch even further. You may not have even considered the fact that there are accessories built specifically to better enjoy porn in VR.
That’s where we come in, we’ve got the details on some of the best accessories currently available to you.
Read more at VRHeads.com
Google Pixel 2 flagship and Pixel 2B budget phone details leak out
Not wanting to miss out on what seems to be the official phone leak week, Google Pixel has popped up with its own set of rumours.
9to5Google has shared some details about the next-generation “Pixel 2”. It’s supposed to feature waterproofing with a “decent water and dust resistance rating”, the report said. The upcoming flagship will also have a much improved camera, as Google seems to be really focusing on that spec, trying to master low light photography. Keep in mind Google heavily marketed the first Pixel’s low-light capabilities.
Although the phone’s camera will “not have large MP size,” it will “compensate in extra features”. Other leaked details includes a note that Google is making a few prototypes, including a budget “Pixel 2B” version that’s being tested with different chipsets — “some with Snapdragon 83X chips, others with Intel chips” or even a Google-developed “custom chipset” — and less powerful hardware.
Pixel 2B would also be significantly cheaper than the Pixel 2, and it could launch at the same time or shortly after Pixel 2, which is getting a $50 price hike. The two versions would be aimed at different markets. The Pixel 2B, for instance, appears geared toward emerging markets.
Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up of Pixel 2 features we’d like to see.
- Google Pixel 2: What do we want to see?
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