Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 835 VR dev kit, Leap Motion integration

Qualcomm rolls out a VR dev kit, teams up with Leap Motion to bring natural interaction to mobile VR.

The Snapdragon 835 will be powering this year’s flagship phones, but Qualcomm is increasingly looking to virtual reality as a growth driver. To that effect, Qualcomm included several features in the Snapdragon 835 that make it an ideal platform for mobile VR, including 15ms motion-to-photon latency and six-degrees-of-freedom for precise motion tracking.

The company has now introduced a VR development kit, which has a head mounted display (HMD) powered by the Snapdragon 835 and an upgraded VR software development kit. The reference design headset allows users to experience virtual reality untethered, offering a 2560×1440 AMOLED display split between both eyes, six-degrees of freedom (6DoF) motion tracking via two monochromatic cameras with fish-eye lenses, two monochromatic VGA global shutter cameras with depth sensing, and a host of sensors.

The Snapdragon 835 HMD is designed for untethered VR.

The HMD also packs in 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB-C connectivity, Qualcomm’s Aqstic audio codec, and a trackpad on the right side for controlling the interface. Talking about the trackpad, Qualcomm has also announced that it is partnering with Leap Motion to integrate its hand-tracking tech into the platform.

The integration lets Qualcomm to render hand movements with low latency, essentially allowing you to use your hands as the controller in virtual reality. Qualcomm will demonstrate the technology later this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco as well as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Qualcomm won’t bring its HMD to market, with the headset instead serving as a reference design for OEMs to build upon. The dev kit itself will be available to developers in Q2 2017, and Qualcomm is rolling out a HMD Accelerator Program that’s designed to lower the barrier for entry for manufacturers looking to build VR products.

These are the exclusive games for PlayStation VR

Which games are exclusive to PlayStation VR?

PlayStation VR is here and its library of games continues to grow. We love that a lot of our favorite titles from other platforms are also available on PSVR, but the real meat lies in the exclusive stuff.

What are the exclusive games, you ask? Here are all the titles that you’ll only be able to play if you own a PS4!

Read more at VR Heads!

Lost luggage could be a thing of the past thanks to Samsonite and Vodafone

We may not have all been in the situation where our luggage has been lost on holiday, but we’re all well aware of the issues some holidaymakers and business travellers face. Luggage maker Samsonite wants to put an end to lost items full stop, and has teamed up with Vodafone to help combat lost suitcases.

Vodafone already offers a Track&Go system, which is a device you put in your bag that you can then track from your phone, and alerts you if the bag goes beyond the set geolocation radius.

Samsonite wants to build upon this technology and has introduced what it is calling Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT). This extension to Vodafone’s system will let you view your bag’s location no matter where it is in the world, so it doesn’t have to rely on a maximum set distance from your phone. If you bag does happen to get lost en route to or from your destination, then the system will automatically provide you with the necessary contact details to help get it back. And because some flights can be long, the NB-IoT technology will have a long lasting battery life.

Samsonite’s technology isn’t ready for large-scale production just yet, but the company has committed itself to research and developing it further. A concept Track&Go case will be on display at Vodafone’s booth at Mobile World Congress, which kicks off next Monday the 27 February.

LG G6 will launch on 10 March, Galaxy S8 to follow on 21 April

Korean news outlet ET News has revealed what are allegedly the official launch dates for two of this year’s most anticipated flagship smartphones. The LG G6, which will be revealed at Mobile World Congress this Sunday the 26 February will supposedly launch in LG’s native South Korea on 10 March. There will be a preorder window from 2 to 9 March. ET News hasn’t revealed when the LG G6 will launch in US and European markets.

• LG G6: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy S8: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know

The Samsung Galaxy S8 meanwhile be unveiled in New York on the 29 March finally laying to bed rumours of other possible launch dates, and will go on sale on 21 April. It means 2017 will mark the first time LG’s smartphone will go on sale before Samsung’s, but Samsung will launch the Galaxy S8 in global and domestic markets at the same time in an attempt to improve sales.

ET News reports that Samsung is waiting to see the reaction to the G6 before determining a preorder schedule. If reception to the G6 is good for example, Samsung may choose to open up preorders for the Galaxy S8 early to try and entice customers away from LG’s phone.

From the leaked renders and images we’ve seen of both phones, they look similar. Both will ditch physical front-mounted buttons in favour of larger screens, while retaining slim and easy to hold form factors. Both companies could be seen as wanting to regain consumer confidence too, as the LG G5 used modules which didn’t really take off.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know

The G6 will lose the modularity in favour of an all metal build. Samsung meanwhile has the Note 7 debacle in its recent history and so will be wanting to pull out all the stops with its new flagship to improve sales.

Samsung’s next smartphone chip is ready for gigabit LTE

Mobile World Congress is nearly upon us, giving Samsung ample reason to show off the latest product from its chip foundries. The company has announced the Exynos 9 Series 8895, a flagship CPU that’s made with a 10-nanometer manufacturing process. The smaller circuits, it’s hoped, will offer 27 percent better performance while drawing 40 percent less battery.

The 8895 ships with eight cores, four of which are Cortex A53s, paired with a quartet of Samsung’s custom-designed variants. The company claims that it’ll play back 4K video at 120fps as well as offering VR content at the same resolution. Security fans will also note that the 8895 comes with an additional processing unit designed to keep your fingerprint, iris and payment data securely locked away from prying eyes.

Additionally, the chip is Samsung’s first to boast a gigabit LTE modem and support for five carrier aggregation. The hardware is expected to throughput data at 1Gbps and upload those Instagram selfies at a top speed of 150Mbps. That should keep your lust for high-capacity data networks at bay while those 5G networks are built out.

If history is any indication, it’s more than likely that the Exynos 9 Series 9985 will sit at the heart of the forthcoming Galaxy S8. At least, it’s the chip that’ll be found inside the international version of the device — since the US edition of the last few flagships used Qualcomm CPUs instead. We’re likely to find out for sure in the run-up to the device’s expected launch at the tail-end of March.

Source: Samsung

Bethesda shows the insane shape-shifting potential of ‘Prey’

In the upcoming Prey, Mankind is in serious trouble. With the alien Typhon over-running the once prosperous Talos 1 space station our fate falls into the hands of unlikely protagonist, Morgan Yu. Having been experimented on and given Typhon abilities, the latest trailer shows Yu learning to mimic his surroundings, opting to defend the human race by turning into vaguely useful household objects.

Using these unique abilities, players will be able to harness the deadly power of objects found on the space station, transforming into lamps, teapots and even a freshly-ripened banana.

While these powers are unlikely to strike fear into the hearts of the demonic Typhon, the I Am Bread-esque shenanigans allow players to solve unique puzzles and access new areas. Thankfully, As Yu levels up the Mimic Matter ability, he can transform into more intimidating objects, eventually controlling the likes of Operator robots and security turrets.

Prey will also feature a slew of other Typhon abilities, including the power to control the minds of other humans. Serving as a reboot to the 2006 FPS of the same name, fans were disappointed to learn that this new entry in the franchise wasn’t the resurrection of the cancelled Prey 2. After spending some time with the upcoming game however, we’re pleased to say that the new Prey is shaping up to a unique and tense experience – and one that constantly kept us guessing.

The game will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on the 5th of May.

Alphabet fights ‘toxic’ comments with machine learning

If you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you know that finding civil conversation can be a real challenge. Whether on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or your favorite news site, trolls can often dominate and derail the conversation. Today, Alphabet company Jigsaw has announced that it is using its machine learning chops to combat the problem. Perspective, which launches today, is an “early-stage” technology using machine learning to identify “toxic” comments. Furthermore, publishers will have access to an API to include this technology on their sites in the hopes that it’ll lead to better conversations.

To train Perspective, Jigsaw pointed it at hundreds of thousands of comments that were identified as toxic by human reviewers. From there, the machine learning software would look at other comments and score them based on similarities. As with all machine learning systems, Perspective gets smarter and more accurate each time it finds new examples of toxic comments and every time humans guide it and correct things that it may mis-identify.

Jigsaw hasn’t just been testing and training Perspective in its own labs — the company says it has partnered with The New York Times to test it. Currently, the NYT has moderators who review every single comment before it is posted; that team has to review about 11,000 comments every day. But that desire for manual review means that the publication only has comments open on about 10 percent of its stories. Through working with Jigsaw and Perspective, the NYT’s moderation team can go through comments more quickly and open up comments on more articles.

Perspective isn’t the only tool Jigsaw is working on to make the internet a more hospitable place, either. Last year, the company let any news organization sign up to use Project Shield, a tool that defends against DDoS attacks. As useful as that may be, Perspective could be something that impacts the way people view publications and news sites every day — provided it works, of course. Here’s hoping the NYT and Jigsaw have some hard data to share about how Perspective has impacted the site’s comments section soon.

Source: Google blog

Nintendo Switch will launch without a Virtual Console

With the Switch launch only eight days away, Nintendo has finally broken its silence on what online features gamers can expect at launch. Disappointingly, the gaming giant revealed that early adopters won’t be able to dip into the game company’s vast back catalog, with Nintendo confirming that the Switch’s Virtual Console service won’t be there day one.

In a bid to appease fans, Nintendo has revealed that the F-Zero inspired indie racer FAST RMX will be arriving on the eShop day one, alongside two entries in the Shovel Knight series. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is the game’s latest campaign which will be a timed exclusive for the Nintendo Switch. Alongside this, Yacht Club Games will also be bringing Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove to the eShop for launch – which serves as a collection of all the existing series content to date.

In addition to these last-minute launch titles, Nintendo has confirmed that 2017 will see over 60 different ‘Nindie’ games hitting the eShop on Switch. The Kyoto-based company has revealed that it will talk more about the flurry of new indie titles coming to Switch during a video presentation next Tuesday.

Gamers who have already added funds to the eShop on 3DS or Wii U will be pleased to learn that their balance will carry over, thanks to Switch’s use of Nintendo Network IDs. The announced also revealed that Switch’s home screen will include a News feature, updating gamers on the latest additions to the eShop and other Nintendo-related news.

Unsurprisingly, Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch will require a day one update in order to access the eShop. Thankfully, the update will download in the background, meaning that your precious Zelda time won’t be interrupted. While we have yet to play the new Shovel Knight campaign, I was thoroughly impressed with how well FAST RMX ran on the Switch at a recent preview event. For any early adopters looking for an enjoyable racer, FAST RMX looks to be a solid choice.

The lack of Virtual Console at launch may be disappointing, but with only five games previously announced for March 3rd, at least the Switch’s bare-bones launch lineup just got considerably bigger.

Apple Has at Least Five Different Groups Working on Wireless Charging Ahead of iPhone 8

Apple is widely expected to launch its first iPhone with wireless charging capabilities later this year, but rumors remain conflicting about whether the feature will be based on inductive technology, which would require a charging pad or puck, or a truly wireless long-range charging solution.

Apple recently joined the Wireless Power Consortium, a group of over 200 companies backing the Qi wireless charging standard, perhaps signaling that it is leaning towards an inductive solution. After all, the Apple Watch uses Qi, albeit a tweaked version that only works with Apple’s own charger.

Qi, pronounced “chee,” is capable of scaling from less than 1 watt to more than 2,000 watts of power, making the standard more than adequate enough for charging any smartphone. Its backing members include Samsung, LG, HTC, Qualcomm, Dell, Canon, Sony, Huawei, Apple supplier Luxshare, and others.

Apple is known to test many different technologies behind closed doors, some of which never see the light of day. Reuters today, citing “a person with knowledge of the matter,” said there are still “at least five different groups” working on wireless charging technology within the company ahead of new iPhones.

Just three months ago, Apple was said to have more than 10 different iPhone prototypes under development, so it could be experimenting with different charging solutions for future devices; however, with iPhone 8 production expected to begin relatively soon, Apple has likely already finalized the hardware.

Apple will reportedly begin production of its upcoming iPhones as early as next quarter, so the first part leaks will likely begin to surface over the next few months, which should give us a better idea of what to expect.

Apple is rumored to launch a 5.8-inch iPhone with an edge-to-edge OLED display, alongside updated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models, in September. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said all three iPhones will feature wireless charging, while some reports have said only the OLED model will be capable.

Tags: wireless charging, reuters.com
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Samsung Plans Small Scale Relaunch of Refurbished Note7 Phones Later This Year [Updated]

Samsung plans on selling modified versions of the troublesome Galaxy Note7 device in emerging markets later in 2017, according to Hankyung [Google Translate]. Samsung’s reported intention is to minimize as much monetary loss as possible by “transforming” the returned products, refurbishing them, and reselling them in the Indian and Vietnamese markets.

The new Galaxy Note7 devices will include a low-capacity battery to get around the explosive troubles of the original devices, and could show up as soon as June 2017. The new battery capacity is said to be around 3000 to 3200 mAh, instead of the 3500 mAh of the first set of defective Note7 smartphones. In January, Samsung’s official investigation concluded that the battery was the source of the Note7 fires.

Samsung claims to have recovered 98 percent of the 3.16 million Note7 units that were previously sold, and of those devices it got back, 200,000 were reportedly used in experiments that led to the identification of the battery as the source of the company’s woes. Now Samsung has about 2.5 million Note7 devices left on its hands, leading to the smartphone maker’s decision to modify, fix, and resell as many as possible.

Although the company hopes to further prevent loss following the Note7 recall, it has been estimated that the smartphone’s recall cost Samsung $2.3 billion. To further make up for that disaster, the company has begun looking to the future and new reports suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S8, and perhaps a larger-screened Galaxy S8+, will officially be unveiled on March 29 at an event in New York City (via Ars Technica).

After that unveiling, the smartphone will go on sale on April 21. The Galaxy S8 will include a number of feature additions that are also rumored for the iPhone 8, like a bezel-free display and no home button. Following in the footsteps of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the new Samsung smartphone will lack a headphone jack as well.

Update: Samsung has spoken to Gadgets 360 claiming that the report of a refurbished Galaxy Note7 relaunch in India is false: “The report on Samsung planning to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in India is incorrect.” The company specifically mentions only India in its statement, so it’s unclear whether or not the modified Note7 devices might appear in other markets.

Tag: Samsung
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