Galaxy S8 could have pressure-sensitive on-screen keys

Report from Korea suggests GS8’s virtual home key will be pressure-sensitive — and the Note 8 may take things even further.

Tucked away in an iPhone-related report from Korean outlet The Investor are a few interesting details about how Samsung will handle the transition from physical buttons to virtual keys in its own upcoming flagship. The site reports that, as the sole supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone 8, Samsung Display is working on integrating a sensor for 3D Touch into the panel. That’s not unexpected, nor would pressure sensitivity in an OLED phone screen be a new thing — Huawei has been doing that since 2015’s Mate S.

But the article also lets slip that Samsung’s mobile arm may be implementing a similar technology in a part of the Galaxy S8’s display — specifically the portion around the home screen.

And citing sources, The Investor says the Galaxy Note 8 may adopt pressure sensitivity for the entire display. (A phone which may well make it to market before Apple’s next iPhone, if previous years are any indicator.) Samsung has been rumored to introduce pressure sensitivity in its phone screens since the first rumors of 3D Touch emerged, but now the timing may finally be right.

The use of pressure-sensitive software keys on the Galaxy S8 would answer a few major usability questions. Firstly, removing the physical home key would eliminate the one really easy way to power on the phone while it’s lying flat. A combination of Samsung’s existing Always-On Display tech and a pressure-sensitive home key on the screen would fill this gap, allowing GS8 owners to simply press on the screen and get some kind of haptic feedback.

Sure enough, an Always-On Display with a virtual home key has been seen in some of the recently leaked GS8 photos, like the one on the right.

One piece of the puzzle Samsung’s missing is Apple’s legendary haptics.

This setup would be similar to what Apple will have to engineer to translate the iPhone 7’s Taptic Engine-powered non-clicky home button onto the display itself. The key component that Samsung appears to lack, however, is Apple’s advanced haptic system.

The dream solution would be to implement a fingerprint scanner into the display alongside all that stuff, something which was reportedly scrapped in the GS8 at the last minute. But with more advanced pressure-sensing tech tipped for the Note 8, there’s every chance that Samsung will want to get the entire package — virtual keys, pressure sensitivity and fingerprint — into the screen.

Consider that the Note 8 is also rumored to feature Samsung’s first 4K AMOLED panel, and it’s easy to see how the next Note could bring several technological breakthroughs.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

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• Galaxy S8 announcement coming March 29 in NYC
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Nokia 8 said to be mid-ranger, will be joined by Nokia 7 but flagship yet to come

HMD Global is moving on apace with its roll out of Nokia-branded Android phones, with two reportedly to follow the four revealed at the Mobile World Congress trade show last month.

There have been plenty of rumours about a flagship Nokia 8 model (also referred to the Nokia 9 or Nokia P1) but it is now said that the 8 model will actually be a top mid-ranger instead. And it will be joined by another in that area, a Nokia 7.

Nokia Power User claims that its sources say the phones will come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processors, which would certainly put them in the mid rather that high-range. However, while the Nokia 7 is said to come with a 1080p Full HD display, the Nokia 8 is likely to have a QHD (2560 x 1440) equivalent.

They will each come with unibody metallic designs, it is said.

• Nokia 8 flagship Android phone: Release date, rumours and specs
• Nokia 6 preview: A solid start for the new Android Nokia
• This is the new Nokia 3310
• Nokia 3310 vs Nokia 3310: What’s the difference 17 years on?

The camera design will be different to the already announced Nokia 6, bezels will be thinner and there are claims that they will sport fast charging and fingerprint sensors.

All this leaves the possibility that a flagship phone will also be forthcoming, maybe the Nokia 9 or P1 as previously suggested.

Of course, none of the names floating about are definite anyway. We shall see in the coming months as HMD Global will allegedly release six to seven phones in 2017 in total.

Chrome 57 will throttle background tabs to save energy

If you use Chrome as a primary browser, you’ll know that it can be a resource hog that eats up too much battery. The browser’s latest version was designed to solve that issue by throttling background tabs using excessive power. According to the Chromium blog, background tabs are responsible for one-third of Chrome’s power usage on computers, so keeping them in check will minimize the browser’s impact.

Chrome’s Page visibility API checks tabs after 10 seconds in the background. The new feature will leave tabs playing audio or maintaining WebSockets or WebRTC connections alone, since the API considers them to be in the foreground. However, it minimizes all the tabs the API considers to be in the background unless it’s absolutely necessary to run them at full capacity.

The Chrome team says this new mechanism can lead to 25 percent fewer busy background tabs. Since their goal is fully suspend those tabs, though, their work is far from done. Chrome 57 has been out for a few days now. You can download it anytime, especially if you’re always on the go and would like to limit Chrome’s impact on your laptop.

Source: Chromium Blog

Twitter accounts hacked to push #NaziHollanda message

In a near-repeat of a hack last November, large numbers of Twitter users are suddenly pushing a disturbing spam message. This one is written in Turkish and appears to target Holland with a “#NaziHollanda” or “#Nazialmanya” hashtag, but just like last time, the source appears to be a third party service called Twitter Counter.

Twitter accounts for Forbes and actress Sarah Shahi are among those affected, but so far we’re not seeing any phishing activity. It’s just the same tweet over and over again with a pro-Erdogan (the president of Turkey) message and YouTube video attached. One difference from last time is that instead of solely targeting high profile accounts, the people behind this attack are focusing on numbers, with hundreds of tweets flowing out every few minutes.

As usual, this is a good time to double check your account and any third party apps or services — you can find instructions on how to do that here — you may have connected to it. If they get hacked, then you get hacked, and no one needs that. Once you’re done with that, we’d also recommend making sure you use a unique password and have two-factor authentication enabled, just to be thorough. We have attempted to contact Twitter Counter and The Next Web owner Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten once again and will update this post if there is a response.

Update: van Zanten confirmed Twitter Counter is working to resolve the issue, and as of 4:19AM ET, the tweets have stopped, although they’re still visible on many compromised accounts, including that of Amnesty International and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure.

卐 #Nazialmanya👌#Nazihollanda
Bu size ufakbir👋#OSMANLITOKADI#16Nisan da görüşmek üzere
Nemi yazdım🇹🇷Türkçe ÖĞREN #RThttps://t.co/1KDZWv6YK6

— Blockchain (@blockchain) March 15, 2017

We’re aware that our service was hacked and have started an investigation into the matter.We’ve already taken measures to contain such abuse

— TheCounter (@thecounter) March 15, 2017

Source: Twitter Search, Twitter Support

Finding the perfect soundtrack with Google Home is a bit easier

Paralysis of choice is a real problem, and to help mitigate it, Google has updated the app formerly known as Chromecast. Next time you open Google Home, you’ll see a new “Listen” tab at top of your device’s screen. A post on The Keyword blog says that the idea is to pull in curated playlists from apps like Google Play Music and Spotify into one place so you always have the perfect soundtrack to beam to your connected speakers. Fewer choices, more freedom. Pandora and the semi-redundant YouTube Music apps are pulled into the fray as well. All told, it’s a minor update, but it shows Google’s ambitions for the app: becoming a hub for all your digital media needs.

Via: 9to5 Google

Source: The Keyword

HomeKit-Enabled Smart Homes For Sale in San Jose, California

With Apple known to be partnering with various building companies to integrate its HomeKit platform into new houses, one journalist yesterday was invited by KB Home to check out the company’s latest HomeKit-enabled development in San Jose, California.

KRON4 tech reporter Gabe Slate’s peek inside one of the smart houses demonstrates the extent of the HomeKit integration, which costs $2500 per house and includes a number of HomeKit-enabled smart devices.

Using just their iPad or iPhone, the homeowner is able to control the Kwikset lock on the front door, adjust room temperature via the Ecobee thermostat, adjust the Philips Hue lighting around the house, and lower and raise Lutron shades in the various rooms.

Meanwhile in the living room, the homeowner is able to control the fans in the rooms upstairs using the Siri Remote on an Apple TV, and activate a movie watching mode that dims the lights and brings down the blinds.

KB Home has offered home automation as an option in its houses for about 10 years, but before Apple’s entry into the smart home space with HomeKit, homeowners typically had to use a different app for each smart product in the houses.

“In some respects, what KB Home is doing makes sense,” said IDC researcher Jonathan Gaw, speaking to The Mercury News. “It’s much easier to have some smart home products like light switches installed by a home builder when a house is constructed. Also, rolling the costs for those products into the home mortgage allows home buyers to more easily afford them upfront — and helps builders sell a higher priced home.”

The convenience of smart home integration could be a big draw for a new generation of tech-savvy homeowners. Some of KB Home’s houses have USB chargers built into the power outlets, for example. However, Gaw warns of the risk of obsolescence hitting a still nascent industry.

“It”s not clear yet exactly what products consumers will really want or use or even what smart home product companies will be around in five or ten years,” he said. “Customers may find in six months or a couple years that they don’t use the products they have or that they’re defunct or no longer supported.”

Last week, German pre-fabricated home company WeberHaus announced plans to support HomeKit in its SmartHomes starting in 2017, making it the first homebuilder in Europe to officially support Apple’s home automation system.

Tag: HomeKit
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5 Ways to Save on Photo Printing at Home

With the advent of digital photography, most people don’t need to go out and have a roll of film developed at a photo shop anymore. They can simply print out the photos they’ve taken using their desktop computer and printer at home. However, when printing multiple pictures, it can get quite expensive.

So how can you save on printing photos at home without sacrificing quality? Here are some tips:

1. Always Check All Print Settings First

One of the simplest ways to save on printing is to avoid creating misprints. Keep in mind that it’s not enough to simply check Print Preview before hitting the Print button. It’s a great habit  to also check all printer settings before printing, as some configurations may conflict or override the program itself. Make it a habit to check the Printer Properties option to make sure all settings are in sync.

2. Switch to Generic Replacements

If you have a Canon or HP printer, you don’t necessarily have to buy branded photo paper. There are many generic brands out there that offer the same quality as their name-brand counterparts. The same goes for printer ink, as people can opt for remanufactured or compatible ink cartridges instead of buying cartridges made by original equipment manufacturers. Remanufactured printer cartridges are high-quality cartridges recycled from used ones, while compatible cartridges are newly manufactured cartridges that are considerably more affordable than name-brand ones.

3. Print Drafts on Copy Paper

Photo paper is more expensive than regular paper, and for good reason—it’s thicker and heavier than plain old bond paper. However, if you just want to make sure that the photo you’re printing is just in the right size or is properly aligned, you can use copy paper first. Then just switch to photo paper once the drafts are good.

4. Print Only One at a Time

If you’re printing multiple copies of a single photo, you have to take your time to avoid misprints. After all, home printers aren’t built to continuously print out hundreds of photos. They may not be able to handle printing many copies one after another, leading to paper jams and lots of wasted ink. So, if you’re printing many pictures, just take it slow and keep an eye on the printer.

5. Try DIY Ink Refills

If you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, you can try refilling your old, empty cartridges with fresh ink. While this is the cheapest way to get printer ink, it’s also the trickiest, as the refilling process differs from cartridge to cartridge. And if done incorrectly, the refilled cartridge can even ruin your printer. While this method can help you save lots of money in the long run, only attempt this if you’re confident enough in your abilities.

These five tips are just some of the ways you can save money on printing photos at home. By following them, not only will you get to enjoy the convenience of not having to visit a print shop just to have a single image printed. You’ll also get to save a bit of money from every print.

Xiaomi’s Yeelight Wi-Fi bulb offers Hue quality at less than half the cost

The Yeelight LED bulb is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable smart lighting solution.

Xiaomi made its name by selling budget phones that offered great value for money, and the company is taking the same approach to connected devices. That’s especially true of the $20 Yeelight LED bulbs, which offer a experience similar to that of Hue bulbs at a fraction of the cost.

A great quality product for half the price of a Hue setup.

One of the main selling points about the Yeelight LED bulbs is that they don’t require a hub to connect to your Wi-Fi network, unlike Hue. Just hook up the bulbs to an E27 socket, and install the Yeelight app to get started with connecting the bulbs to your Wi-Fi network. The lack of a hub means that to get started with three Yeelight bulbs, you’ll have to shell out $60, less than half of the $150 retail price of a Hue starter kit.

Once the initial setup is done, you’ll be able to use your phone to control the lights, including setting a scheduler to automatically turn them on or off, adjusting the intensity and brightness of the lights, and much more. There are preset scenes available from the Yeelight app, and you can also pick a color by uploading a photo from your phone’s gallery.

You can adjust the colors by sliding left or right in the app, and the intensity by sliding up and down anywhere on the screen. The app also offers options for a mode called Flow, which cycles through a set of colors. Color temperature of the Yeelight bulb ranges from 1700K to 6500K, and you can control multiple lights from the app simultaneously.

The lights get fairly bright as you increase the color temperature, but you’ll be able to get that with the standard white variant of the bulbs. The RGB version is all about the colors, and it shines in that regard.

The lights are available on Amazon in the U.S., but they don’t officially work in the country — yet. The Yeelight bulbs are designed for 220V outlets, and running them on a 110v results in the bulbs not connecting to Wi-Fi. You’ll need to get a 110V to 240V converter to get these working in the U.S.

Unfortunately, these bulbs don’t official work in North America. Yet.

The Yeelight ecosystem is still in its nascent stages, but it has picked up IFTTT support at the end of last year, and Xiaomi added Alexa integration a few days ago. You’ll have to switch to the Singapore server from the Yeelight app to be able to connect to Alexa, but once you do, you should be able to use your Echo or Echo Dot to control the Yeelight bulbs.

Alexa control is limited to turning the lights on and off as well as controlling the brightness. As of now, there’s no option to change the color of the lights with your voice. There’s also no mention regarding Google Assistant compatibility.

That said, the Yeelight LED bulb costs just $20, and is on sale all week for $17 at GearBest. Its affordability gives it a distinct edge, and the amount of features — even accounting for lack of Assistant support — makes it an enticing option if you’re looking to get started with smart home tech.

See at GearBest

Now Roombas check in with ‘Clean Map’ reports to your phone

How do you know if your Roomba has cleaned every inch of your floor? If you have one of the wirelessly connected series 900 Roombas, you’ll start getting “Clean Map” reports through the iRobot Home app for Android and iOS. The machines now map the parts of your home they’ve cleaned by combining adaptive navigation with visual localization. You’ll get those maps as part of the new reports, along with how much time the Roomba spent vacuuming and what the dirtiest parts of your house are. The app can now also send you push notifications on the robot’s cleaning status.

Series 900 Roombas will soon be able to obey Alexa commands, as well. Sometime in the second quarter of this year, you’ll be able to start, stop and pause the vacuuming robots by speaking to the Amazon assistant. All you have to do is issue simple voice commands, such as “Alexa, ask Roomba to begin cleaning” to activate or deactivate the machine.

Source: iRobot

Energizer’s Xbox One battery charger recalled for burn hazard

Faulty parts in tech devices have always threatened a particularly explosive calamity, but the last year has seen recalls for a bizarre range of devices that set themselves on fire. Top of the list: HP laptop batteries, Samsung’s washing machines and 2016’s biggest fail punchline, the Note 7. The latest device to get a recall notice is Energizer’s double controller battery rechargers for the Xbox One, which is reportedly overheating so badly that it’s melted the plastic casing on a few dozen units.

Luckily, no injuries have been reported — yet. But with 24 accounts of deformed plastic and six reports of a burning odor, a Consumer Product Safety Commission notice has been sent to recall 121,000 units with the serial number 048-052-NA. The creators of the recharge unit, Performance Designed Products, are giving a full refund. Even if you have a different-numbered model, it would be wise to keep an eye (and nose) open on the charger. Just in case.

Via: MS Power User

Source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission