Honor 8 Pro with Kirin 960 and dual cameras is now on sale in the UK

Honor’s 2017 flagship is now on sale in the UK for £475.

The Honor 8 Pro is now available on vMall for £475. The phone features a 5.7-inch QHD display, Huawei’s latest HiSilicon Kirin 960 SoC with four 2.4GHz Cortex A73 cores and four 1.8GHz Cortex A53 cores along with a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, 6GB of RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, and a 4000mAh battery.

The phone has a dual 12MP camera setup at the back, along with an 8MP shooter up front. On the software front, the Honor 8 Pro is running EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat. Oh, and the packaging morphs into a Google Cardboard-style VR headset.

Honor 8 Pro review: Killer flagship

The Honor 8 Pro is now available on vMall for £475, and will go up for sale on Amazon UK shortly. Deliveries kick off from April 27, and those ordering the phone will receive a tripod selfie stick for free. Honor is also running a trade-in promotion through which you can send in your old device and receive vMall vouchers equivalent to its current value or cash back. If you’re interested, you can find all the details here.

See at vMall

Audi e-tron Sportback is an all-electric A7 on stilts

Audi has unveiled its new e-tron Sportback concept at the Shanghai Motor Show, which will be the German car manufacturer’s second all-electric vehicle, following the release of the e-tron Quattro SUV due in 2018.

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Due to be released in 2019, the e-tron Sportback has its sights firmly set on the Jaguar I-Pace SUV and will use the same powertrain as the Q6 e-Tron. The body of the e-tron Sportback looks a bit like the Audi A7 saloon, and Audi itself acknowledges that itself by saying it is aimed at buyers who like the look of the A7, but “want a more commanding view of the road”. You certainly will get a commanding view, as the e-tron Sportback sits on 23-inch alloys.

Audi has fitted the e-tron Sportback with three motors, one to power the front wheels and two for the rear. The maximum power output from all three combined is 496bhp and 590lb ft of torque, which is enough to propel the Sportback from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 131mph.

The help save energy, only the front motor is used in normal driving conditions, with the rear two only being employed in low-grip and high-load conditions. However this can be overridden by the driver, where all permanent all-wheel drive can be enabled.

As with some other electric vehicles, all three motors on the e-tron Sportback can recover energy under braking, and the amount of energy they can recover can be set with four different levels.

Audi

The e-tron Sportback uses 95kwh batteries that can be wirelessly charged at home using an AC charger or a DC fast charger, which by the time the Sportback is released, will be capable of reaching 150kWh charging speeds. This will means the Sportback can be charged to 80 per cent in 30 minutes. Audi says a full charge will give a driving range of 311 miles.

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Audi’s Virtual Cockpit dashboard will feature in the e-tron Sportback but will add touch sensitive surfaces and a larger wraparound design. There are two touchscreens in the centre console with haptic feedback, and the passenger even gets their own slim digital display.

Audi says several different versions of the e-Tron Sportback will be produced, but has yet to disclose any rough ideas of price, but Autocar predicts the Sportback will start at around £60,000.

This is the future of F1: Renault R.S. 2027 Vision concept looks stunning

This season’s Formula One cars are the most advanced yet and already look futuristic and tech-laden, but Renault predicts that, in 10 years time, things will take more of a turn towards the sorts of vehicles only found in games.

The Renault R.S. 2027 Vision F1 concept was unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2017, the massive Chinese car show and it gives a glimpse at some of the technologies we could see in the sport in the not-so-distant future.

The company claims it would place drivers more firmly at the “heart of the sport”, with a transparent cockpit and, even, transparent helmet design. That way the driver him or herself could be seen more clearly.

Renault

Active LED lighting would be incorporated into the wheels and moving aerodynamic parts to give the car a better visual appeal. It’d look especially cool during night races, that’s for sure.

It would be more ecologically respectful, with a fuel tank half the size of current F1 cars. There would also be a battery on board to switch to a full-electric mode when travelling through the pit lane.

Drivers would benefit from four-wheel drive and even four-wheel steering. And fans could get real-time telemetry data transmitted to their portable devices. At present, this is restricted to the teams themselves.

Races would also be safer, with autonomous driving modes activating in all cars in the case of an accident ahead. Plus, ultra-resistant polycarbonate cockpits could protect further against impact.

This is all just in the design phase at present, but innovation in F1 is always welcome. And who knows, if we head down this path maybe WipEout-style races aren’t as far fetched as previously thought.

The Morning After: Thursday, April 20th 2017

Hey, good morning!

Google getting into the ad-blocking business? A SNES Mini console? A Sony camera built for pros? It’s as if all the good news has come at once. Come join us for the last 24 hours in tech.

Whoa.
Is Google about to get into the ad blocking business?

A Wall Street Journal rumor indicates that Google Chrome will soon come with ad-blocking capabilities built-in. While that may seem like a strange move from what is essentially an advertising company, the blocker would likely target annoying ads that aren’t like the ones Google itself runs. By shutting down ads that autoplay with audio, pop-ups, or full-screen countdown timers, Google could keep users from using add-ons or other browsers to block all ads (including its own.) If it happens, however, the outcry from competitors and regulators could be loud.

An N64 Classic would be interesting.Nintendo rumor points to SNES mini later this year

Nintendo just announced that its throwback NES Classic Edition machines will abruptly fade out, so what comes next? According to a rumor from Eurogamer, a miniature SNES. It certainly could make sense for nostalgia’s sake, as the console was home to many iconic games. Here’s hoping that this one comes true and that this time around Nintendo remembers to include wireless controllers and downloadable games.

Facebook’s Spaces is fine as a VR tech demo, but….
I don’t want to live inside Facebook’s vision for social VR

Facebook Spaces was announced at the social network’s F8 conference as a way of blending social media and virtual reality. If you own an Oculus Rift (and Touch controllers), you and four friends can enter a virtual world and hang out together. Unfortunately, hanging out mostly constitutes of chatting, taking “selfies*” and enjoying the virtual world around you. Oh, and it’s not you, per se, but a cartoon caricature that you control. For Senior Editor Dan Cooper, that’s not the social VR experience he’s looking for.

Wait, that’s possible?
Remembering the first ‘photo’ of a black hole

Black holes are so outlandish that the scientists who first thought them up figured they couldn’t possibly exist in reality. They form from massive, collapsed stars and are so dense that nothing can escape their gravitational pull, including light. Black holes mess with spacetime so badly that scientists have long wondered: How do these things look, exactly? We may be on the cusp of seeing one thanks to the Event Horizon Telescope, but back in 1979, Jean-Pierre Luminet created the first “image” using nothing but an early computer, lots of math and India ink.

“The age of the DSLR being the kingpin is over.”
Sony hopes its full-frame A9 makes pros forget about DSLRs

Sony’s new flagship full-frame camera, the A9, is geared toward professional photographers — especially those who shoot sports and other fast-paced environments. The A9 features a 24.2-megapixel 35mm sensor, an insane AF system with 639 phase detection points (93 percent frame coverage) and built-in 5 axis image stabilization. Given its target audience, the A9 is naturally all about speed, so you’ll find a blackout-free, 20fps continuous shooting mode and 1/32,000 shutter speed. Sony says it is its fastest digital camera to date. It’s also “half the size and weight” of the DSLRs it wants to dethrone, like Canon’s 5D Mark IV or Nikon’s D5.

They’re designed to produce more immersive content.
Facebook’s new 360 cameras bring exploration to live videos

404d4b1e2fea”>Last year, Facebook announced the Surround 360, a 360-degree camera that can capture footage in 3D and then render it online via specially designed software. But it wasn’t for sale. Instead, the company used it as a reference design for others to create 3D 360 content, even going so far as to open source it on Github later that summer. As good as the camera was, though, it still didn’t deliver the full VR experience. That’s why Facebook is introducing two more 360-degree cameras at this year’s F8: the x24 and x6. The difference: These cameras can shoot in six degrees of freedom, offering a degree of freedom we’ve not really had in immersive video.

Samsung says it has an easy fix.
Early Galaxy S8 owners complain of red-tinted screens

Samsung started shipping the Galaxy S8 to customers in South Korea who pre-ordered the flagship phone almost a full week ago. They were probably thinking of how lucky they were to get the phone early, until some of them noticed something off about their screen. According to multiple reports posted on Korean forums like PPOMPPU and social networks like Instagram, some S8 units’ displays have a very noticeable reddish tint.

But wait, there’s more…

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Apple Maps now lists UK EV chargers and public bikes

As Apple turns to laser-mounted minivans and even drones to improve the accuracy of its Maps app, the company also regularly introduces useful points of interest for iOS users. As Bloomberg reports, the iPhone maker has added new data points that will help UK electric vehicle owners find nearby charging stations and hook Londoners up with a bike.

With help from Moovility, an EV mapping service owned by German company Cirrantic, Apple has been integrating electric charging stations from across Europe and Canada since early February. US users have enjoyed similar functionality thanks to a partnership with ChargePoint.

Users can tap the EV Charger badge inside the app to view local power points and learn more about what they offer, including power, usage and available parking. It lists public charging spots, but also locations operated by major car makers like Nissan and Tesla.

The locations of public bicycle pick-up and drop-off points are now live in the app for Londoners, as well as in New York and Paris, helping locals navigate around the capital via a greener means of transport.

With the new update, Apple appears to have covered the major modes of transport. In December, transit directions by bus, train and tram were added across major UK cities, including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh and many other regions in England, Scotland and Wales.

Source: Bloomberg

Microsoft is replacing Wunderlist with a new To-Do app

Wunderlist is evolving. At least, that’s how the Microsoft-bought team is putting the news that the list and task management app is headed for retirement. Not yet, though. In its place, Microsoft is announcing To-Do Preview, its early version of Wunderlist’s spiritual successor that’s already packing some improvements. It’s available on iPhones, Android and web browsers now.

“My Day” will offer you a clean slate every… day. You can then attach unfinished list items by tapping on a lightbulb in the corner. To-Do’s “intelligent suggestions” will pull tasks from your old, existing and future lists, automagically prioritising those it deems most important.

To-Do will also include flexible reminders that you can bake in to recur on weekdays, Monday mornings, whenever you need ’em. While Wunderlist won’t be getting any new features and will eventually be sunsetted later this year, the team plans to incorporate users’ suggestions and feedback before Microsoft switches to To-Do. (It’s already built an importer tool to move your tasks across from Wunderlist and Todoist.)

It’s not a complete substitute for Wunderlist just yet: sharing lists is a feature that’s apparently in the works, and the app will also eventually land in Mac, iPad and Android tablet editions too. For now, you can play on the mostly phone-based preview starting today.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Wunderlist

MasterCard Reveals Credit Card With Built-In Fingerprint Sensor

MasterCard today unveiled a biometric chip-and-pin credit card featuring a built-in fingerprint sensor that takes cues from mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay.

The card can be used to make purchases like any other, except rather than keying in a PIN number, card holders can choose to place their finger over the square sensor to approve the transaction.

Alternatively, users can take a two-tier authentication approach and use both their PIN and fingerprint to approve the purchase. However, users of the card won’t have the convenience or security that comes with registering their print with their smartphone.

With Apple Pay, fingerprint data is encrypted and protected with a key available only to the Secure Enclave on the user’s iPhone. The Secure Enclave is walled off from the rest of the hardware and the OS, meaning iOS and other apps never have access to user fingerprint data, it’s never stored on Apple servers, and never backed up to iCloud or anywhere else.

The biometric credit card has no such protections. Instead, the user must register their print with the bank or financial institution that issued the card, and while the fingerprint is encrypted on the card itself, it’s still unclear what security and privacy measures are in place to deal with the registration process.

Despite those concerns, Mastercard’s chief of safety and security, Ajay Bhalla, said that the fingerprint technology was “not something that can be taken or replicated”, and that the biometric card would help “to deliver additional convenience and security”.

MasterCard plans to roll out the cards in Europe and the Asia Pacific region soon, following successful tests in South Africa through Barclays subsidiary Absa and supermarket Pick n Pay.

Tags: Touch ID, MasterCard
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Aircharge Announces Wireless iPhone Charging Case for BMW iDrive Ecosystem

Aircharge and BMW have teamed up to offer a customized wireless charging case for iPhones to take advantage of the new in-car wireless system that debuted in the BMW 5 Series Sedan earlier this year.

The BMW 5 Series Sedan was one of the first cars to include wireless CarPlay support, allowing iPhones to integrate with the BMW iDrive ecosystem over Bluetooth instead of a Lightning cable. In-car phone wireless charging is also standard in the 6 and 7 series and available as an option on the rest of the range.

Integrating the smartphone into the vehicle’s system allows the iPhone to be operated directly via the screen in the car, the iDrive Touch Controller, voice commands or gestures, avoiding potential distractions whilst at the wheel.

Given that heavy usage of apps, navigation and music can drain a battery at the end of a drive, the addition of wireless charging solves this issue by keeping the device fully powered while in operation.

With Apple yet to launch a smartphone with the wireless charging function integrated into its hardware, the German carmaker worked with Aircharge to design the case to add on the capabilities and bring the convenience of wireless charging to BMW owners.

The case features a hard shell to protect the phone and a tactile finish, along with a total black look, and has engraved the BMW Group’s branding on the front and back.

All Aircharge case models carry the official ‘Made for iPhone’ MFi certification by Apple and are also certified to the global wireless charging standard Qi. The Aircharge case is currently available for iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 5, 5s and SE models and can be purchased through BMW’s online retail stores as well as high street shops.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: BMW
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CarPlay Scores 85% Customer Satisfaction Rate in Limited Study

iPhone owners are largely satisfied with Apple’s CarPlay, according to a new report from market research firm Strategy Analytics.

The report is available to Strategy Analytics clients only, but author Chris Schreiner shared some of his findings with MacRumors.

31 percent of users said they were “very satisfied” with CarPlay, while 54 percent said they were “satisfied,” for an overall customer satisfaction rate of 85 percent. However, the report only looked at 70 owners of 2016-2017 vehicles with CarPlay installed in the United States, which is a rather small sample size.

43 percent of those users are “very likely” to recommend CarPlay to others, while 37 percent are “likely” to recommend it, said Strategy Analytics. Those with CarPlay were likely to use it for “all or most” of their in-car infotainment needs, often in favor of their vehicle’s standard system, according to the report.

70 percent of participants with both CarPlay and a built-in navigation system in their car said they choose CarPlay with Apple Maps most or all of the time over their vehicle’s standard system. 59 percent of the people said they use CarPlay for audio needs most or all of the time over their vehicle’s radio.

“Given Apple’s continued updates to CarPlay enhancing the experience further, and car-makers’ inability to do the same along with their long development times, CarPlay is poised to handle the vast majority of consumers’ in-vehicle needs,” said Schreiner, Director of Syndicated Research at Strategy Analytics.

While customer satisfaction with CarPlay might be strong, Apple’s in-car software platform is far from perfect.

Last month, a side-by-side test of CarPlay and Android Auto showed Siri was often unable to properly interpret what the driver was saying, which in one case led Apple Maps to incorrectly navigate him to an address in Tennessee rather than Toronto. Android Auto, meanwhile, interpreted voice commands correctly.

Video courtesy of YouTube channel The Straight Pipes via Daring Fireball
CarPlay continues to improve in other areas. In iOS 10.3, for example, Apple provided drivers with a quicker and safer way to switch between apps without having to take their eyes off the road for long periods of time. Wireless CarPlay is also now available in select BMW models, or with Alpine’s aftermarket system.

Apple is also rumored to be working on “enhanced” Siri capabilities for the iPhone, and those improvements would likely extend to CarPlay.

CarPlay is now available in over 200 vehicle models in the United States, enabling drivers to make and receive calls, access text messages, play music, get directions, check traffic conditions, and more with Siri voice commands and on-screen controls. The platform requires an iPhone 5 or newer.

Aftermarket systems are available from brands such as Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer for do-it-yourself CarPlay installations.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: Strategy Analytics
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R.I.P. PINs, your credit cards could soon have fingerprint sensors built in

With new credit and debit cards more featuring contactless payment chips more often than not these days, you might not have used your PIN code for purchases for a while. However, a large number of retailers still require a PIN for payments over £30 so you still need to use your number at times and there are still plenty of stores that don’t accept contactless payments at all.

Mastercard may have come up with a solution. It has added a fingerprint sensor to a concept card it is currently trialling in South Africa.

Not only could it abolish PIN codes, but it should also improve security – after all, nobody can peek over your shoulder and copy your fingerprint. Illegal card replication would also be far harder considering the user would need your fingerprint to use a copied card – even if such a thing was possible.

Mastercard

The card itself works like a chip card, so can be used in existing card terminals in stores. You enter the card into the terminal, press your finger on the sensor and the payment is approved.

It will also help those who forget PIN codes easily.

The card currently being trialled does not come with contactless payment technology, but a further model with NFC is also in the works.

Further trials are planned for Europe and Asia in the coming months and, if successful, we could even see consumer versions starting to appear later this year.