All Three 2017 iPhones Predicted to Have 3GB of RAM and Lightning Connectors With Faster Charging

All three of Apple’s rumored 2017 iPhone models will likely have 3GB of RAM, according to Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri.

An excerpt from Arcuri’s late March research note, obtained by MacRumors:

In terms of memory/storage configuration, all three models will likely adopt 3GB RAM; the 4.7”/5.5” will likely have the same storage options as the current iPhone 7/7+ in 32/128/256GB while the 5.8” model looks to be only offered in two memory configurations: 64GB and 256GB. Finally, the 5.8” model will likely have extended battery life with two packs of batteries.

Arcuri’s research contradicts Taiwanese research firm TrendForce, which recently said that only the next 5.5-inch iPhone and Apple’s rumored 5.8-inch iPhone with an OLED display will have 3GB of RAM. TrendForce said the next 4.7-inch iPhone will continue to have 2GB of RAM like the iPhone 7.

Apple already includes 3GB of RAM in the iPhone 7 Plus, so the 4.7-inch iPhone would be the only model with increased RAM.

If the prediction is accurate, it’s welcomed news for customers that plan on purchasing the next 4.7-inch iPhone, rather than spending upwards of $200 more on the so-called “iPhone 8” with an edge-to-edge OLED display.

Increased RAM means an iPhone can store more data in memory. If you have dozens of tabs open in Safari on an older iPhone, for example, you may notice that some of the tabs refresh when you revisit them. But with increased RAM, the likelihood of Safari reloading a website you previously loaded is lower.

Arcuri also corroborated KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in saying that all three 2017 iPhone models will continue to have Lightning connectors with USB Type-C Power Delivery for faster charging.

Cowen’s research is based on his own checks of Apple’s supply chain, so his prediction lends credence to the already-reliable Kuo.

The Wall Street Journal previously said the “iPhone 8” will have “a USB-C port for the power cord and other peripheral devices instead of the company’s original Lightning connector.” But the report did not provide any additional details, and it appears the Lightning connector will live on.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: Timothy Arcuri, Cowen and Company, Lightning, RAM
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Motorola Announces i710 Mobile Phone

From Motorola’s press release:

Motorola, Inc. today announced the Motorola i710, a new mobile device designed to appeal to small and medium sized business owners desiring a more affordable, user-friendly handset for their workforces. Sleek and stylish without being complicated, the Motorola i710 flip phone offers Motorola’s iDEN push-to-talk technology, enabling users to communicate instantly at the touch of a button.

“The Motorola i710 mobile phone is an economical, yet feature-rich solution allowing users to stay connected like never before,“ said Rey More’, senior vice president and general manager, Motorola’s iDEN Subscriber Group. “The Motorola i710 can enable users to work more efficiently through many user-friendly features our customers have come to expect.â€

These features include:

Java technology business applications GPS technology, allowing users to track fleets, simplify routes, and obtain the quickest directions mobile messaging services, giving users convenient, one-screen access to voice mail messages, text messages and quick notes brilliant internal color display datebook 600-entry contacts list integrated speakerphone voice dialing voice recorder wait and pause dialing for quicker access to telephone systems with passwords

The Motorola i710 weighs 5.06 ounces and measures 3.67 x 2.04 x 1.08 inches. It is available through Nextel Communications and Southern LINC in the United States.

For more details and specifications, visit Motorola’s Website.

Samsung reportedly has a foldable, dual-screen smartphone in the works

Why it matters to you

A foldable smartphone could be like a tablet small enough to fit into your pocket.

Samsung may have just announced the Galaxy S8, but the Seoul, South Korea-based company may have something better up its sleeve. That’s according to ET News and The Investor, which reported on Wednesday that Samsung will begin to produce a limited number of dual-screen smartphone prototypes this year.

Work has reportedly begun in earnest. The design will feature a pair of flexible 5-inch, nearly bezel-less OLED displays joined by a single hinge that can be folded 180 degrees. And Samsung’s developing software with multitasking features that take advantage of its unfolded, effective 10-inch resolution.

More: Samsung Galaxy X: Rumors and news leaks

The Investor speculates that it’s a preliminary version of the company’s long-rumored foldable smartphone, the Galaxy X.

The reports follow on the heels of Samsung’s Project Valley, an “early vision” of a foldable smartphone that featured a single flexible panel. It’s not a new idea — as The Verge points out, both NEC’s Medias W N-05E and the Kyocera Echo featured collapsing dual-screen designs. But it’s the first material effort from Samsung, which has long expressed its intention to build a foldable handset small enough to fit in a pocket.

Samsung plans to make between 2,000 and 3,000 units in the first half of 2017. According to The Investor, Samsung and its display-making arm Samsung Display have been accelerating development for a pilot test with “tens of thousands” of prototypes during the second half of this year.

More: Samsung patent for flexible screen suggests bendable device is on the way

But don’t hold your breath for a mass-market launch anytime soon. In April, Samsung Display’s principal engineer, Kim Tae-woong, said the company is currently focused on bezel-free displays. “Because the bezel-free display current sells well, we still have enough time to develop foldable displays,” Kim told The Verge. Samsung is pegging 2019 as the year it will commercialize foldable phones.

The comments were at odds with a Bloomberg report which claimed that Samsung would release two bendable smartphones: One that folded in half, and another with a 5-inch display that “unfurled” into a tablet-sized 8-inch panel. But one thing’s for certain: Samsung’s chasing rivals.

At an event in June 2016, Lenovo showed off a concept smartphone that uses a flexible screen and segmented body to converted from a watchband to a handset. And at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, LG Display showed off a prototype 18-inch screen that rolls up like a sheet of paper.

More: The Galaxy S8 is exciting, but Samsung’s rumored bendable phone sounds amazing

“Since foldable products draw the most attention in markets recently, it is important to understand demands and ideas regarding new UX through this prototype,” a source told ET News. “This is part of Samsung Electronics’ effort to introduce foldable Smartphones as ultra-premium products.”

Take your smartphone on the trail with this $10 Trianium Armtrek Pro armband

If you can’t imagine ever being away from your smartphone, the idea of going running or hiking without your favorite music probably sounds impossible. However, simply letting the cable on your earbuds or headphones dangle freely while on the move is a recipe for a headache — or even a damaged phone.

There’s a dizzying number of armbands on the market to hold your smartphone, many of which feature an array of pockets, pouches, mounts, and other gizmos. If you’re looking for a simple and affordable solution, this Trianium Armtrek Pro smartphone armband deal delivers at just $10 on Amazon.

More: Snap up the discontinued Polaroid Cube 1080p action camera for $58 on Amazon

The Armtrek Pro phone armband is resistant to water and moisture, and while you’re probably not going to take your smartphone swimming, you still want protection against sweat or rain when you’re outdoors. The pouch keeps your phone safe behind durable neoprene and a protective touch-sensitive screen cover that lets you use the touchscreen without having to stop and pull it out each time.

The flexible multi-size Velcro arm strap features two adjustment slots and is designed to fit any arm: Slip the strap through the first slot to size up to 8 to 11.5 inches, or the second for sizing 12 to 14 inches. The texture of the strap keeps the armband secure so it won’t slide around while you run. Located between the two slots is a handy pocket for storing your house key, and the phone compartment offers headphone jack and charging port cutouts.

Trianium’s Armtrek Pro phone armband is made to fit large smartphones like the iPhone 6, Samsung Note 7, LG G-series, and Samsung Galaxy phones. At just $10 from Amazon — an $11 discount off of its usual price — this smartphone armband deal comes just in time for warmer spring weather, when the great outdoors start calling.

$10 on Amazon

Report: The LG G6 could see 3D facial recognition in an upcoming update

Why it matters to you

Facial recognition appears to be the next great frontier in mobile technology, and LG’s system could be the first that allows you to use your face to make payments.

The LG G6 may already seem like yesterday’s news, given Samsung’s Galaxy S8 unveiling a few weeks ago. However, a report from The Korea Herald indicates LG may have something pretty big in store for its latest flagship.

The publication says LG will soon debut its own three-dimensional facial recognition tech in the G6 alongside its proprietary contactless payment system, LG Pay, and that both features could hit the market in the form of an update as early as June.

More: Everything you need to know about LG Pay

The tech was reportedly developed by a company known as Oez, and chosen because it appears to be a relatively resource-light solution that could be easily integrated into some of LG’s phones already on the market, like last year’s G5 and V20.

If this does come to pass, the South Korean tech firm will be the first to bring payment by facial recognition to the masses. Apple is reportedly working on its own system for the upcoming iPhone X, and Samsung has added facial recognition as a form of authentication for the Galaxy S8, though it cannot yet be used for payments.

In Samsung’s case, that’s probably for the best, as it was discovered shortly after the device’s reveal late last month that the Galaxy S8’s system could be fooled with a photo. For that reason, the Herald’s report claims that Oez and LG have instituted security measures to ensure that theirs is harder to crack.

Meanwhile, LG finally appears to be gearing up its long-rumored payment system for a June release. The company confirmed as much to Reuters in March, ending more than a year of speculation and missed deadlines. That said, its only surefire destination for the moment appears to be South Korea. It is unclear if LG Pay will ever see the light of day elsewhere in the world.

BlackBerry awarded $815 million in judgment against Qualcomm

Why it matters to you

Qualcomm’s chip monopoly reportedly edged out competition, inflating the prices of smartphones.

BlackBerry scored a big win on Wednesday against Qualcomm. A court awarded the Waterloo, Canada-based smartphone maker $815 million in refunded royalty payments stemming from a binding arbitration agreement, CNBC reports.

The specifics of the refund remain unclear — Qualcomm said it is for sales of “subscriber units” — but at the core of the dispute is licensing fees BlackBerry paid in advance to Qualcomm. The smartphone maker argued that an agreed-upon caps on royalties was never applied, and Qualcomm argued that the payments were nonrefundable.

More: Expect more smartwatches and wearables this year, Qualcomm executive says

Qualcomm, unsurprisingly, said it disagreed with the court’s ruling. But it acknowledged that it was binding and that it “[had] no impact on agreements with any other licensee,” a Qualcomm spokesperson said.

It’s the latest in a string of legal blows against Qualcomm. In January, the United States Federal Trade Commission sued the San Diego, California-based company for anti-competitive practices, accusing it of using its dominant market position to edge out competition. The FTC alleged that Qualcomm gave its partners two choices: Pay pricey royalties for the use of its patents or limit the sale of their devices to smaller markets.

The FTC said that Qualcomm abused standards-essential patents — patents that must be licensed at fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory rates — by refusing to license them directly to competing suppliers. The FTC characterized Qualcomm’s fees as “disproportionately high” relative to its competitors and it said that consumers ultimately paid the inflated prices.

More: Apple vs. Qualcomm: Everything you need to know

Apple later filed its own $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm (and subsequent suits in two other countries) over royalties for basic patents, claiming that Qualcomm forced it to pay excessive fees and withheld nearly $1 billion “as retaliation for responding truthfully to law [South Korean] enforcement agencies investigating them.”

“Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined,” Apple said in a statement.

It put the kibosh on competition. Qualcomm cut Apple a discount in exchange for agreeing not to source competitors’ wireless modems for five years. That reportedly hampered silicon giants like Intel, which for years have tried to break into the smartphone chip space.

More: Federal Trade Commission hits Qualcomm with a lawsuit over its licensing practices

In a statement, Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said that Apple had “intentionally mischaracterized” Qualcomm’s practices and has been “actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business” around the world. “We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple’s practices and a robust examination of the merits,” Rosenberg said.

This experimental carnival ride changes speed based on your heart rate and muscle tension

Why it matters to you

Want to ride an amusement park thrill ride that knows when you’re about to vomit, and slows down (or speeds up) accordingly? This artist/product designer has built one.

Most of us associate the term “biometrics” with different technologies for unlocking our phones, like Touch ID on the iPhone or facial recognition on the new Samsung Galaxy S8.

But in fact, the ability to gather body-based data (and then use smart algorithms to decipher it) has a host of intriguing applications — as Netherlands-based artist and product designer Daniël de Bruin is out to prove. De Bruin recently demonstrated this when he debuted an innovative art installation/medieval-style torture apparatus/amusement park ride called the Neurotransmitter 3000.

More: In Plymouth, U.K., movie watches you (and changes endings depending on your reaction)

“When I sit the machine, I put on three sensors: a heart rate sensor on my ear, a sensor that measures the muscle tension in my left arm, and one that measures my body temperature,” he told Digital Trends. “The data is then sent wirelessly to a computer for processing, and then relayed to the machine’s motor. When my heart rate is slow, the machine goes at full speed. When it increases, such as when I get nauseous or dizzy, the machine senses this and slows down.”

As you can see from the video, the vomit-inducing, 23-foot tall ride functions a bit like a more fearsome fairground wheel. One motor sends de Bruin in big vertical rotations, while a counterweighted seat rotates him as well. Basically, it’s the most literal type of feedback loop imaginable — or a feedback loop-in-a-loop-in-a-loop, if you want to get technical about it.

This month, de Bruin showed his creation off in public for the first time. “I’ve only done one exhibition so far, but that was 6 or 7 days, during which I did about 20 performances,” he continued. “I was dizzy all week, it was quite hard on my body.”

While de Bruin categorizes himself as an artist, he’s one of a growing number of artists who view themselves as having a strong connection with STEM subjects like engineering. “I view art and science as being very close together,” he said. “In both, you’re always trying to come up with new ideas and solutions. My work is really about art and science together.”

He also noted that he’s interested in developing the tech for industrial applications. “You could imagine this being used in amusement parks, for example,” he said. “It would be really cool to have people more connected with the rides they’re on. Based on their experiences, the rides could change.”

Just so long as we get to see someone else riding it before we have to get on!

Put some Spring in your step with these wallpapers!

April showers bring spring flowers.

Spring has been sprung, and Easter Sunday is coming — and so are the Monday-after candy sales! The world is showing the beauty of nature around us as the wildflowers bloom, the gardens grow, and the whole world outside your window seems to be green with new life. As most of us can’t spend these spring days frolicking in a field, we’ll have to get that burst of spring energy somewhere else — like our home screen. These wallpapers are sure to put some spring in your step.

Spring brings many, many wildflowers come out to shine during the spring, but few have the reputation or the raw, elusive beauty of the Texas Bluebonnet. Trying to plant bluebonnets and have them come up in the same place year after year is like trying to herd cats, but they’ll be there year after year along country roads and bustling freeways. Driving from Austin to Dallas or even out into country towns like Fredericksburg right now is an exercise in distraction from the sheer beauty of all the blooms along your path. Bluebonnets are a state flower, a state treasure, and they’ll put some majesty on your home screen.

Bluebonnets by dashedandshattered

They’re back! They’re back for our souls! The peeps will consume us all… unless we eat them first. Peeps may be the most iconic holiday candy on the planet that people actually like eating, and it’s hard to deny marshmallow fluff that’s been coated in even more sugar. What I really love about this wallpaper is that under all that sugar, it’s reminding us that we can stand out from the pack and find happiness being ourselves instead of just blending in.

Peeps

You didn’t think I was going to do an Easter roundup without a Jelly Bean wallpaper, did you? Jelly Bean may still be on 10% of devices, but its wallpapers have mostly vanished from memory, a shame because they had some beauties. From geometric madness to a subtly subdued Nexus wallpaper, there’s still plenty of jelly beany goodness to be had, and you can get your nostalgia on with these fabulous wallpapers

Android Jelly Bean Wallpapers

Spring means many things to many people, but to the people of Japan — and the people of Washington DC — spring means cherry blossoms! Deviantart user WindyLife has a variety of knockout shots of cherry blossoms, but this shot spoke to me. As did the black cat running through the petals. This wallpaper works best with minimal home screens and light icon packs, as pink icons get lost in those adorable petals.

Cherry Blossoms Wallpaper by WindyLyfe

Tell the truth, you wish you could plop down in a flowering field for a nap with them. Heck, after dealing with severe weather most of the night, I could use a nap in a sunny — but not too sunny — square. Judy and Nick seem to have let their guard down as they carelessly nap amongst the blooms… or are they just lying in wait, carrot recorder stashed just out of sight. Either way, this is a spring wallpaper that can reminder that no matter how much you have to do, there’s always time for a nap.

Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps by TheDracoJayProject

Nex Band review: What I really wanted instead of a smartwatch

Finally, a wearable that does exactly what I want it to do.

I hate what we’re doing with smartwatches right now. I don’t want to talk at my wrist; I couldn’t care less about a cellular connection; and I’m not interested in a smaller version of my phone giving me turn-by-turn directions in a place that still requires me to look away from the road. If I turn off the features I don’t care about, set my notifications so my wrist isn’t being buzzed every 12 seconds, and drink a little to forget there’s a keyboard in there now, I can make a smartwatch do most of the things I want it to do.

That’s a lot of unnecessary work for a watch that I still have to charge every day. I needed a better solution, and the folks at Mighty Cast have spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince me their Nex Band is the thing I’ve been looking for. Here’s what I’ve found.

Glossy plastic and rubber, so hot right now

Nex Band Hardware

Instead of a traditional display with its own UI and apps and emoji, the face of your Nex Band is five small touch panels with LEDs underneath. When you touch a panel, it lights up in its corresponding color, and aside from the single physical button on the side that’s really all there is to this thing. There’s no text, no scrolling wheels, and no desire to spend any more than half a second glancing down at it when you’re doing something. It’s a few colorful panels with a single button and a vibration motor for getting your attention. And Bluetooth.

It feels a bit cheap, but I overlooked that because it does what I want it to do.

The Nex Band comes in two colors, a white band with a gold body and black band with a black body, and the most important thing to know about both is that they feel really cheap on your wrist, and there’s very little you can do about that. The plastic body and “sporty” rubber band are fused together with no way to separate them, so if you’re not a fan of that kind of band this won’t be for you.

The plastic button clasp does a reasonable job keeping the band secure on your wrist, but the band itself doesn’t close all the way on smaller wrists unless you’re willing to trim the band yourself. On larger wrists like mine, it fit comfortably enough and remained in place on my wrist no matter what I was doing.

The bottom of the band doesn’t have a heart rate monitor or a skin sensor for wireless payments, but it does have the charging pins. Instead of a standard charging port, you need to snap an awkward charging clasp on the back of the band and connect a Micro-USB cable to that clasp. I can’t overstate how easy it is to lose this attachment, especially if you’re planning to travel with it. Be careful, because right now they aren’t easy to replace.

I thought we were past this kind of behavior.

Fortunately, you won’t need to worry about carrying the charging clasp with you everywhere because the battery on this band is actually pretty decent. On average, I’m getting a little over two full days of use without recharging, and it’s pretty safe to assume my usage is a little heavier than average.

Overall, this band is not going to impress just by looking at it. There’s no nice way to put this: it even looks kind of cheap. It’s unlikely I’d wear this when going to an important meeting or to a special function. Every day, however, it’s the first thing I reach for when getting out of bed.

Dancing lights on your wrist

Nex Band Software

Out of the box, these five touch panels don’t do anything at all. There are no features programmed to these buttons. Notifications from your phone will cause all five to light up in cute animations and color patterns so you know what kind of notification you just received, but otherwise it’s a blank slate. A glorious, completely customizable, blank slate that can be set up to do just about anything.

Every day, however, it’s the first thing I reach for when getting out of bed.

From the Nex app, each of these panels can be assigned a function. You can launch media controls, start a remote shutter for your camera app, trigger a fake phone call, and really just about anything else. Nex calls these “hacks” but really they’re all just simple scripts that run when you activate one of the panels on your wrist.

If you don’t see a pre-written hack that suits your need, you can quickly make one yourself through IFTTT. Anything you can do with IFTTT can be activated by a panel, including control over things like smart lights and other connected home gear.

Hacks don’t have to be activated through touching a panel; some can be contextual. Nex will let you use your location, the number of steps you’ve taken in a day, and proximity to another Nex user as triggers for hacks as well. There’s a ton of flexibility by default, and while that means you’re going to spend a little extra time setting this band up when you first take it out of the box, it also means you’re going to have the exact experience you want when finished.

Each panel can be configured to a long press command and a double-tap command, so you have ten potential programs you can run from your wrist. The ridges between the panels make it easy to activate one without looking down at the band, so you’re able to either remain focused on someone talking and be discrete about controlling the world around you.

Nex even gives you control over the lights and vibrations during notifications, so if you’d prefer Twitter to flash green and never vibrate your wrist but you’d like an email from your boss to look like KITT from Knight Rider on your wrist with a constant vibration you totally can. The light system in the Nex app gives you total control over how everything looks and behaves, making this band exactly as simple or complex as you choose.

Ditch the Dick Tracy look

Nex Band Conclusion

There’s a lot to like about the Nex Band, especially if you’re a fan of flexibility and have local friends that would also wear one of these bands. Nex allows you to send custom animations to people in your Nex friends list, and this micro social network doesn’t care if you’re using Android or iOS. It’s not useful for much more than getting your friend’s attention from across the table or letting a significant other know you’re thinking about them, but that’s probably enough for most people. It’s also nowhere near a requirement to use, like everything else in the Nex ecosystem.

Nex has taken the things I wish smartwatches did better and made them its biggest features, while removing all of the extra maintenance involved in using a smartwatch. It works well in every situation, including direct sunlight, and I’m not compelled in any way to try talking at my wrist. I’d be happier with build materials that were a little less sporty and plastic, but so far Nex has done a great job getting the important things on the inside right.

Should you buy it? Yes.

Where most wearables worth talking about start at the $200-$250 price range, you can grab a Nex Band in either color for $80. That’s a great price for something that gets you multiple days of battery and can be tweaked to do whatever you want it to do, so if you have any interest in wearables at all I’d suggest this over just about anything else right now.

See at Amazon

The Moto Z2 Force looks like a Moto Z with two cameras and a sensible fingerprint sensor

We’re getting our first look at the new Moto Z design, and it looks a lot like last year’s model.

Motorola is readying its follow-ups to the unique Moto Z and Moto Z Force, which were announced last summer. We’ve already seen hints of the branding, suggesting that the sequels will be predictably assigned Moto Z2 and Z2 Force, and now we’re seeing the first press render, if Slashleaks is to be believed.

What lends credence to this particular render is that the company has boxed itself into a specific design until at least 2018 thanks to its Mods ecosystem, which attach to the phone’s back by a set of pins. You’ll notice on this picture that the so-called Moto Z2 Force has two cameras on the back, which aligns with previous rumors, and a redesigned fingerprint sensor on the front, matching that of the Moto G5 series from earlier this year.

We already know that the Moto Z2 series should run a Snapdragon 835 platform, thanks to demoes it did with Sprint, and that at least one model will be available from a carrier other than Verizon, which is nice. The render also shows a ‘Lenovo’ insignia on the phone’s side which, while perhaps not the most egregious placement of a company’s logo, could certainly be better positioned.

Thoughts on the Moto Z2 or Z2 Force?

Moto Z, Moto Z Force and Moto Z Play

• Moto Z + Z Force review!
• Moto Z Play review
• The Hasselblad True Zoom is a Mod to remember
• Moto Z specs
• Moto Mods custom backs
• The latest Moto Z news
• Discuss in our Moto Z forums

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