Tech Hunters: the unstoppable, unbreakable Nokia 3310

Modern day smartphones may shudder at the mere thought of being dropped but for the Nokia 3310, it was just another day at the office. First released at the turn of the millennium, the impenetrable
candy bar handset wowed owners with interchangeable covers and its integrated antenna, a rarity for phones during that time. But it was T9 predictive text, customisable ringtones and, of course, Snake that left a lasting impression on the hundreds of millions of people that bought the “indestructible” device during its five-year run.

The phone left such a lasting legacy that HMD Global, the new owner of the Nokia brand, is bringing the phone back. But how easy is it to find the original? Is it really as tough as we remember? Can the 17-year-old classic still compete with today’s powerful smartphones? It’s our job to find out. Join Julia Hardy as she goes on a journey to find the iconic handset with one idea in mind: to subject it to some very rigorous torture tests.

Tech Hunters is a 10-part video series that uncovers the devices we were once obsessed with, looking at how they disrupted the tech industry, and what they’re worth today. From the pocket pet obsession with the original Tamagotchi, to mix-tapes and Sony Walkman, Tech Hunters explores the audio, visual, interactive and transport innovations that have shaped today’s culture.

PayPal sues Pandora over confusingly similar logos

Back in October, Pandora donned a new look and launched a new logo that looked very familiar to anyone who’s ever used PayPal before. Now the online payment system is taking Pandora to court, accusing it of ripping off its iconic logo to ride on its popularity. It had some savage words for the music streaming service in the lawsuit it filed, telling the court that Pandora decided on a logo design similar to its own to overcome “serious commercial challenges that threaten its very survival.” After all, the filing reads, “Pandora has no obvious path to profitability” as a streaming website known for free service, and it also faces “overwhelming competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.”

The old “P” in the music service’s logo was distinct and was not at all comparable to PayPal’s like its new one pictured above (right.) It caused and still causes a lot of confusion among mobile users, since their apps began looking pretty similar after the logo was launched in October.

I have PayPal and Pandora next to eachother and they look the same so whenever I want to go on Pandora I always end up clicking PayPal 😶 pic.twitter.com/D5K3efsC2B

— A D L (@adolfo_lujano) February 25, 2017

PayPal or Pandora need to change their app icon. Forever opening the wrong one 👀 pic.twitter.com/TsUjSyf5em

— ♡ Vanessa ♡ (@babexruthless) January 20, 2017

Social media posts like the two tweets above became pretty common after Pandora’s rebranding. PayPal said it collected users’ concerns like those two and showed them to the streaming company in private in an effort to convince it to redesign its new logo, but the other party wouldn’t budge. The company told Gizmodo:

“The striking similarities were immediately the topic of news articles and social media commentary by confused customers. Since Pandora would not agree to resolve this matter amicably, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect both our brand and the PayPal experience for our over 200 million users.”

PayPal is asking the court to order Pandora to stop using its new logo and to pay for damages. It also wants the streaming service to promise never to do anything that could lead people into believing that it’s connected to the payment platform again.

Source: Gizmodo

Here’s how Twitter aims to entice you into cosy DM exchanges with brands

Why it matters to you

Twitter wants you to engage more with brands and this latest addition to its service aims to encourage you to do just that.

No matter how much you engage with tweets on your timeline, it’ll never be enough for Twitter.

To please advertisers and brands, and encourage further spend, the social media company would love you to be glued to your timeline in every waking moment. Maybe some of you are.

In a bid to drive engagement and bring brands and users closer together, Twitter is now trialing Direct Message Cards — there’s a chance you’ve already seen one on your timeline as a promoted tweet.

The card asks you a question, so from the example below we see it focuses on the kind of place you might like to enjoy a cocktail. Although your answer may well be all of the offered responses, you’ll need to select just one. Doing so flips you into a DM session that could lead to a direct conversation with the brand or the presentation of a video linked to the response you just tapped on. In the example above, two “Bot-Tender” chatbots will show you the best cocktail recipe relevant to the location you selected, while some companies are also using the cards to offer special discount coupons to users.

Of course, if you’ve developed a knack for scooting straight past promoted tweets, then it’s going to have to be a pretty clever ad that catches your eye and prompts you to respond, which is very much what Twitter — and the advertiser — would like you to do.

Twitter is currently testing Direct Message Cards with select brands, though ultimately it’s users’ level of engagement that’s likely to determine whether they end up getting offered to more businesses, all of whom are extremely keen to engage with Twitter’s 328 million users.

Motorola’s first phone with dual rear cameras is the Moto G5S Plus

Motorola is bringing dual rear cameras to the mid-range segment.

It looks like dual rear cameras will be the defining trend this year. We’ve already seen Xiaomi roll out the feature in the Mi 6, and OnePlus is rumored to offer a dual-camera setup in the OnePlus 5. Motorola is jumping on the bandwagon, with the Moto G5S Plus set to become the first phone from the manufacturer to sport two cameras at the back.

Leaked renders by Gear India reveal a desing that’s identical to what we’ve seen yesterday with the Moto G5S, albeit with two cameras at the back. We don’t know if Motorola will resort to a similar implementation as Huawei — offering a monochrome sensor paired with an RGB lens — or if it’ll use the secondary sensor as a telephoto lens like the Mi 6.

The Moto G5S Plus is said to offer a 5.5-inch Full HD display, and an all-metallic chassis that will be available in three color options — grey, gold, and silver. It looks like that blue variant is limited to the Moto G5S. There’s no information on the rest of the hardware, but it is likely Motorola will retain the Snapdragon 625, or switch to the newer Snapdragon 626 chipset. The addition of dual cameras is certainly an interesting move, but it will undoubtedly raise the cost of the phone.

The standard Moto G5 Plus with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage retails for $299, and a variant of the G5S Plus with the same configuration could easily run up to $350, awfully close to the $400 price point of the Moto Z Play.

The G5S Plus won’t be the only Motorola handset with dual rear cameras, as a Moto Z2 Force leak from last week showed off two cameras at the back. With seven phones yet to launch, Motorola’s lineup is about to get very crowded.

We should know more about the Moto G5S and the G5S Plus in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Facebook’s latest journalism fix connects users with local news

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg and company announced the Facebook Journalism Project — an initiative to repair the social network’s reputation with journalists and help fight the spread of fake news. The project already introduced curated news digests and some general tweaks to the News Feed that will help cut down on clickbait, but the next journalism-focused effort aims to connect users with nearby news outlets and community groups.

In an email exchange with Poynter, a Facebook spokesperson mentioned three new local news products currently in testing: the first lets the moderators of community-linked Facebook groups add a dynamically populated local news section to the page. The content block will pull stories from local publications that can easily be shared into the group for discussion.

A second product will show up for users who have their current city set to public — if your location is set to the same metro area as the publisher of the story you’re commenting on, Facebook will ask you if you want a badge on your comment identifying you as a local.

Finally, a third product will push users to share local news articles with relevant local groups they belong to. The algorithm can also do the reverse and suggest local groups for you to join based on the articles you consume. In this case, Facebook defines a relevant group as one that shares at least three local news links per month, talks about local news and is located in the same metro area as the publisher links it discusses.

According to Facebook, the local badge is live today. The other two products are still in testing, so they may already start showing up for certain groups that fit the criteria. While Facebook does have a vague new mission to spread civility online by connecting people with their community, other hyperlocal social networks like Nextdoor have had trouble dealing with racial profiling, even on non-anonymous platforms.

Starz app streams ‘American Gods’ to your Samsung Smart TV

If you’ve wanted to watch the likes of American Gods or Outlander with little more than an internet connection and your TV, you no longer need one of Sony’s sets to make it happen. Starz has launched its streaming app on Samsung Smart TVs, bringing its $9 per month streaming service to a decidedly wider audience. You’ll need a fairly recent TV (“select” 2014 or newer models with the Smart Hub), but that’s about the only real requirement. Our main complaint is simply that this is arriving a bit late — between Android TV, Apple TV, Roku and Xbox One, determined viewers already have plenty of choices.

Source: Samsung Newsroom

Daimler bets big on luxury EVs with new battery plant

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler is incredibly bullish about electric vehicles. So much so that it’s recently broken ground on another battery plant in Germany, a stone’s throw from its existing facility. It’ll begin operating around June next year and sounds positively massive. “The new plant will quadruple the production and logistics area in Kamenz to a total of around 80,000 square meters (around 262,000 feet),” a press release says. More than that, by 2020 the plant will have over 1,000 employees.

“The local production of batteries is an important success factor in our electric offensive and a crucial element in order to flexibly and efficiently serve the global demand for electric vehicles,” Mercedes board member Markus Schäfer said.

The new plant will also be environmentally conscious. Mercedes says that the facility will be carbon-dioxide neutral, achieving that with a combined heat-and-power plant and solar power.

As Ars Technica notes, Mercedes has been going pretty hard in terms of alternative energies and has invested in California’s Vivint Solar.

This new factory is an important step for Mercedes. It doesn’t want to sit on the wayside and let Tesla rule the road for high-end electric vehicles, and recently split ways with Elon Musk’s company; Tesla supplied batteries and drivetrains for Mercedes. Rather than paying someone else for their battery tech, Mercedes is investing in itself. And, if it wanted to, could use the expanded production to license the tech to others without impacting its own needs.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Daimler

Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: What’s the difference?

It’s been a busy month for Microsoft. 

A couple weeks after announcing the new Surface Laptop and Windows 10 S, it has announced the successor to the Surface Pro 4. But instead of being named Surface Pro 5, it’s just called Surface Pro. So, how does it compare to the new Surface Laptop, or even last year’s Surface Book? It’s a good question to ask yourself before deciding to spend your hard-earned cash on the latest Surface device.

To help you out, we did all the leg work and pitted the three devices against each other spec by spec. 

• Microsoft Cortana skills: Which are available now and how do they work?
• Microsoft Build 2017: All the announcements that matter
• Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: Everything you need to know

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Design

• New Surface Pro (2017) said to be lightest Pro ever at 768g
• New hinge system on new Surface Pro (2017)
• Expected to have similar footprint to Pro 4 at 292.1mm x 201.4mm

The new Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) looks similar to its predecessor, but it has a new hinge system on the kickstand, which allows it to be used in Surface Studio mode. That means it can lay flat and works directly with the new Surface Pen. Its also lost a bit of weight, touting itself as the lightest Surface Pro (2017) ever created at 768g. Measurements have yet to be revealed for the new Surface Pro (2017).

Surface Laptop is offered in four colours (burgundy, platinum, cobalt blue, and graphite gold). Its emphasis is on manufacturing skill, with metal, plastic, and the Alcantara fabric deck coming together to give you a premium product. It weighs 2.76 pounds has the following dimensions: 12.13 x 8.79 x 0.57 inches. It includes a Mini DisplayPort, full-size USB 3.0 port, and Surface Connect for extendibility.

Microsoft introduced the Surface Book design in 2015, and although the model updated in 2016, it still looks the same, offering that proper keyboard, that innovative hinge that will let the screen sit at any angle, as well as offering a detachable 13.5-inch display. It measures 312.3 x 232.1 x 22.8mm and weighs 1.516kg or 1.647kg for the top i7 Performance Base model.

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Display

• New Surface Pro (2017) has a 12.3-inch screen
• 2736 x 1824 pixel resolution, 267ppi

The new Surface Pro (2017) has the same size screen as its predecessor, the Surface Pro (2017) 4, measuring 12.3-inches diagonally. The resolution of the new model is 2736 x 1824 pixels, which results in a pixel density of 267ppi.

The Surface Laptop comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 resolution PixelSense display (3:2 aspect ratio). It’s touch-enabled with 3.4 million pixels for a sharp picture, and Microsoft is claiming it is the thinnest LCD touchscreen you’ll find on any device. 

The Surface Book features a 13.5-inch screen with a 3000 x 2000 resolution, which results in a pixel density of 267ppi. The laptop also has a 3:2 aspect ratio and uses Microsoft’s PixelSense tech. 

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Hardware

• New Surface Pro (2017) has Intel Core 7th-gen
• RAM options between 4GB and 16GB depending on model
• New Surface Pro (2017) has 50 per cent more battery life

The new Surface Pro (2017) features Intel Core 7th-generation processors, The base model features the Core m3 Intel 7th-gen processor, configurable to a faster-yet Core i7 option. Meanwhile, RAM options come in abundance too: the entry-level Surface Pro (2017) has 4GB RAM, expandable up to 16GB. Its storage options start at 128GB SSD, through 256GB, 512GB, and even a maximum 1TB option.

There is also a microSD card slot on the new Surface Pro (2017), so paying the extra for the 1TB option might not be worthwhile for many. In terms of battery, the new Surface Pro (2017) is claimed to offer 50 per cent more than its predecessor, at 13.5 hours. There’s also an 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera on the Surface Pro (2017), which is capable of 1080p video recording.

The Surface Laptop is powered by the latest Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs. Graphics-wise, it has Intel HD 620 or Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640. Impressively, Microsoft says you’ll get 14.5 hours of battery life. It’s also claimed that when the lid is closed and the laptop is in standby, it will drain no battery. It will be available with 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM, with an option of 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB SSD for storage.

The Surface Book offers sixth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs with various RAM from 8GB to 16GB depending on your configuration. It starts with 128GB SSD, with options up to 1TB.  When it comes to GPU, the Surface Book has Intel HD graphics, but it’s also offering discrete GPUs – up to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M on the top i7 model.

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Connections and ports

• No USB Type-C ports for the Surface Pro (2017)
• But it does have a headset jack

Microsoft did not give the Surface Pro (2017) any USB Type-C ports, contrary to speculation before Surface Pro (2017) was announced. But it does have a full-size USB 3.0 port, a microSD card reader, a Mini DisplayPort, one cover port, a headset jack, as well as Surface Connect.

Meanwhile, Surface Laptop has just one Mini DisplayPort, one USB 3.0 port, Surface Connect, and a headphone jack. And Surface Book features two USB 3.0 ports, a full-sized SD card reader, a Mini DisplayPort, a headset jack, and surface Connect. 

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Software

• Surface Pro (2017) comes with Windows 10 Pro
• Provides access to everything from Office to Cortana

The new Surface Pro (2017) and Surface Book come with the latest Windows 10 Pro operating system. That means the full bevy of software – from Office to Cortana and beyond – is offered, plus they’ll run third-party apps. They also both offer an Office 365 30-day trial.

Surface Laptop runs Windows 10 S, a fully functional version of Windows that is meant to run smoothly on all hardware. The big catch is that it’s designed to only run verified apps from the Windows Store. You will not be able to download apps online and install them, so this version is sandboxed. But there aren’t any hardware restrictions on Windows 10 S, so again, it can run across a full range of devices.

Surface Pro (2017) vs Surface Laptop vs Surface Book: Price

• Surface Pro (2017): Starts at £799
• Surface Laptop: Starts at £979
• Surface Book: Starts at £1045 (Performance Base model starts at $2399)

The new Surface Pro (2017) (2017) will start at £799 and will ship on 15 June. Surface Laptop is available to pre-order in the UK now, with prices starting from £979 for the entry-level model. Microsoft said the laptop will start to ship 15 June. The Microsoft Surface Book starts at £1045 for the base model (though Performance Base model will start at $2399 and be available from November).

Warby Parker has an app that checks your eyes at home

Usually, completing a vision test for new glasses requires a trip to the optometrist and the glasses store. Newly announced technology could change that, however. Warby Parker, which started out as a try-before-you-buy mail-order eyeglasses company, is currently looking to use devices you already have in your home to help you get a new pair of glasses without having to drive to a doctor. If you have an expired vision prescription, you can use an iPhone, a computer and about 12 feet of space to find out if your vision has changed since your last exam.

You’ll need to download Warby Parker’s Prescription Check app to determine your eligibility, which means you’re between 18 and 40 and live in a state that has the company’s program (NY, CA, FL and VA so far). You also need to be a current Warby Parker customer, have no history of eye disease, have had a comprehensive exam within the last five years and only need a single-vision distance prescription (no bifocals, please). Oh, and your prescription can only have a current lens strength (SPH) between 0 and -6.0 and an astigmatism value (CYL) between 0 and -2.0.

If eligible, you’ll load up WarbyParker.com/Test and your phone and computer will pair up. Next, you’ll need to stand 12 feet away from the screen to take the basic vision test. When you’re finished, the app will send the results to an eye-doctor. If they’re the same as your previous prescription, the doctor will provide you an updated one to use for new frames from Warby Parker. If your vision has changed, you’ll get a referral to get a new exam at an optometrist. The company says the entire process takes about 20 minutes and that you’ll hear back on your results within 24 hours.

Warby Parker has been working on this technology since 2015, while other companies, like Smart Vision Labs, have found ways to use mobile phones for in-store eye exams in 2016. While it’s no substitute for a comprehensive eye exam if your vision has changed since your last one, those of us who just want to grab a new pair of frames based on a still-valid expired prescription can do so from the comfort of our own home.

Google’s $5,000 4K digital whiteboard goes on sale

It only took half a year, but Google’s first take on a digital whiteboard is finally available. Google has started selling the Jamboard in the US for $4,999 plus $600 per year for management and support ($300 if you buy one by the end of September). As before, it’s ultimately a 55-inch 4K display with collaborative cloud features at its heart. So long as you have a G Suite plan, both remote Jamboard and mobile tablet owners can draw and annotate as if they were in the room with you (phone users can follow along and enter data). You can also conduct presentations through Hangouts, and pull any files you need from the range of Google’s apps.

As we mentioned when Google unveiled the Jamboard back in October, it’s really a hardware manifestation of Google’s productivity apps — this is what happens when they all get a dedicated canvas. It’s a way of getting Google’s foot in the boardroom door, and could lure businesses that want an internet-savvy whiteboard but aren’t willing to fork over $9,000-plus for Microsoft’s Surface Hub before service costs are involved. You’re not going to have one at home, but it might become a mainstay in your office if you depend on Google and want some long-distance brainstorming.

Source: Google (1), (2)