Loewe Bild 9 is £6,990 of pure TV beauty

If you’re ready to replace your current TV and only the prettiest, most expensive screens will make their way onto your shopping list, there are only a few brands you need turn to. One would be Bang & Olufsen, and other would be Loewe. The German TV manufacturer is known for its striking, gorgeous designs and the Bild 9 is the latest testament to that fact.

• Best 4K TVs: Ultra HD televisions to buy in 2017

Its minimalist design that takes its fair share of inspiration from the Bauhaus movement of the 1920s, is the work of German-born designer Bodo Sperlein. The Bild 9 can be placed in any one of three positions: standing, wall-mounted or table-mounted. Whichever position you choose, the Bild 9 could be seen as floating, and the fact all cables are hidden within the frame only add to the illusion.

But even though the design may be inspired by yesteryear, everything else about the Bild 9 is as up-to-date as you could imagine. Taking centre stage is either a 55-inch or 65-inch 4K HDR OLED panel, that supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats, as well as Hybrid Log Gamma. All of which means no matter what content you throw at the Bild 9, it will be able to handle it.

Loewe

Sound should be good too, thanks to a 120 Watt integrated soundbar that only appears when you turn the TV on and scurries off out of sight when you turn it off. To really enhance the sound, Loewe will release Klang 9 speakers in August this year for £4,990, that will match the styling and colour finishes of the Bild 9.

• What is Dolby Vision? Dolby’s very own HDR TV tech explained 
• What is Hybrid Log Gamma and why should you care?
• What is HDR, what TVs and devices support HDR, and what HDR content can I watch?

As with some other Loewe TVs, the Bild 9 has a 1TB hard drive built-in, meaning you can record content straight to the TV without the need for a separate box. Although should you want to hook your own kit up, you’re generously given four HDMI inputs and three USB.

Loewe

The Loewe Bild 9 is available now in gold or graphite colour finishes for £6,990 for the 55-inch, or £8,990 for the 65-inch.

OnePlus 5 confirmed following official teaser from CEO

OnePlus’ CEO Pete Lau has posted a picture on his Chinese Weibo account that confirms a new OnePlus smartphone is on the way. The image shows cartoon workers putting together a phone, and it’s accompanied by OnePlus’ usual hashtag of Never Settle.

• OnePlus 4/OnePlus 5: What’s the story so far?

What the official teaser doesn’t give away is the name of the phone. Logic would suggest it will be called the OnePlus 4, following the OnePlus 3T released in 2016. However the number 4 is considered unlucky in China, so it’s thought the next phone will go straight to OnePlus 5.

The official teaser also doesn’t give away any specifications or features, but a recently leaked render of the phone, and what are thought to be official shots from the camera, confirm a dual rear camera setup. Having a dual rear camera will help the OnePlus 4 / 5 to really compete with the very best flagships that 2017 has offered us so far.

The render of the phone also showed no obvious rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, which suggests it will be on the front. Some reports are claiming it will be embedded into the screen, although we’ll have to wait and see whether this rumour comes to fruition.

• OnePlus 5 confirmed to have dual rear camera, possible embedded fingerprint sensor
• OnePlus’ next flagship killer might have a killer camera, leak suggests

Finally, even though the teaser is official and lets us know a new phone is on the way, it doesn’t say when we can expect to see it. Previous OnePlus phones have been launched in June, so that’s our best guess right now.

The Morning After: Wednesday, May 3rd 2017

Microsoft has announced a new laptop, in addition new lighter OS aimed at education (and Chrome OS), all in the middle of the week. YouTube also got a makeover, and we take a look at the most notable VR submissions at this year’s Tribeca festival.

There aren’t any special hinges or kickstands this time.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop is built to beat Apple’s MacBooks

Microsoft has always tried to do something different with its hardware. The Surface and Surface Pro helped popularize the idea of hybrid laptops that could also be used as tablets. The Surface Book took that idea a step further with a bigger screen, a unique hinge and more powerful hardware. But with the Surface Laptop, it’s almost as if Microsoft is going back to basics. It’s basically a straightforward notebook, albeit one with the Microsoft’s slick Surface aesthetic. Most importantly, it’s the flagship device for Windows 10 S, Microsoft’s new streamlined OS targeted at the education market. Similar to ChromeOS, it’s meant mainly for web apps and software from the Microsoft Store, with an emphasis on security and battery life. The Surface Laptop launches on June 15th starting at $999 for the Core i5 model.

Eye-catching mouse design is back.
Microsoft’s lie-flat Surface Arc mouse is a new take on an old formula

The Surface Arc Mouse is an evolution of the well-established Arc Touch Mouse . While the new Bluetooth peripheral still has that eye-catching, travel-friendly design that snaps flat for stowing in your bag, but there are no distinct left and right buttons, or even a scroll strip. Instead, a touch-sensitive button handles all of that.

It trades app support in the name of security and performance.
Microsoft takes on Chrome OS with Windows 10 S

Microsoft has already taken some potshots at Google’s Chromebooks in the past — Windows 8.1 with Bing, anyone? Now, though, it’s going for the jugular. The newly introduced Windows 10 S (not Cloud like the rumors suggested) is a stripped-back, education-oriented version of the operating system that gives up some app support in the name of simplicity and performance. You can only run Windows Store apps (including Office 365 apps, which are coming soon), but that’s the point — schools don’t have to worry about the vulnerabilities that come with running any old Windows app. All in time for a big Minecraft Education Edition upgrade.

And we’re finally getting a “dark mode.”
YouTube’s latest redesign puts added focus on videos

Approximately 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Soon, its desktop website will be getting a makeover to make combing through all those cute cat clips a bit easier. Google is refreshing the look of its desktop site by applying its material design aesthetic to the site, basically flattening the UI. “We want to make content the star,” Fred Gilbert, Head of User Experience at YouTube, said during a recent interview. “Everything else should recede from that.”

But the Mac is up again!
iPhone sales continue their slow and steady slide

Apple couldn’t quite keep iPhone sales growing for the second quarter in a row. The company sold 50.8 million iPhones in the last quarter, down a scant one percent from the 51.2 million it sold a year ago. It’s worth remembering that last year marked the first quarter where iPhone sales didn’t grow year-over-year, so this decline isn’t exactly a surprise. Meanwhile, in the “other products” business, which includes the Apple Watch and Apple TV, revenue jumped a whopping 31 percent. Perhaps Apple’s wearable is doing better than people give it credit for. Indeed, Cook said on Apple’s earnings call that Watch sales nearly doubled year-over-year in the last quarter.

Chet Faliszek, who also worked on Steam VR, has left.
Valve has no more ‘Half-Life’ writers left

Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw, co-writers on Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, stuck around after Half-Life writing lead Marc Laidlaw’s departure from Valve last year. But not for long. Wolpaw departed Valve in February, and Faliszek has now also left the company. Faliszek was also key part of Valve’s push into virtual reality, from the early days of secret testing at the company’s Bellevue headquarters through to the public launch of the HTC Vive.

The Aura H2O can survive your next beach trip.
Kobo’s latest waterproof e-reader is sized for poolside reading

Kobo’s recent Aura One e-reader was potentially the dream device for anyone who likes to read in the bath or at the beach, but it had some catches. It was big, with a 7.8-inch screen, and came with a $229 price tag. Enter the just-introduced Aura H2O — just as waterproof, but shrunken down to a 6.8-inch touchscreen, while an accompanying tinier $180 price.

But wait, there’s more…

• Republican Senators outline anti-net neutrality legislation
• T-Mobile plans to launch a national 5G network by 2020
• VR is telling deeper, more important stories

How the Digital Economy Act will come between you and porn

As we approach the snap general election on June 8th, the UK government has had to get through as much important business as possible before Parliament shut down earlier today in preparation for the vote. Last week, MPs and Lords working on the Digital Economy Bill opted to forego much of the usual “ping pong” process of debating amendments and wording amongst themselves in order to get the thing passed. That “good enough” approach meant the bill became law last Thursday after receiving immediate Royal Assent. The Digital Economy Act introduces a new requirement for porn sites to verify the age of visitors, rules regarding the capping of mobile phone bills and it should help stop ticket touts from bulk-buying online. But there’s a lot more to it, so here’s everything you need to know.

Mandatory age checks on porn sites

One of the most headline-grabbing facets of the Digital Economy Act is a new obligation for websites hosting pornographic and similar adult content to verify the age of visitors. The government has been talking about doing this for some time now in an effort to stop under-18s from easily accessing inappropriate material. There are some relatively serious consequences for sites that don’t play by the rules, too.

The “age-verification regulator” — which hasn’t been named yet, though the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is considered the top contender — will have the power to fine websites up to £250,000, or up to 5 percent of their turnover. The arbiter will also be able to order ISPs to block websites that fail to comply, and tell other providers that, for example, process payments or facilitate advertising on these sites to withdraw their services, effectively starving the domains of revenue.

There’s one slight issue with age gates in that we’re still no clearer on how they are to be implemented. Proving age using credit card details, the electoral roll and pay-monthly mobile phone contracts have all been suggested, but the government has admitted that forcing you to expose your identity might be a step too far. And so, it’ll likely be some time before this new law can be enforced as the government and newly appointed regulator decide on the best and least intrusive way for porn sites to verify age.

10 Mbps broadband for everyone

The Digital Economy Act introduces a new Universal Service Obligation (USO) that effectively makes at least a 10 Mbps broadband connection a legal right. It’s intended to compliment the ongoing Broadband Delivery UK initiative, a government-subsidised push to offer 97 percent of homes and businesses “superfast” connections of at least 24 Mbps by 2020.

The USO ensures the final 3 percent aren’t neglected. By 2020, those in underserved areas — often rural locations where infrastructure is aging or nonexistant — will have the right to request at least a 10 Mbps connection by law. That part’s important, because it doesn’t mean providers will be obligated to connect every remote cottage by default, but deliver upon request.

As with several provisions in the act, how exactly the USO will be achieved hasn’t been firmed up yet. Would people or communities in the hardest-to-reach areas have to help fund the rollout above a reasonable cost to the provider? How do you ensure the monthly bills will be affordable for all after that? Could satellite connections be viable for getting the last outliers online? There are a few years left to iron out the finer details, and Ofcom has analysed most of the important questions already in a lengthy report.

At a relatively late stage in the game, Lords suggested an amendment to the bill that raised the minimum speed to 30 Mbps. MPs thought this would place too much of technical burden on ISPs and would generally be impractical, so the revision was abandoned. Ofcom will be able to revisit the USO in the future, though, and set minimum speeds above what’s mandated by the act.

Bill caps for mobile contracts a must

A few mobile networks already offer some form of contract cap or another, stopping subscribers from incurring any extra charges on top of a specified monthly spend. Written into the Digital Economy Bill is a requirement that providers have to offer customers this facility when they enter into a new pay-monthly contract, and give them an easy way to amend or remove the cap for the duration of the agreement.

Carriers are also expected to give subscribers reasonable notice when they’re approaching their monthly limit so they can adjust their usage or choose to go beyond their cap that month. If something goes wrong and customers continue to receive service after they’ve hit their cap, then the carrier is expected to pick up the rest of the bill. As you might expect, Ofcom will be on the hook for making sure mobile networks adhere to the rules, and we imagine some secondary regulation will be published in due course — creating a standard for how caps should work, giving providers a deadline to introduce them, that sort of thing.

If this sounds a little familiar, it’s not to be confused with the £100 “liability” cap brought in a few years ago. This was a voluntary agreement signed by the UK’s major carriers that means customers are only expected to pay £100 if their phone is lost or stolen and subsequently used to run up a huge bill.

Tougher sentences for pirates

Following through on an old promise, the government has introduced stricter sentences for digital pirates. Via an amendment to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the maximum jail term for piracy has been increased from two to ten years. This has been somewhat divisive since it was first proposed, as opponents believe the revised wording could be used to criminalise the average Joe who might not even be aware the stream they’re watching is impacting the copyright holder.

Even those that knowingly torrent the latest episode of their favourite show — the kind of pirate the “educational” notices sent by ISPs under the relatively new Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme are supposed to deter — aren’t at risk, apparently. The government insists the longer potential jail term is targeted at the root of the problem: The pirates that leak and distribute copyright-infringing material the general public subsequently consume.

During the passage of the bill, MPs suggested an amendment that would allow the state to fine search engines for failing to hide or demote links to pirate media in search results. This clause ended up not making the cut and so is not included in the act, but earlier this year Google and Microsoft agreed to a new voluntary code of practice with various creative bodies, committing to further tackle the problem.

Getting a front-row seat

The government is well aware that getting tickets to popular music, sport and other events can be a bane for consumers, who regularly end up paying a premium through a resale site. Primary sellers typically impose restrictions on how many tickets one person can buy to give everyone a fair chance of getting one at face-value, but tout bots exist that can circumvent these caps. Scalpers employ these to hoover up tickets so they can sell them at marked-up prices on resale sites.

The Digital Economy Act sets the stage for later regulation to make the use of these computerised tools a criminal offence, punishable by fine. The government has already said that it also expects sellers and resellers to help the cause by building more abuse-resistant systems. In a similar vein, the act introduces new consumer rights regarding ticket information. Ticket outlets must now ensure they are providing buyers with booking or ticket references that allow them to see exactly what seat or area within the venue they are forking out for, as well as inform them of any conditions attached to a resale ticket.

Catching up with TVCatchup

Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that public service broadcasters (PSBs) like the BBC, ITV et al aren’t allowed to charge retransmission fees. This was intended to promote the retransmission of analogue TV signals, pushing them into underserved areas, way before satellite, cable and streaming TV services became ubiquitous. The Digital Economy Act repeals section 73, meaning PSBs are now entitled to charge retransmission fees.

This poses a particular problem for services like TVCatchup and FilmOn, which have been exploiting this retransmission loophole. They stream PSB channels with minimal overheads, and profit from running pre-rolls promos and framing their players in banner ads and the like. PSBs are now able to strike retransmission deals with these services, and have a legal argument in court if they can’t reach an agreement. ITV, on behalf of itself and other PSBs, has been fighting for streaming retransmission to be classified as copyright infringement for over five years now, but section 73 has shut down all its efforts to date.

This shouldn’t directly affect the long-standing status quo between PSBs and pay-TV providers like Virgin Media and Sky. The government has said it will step in if PSBs start pushing these providers for retransmission fees, as they are compensated in other ways, with favourable spectrum licence arrangements and prominence in pay-TV EPGs — that’s why you always see the flagship terrestrial channels at the top of the guides. However, PSBs believe this needs to be revisited on the basis the EPG has become less relevant.

At one point, the Digital Economy Act included clauses that would redefine prominence (or rather, the term EPG), extending the concept to all parts of a pay-TV platform’s UI. This would’ve meant that in the “My Q” menu on Sky Q boxes, which suggests things to watch, the provider would be obligated to pepper the recommendations with plenty of content from PSBs.

The act was passed with a significantly watered-down version of this, though. Instead of directly addressing the issue, it formally tasks Ofcom with investigating how prominence can be ensured as pay-TV providers move to greater serve on-demand viewing habits. Ofcom doesn’t actually have to report on this until 2020, but Lords (who backed the stronger amendment) hope it will see this as a priority and regulate appropriately much sooner.

Sharing data between government departments

A significant slice of the Digital Economy Act is dedicated to what’s called “Digital Government,” which is basically a broad set of laws that enable the sharing of your personal information between government departments. These new powers, as the government spins it, will allow for better public services to be delivered online, and generally grease the wheels of administration. It means the government can build a database of “civil registration information,” for instance, which can include key details so you never have to dig out your paper birth certificate again.

Data can be shared for many reasons, including for research and statistical purposes, as well as detecting fraud against the state — say, if someone is claiming disability benefits but intel held by another department or organisation shows they are cheating the system (our example, not the government’s). This sweeping set of provisions has been heavily debated and is undeniably contentious, as it’s been passed somewhat prematurely before Parliament shut down.

How data sharing will work in practice is still not fully clear. That’s because while the Digital Economy Act introduces a legal framework, the Codes of Practice that detail exactly how the powers are to be used and what safeguards need to be in place are currently in draft, unapproved form. Will the public have any say in what data about them is stored and shared? Are the powers even compatible with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force next May? These are just a few of many, many questions that still need answers, despite the new data-sharing regime effectively being lawful already.

We’ll no doubt be hearing a lot more about this part of the Digital Economy Act. Not just because formal guidance is needed to ensure data sharing actually improves efficiency and public services, but to ensure data is adequately protected. As The Register notes, the National Audit Office reported last year that between 2014 and 2015, 9,000 personal data breaches occurred across the 17 largest government departments.

Miscellany

We’ve covered all the major parts of the Digital Economy Bill above, but there a number of smaller things you may also find interesting. The act writes into law Ofcom’s new role as external regulator of the BBC, and gives it the power to force the telecoms industry to make switching providers easier for consumers. This legitimises the new system Ofcom brought in a few years ago, whereby the broadband provider you want to move to takes care of everything, including cancelling your current contract. Ofcom is also working on a similar system for switching between mobile carriers, and recently announced it’s developing an automatic compensation scheme for poor broadband service, both provided for in the act.

Ofcom has a new power to ensure all PSBs are broadcasting enough UK-made kid’s programmes as a part of their licence; and the government itself can draw up regulations for on-demand providers to guarantee their content is accessible. This means obligations to add subtitles, sign language and audio descriptions to catchup TV. The router-level broadband filters the government forced major ISPs to introduce several years ago are enshrined in the act, and the Information Commissioner has also been tasked with penning new guidelines that will keep direct marketers (spam emailers and cold callers) in check.

There are countless more provisions in the act not particularly relevant to your average Brit. Ofcom now has the power to revoke radio licences if stations are deemed to be “inciting crime or disorder,” for instance, and the courts can now order carriers to disconnect a drug dealer’s phone if they are known to be using it to organise, er, transactions with clients.

[Inline image credits (in order): Alamy, Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images, TeoLazarev via Getty Images, Amblin Entertainment/TriStar Pictures, Getty Images/Flickr RF, Keystone via Getty Images, BernardaSv via Getty Images, PA Archive/PA Images]

Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK Parliament (1), (2)

Peugeot is ready to get its self-driving cars on the road

Like nearly all of the other major car makers, Peugeot believes the next generation of cars will be autonomous. We’ve already seen the Instinct Concept — which imagines a future where vehicles blend self-driving tech, home automation and cloud connectivity to deliver the best riding experience — but to get there, the company needs to do the hard miles. Thanks to a partnership with MIT spin-off nuTonomy, the French carmaker has begun doing just that with the launch of a new self-driving pilot in Singapore.

Under the agreement, nuTonomy’s self-driving software and “specialized sensors” will be installed in customized Peugeot 3008s over the course of this summer and then unleashed on Singapore’s streets in September. Should it be a success, both companies will consider expanding the pilot to more cities, allowing them to better understand how the vehicles behave in urban environments and assess how drivers interact with the automated systems.

The location of the trial makes sense for nuTonomy as it’s been testing its self-driving systems in specially-equipped Mitsubishi i-MiEV or Renault Zoe electric taxis in the city since August 2016. However, the company also got the green light to navigate the streets of Boston soon after, allowing it to join Toyota, Audi and local startup Optimus Ride in public testing across Massachusetts.

Last month, BMW announced it is working with Intel and Mobileye to test 40 modified BMW 7 Series sedans across US and European streets. Mercedes owner Daimler also set aside its own self-driving platform and teamed up with automotive supplier Bosch to develop a fully autonomous “level 5” taxi by the beginning of the next decade. It won’t be a matter of who is first, but whose self-driving package is the best.

Via: Reuters

147 teams will compete for $5 million in the IBM Watson AI XPrize

The XPrize program is no stranger to moon shots. From capturing carbon to cleaning water — even literal trips to the moon and Star Trek-style tricorders — the contest seeks the boldest solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges. That tradition continues in the company’s latest competition, the IBM Watson AI XPrize, in which 147 teams from 22 countries will compete for a $5 million purse over the next four years.

The AI competition will be the first such XPrize that is “open” in that teams will be free to solve any issue they want. There will be a number of “domains” (read: themes) that they can choose from including Health and Wellness, Civil Society, Space and Exploration or Energy and Resources, but so long as the competitors solve their problems using AI, their projects can straddle any or all of these domains.

The 147 teams already submitted their testing and development plans back on March 1st, 2017. They now have until the start of September to provide evidence that their initial plans will actually work. From there an independent panel of experts will review each team’s proposals and announce which of them will be moving on to the next round in January 2018. Teams will be further thinned during additional rounds in 2018 and 2019 before the three finalists present their work at the TED 2020 conference and their projects are voted on by both the in-house audience and those following along online.

Whoever wins will go home with $3 million in prize money, the second place finisher gets a cool million and third place will have earned themselves $500,000. The rest of the $5 million purse will be doled out as $500k “Milestone” prizes for ten teams between 2018 and 2019.

Apple Pay Launches for HSBC Australia and 20+ U.S. Banks

HSBC has launched Apple Pay support for customers in Australia for the first time, enabling any Visa and MasterCard branded credit card issued by the bank to be added to Apple’s mobile wallet.

HSBC said the majority of its customers’ credit card payments are already contactless and it expects Apple Pay will be quickly embraced as part of the wider shift towards tap-and-go payments.

“Our customers have told us they want to be able to use Apple Pay in Australia, and we’re proud to be able to make this service available to them,” said Graham Heunis, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC Australia. “HSBC has introduced Apple Pay in five other markets and we’re looking forward to another successful launch here.”

The bank has set up a new Apple Pay web page on its site to guide users through the steps needed to add a credit or debit card into the Wallet app on iPhone and iPad.

HSBC joins a growing number of banks in Australia which support Apple Pay, including American Express, ANZ and Macquarie. However, several major issuers such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, NAB, and Bendigo and Adelaide have resisted supporting the payment system during their failed attempts to collectively negotiate with Apple over gaining access to the NFC chip in iPhones.

In addition to the HSBC Australia launch, over 20 U.S. banks also gained official Apple Pay support on Tuesday. Apple has updated its web page of participating banks, which include the following:

• 1st Constitution Bank
• Alerus Financial N.A.
• Bank of Cashton
• Bank of New Mexico
• BankStar Financial
• Central National Bank & TrustCompany
• Chevron Federal Credit Union
• Citizens Community Bank
• Connexus Credit Union
• DATCU
• Department of CommerceFederal Credit Union
• First Bank Blue Earth
• First National Bank of Pana
• First US Community CreditUnion
• Legacy Bank
• Manasquan Bank
• Market USA Federal CreditUnion
• Midstates Bank N.A.
• Security State Bank ofHibbing
• Skyward Credit Union
• The Bank of Bennington
• Two River Community Bank

The Apple Pay service is available on iPhone 6 and later, iPhone SE, Apple Watch, the late 2016 MacBook Pro, and iPad mini 3 or later within apps and Safari. Macs introduced in 2012 and later can also be used, but checkout must be confirmed through an Apple Pay-enabled iPhone or Apple Watch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Apple Offering Free Redeem Codes for Hit Game ‘Chameleon Run’

Apple has made highly rated autorunner game Chameleon Run a free download for anyone who uses the Apple Store app.

The fast-paced, colorful runner offers some unique jump mechanics amid the stylish graphics. The aim of each level is to reach the end of the course without touching a platform that has a different color to the main character. To do this, players must jump and switch between pink and yellow as they run.

Each level has a fixed ending with three different objectives to complete. The first two objectives unlock lightning speed bursts and the third one unlocks the hoverboard.

With all three objectives unlocked, the levels can be finished much faster. Advanced players can also try to switch color as late as possible to gain higher speeds and compete against others in the leaderboards.

To get hold of the game, download and open up the Apple Store app, scroll down the Discover screen to where it says “Exclusively for you”, and then tap the Chameleon Run panel. On the next screen, tap the blue button that says “Download now for free” and Apple will provide a code for users to redeem in App Store.

The free game offer through the Apple Store app expires on June 15, 2017.
Discuss this article in our forums

Google’s handy ‘Instant Apps’ feature for Android looks set to launch soon

Why it matters to you

The new feature offers smoother app interaction and saves space on your device by doing away with the need to install unnecessary software.

Google’s time- and space-saving Instant Apps feature may be on the verge of a proper rollout, giving the majority of Android users a much more efficient user experience when it comes to app interaction.

The Mountain View company is already conducting limited testing of the feature, but a recent APK teardown of the Google Play Store by XDA Developers has revealed that work is afoot to finally launch Instant Apps for one and all.

The site came across new lines of code apparently directed at making it easier to opt-out of Instant Apps, while also revealing that an app’s Play Store listing could come with a symbol of sorts indicating whether it supports Instant Apps.

For those not in the know, the Instant Apps feature — unveiled at Google I/O 2016 and designed for Android devices running Android Jelly Bean 4.1 or up — enables an app to run immediately, without the user even having to download it if they don’t already have it. So if, say, a friend sends you a link to a really cool camera accessory on B&H’s site and you tap on it, you’ll be taken to the product page inside the B&H app, even if you don’t have the app installed. This is able to happen because the app has been split into modules and only downloads the part needed to display the relevant information.

Without Instant Apps, tapping on the link would’ve taken you to the web version of the site, likely offering an inferior user experience compared to the slicker app. Alternatively, you could download the app, but that’d take time to do, and also takes up space on your device. Of course, downloading the full app is fine if you’re a regular B&H shopper, but it’s not much use if you’re not.

The official Android Developers site describes Instant Apps as “an evolution in app sharing and discovery” that lets you “experience what you love about apps — fast and beautiful user interfaces, high performance, and great capabilities — with just a tap.” The feature is set to dramatically transform the way we interact with apps on our Android devices, though hopefully the experience will be so smooth we won’t even notice.

The current roster of compatible apps is likely to be limited at the start — Google has already announced B&H Photo Video, BuzzFeed, Medium, Hotel Tonight, Zumper, and Disney as early participants — but it shouldn’t be long before other developers adapt their own software to allow them to function as part of Instant Apps.

Xiaomi Mi 6 photo samples prove it can compete with the best cameras today

The dual-camera configuration in the Mi 6 is a step up from previous generations.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 is going to be a noteworthy phone in Asian markets. Imaging prowess is an area that Xiaomi’s rivals have banked on for several generations — OPPO brands its phones as Selfie Experts and Vivo calls its devices Camera Phones — and with the Mi 6, Xiaomi is catching up.

The Mi 6 has a dual camera setup that’s similar to that of the iPhone 7 Plus, with a wide-angle 12MP imaging sensor augmented by a secondary 12MP telephoto lens with 2x lossless zoom. Xiaomi managed to cram the sensors in a smaller frame — the Mi 6 has a 5.15-inch screen whereas the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display — and the manufacturer also figured out a way to eliminate the camera bump at the back.

The 12MP wide-angle lens has an f/1.8 aperture with 1.25-micron pixels and 4-axis OIS, and the imaging sensor is a Sony IMX386. The 12MP telephoto lens has an f/2.6 aperture (52mm effective field-of-view) with 1.0-micron pixels, and uses Samsung’s S5K3M3 ISOCELL sensor. Up front, the Mi 6 offers an 8MP Sony IMX268 sensor.

We’ll be taking a look at how the camera fares next to the Galaxy S8 and the Pixel over the coming weeks, but for now, here’s the Xiaomi Mi 6 in action.

If you’re interested in taking a look at the full-size photos, head here.

Dual camera

The dual camera setup works as intended on the Mi 6, with the camera providing 2x lossless zoom. The ISP also lets you zoom in 10x digitally, but the resulting images aren’t going to be great.

Outdoors

Like its predecessor, the Mi 6 excels at taking photos in bright conditions. Auto HDR plays a big part here, with the Mi 6 automatically switching modes when needed. Overall, the phone does a great job of capturing detail and colors while outdoors.

Low-light

Low-light images come out much better than last year’s Mi 5, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area. The phone struggles with detail, and you also get a lot of noise. This is where the Mi 6 loses out to the likes of the Galaxy S8 and the Pixel.

Indoors

The Mi 6 does a capable job of shooting images indoors, but photos come out overexposed in a few instances.

More to come

We’re just getting started with our Mi 6 coverage, so stay tuned for plenty more in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on the Mi 6 camera in the comments below.