Uber hires a VP to fix its toxic company culture

Despite its incredibly high userbase, a string of controversies has led to what can only be described as a pretty terrible year for Uber. Now, just a few months after its employees left the company in droves, the successful ride-hailing company has recruited a new executive to save its sinking ship. After a former employee spoke out about sexual harassment at the company, Uber launched an investigation into its workplace culture, calling in Frances Frei, an expert on gender equality from Harvard Business School. Now, Frei has joined the successful tech startup full time, taking a role as Uber’s Senior Vice President of Leadership & Strategy.

Given everything the $69 billion company has been through, Frei sounds like exactly the kind of corporate shakeup Uber needs. Yet, with nine high profile roles still needing to be filled at the company, this progressive hire looks to be only the beginning of its crucial restructure.

This recruitment drive comes at a fairly important time for the world’s most valuable tech startup. Next week, Uber is expected to release the results of February’s internal investigation into its workplace. With the results of that investigation potentially causing more upset at the company, Frei might find herself enduring a pretty tricky first week on the job.

Via: Business Insider

Source: Uber

HP’s ‘fighter-jet’ Omen gaming PCs are VR-ready

HP has unveiled its latest Omen desktop and laptop gaming PCs with a refreshed, “fighter-jet”-inspired design and VR-certification, along with an external graphics accelerator that doubles as a storage booster. The most notable of those is the Omen 15, HP’s first gaming laptop that meets NVIDIA’s new Max-Q specification, which is supposed to be reserved for devices that fit more performance in an Ultrabook-sized package.

Calling such an angular, beefy device “Max-Q” is lol-worthy, but the top-shelf Omen 15 laptop should be a decent performer thanks to an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU and Max-Q-ready GTX 1060 graphics. That’s not at the top-end of NVIDIA’s spec, but it also gives the model VR certification — until now, only the 17-inch Omen had that honor.

As it often does, HP tried to make the 15-inch Omen laptop all things to all gamers. It includes an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, with RAM from 8GB to 16GB, but has graphics choices all over the map. You can opt for a 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon RX 550, a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or 1050Ti, or the aforementioned GTX-1060 with 6GB of GDDR5 RAM. That also makes for quite an array of prices, with the cheapest model at $1,000 and the 1050Ti model at $1,600. Expect the 1060 version to cost more than that (HP didn’t say the price). Whatever it is, it’ll be a tough sale versus Razer’s svelter, subtler Blade laptop.

HP also refreshed its 17-inch Omen laptop with the same black-and-red design, offering a top-end $1,800 model with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ chip, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX1070 graphics and a 256GB SSD/2TB HDD combo. That model doesn’t conform to the Max-Q spec due to its size and configuration (HP didn’t reveal the weight). Both the 15- and 17-inch Omen laptops go on sale starting June 28th.

Rounding out the Omen PC line, there’s gaming desktop (below) with similar black and red, Lamborghini Countach styling. It’s basically a gaming machine for folks who don’t want to build their own, so again, you can customize it all the way up to at $3,000 or so configuration, with a quad-core Intel Core i7-7700K CPU and dual NVIDIA 1080Ti graphics cards.

HP also showed off matching 25- and 27-inch monitors, equipped with 1080p AMD FreeSync and QHD NVIDIA G-Sync, respectively, starting at $280 for the 25-inch model. If you must have a keyboard and mouse with the same look (you’ve come this far, so why not), HP has Omen versions of those too, at $130 and $60 respectively.

Finally, if you’re torn between a laptop and a desktop, why not do both? That’s the idea with HP’s $300 Omen Accelerator (below). It’s a 500 watt external case that holds a single desktop graphics card and a 2.5-inch hard drive, while also sporting four USB 3.0, one USB-C and two HDMI slots, an ethernet port and more. You can connect it to either Omen laptop (and others, including the Spectre 13, EliteBook x360 and Envy 27 AIO) via a Thunderbolt 3 connection. That device arrives in August of 2017.

List of iOS 11 Compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch Models

Apple on Monday introduced iOS 11, the next major version of its mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

iOS 11 is compatible with 64-bit devices only, meaning the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPad 4 do not support the software update.

iOS 11 is compatible with the following iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models:

iPhone

• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone 6
• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 5s

iPad

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro (first-generation)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro (second-generation)
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (fifth-generation)
• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air
• iPad mini 4
• iPad mini 3
• iPad mini 2

iPod touch

• iPod touch (6th generation)

The first iOS 11 beta was released to registered Apple developers on Monday. A public beta will be available in late June through the Apple Beta Software Program. The software update should be officially released in September.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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HomePod First Listen Impressions: ‘Incredible’ Audio With Bass-Heavy Sound That Easily Beats Echo

Following an unveiling at WWDC yesterday, Apple let members of the press get a close-up look at its new Siri-enabled speaker, HomePod, but due to the loudness of the area it was impossible for WWDC attendees to really determine HomePod’s sound quality. Now, a few websites have gotten the chance to hear how HomePod sounds in a normal environment, and shared their opinions of the device online.

According to Mashable, Apple played listeners five songs across four genres and the device had “very good audio.” The HomePod starts up by playing 360-degree audio to itself so it can learn the space it’s in, and then adjusts any subsequent music that’s played with the knowledge of the size of the room.

HomePod requires constant AC power for music playback
Mashable said this worked, and “no matter where I walked in the small listening room, the sound was consistent.”

The audio wasn’t just loud — filling a room with sound, good or bad, is easy — it was rich. The highs were sharp, but not broken. The lows were deep, sonorous, but not chest-thumping.

A classic song with a far less complex mix sounded warm and true and one of Kendrick Lamar’s beat-heavy tunes showed off the HomePod’s bass prowess, I also listened to a live recording of the Eagles’ Hotel California on a pair of HomePods. I noticed that the audience cheers primarily came from one speaker, along with some ambient music sounds and the mains came from the HomePod almost directly in front of me. I did not feel like I was at the live concert, but I was still impressed with the audio quality.

Mashable noted that Apple had in-room comparisons with its competitors, including Sonos Play:3 and Amazon Echo, and that the HomePod easily beat the two other speakers in pure music playback quality. The site noted the disadvantages users face if they don’t use Apple Music, and was unsure how any of the smart home controls would work as press was only allowed access to non-functional demo units, but was ultimately left impressed with HomePod, calling it a “very good speaker” and looking forward to testing it more as December grows nearer.

CNET heard the same five songs, including “The Greatest” by Sia, “Sunrise” by Norah Jones, “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder, “DNA” by Kendrick Lamar and a live performance of The Eagles’ “Hotel California.” The site said that HomePod’s audio was “bolder and more vivid” than Sonos Play:3, and in general “a lot better than Amazon Echo.” CNET was also impressed how HomePod can separate vocals from ambient, instrument-based sounds, and how two HomePods in one room can recognize one another and automatically adjust playback for the best spatial sound output.

HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the experience I tried, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I’d also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space, more so than the Sonos and Amazon comparisons on-hand. But the one thing I didn’t get to experience was how HomePod can listen, talk and suggest things. I couldn’t request music, or ask for the weather, or try any smart controls.

It’s hard to tell what any of this means right now, and a full review of the final product is the only way to determine any real meaningful thoughts on HomePod-as-home-audio-device. But, right out of the gate, Apple is clearly going for music over smart assistance as HomePod’s major draw. But as the most expensive speaker of the three — it costs almost double the price of the Echo — its superior sound quality is to be expected. It needs to earn that bigger price tag.

In the controlled demo environment, What HiFi? noted the HomePod’s strong bass and crisp vocals on Sia’s “The Greatest,” which made the Echo “almost pedestrian” in comparison. The site did note that throughout the session songs felt more bass-heavy than some of the other speakers in comparison, and it remains unclear if Apple will allow users to tweak audio playback in some way.

As Sia’s The Greatest played out, the HomePod sounded impressive: strong bass rang out – which was perhaps the overriding audio takeaway for the speaker – but the vocals still seemed sharp and crisp. In comparison, the Sonos Play:3 appeared uncharacteristically flat, while the Amazon Echo felt almost pedestrian.

We also heard a pair of HomePods playing a live recording of Hotel California by The Eagles. The attention to detail was striking, with different instruments sounding discretely realised. Did we feel like we were at the concert? Maybe not, but it did sound powerful.

Engadget called HomePod’s audio “incredible,” and compared to both rivals in the demo area, “it blew them both out of the water.”

The HomePod however, sounded crisp and bright no matter the musical genre fed through it — it rendered The Eagles as well it did Kendrick Lamar. As a reminder, there’s a huge woofer and seven tweeters inside, all meant to make audio sound as vivid as possible no matter where you are in a room.

And the Echo? Well, I’ll put it this way: if listening to the HomePod was like listening to a CD, then audio through the Echo sounded like AM radio. In my experience it’s excellent for audiobooks, but if given the choice, I’d rather have the HomePod pump out my jams.

It’ll be a while before the HomePod official goes on sale, but right now it has one clear edge over the competition: it’s just a killer speaker.

The takeaway from most first impressions of Apple’s HomePod appears to be that it easily beats the competition offered up in the demo, but as many sites noted, that’s an expected outcome. We’ll still have to wait until closer to the HomePod’s holiday launch in December to see more true-to-life audio tests, how voice controls work with Siri, and how successful the intelligent assistant is at performing tasks within Apple’s new smart speaker system.

For more HomePod impressions, check out these sites: BBC, The Verge, Business Insider, Pocket-lint

Related Roundup: HomePod
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HP’s latest displays and peripherals will drive this summer’s Overwatch World Cup

Why it matters to you

HP’s new Omen lineup features a number of high-end gaming peripherals at affordable prices, demonstrating that gaming is going increasingly mainstream, which is good news for budget-minded users.

At a big event in Beijing, China today, HP unveiled a host of new gaming desktop and laptop systems, but the party didn’t stop there. HP also rolled out several new Omen-branded gaming peripherals including displays, a high-end graphics card enclosure, and a new mouse and keyboards.

The real exciting part, though, is where you’ll end up seeing these new peripherals put to work: the Overwatch World Cup. Yep, as Blizzard Entertainment’s official PC partner, HP will be providing Omen-branded hardware and peripherals to the esports athletes competing in this summer’s biggest esports event.

Omen 25-inch Display

When HP designed these monitors, it had to consider which types of gamers it would be serving. Even though they share a similar design language, they’re each uniquely tailored to fulfill the needs of different types of gamers.

The Omen 25-inch 1080p monitor, for instance, is designed for fast-twitch gamers who need lightning-fast response times. Overclockable to enable response times as low as 1ms, the 25-inch monitor features a 144Hz refresh rate and support for AMD FreeSync. It’s not the biggest monitor out there, but it’s certainly among the quickest and most affordable gaming monitors.

Starting at $280, the Omen 25-inch will hit store shelves on June 26, 2017.

Omen 27-inch Display

The Omen 27-inch monitor however, distinguishes itself from its smaller sibling by providing a QHD resolution, with 70 percent more pixels than a 1080p panel. It also features an overclockable TN panel, with a remarkable 165Hz refresh rate, and support for Nvidia’s G-Sync technology.

It’s bigger, badder, and quite a bit more expensive. The Omen 27-inch is designed with the high-end enthusiast in mind, someone who needs a big monitor packed with pixels that also happens to be lightning-quick.

Speed and size however, will run you $800 when the Omen 27 comes out on June 8, 2017.

Omen Graphics Accelerator

Designed for anyone with a powerful laptop which might not have a super-powerful GPU under the hood, the Omen Graphics Accelerator is a bold, stylish take on the increasingly popular external GPU enclosure. The big black-and-red cube can house a powerful desktop-grade GPU, either an AMD or Nvidia card, and lend those graphics processing capabilities to an otherwise underpowered laptop.

The Omen Accelerator can come configured with a GPU, and features a 500W power supply, but also features a bay for an external SSD or hard disk. So you can keep your games and most of your gaming horsepower in one convenient little box.

The Omen Accelerator starts at $300 and comes out in August 2017 — keep in mind though, that’s just the base price, without a GPU included.

Omen Mouse, Keyboard, and Headset

Even with the best gaming hardware, even the best gaming experience can be spoiled by a flimsy keyboard or sub-par mouse. HP aims to ensure its Omen lineup is accompanied by high-end accessories which will be every bit as responsive and performance-driven as the hardware they’re used with.

Starting with the new Omen keyboard, this design philosophy informed every aspect of the design. From the backlighting to the choice of mechanical switches and N-key Rollover for anti-ghosting, the Omen keyboard is built with performance in mind, according to HP.

The Omen Mouse 600 was just as carefully optimized for high-performance gaming, offering customizable weight, with mechanical switches rated for up to 50 million clicks.

Last but not least, the new Omen Headset 800 builds on the success of the previous model by taking user feedback into account with the new design. It features thicker earcups, boosted acoustic performance for clear high, low, and mid-tones, and a custom-tuned audio profile for clear speech — so you can hear your teammates on Overwatch urging you to get on the point and stop fawning over your new headset.

The Omen Keyboard will retail for $130, the Omen Mouse 600 for $60, and the Omen Headset 800 for a competitive $80. All three accessories will be available on the HP website on June 6, 2017.

You can strap HP’s new Omen X desktop on your back for the ultimate in VR immersion

Why it matters to you

HP might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of PC gaming, but these powerful, affordable laptops and desktops could change that.

As part of its push into the gaming hardware market, HP unveiled a number of redesigned and revamped gaming laptops and desktops on Tuesday — and one of them can be strapped to your back. No, it is not just a laptop in a backpack. It’s the Omen X Compact Desktop, a gaming system designed for a new type of portability.

Omen X Compact Desktop

Don’t be put off by the Omen X Compact Desktop’s unusual design. It looks that way because it is only a desktop part of the time, the Omen X Compact Desktop is actually designed to be worn on your back to provide a truly seamless (and cordless) VR experience.

Even though VR backpack PCs are still relatively new, HP saw a flaw which would likely prevent most users from even considering one as a viable option. Most of them are backpacks first, PCs second. In order to provide a versatile gaming experience, HP built a compact PC that can be removed from its backpack housing and put into a dock, where it becomes a normal gaming PC.

Do not be fooled by its small form factor and exotic build, as this thing houses some seriously powerful hardware. Featuring a factory overclocked Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card and unlocked Intel Core processor, this portable VR machine can drive high-end VR games whether its docked or strapped to your back.

The backpack attachment is sold separately for $600, but it comes with two pairs of batteries, so two can be in use while the other two are charging. It’s also possible to replace the batteries without removing the backpack. This smart feature means longer VR play sessions, and is sorely needed, as many VR backpack rigs struggle to last an hour.

The Omen X starts at $2,500, and hits store shelves in July.

Omen 15 and 17 Gaming Laptops

The new Omen by HP laptop line was redesigned from the ground up with competitive gamers in mind. Both the 15-inch and 17-inch models feature a high degree of versatility and customization options.

Starting with the processor, both models feature the latest seventh-generation Intel Core processors, and they can both be outfitted with either Radeon or Nvidia discrete graphics. Specifically, the 15-inch Omen laptop can be outfitted with AMD Radeon RX 550 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics cards. While the 17-inch model can be specced out with AMD Radeon RX 580 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards.

Even their displays can be customized, both models feature optional 4K displays with a typical 60Hz refresh rate, or for that lightning-quick-butter-smooth gaming experience, both notebooks can also be kitted out with 1080p displays capable of hitting 120Hz — plus support for Nvidia G-Sync. FreeSync is also available but only on the 60Hz 1080p display option.

In addition to building for versatility, HP also built with the future in mind. The Omen by HP laptops all feature a single back panel which can be easily removed, providing access to the hard drive bay and RAM slots, to facilitate hassle-free user upgrades.

The Omen 15 starts at $1,000, while the Omen 17 starts at $1,100, and both will be available June 28.

Omen Gaming Desktop

HP’s Omen desktop line also received quite a bit of an upgrade. The latest will feature high-performance graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD, from single-card entry-level machines all the way up to big dual-GPU behemoths. That is right, the Omen desktop can be outfitted with dual-GPU setups using pairs of Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards, or AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics cards.

In order to provide users with ample choice, HP will also allow users to choose between Intel and AMD processors — with support for unlocked and overclockable options on both sides. Both Intel Core i5 and i7 processors will be available in unlocked, over-clock ready configurations, right along with AMD’s latest overclockable Ryzen processors.

That is not all, as HP also radically redesigned the Omen desktop case. Built with gaming performance in mind, the new Omen case offers a completely custom build with optimized thermal engineering, and all-around edge vents to dissipate heat evenly.

The Omen by HP desktops start at $900, and start shipping now. It is also worth mentioning that these are the desktops to be used at the Overwatch World Cup this summer. As Blizzard Entertainment’s official PC partner, HP’s hardware will be driving the world’s best Overwatch esports athletes.

New York taxis finally have a tech-forward answer to Uber and Lyft

Why it matters to you

While taxis have had some trouble competing with Uber and Lyft until now, the tables may finally be turning.

New York finally has an answer to Uber and Lyft. Today, yellow taxis found a way to hit back at the Silicon Valley, California-based transportation giants by way of a new partnership between the on-demand ridesharing services firm Via, and taxi app Curb from Verifone

Regardless of which app you use (Curb or Via), you’ll be able to carpool with other riders who are headed in the same direction, and thereby share the cost of a cab. Similar to Uber Pool or Lyft Line, passengers will be directed to a nearby corner for both pick-up and drop-off, which means more efficient routes and quicker riders.

“We’re delighted to offer a new lower-cost option for taxi riders while simultaneously increasing earnings for hardworking New York City taxi drivers with more passengers, longer trips, and reduced downtime,” said Amos Tamam, senior vice president of Verifone Taxi Systems. “This latest app integration marks yet another milestone in the transformation of Verifone’s connected taxis around the world into a smart transportation platform.”

Ultimately, both companies believe that this collaboration will allow New York taxis to move more passengers from Point A to Point B than would be possible without this tech. And of course, carpooling is better both for the Earth and for your wallet.

“At Via we’re committed to reducing congestion and emissions in major cities with a fully dynamic network of shared vehicles,” said Daniel Ramot, CEO and co-founder of Via. “Everyone benefits when we increase the efficiency of vehicles on the road. Cities benefit from reduced congestion and emissions, riders benefit from affordable and convenient transportation options, and drivers benefit from a system optimized to increase their earnings. We’re excited to deploy our technology for the first time in New York City taxis, one of the largest and most important taxi fleets in the world.”

Nearly 10% of all active Android devices are running Nougat

Nougat continues to gain momentum in the latest Android distribution numbers.

Nougat saw a heady increase last month, and with the update rolling out to older devices globally, we’re seeing a similar uptick this time around. Google’s May distribution numbers pit Nougat — both 7.0 and 7.1 — at 9.5%, an increase of 2.4% from the previous month.

Android 7.0 Nougat is on 8.9% of active Android devices, while Android 7.1 has a 0.6% share. With over 2 billion devices powered by Android globally, that number corresponds to over 190 million devices running Nougat. Lollipop has seen a decline from 32% to 30.8%, making Marshmallow the most widely-used version of Android globally with a 31.2% share.

KitKat’s share declined from 18.8% to 18.1%, and Ice Cream Sandwich is holding steady at 1%. After a brief increase to 1% last month, Gingerbread is once again down to 0.8%, and Jelly Bean — versions through 4.1.x to 4.3 — is now at 8.8%, down from 9.1%.

The data was collected over seven days ending in June 05, 2017, and doesn’t factor in devices that don’t have the Play Store. While the overall number may seem low considering Nougat has been available for over seven months now, the sheer number of Android devices out in the wild make it a monumental task for manufacturers to issue updates. Hopefully that will change with Project Treble in Android O.

Android Nougat

• Android 7.0 Nougat: Everything you need to know
• Will my phone get Android Nougat?
• Google Pixel + Pixel XL review
• All Android Nougat news
• How to manually update your Nexus or Pixel
• Join the Discussion

Xiaomi’s $30 Yeelight LED lightstrip takes on Philips Hue for a fraction of the cost

The Yeelight LED lightstrip offers the easiest way to get started with accent lighting.

Xiaomi has managed to carve out a niche for itself in the smart lighting segment with its Yeelight sub-brand. Yeelight’s LED bulbs offer an affordable alternative to Philips’ Hue, and the same holds true for the brand’s LED lightstrip.

Available for $29.99, the Yeelight LED lightstrip costs a fraction of the $90 Philips Hue Lightstrip while offering a similar set of features. The strip measures two meters — the same as Hue — and comes with a single-button remote that’s embedded in the power cable. You’ll be able to toggle the lightstrip on and off with the remote, but more often than not, you’ll use Xiaomi’s Mi Home app for the job. But first, a closer look at the lightstrip itself.

The Yeelight LED lightstrip

The Yeelight lightstrip supports 16 million colors and goes up to 140 lumens, allowing you to illuminate a large area with ease. The strip is made out of soft PU, and you can flex it or bend it around corners as needed. Installation is as easy as it gets — just peel off the adhesive tape at the back and stick the lightstrip onto a surface.

If you don’t intend to make full use of the entire length of the two-meter lightstrip, you can cut it at specific sections. The strip has a rubber coating that runs over its entire surface, which gives it added resistance to the elements with an IP65 rating. The power cable is three meters long, letting you stick the lightstrip anywhere you want in your house.

You can press the controller button on the lightstrip to turn it off and on, and use a long-press action to change scenes.

Mi Home, IFTTT, and Alexa

The highlight of the Yeelight LED lightstrip is its integration with IFTTT, Amazon’s Alexa platform, and Xiaomi’s Mi Home app. As soon as you plug in the lightstrip to a wall socket, you can set it up using the Mi Home app.

The app automatically detects the lightstrip, allowing you to connect it to your home network. Once it’s set up, you can control the lights and select scenes from the Mi Home app, or use voice commands on Alexa to make changes. The lightstrip also works with IFTTT, and you can configure it to automatically change the color based on the weather conditions, switch off at a particular time, and much more.

Google Assistant integration isn’t available right now, but it is on the way and should be rolled out in the coming months.

For $30, you’re getting incredible value with the Yeelight LED lightstrip.

Primarily, you’ll be using the Mi Home app to interact with the Yeelight lightstrip. The app allows you to configure schedules, set a timer for the lightstrip to automatically turn on and off, select from a variety of scenes, and set favorite colors. You can also take a photo of a particular object and use the color picker to extract the color information from the image.

One of the main drawbacks with Philips’ Hue Lightstrip is its price. But with a retail price of $30, that isn’t an issue for the Yeelight LED lightstrip. If you’re looking for an affordable RGB lightstrip that you can control with your phone or through Alexa, look no further.

See at GearBest

FLIR One Pro preview: An Android-powered thermal imaging camera made for professionals

If you require thermal imaging to get the job done, the FLIR One Pro is one of the best solutions for doing so with your smartphone.

Contractors, road warriors, electricians, plumbers — whatever your occupation is, if it’s dealing with scalding hot things or even temperate metal, chances are you’ll get plenty of use from a little plug-in thermal imaging camera like the FLIR One Pro.

This is the professional version of the FLIR One, one of the few affordable thermal cameras powered by a smartphone. At $400, the FLIR One Pro is twice the price of the third-generation FLIR One, but it’s equipped with a better camera sensor and more durability. Unfortunately, that extra cash doesn’t pay for better battery life.

See the heat

If you’re not familiar with thermal imaging, it’s the best way to measure how much heat is being radiated by a person, object, or area. Almost everything around us either gives off or reflects heat in some manner, and if you’re doing work that relies on the details of how hot or cold something is, a plug-in thermal camera could be especially useful.

Those of you who remember the last FLIR One may recall that it was a bit hard to orient in the way you’d like. That’s because it used microUSB, which required that you plug it in a certain way. If the port was backwards, however, it meant that the camera was facing inward. That’s fine if you’re taking a thermal selfie, but how often is there a need for that? The FLIR One Pro features an adjustable 4mm USB-C plug to make it easier to plug in the camera even when there’s a honking case on it.

The core camera of the FLIR One Pro has been upended a bit to offer more vivid imagery.

The thermal camera sensor in the FLIR One Pro is higher resolution than the more-affordable FLIR One. Like the rest of its device family, it utilizes MSX, which stands for Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging — essentially FLIR’s proprietary thermal imaging processing. (You can read more about it here.) The tech relies on one regular camera for detail and one Lepton camera for heat, and together they morph their final product into a single image. The actual photos you snap are saved to your camera roll at 1440×1080 and they’re relatively easy to export when in need.

A selection of samples shot with the FLIR One Pro. From left to right: Inside the house with the windows open; the flame of a burning candle.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a last-generation FLIR camera on hand to do the apples-to-apples test, but I can report that the One Pro seemed to capture even the most minor of heat points from around the room. It also works in the dark if you’re requiring a bit of night vision action. However, it’s still weird shooting at things with a camera placed at the bottom of the device, which can make it hard to maneuver the camera around smaller objects in tight corners. Thankfully there are additional features in the app, like the ability to use multiple spot meters, that can help with measuring polarizing surfaces.

FLIR One Pro video sample.

Battery life for the FLIR One Pro is up to an hour when it’s fully charged, but I was lucky enough to eke out about 40 minutes — and that’s with the device being on standby. Using the camera will suck a ton of energy from a full battery. With ten minutes of constant usage, the battery dropped about 11 percent after snapping some pictures. You can still use the One Pro while it’s charging, however, which bodes well if you’re carrying a separate battery pack.

About the app

Screenshots of the FLIR One camera app.

During my week with the FLIR One Pro, I was utilizing a beta version of the FLIR One app for Android so that I could preview the next-gen dongle. The app itself is not particularly impressive. Since the technology is technically cross-platform, the apps have been designed in a one-size-fits-all manner for both iOS and Android. The result is a Jelly Bean-esque interface with slow-to-load menu screens and permissions prompts that freeze on screen. In fact, due to the beta nature of the app, I experienced plenty of crashes as I attempted to use the device. At the very least, it uses a similar menu schematic to what you’re used to on Android, so there’s no learning curve there.

There are some added features that will make the droll-looking interface worth navigating.

There are some added features that will make the droll-looking interface worth navigating. As I mentioned, there is spot meter you can use to get the reading on a specific area — say you’re shooting a power strip, for instance, and you want to see the heat coming out of a particular adapter. You can set the spot meter exactly where you want it and have the temperature readout just for that area. There’s even a time lapse mode you can set up so that you can measure the heat of an object over time. You’ll probably want the phone to be plugged in while it’s set up to do this, however, since the battery on the FLIR One Pro is fast to go.

FLIR has also provided links for finding more reasons to use the One Pro. There’s a community link available if you have a specific question that may seem unanswerable, as well as a link to download additional thermal imaging apps from the Play Store. And if you’re really stuck, FLIR made all of its support pages readily available from the main menu screen.

A worthy work tool

The bigger sensor on the FLIR One Pro will cost you an extra $200, but if you’re planning to use this device in conjunction with your smartphone in the field, the $400 investment may be worth it for the better imaging sensor.

If you’re merely looking for one to use around the house, however, the third-generation FLIR One is just as viable, not to mention it’ll save you some cash. And since both models are only meant to last up to an hour, it’s not like you’re getting any battery gain for buying the professional version.

See at Amazon