Jaguar InControl explored: A deep dive into Jaguar’s infotainment system

Connectivity is one of the biggest considerations when buying a car these days. We’re all used to having everything on demand through our smartphones and the car makers – providers of the biggest gadget you’re likely to buy – are constantly trying to make things as simple as possible.

For the past few years, Jaguar has been using the InControl system. It has appeared in a number of different guises, evolving to the Touch and Touch Pro systems, but there are also options for smartphone apps, dual view, a digital driver display and a whole lot more. 

Here’s a deep dive into Jaguar’s in-car infotainment technology. 

Jaguar InControl

Called InControl, the system is divided into two distinct models: Touch and Touch Pro. Both operate through a centrally mounted display and as the name suggests, it relies on touchscreen navigation, but operation varies slightly based on what car you choose.

Pocket-lint

The standard Touch system delivers an 8-inch display flanked by physical buttons to the left and right for things like home, navigation, cameras, settings and so on. This is the standard option on the XE, XF and F-Pace.

The more advanced Touch Pro is an upgrade on the XE, XF and F-Pace, expanding to a 10.2-inch central display, losing the physical buttons and hosting a run of on-screen buttons across the bottom. It also comes with a digital driver display on these models so Touch Pro is very much the exciting option.

Pocket-lint

The price of that upgrade depends on the model you choose and the trim; for the Jaguar XE SE it’s a £1600 step, for the XE Portfolio it’s only a £1090 extra, but it’s also paired with that driver display and an audio system upgrade, so you get a lot for your money. 

The Touch Pro system is standard on the XJ, but doesn’t expand to the 10.2-inches, it’s currently limited to 8-inches in the central dash due to the interior design. Coming as standard also means that the XJ has a digital driver display as standard too, so is well-specced from the start.

Pocket-lint

There’s a third system that’s called InControl Touch Plus, which is limited to the Jaguar F-Type. As is often the case, sports cars sometimes need something a little different and here you have most of the options of the Touch Pro, but in an 8-inch system with flanking physical buttons. 

• Jaguar F-Pace review: Outpacing its SUV rivals?

Driver display

One of the things that divides Touch from Touch Pro in most cases is the 12.3-inch digital display. This replaces the traditional dials with a full digital array, but is an upgrade option on all cars except the Jaguar XJ, where it comes as standard.

For the Jaguar XE, XF and F-Pace, the standard display gives you two analogue dials with a 5-inch full colour digital panel in the middle for your driving information and other details. Using the steering wheel controls you can change the information on this central 5-inch panel, as well as change a lot of the car’s options without having to use the main display.

Pocket-lint

The real excitement, however, is reserved for the Touch Pro’s Virtual Instrument Display, replacing those dials for a high-resolution 12.3-inch display, meaning a lot more customisation and a more modern and dynamic look – very much along the same lines as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit.

In its default state it’s divided into three dials, the centre giving you a speedo, with rev counter to the right and the third dial to the left displaying driving information. This left-hand dial can quickly be switched through to change various car control functions, the sort of thing you’d do on the central panel of the standard analogue drivers’ display.

Pocket-lint

Switching to sports mode changes the view, switching the rev counter to the centre. That’s something to watch out for, because if you’re glancing down to check your speed, you can catch the numbers of the rev counter and think that’s MPH, when it isn’t… 

As we said, to get this display you’ll have to opt for the Touch Pro system and the price of that upgrade will depend on the model and trim level of the car you’re buying – and the full digital driver’s display is not an option on the F-Type, where you stick to the sporty dials only.

• Jaguar XF (2018): Sumptuous luxury, now with new engines

Main central display

Jaguar uses touch for all its central displays and as Jaguar is a premium car marque, even the lowest spec model (Jaguar XE SE) gets a fully-featured system, with a full run of upgrade options as we mentioned above. All the displays are fixed in place, there are no covers, flipping, retracting into the dash or anything else. 

In operation the systems are very much the same, with the physical buttons of Touch providing quick access to the major sections of the system – home, music, navigation, telephone and some other features, like parking assistance or the car’s cameras. When moving to Touch Pro these physical buttons are essentially replicated in a digital strip along the bottom of the display.

Pocket-lint

Hitting a big physical button to jump to the satnav section is perhaps easier than finding the exact icon across the bottom of the screen which is a lot smaller, but the system isn’t really designed to be used like that, so you could say that it has a belt and braces approach and those buttons duplicate some of the controls unnecessarily. 

In reality, as this is a touch-controlled system, the main approach is to touch the even bigger soft-button sections on the display. It uses a series of pages that you can scroll through, rather like a smartphone, with the display divided into four sections on the main home screen, giving you direct access to music, navigation, phone and climate controls.

Thereafter you can swipe to other sections of the system to access other things, like driving data, a browser, InControl apps, cameras and other bits spread over the next pages. In each case, tapping the big on-screen button then takes you into that section, whereafter you have obvious buttons to press.

You can dive into the eco section to find out how you might be wasting energy and how you could improve your driving style to be more efficient. For those looking for sporty data, for example on the Jaguar XE S, you can track your dynamics, see what G forces you pulled and so on.

Pocket-lint

There’s a lot being offered, although typically it’s those big main areas of music, telephone and navigation that you’ll want for daily driving. The further options mean you can glance at how efficiently you’ve been driving, or change the dynamic setup of the car, but after a few changes and glances, you’ll probably not dive back into those areas very often.

Each section is rich and graphical and we like the detail that you’re given when customising the car’s dynamics, such as shifting the steering to sport so it gets a little more weight and so on. (Again, this functionality depends on the age and model of your car.) 

Smartphone connectivity: Android Auto and Apple CarPlay absent 

The recent advent of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay has provided another avenue for smartphone users to integrate their phones with their cars. Jaguar doesn’t support either system, instead wanting to use its own system called InControl Apps. 

The idea here is that you use Jaguar’s app on your phone and when you connect to the car, that then provides the bridge to support a number of apps. It’s a little more restricted than CarPlay or Android auto, but does mean that Jaguar stays in control of the apps you’ll be able to use and the visual design of the system.

Jaguar

That also means that the apps you can use are dictated by what works with the Jaguar system, rather than through wider support from the Apple or Android community. Fortunately, Spotify is on the list and as one of the most popular music streaming services, that’s important.   

To use InControl Apps you’ll have to connect your phone physically to the USB port and it works on both Android and iOS. You’ll also have support for regular Bluetooth connections for calling, there’s iPod compatibility as well as a 3.5mm aux input for connecting other hardware.

Pocket-lint

Controls for Bluetooth-connected devices also flow into the steering wheel buttons and voice controls, to make it easy to place calls, for example.

Touch and Touch Pro are supported by connectivity systems called Connect and Connect Pro, which will enhance the options available to you if you want to use your phone. 

Connect Pro system takes things furthest, offering support for increased interaction to your car, giving remote access to a range of features. These include being able to remotely pre-condition the interior of your car, remote lock and unlock, as well as being able to plan routes on your phone and have those transferred to your car. 

For those carrying passengers with lots of devices, you can also get a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot on some models – it comes as standard on the XF Prestige and F-Pace Prestige and above – and you’ll have to insert your own SIM card. The advantage this offers over using a smartphone, is that your 4G connection is then routed through the car’s antenna – it’s much simpler for passengers too, as the driver won’t have to turn on a hotspot on a phone.

• Jaguar XE S: New supercharged V6 is pure S EX

Satellite navigation 

Navigation is one of the big things we look for in cars. In the case of Jaguar, the omission of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto isn’t so serious because you get navigation in some form on all models – whereas in some other marques, you can save yourself some cash and use Android Auto with Google Maps, rather than paying for satnav for example.

Pocket-lint

There are different grades, however, with the “enhanced” Pro navigation coming with Touch Pro. Of course, as we’ve said, in the majority of cars, once you jump to Touch Pro you also have the digital driver display, with the option of big 3D mapping there, which is a real advantage.

The satnav system is simple enough to use and we’ve found it fairly reliable in operation with turn-by-turn instructions and postcode entry, although it’s the Touch Pro enhanced with Connect Pro that offers a little more, including real time traffic and the ability to arrive at your destination and continue on foot or public transport using the same app.

Arguably, in this case, something like Google Maps would serve you proud, offering this functions and avoiding the need to upgrade. 

Sound, music and television

There are a range of sound systems available across the Jaguar models and these are in part tied to the whether you have the Touch or Touch Pro system. It’s actually a nice move as it feels like you’re getting a lot more for your money than elsewhere where you might be asked to fork out a lot of cash for an audio upgrade.

There are essentially three sound system options:

•       Standard Jaguar audio: 6 speakers, 80W
•       Meridian sound system: 11 speakers and subwoofer, 380W
•       Meridian surround sound system: 17 speakers, 825W 

All cars get the standard Jaguar audio, with options to upgrade to the 380W Meridian system with Touch. Then there’s the option to move to Touch Pro with the 380W Meridian system which is perhaps the sweet spot for a lot of XE, XF, F-Pace buyers, as the 825W surround sound system with Touch Pro then makes quite a step up in price.

Pocket-lint

The Jaguar F-Type gets the 380W Meridian system as standard, offering the 825W as an option, so this sports car is already fairly enhanced. 

The Jaguar XJ again has a slightly different arrangement, getting a 250W Jaguar sound system as standard, rather than the 80W standard version, again with options to move up to the Meridian systems. 

Those Meridian sound system are fantastic and we’ve been really impressed by what we’ve heard from them.

For those wanting TV in the car, it’s available in the XF, XJ and F-Pace but you’ll have to have specified Touch Pro and you’ll have to watch it through that front display when the car is standing still. There’s also to option to have split screen at additional cost.  

Summing up

Jaguar’s premium position means that, even at a core level, you have a lot of options. Jaguar bundles a lot up into the big packages, with the major decision being whether to jump in and take the Touch Pro option. This is likely to be the biggest decision for XE, XF or F-Pace buyers.

It’s also the more appealing move, bringing that 12.3-inch digital driver display, wider 10-inch central display and a boost audio offering too, as well as opening the door for a lot more pro features. 

Some might argue that the omission of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto sort of pushes you toward making this bigger jump, as those smartphone-native systems would provide a lot of functionality that could sit over Jaguar’s standard Touch offering. As it is, InControl provides plenty of tech to get excited about.

We will update as more features become available across more cars.

Google Home recognises who speaks to it: How to add multiple users

Google Home can now recognise each person in your household by their voice and smartly switch to their account and preferences.

Those of you with a husband or kids or a roommate will appreciate Google Home’s latest update. If you’ve ever said to the speaker “OK Google, good morning”, you know it will tell you the time, weather, schedule, and news. But if you didn’t set up Google Home with your Google account (maybe it’s set up under your son’s account), then you won’t hear results that are meant for you.

You’ll get someone else’s schedule, news, and music preferences.

However, starting 20 April 2017, that’s no longer an issue. Google Home now lets up to six people connect their account to one Google Home speaker. So, when you ask Google Assistant for help going forward, it’ll be able to distinguish your voice from your son’s or husband’s or daughter’s or roommate’s and switch to the right account. You’ll get your own playlists, schedule, and more.

Here’s everything you need to know.

• Google Home review: Better than Amazon Echo?
• What is Google Assistant and how does it work?
• 7 best Google Home compatible devices you can buy today

Google Home: How to add multiple users

First, make sure you’re using the latest version of the Google Home app on your mobile device.

Getting started

When you open the app, look for a card that says ”multi-user is available”.
If you don’t see a card, click on the icon in the top right to see all of your connected devices.
Once you see your Google Home listed, select “Link your account.”

Voice training

The app will prompt you to teach Google Assistant your voice so that it can understand and recognize you when you speak.
It will ask you to say the phrases “Ok Google” and “Hey Google” two times each. Google said those phrases are analyzed by a neural network that can detect certain characteristics of a person’s voice in a matter of milliseconds.

Preferences

You’ll also need to set up your preferences within the Google Home app (such as personalized music and commutes). You can learn more about how to adjust your preferences from Google’s Help hub.

Google: How does multiuser support work?

Google said Google Assistant on Google Home should recognise you going forward and be personalised to you – from music to news. It’ll be ready to switch accounts and answer your questions, as well as anyone else in your household who has been added as a user. You can see an example of how support for multiuser support works here:

Google Home: Where is multiuser support available?

This feature rolled out for Google Home owners in the US earlier this year. It is now available for Google Home owners in the UK, too. 

• What is Google Home, how does it work, and when can you buy it?
• Google Home UK release date and price revealed 
• Google Assistant tips and tricks: Master your Android assistant

Best US contract deals available today for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

Here we round up the best handset deals available to you in the US for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. 

With many phones looking like clones, or brands nonchalantly pushing out the same old design year-on-year, Samsung is in that favourable position of offering something exciting in the Galaxy S8. Read our full Samsung Galaxy S8 review here.

Samsung Galaxy S8 with at least 2GB data

Samsung Galaxy S8 with unlimited data

Samsung has broken the mould with its Galaxy S8 handsets, producing two devices that are the same spec, apart from screen size and battery capacity. If you want this phone, just pick the size that fits you with no compromises or additional considerations. Read our full Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus review here.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus with at least 2GB data

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus with unlimited data

iPhone 8 will be in limited supply come launch day, OLED supply issues to blame

Getting a new iPhone on launch day can always be a hard task, as millions of customers look to upgrade their old phone or invest in their first iPhone. 

• Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: What’s the story so far?

This year will likely be no different, although if you’re hoping to get the iPhone 8 with OLED display, you’ll want to have your finger poised on that pre-order button.

That’s because Apple is said to be facing supply issues with the OLED panels, at least, that’s according to a report from Digitimes.

Digitimes’ report says Apple may only have 3 – 4 million if he OLED-toting iPhones available to ship before the year is out. The premium iPhone is expected to be unveiled in September, but may not even officially launch until October or November because of the supply constraint. 

Apple’s smartphone rival Samsung is responsible for producing the displays, but seems to be struggling to manufacture the 5.8-inch panel on a mass scale. It’s still possible that an embedded fingerprint sensor in the display is the cause of the yield rate and delay. 

Rumours have been flying around suggesting Apple will in fact embed the Touch ID scanner into the display, something Samsung was thought to be doing with the Galaxy S8, or at least the Galaxy Note 8. The S8’s fingerprint reader had to be placed on the rear of the phone, and the same is expected for the Note 8 following recent render leaks.

The iPhone 8 is thought to be using a new optical-based fingerprint scanning technology that would allow it to place the sensor in the display, but as with most rumours, nobody knows for sure until the official reveal date.

• The iPhone 8 is back to having an embedded Touch ID sensor according to report
• Apple iPhone 8 in pictures: Renders and leaked photos
• These amazing leaked photos show the iPhone 8 in all its glory
• Apple staff Black Out Days reveal iPhone 8 launch date

It’s widely regarded that the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus modes, with LCD displays will be unaffected. But with the iPhone 8 expected to introduce a whole new design for Apple’s ubiquitous smartphone, demand will no doubt be high.

Nokia 6 Android phone: Specs, prices, release date and everything you need to know

Nokia announced its return to the global smartphone stage with the launch of the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3, a trio of Android smartphones designed to attack the affordable segment of the market.

The Nokia 6 first launched in China as a JD.com exclusive and by all accounts, it was very well received. The Nokia 6 saw 1.3 million pre-registrations in 4 days and once it went on sale, demand outstripped supply.

Now this affordable Nokia comeback phone is coming to the rest of the world. Here’s everything you need to know about the Nokia 6.

• See the Nokia 6 on Amazon.com for a Prime exclusive discount
• Nokia 6 preview: A solid start for the new Android Nokia

Nokia 6: Design and build

• Aluminium body, anodised
• 154 x 75.8 x 7.85-8.4mm
• Sculpted Gorilla Glass

The biggest thing outlined by HMD Global when announcing the launch of the Nokia 6 was talk about the process and the quality of the build. The company details that it takes 55 minutes to machine the Nokia 6 from a block of 6000 series aluminium, before it’s anodised twice and polished five times, taking 10 hours to complete. It’s the sort of attention to manufacture that we’ve become used to from companies like HTC or Apple.

There’s 2.5D Gorilla Glass on the top, giving nice soft curves to the edges of the display, leading into the bodywork. There’s a central fingerprint scanner beneath the display, flanked with back and recent app buttons.

One of the interesting details is the antenna lines which stick to the ends of the phone very much like the iPhone 7. There’s a 3.5mm headphone socket, but this handset uses Micro-USB rather than the newer USB Type-C.

One of the interesting details is that this Nokia phone offers dual speakers with amplifiers that claim do be able to create a Dolby Atmos effect, although that’s something we need to hear for ourselves before we get too excited about it.

We’re left with no doubt that this is a premium quality metal unibody handset and it certainly feels that way in the hand.

The Nokia 6 comes in blue, black, silver and copper, but there’s also an Art Black special edition. This version of the phone has a wonderful glossy finish (as pictured below), and slightly boosted hardware specs, which we’ll also detail below.

• Nokia through the years: 30 best and worst phones, in pictures 

Pocket-lint

Nokia 6: Hardware specs and display

• 1920 x 1080 pixels, 5.5 inches, 403ppi, IPS LCD
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, 3/4GB RAM
• 32/64GB storage + microSD

The Nokia 6 has an octo-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset. There’s 3GB of RAM onboard and 32GB of storage, There is a microSD card slot for storage expansion. This chipset is mid-range, so this isn’t a powerhouse and the 3GB of RAM is good enough. 

However, the Art Black special edition handset has 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage (matching the specs of the Chinese version of this phone), but you will have to pay a little more for this version of the phone.

The 5.5-inch display offers a full HD resolution, which again sees this as a mid-range device, but it’s a resolution that’s worked at this size for companies like Huawei or OnePlus. That gives you 403ppi and having seen this phone, it looks like a nice, vibrant display that will be great in most conditions.

There’s a 3000mAh battery, which sounds like a great capacity for a device of this size and we suspect it will give day-long battery life.

Pocket-lint

Nokia 6: Cameras

• Rear: 16-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera with 1.0µm pixels, PDAF
• Front: 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera with 1.12µm pixels, AF

The Nokia 6 has a 16-megapixel rear camera, offering phase detection autofocus, so it should be nice and fast. The pixels are reported to be 1.0µm, which is a little small compared to some of the 2016 flagship devices, meaning that they might not be as well equipped to capture light, which could affect the quality. The f/2.0 aperture should help with this though.

The front camera is 8-megapixels and takes a small bump to 1.12µm, again with f/2.0 aperture. It reports a 84 degree field of view, so it’s fairly high resolution and wide aperture, so should be good for selfies. It is also autofocus, so those selfies should be nice and sharp.

On the camera front, the Nokia 6 offers automatic scene recognition and an exclusive camera app.

Pocket-lint

Nokia 6: Software

• Android Nougat
• Monthly software updates
• Google Assistant expected

Despite jumping off the Symbian train and falling into the Windows Phone quagmire, the new Nokia is all about Android. The Nokia 6 launches on Android 7 Nougat. This is pure Android and the only change is the camera app that we’ve mentioned.

Other than this, the aim, according to Nokia, is to deliver and experience as close to the Google Pixel as possible. We discovered Google Assistant and round icons on the Nokia 6 when we looked at it, but we’re waiting to see exactly what the final version of this software looks like.

There is no bloatware however, no pre-installed apps, other than the standard Google apps, and there’s no changes to other areas of the phone: it’s just Android.

Nokia also promises monthly security updates and that new Android features should be implemented quickly.

Nokia 6: Release date and price

• Announced globally on 26 February 2017
• Available 10 July 2017
• Priced at €229, or €299 for the Art Black special edition
• Amazon Prime exclusive in US

Nokia announced the global version of the Nokia 6 and the pricing of €229 for the standard version of the phone, or €299 for the Art Black edition of the phone.

In the US, Amazon has announced that the Nokia 6 will be an Amazon Prime exclusive and that it will be available from 10 July 2017. The discounted version comes with lockscreen offers and ads, but gives you a $50 discount.

• See the Nokia 6, 32GB, Amazon Prime exclusive on Amazon.com

There is no word on when it might be coming to the UK, but we suspect it will be soon.

Nokia 6 preview: A solid start for the new Android Nokia

The Nokia 6 launched in China, breaking records for pre-orders and instantly putting HMD Global on the back foot. With demand outstripping supply, you could say the Nokia 6 got off to a solid start as a JD.com exclusive.

As guardians of the Nokia brand in phones, HMD faces a challenge: resurrecting one of mobile phone’s icons, without becoming generic. It’s perhaps ironic, then, that there’s little about the Nokia 6 that makes it stand-out from other Android phones. 

• See the Nokia 6 on Amazon.com – with Prime exclusive discount

It’s a pure Android experience, it follows many of the norms for smartphone design that we’re seeing across the board and the specs don’t elevate this smartphone to be anything special. Yet there’s a certain je ne sais quoi about Nokia’s new handset. Perhaps it’s nostalgia, perhaps HMD has just got it right. 

Nokia 6 preview: Design

• 154 x 75.8 x 7.85-8.4mm
• Solid 6000 series aluminium build
• Sculpted Gorilla Glass

Nokia’s biggest selling point is build. When the Nokia 6 first launched, it was perhaps surprising that HMD put so much emphasis on the manufacturing process. This is the sort of language that Apple or HTC uses for its smartphones that cost more than double, but craftsmanship has become the new smartphone trend.

Pocket-lint

The Nokia 6 starts life as a solid block of aluminium. So serious is HMD about this process, that it was the first thing that we were handed when we sat down with Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer at HMD, and Florian Seiche, president of HMD, to meet the new phones. There’s no stamping of sheet metal: this phone is machined from a solid block of 6000 series aluminium, anodised and polished, as Sarvikas said, to “go beyond the specification.” 

The result is a phone that feels very solid. Metal phones aren’t anything new and they are even plentiful in the mid-range from the likes of Huawei. But the Nokia 6 doesn’t feel like it is metal to tick a box on a spec sheet, it feels like it’s been built to last. Durability is an important factor, it seems, in carrying Nokia smartphones to a new level. 

The Nokia 6 is slim, but has a slightly curved back to help this 5.5-inch phone settle into your hand. The glass of the display flows into the edges for an almost seamless finish, but the exposed diamond cut chamfer that meets it is deliberately evident to again hammer home the message of solidity.

Pocket-lint

The Nokia 6 might not have the immediate sex appeal of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, it’s perhaps not as iconically designed as the iPhone 7, but there’s huge value in that understated Nokia branding on the rear. Avoiding the plastics and the colours that typified the Lumia family, this new Nokia identity helps throw off the spectre of the Windows Phone past. 

While the “tempered blue” colour will remind you of that old 3310 that you loved, the real story is about the Arte Black special edition (pictured here). This carries a glossy black finish, aping the iPhone 7’s Jet Black. This special edition phone has a more lustworthy finish, even if it adds some €60 to the asking price. When the regular Nokia 6 costs just €229, that’s a price we suspect many will be happy to pay. 

Nokia 6 preview: Display and hardware

• 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 403ppi, IPS LCD
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, microSD
• Art Black gets 4GB RAM, 64GB storage
• 3000mAh battery, Micro-USB

Sitting atop the Nokia 6 is a 5.5-inch full HD display. This is where the mid-range story really starts, as the 6 offers a 1920 x 1080 pixel display. That might not offer the detail that you’ll find crammed into the likes of many flagships, but form what we’ve seen, this is a great display. 

We’ve not had the chance to really put it through its tests in a range of environments, but at first glance it’s bright and vibrant, with Nokia saying its rated at 450 nits.

Pocket-lint

The core hardware also tells a mid-range story. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset sits at the heart of this phone, with 3GB RAM in the regular model, or 4GB RAM in the Art Black special edition. The Snapdragon 400 series chipsets are a common feature of mid-range handsets and in many cases provide plenty of power for a smooth day-to-day experience.

We’ve not had the chance to fully assess the power and performance, but we know from previous devices that things like social media, browsing and email crunching will be perfectly fast. Limitations are likely to come in on some games, video capture and other power hungry tasks.

The positive point is usually that these chipsets are less power hungry than some of the top-tier models, so the 3000mAh battery should put in a respectable performance, although we’re sure that there will be some who question why the Nokia 6 doesn’t step up a level, at least to match the Moto G4’s Snapdragon 617.

One of the features that’s perhaps missing is USB Type-C: this phone carries the older Micro-USB connection, but it does have a 3.5 socket for your headphones, along with claims of being able to produce Dolby Atmos audio, something we’ll need to investigate further.

Pocket-lint

Nokia 6 preview: Cameras

• Back: 16-megapixel, 1µm pixels, f/2.0, phase detection AF
• Front: 8-megapixel, 1.12µm pixels, f/2.0, wide angle autofocus camera 

Nokia is known for its cameras. From the 808 PureView to the Lumia 1020, camera power was at the forefront. There were big sensors offering crop zooming, optical image stabilisation and Zeiss lenses. Nokia became synonymous with quality camera offerings. 

We’ve not had the chance to fully test the new camera on the Nokia 6, but you may have to temper your excitement a little when it comes to the camera. In paper, at least, this is a fairly standard offering, eschewing some of those previous highlights. There’s no premium lens branding and the pixels themselves (at 1µm) are rather small compared to some 1.5µm rivals.

Pocket-lint

Without testing the camera, however, there’s no telling how it performs. The camera app is the one thing on the software side that Nokia has changed, making a few tweaks, but on first glance, it all appears to be fairly standard stuff.

The front camera is an 8-megapixel sensor and interestingly it offers autofocus, which is a little more advanced than many fixed focus offerings. This should lead to nice sharp selfies from this wide-angle lens, but again, it needs a good testing before we can really call out the Nokia 6 on camera performance. 

Nokia 6 preview: Unsullied Android Nougat

• Android Nougat
• No bloatware
• Monthly security updates

When it comes to software, many will be happy to hear that Nokia isn’t following the party line with its Android phones. Many are bundling in apps and services, reworking menus and changing a whole load of features, but Nokia is doing nothing.

We’ve mentioned the camera app, but that’s the only change that Nokia will be making to the software experience. “We’re happy with what Google is doing,” says Sarvikas and we’re fans of that experience. There’s no blaming the manufacturer for destroying the experience though software: the Nokia 6 is designed to be as close to the Google Pixel, that pure Android experience, as it can be.

Pocket-lint

The phones that we photographed weren’t final software, but we were happy to discover a lot of features familiar from the Pixel. We were invited to sign into Google Assistant, there’s pop-up app shortcuts and otherwise a Nougat experience that’s unsullied. Whether or not the Pixel launcher ends up on this phone remains to be seen, but we like the purity.

Nokia has also promised that that means monthly security updates as you get on Pixel phones and it should mean a rapid turn around on updates. We’ll wait to see what happens on that front: Motorola made the same promise and that hasn’t always rung true. 

First Impressions

The Nokia 6 isn’t a flagship phone and that will disappoint many who wanted Nokia to come out swinging and take the fight to the big Android brands. At the same time, Nokia is following a strategy that it attempted with the Lumia brand: it’s going mass market, punching into the cheaper segment with a quality product. It’s lower level Sony and Samsung phones that should be worried, because Nokia has the product and the brand to make this a success. 

Like the Moto G series, Nokia’s new phones – the 6, 5 and 3 – present options for those who can’t afford to spend €700 on the latest flagship. The aim, it seems, is to capture this section of the global market, and we’re told that this is a starting point, suggesting the rumoured Nokia 8 could still be a going concern. 

There’s a lot for us to still discover about the Nokia 6: the camera, the performance and the battery life are important elements we can’t yet judge. Whether this phone has the grunt to take on the Moto G is the real question, something we’ll investigate closer to launch.

Amazon has confirmed that the Nokia 6 will be selling as an Amazon Prime exclusive in the US. It’s priced at $229 for the 32GB version, but with lockscreen adverts – like the Kindle or Fire tablets – you can get it for $179.

Nintendo SNES Classic Mini official pre-orders now open, at £69.99 a pop

Nintendo has officially opened its own pre-orders for the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES Classic Mini for short.

You can order one for £69.99 from Nintendo.co.uk now.

One only unit is available per customer, but you’d still better be quick. Its predecessor, the NES Classic Mini, sold out in a very short time.

This comes after Amazon, Game and Smyths Toys all listed their own pre-order sites last night, but have since sold out of their stock.

The SNES Classic Mini is a small version of Nintendo’s 16-bit console from the 80s. It comes pre-loaded with 21 games, including Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country and the never-before-released Star Fox 2.

• Nintendo SNES Classic Mini: Release date, pre-order details, price, games and more

Two controllers come in the box with the machine, plus a USB power cable. However, you have to supply a USB plug adapter yourself.

Previous rumours, mainly sparked by initial pricing on sites such as Game.co.uk, was that the SNES Classic Mini would set you back £79.99 – it’s $79.99 in the States. But Nintendo has opted to push it out for a tenner less.

It’s still more pricey than last year’s NES Classic Mini, which was £49.99, but still represents great value for such an excellent piece of gaming history.

Pandora’s CEO is stepping down as digital music evolves

The rumors were true: Pandora CEO Tim Westergren has announced that he’s stepping down from the company he co-founded 17 years ago. He’ll remain in the leadership position while the company searches for a replacement. President Mike Herring and marketing chief Nick Bartle are also leaving, the streaming music company says. While Pandora isn’t clear about why the executives are bowing out, it comes after efforts to “refocus and reinforce” the firm by selling its ticket business and taking a $480 million cash infusion from SiriusXM. In other words, it’s likely looking for fresh blood as it adapts to a changing digital music landscape.

Case in point: the company is replacing a former board member with Jason Hirschhorn, best known for his executive roles at MTV Networks, Myspace and Sling Media. He’s no stranger to the digital media world, but his different perspective (his resume revolves around the social side of music) could prove useful as Pandora shifts its strategy.

Whatever happens next, Westergren’s departure is more than a little symbolic of both the company’s troubles and its eagerness to turn the corner. Pandora was hot in its early years, when streaming music was relatively new and just having customized internet radio was special. Now, however, on-demand streaming is where it’s at — and there’s no question that Pandora is late to the party. Westergren has guided Pandora through some tough times, most notably a royalty battle with the recording industry, but he faced a particularly daunting challenge in keeping his service relevant at a time when Spotify and Apple Music dominate. While his successor won’t necessarily fare any better, his exit is an acknowledgment that the status quo simply isn’t good enough.

Source: Pandora

Facebook Messenger’s AI assistant helps you save links for later

Two months ago, Facebook finally rolled out M, its AI-powered personal assistant, to the general public. Well, sort of. Instead of the limited edition of M that would answer your every beck and call (it had a lot of human help), the public version of M has to be triggered with certain words. A few features at launch include suggesting stickers to use in conversations or prompting an Uber ride if M detects you need to get somewhere. Today, Facebook is adding even more M suggestions to the mix: a “save it for later” function, birthday wishes and call initiations.

The save-for-later function is pretty self-explanatory. If M senses that the people in the conversation are sharing URLs with each other, for example, it’ll pop up with an offer to save them for later consumption. Facebook says that this applies not just to URLs, but also Facebook posts, events, pages and videos. And if you want to share that saved content later, you can easily do so thanks to Messenger’s ‘Saved’ extension.

Next are birthday wish reminders, which is certainly something you’re already familiar with if you’re a Facebook user. Starting today on Messenger, whenever you chat with someone on that person’s birthday, M gently reminds you to send him or her a birthday wish, which can be in the form of a sticker, a card or a video.

Last but not least are call initiations. Basically, if someone in the Messenger chat says something along the lines of “want to call me?” M will appear with either a voice or video call shortcut, letting you start one straightaway within the Messenger interface.

Perhaps M’s biggest rival is Google Assistant, which is present in Allo, Google’s relatively recent chat app. Using machine learning smarts, Google Assistant will tell you the weather, figure out your flight status and show nearby restaurants while you’re in conversation with someone else. This is certainly a lot more than what M can do at the moment, but since M is in Messenger, a much more widely used platform, it’ll likely be used by a lot more people.

Facebook Messenger will get these M suggestions starting today. Also, M suggestions will be rolling out in Spain today, in both English and Spanish.

A biometric ring could replace your passwords, cards and keys

Smart rings aren’t a novel idea — there are plenty of fitness tracking, notification-sending, payment or even protective finger ornaments around. But none have the ability to identify you and authorize your transactions wherever you go. That is, until Token hits the market. It’s a biometric ring that can be used to open house doors, start cars, make credit card transactions and sign in to your computer. That all sounds nifty in theory, but without any real cooperation from the third parties that enable those authorizations, Token is all but useless. The good news is that its makers managed to get support from an impressive list of partners including MasterCard, Microsoft, Visa and HID.

That last company is responsible for 80 percent of the keyless security systems in the market, according to Token’s makers. Even if the physical readers at your office aren’t made by HID, the protocol behind them most likely is. Setting up your Token to work as an entry card is therefore as simple as getting a keycard issued, except your profile is stored on your ring instead of a physical card.

Another intriguing application for Token is as a payment card for public transport, via a MasterCard partnership. By the end of the year, you’ll be able to tap on card readers to enter train and bus systems around the world. US cities slated to support this by 2017 include Chicago, Salt Lake City, Miami and Philadelphia, while the company expects service in New York City to be activated in the first quarter of 2018, although a recent report puts that date closer to 2021. Whether that could mean greater convenience or more potential for breakdowns due to glitchy technology remains to be seen, but at a recent demo, Token worked well with sample card readers and card-payment terminals.

The way Token works is simple: With a fingerprint sensor on the inside, it can confirm that you’re the authorized user. Then, you slide on the ring, and an onboard IR optical sensor makes sure the device is still on your finger. As long as you have not taken it off, you can authorize transactions with a tap of your hand. Once removed, you’ll have to place your finger on the sensor again before the Token can be used for access. You can add credit cards, login passwords and set up other profiles via a companion app, and afterwards, you won’t have to choose which transaction to authorize. The signal that is continuously broadcast (when you’re wearing the ring) can be interpreted by a variety of readers. Only one fingerprint can be assigned to each Token, as the company wants to prevent multiple users sharing such a personal product.

Speaking of — personal taste may also affect whether you like the Token. It’s a relatively chunky, half-inch-tall ring that looks somewhat basic. It is prettier when stacked with a slimmer, shinier ring, though, and that’s up to the wearer to pair. Not everyone is going to want to put on a ring, but Token’s makers believe (and say their research shows) that the function provided by the device can persuade most people to use it. Thankfully, the Token is water-resistant up to 50 meters so you won’t have to remove it when washing your hands.

Security is also a big concern for Tokenize, the makers of Token. As its name suggests, the company uses tokenization to add a layer of protection to credit card transactions. In addition to that and the fingerprint-and-IR-sensor combination, Tokenize says it stores credentials on an EAL5+ certified secure element for safety. It’s not immediately clear what other security measures are in place, but Tokenize is part of the FIDO alliance, and its partnership with major financial institutions like MasterCard and Visa lend it some credibility on the security front.

Token transmits the authentication signal over NFC in most situations, while Bluetooth is used when signing into existing laptops. NFC requires close proximity between devices for an authorization, so it’s not as easy as Bluetooth to exploit. But since few notebooks have NFC support yet, Token has to rely on Bluetooth for those logins, which you trigger by knocking your finger on a surface twice. When web authority W3C releases its new guidelines later this year, major browsers are expected to enable NFC or Bluetooth-based logins to websites in place of passwords. While that feature isn’t live yet, you can already sign into your laptop with Token. During my demo, the company’s owner unlocked her MacBook simply by rapping her ring-bearing hand on the table.

Tokenize estimates that Token’s battery will last up to three weeks on a charge. Each ring comes with its own wireless charging holder, and houses LED lights that will blink red each minute when your battery is down to 30 percent, which the company says is about a couple of days away from dying.

There are many more applications for Token that we don’t have time to get into, including an NFC-capable smart lock for your house door and a car starter for convenient setup in vehicles with the start button. These two are made by Tokenize, and cost $100 each or $399 as a kit bundled with the basic flavor of the ring. The wearable itself starts at $249, and more-premium 14K rose gold and black rhodium versions cost $299. They’re available for pre-order now (in US sizes 6 to 12) on the Tokenize website and will ship in December. That gives the company’s partners some time to get the infrastructure in place so all of Token’s promised applications will work when it’s released. And let’s hope they hurry up already.