Keep an extra eye on your home with link-U (review)
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Webcams are nothing new in the world of tech. Heck, webcams that run off of mobile data are not new either. The truth is, cameras are a tough market to get into with lots of competition at great prices. link-U has sent us one of its 4G Hybrid Connection Smart Cameras to help show what sets them apart from some of the competition.
Setup
The setup for the link-U is incredibly simple. Starting off it is powered by POE (Power Over Ethernet) which means that the only cable you need is an ethernet cable. It comes with a POE injector in case you don’t have a $200 POE router sitting around. Once plugged in, you can install the link-U app and setup an account. Account setup is simple, all it needs is a name, email address, and password to get you going.
profile creation
additional setup settings
Once you get logged into the app, the next step is to sync your camera with your account. If your camera is already on the network, then the app should find it without any issues. If it is not, there is a QR code on the back that you can scan to sync up the camera with your app.
The Good
The link-U camera brings one major thing to the table, the ability to use a 4G LTE sim card to stream your HD camera videos to your mobile device, wherever you might be. The camera also houses an 8-hour battery so that it can function during a power outage without any issues, giving you peace of mind no matter how far away from home you might be.
The HD camera takes a great picture and streams a very clear picture, making it perfect for surveying any location you choose. The HD picture looks great whether you are connected to the internal network or over 4G on your smart device.
The app gives you the ability to customize the triggers for when you want recordings to take place and how long to record after a trigger occurs. The recordings can be found in a somewhat confusing calendar button that takes you to a search screen.
The final nice addition of this device is a built-in Bluetooth radio which allows you to control other smart devices from your phone. Within the app, you can allow the camera to be a hub for some other smart devices.
The Bad
The first thing I want to bring up here is the app. As an Android site first and foremost, I want to address the app that is associated with this camera. I cannot speak to the iPhone app, but the version for Android is simplistic and basic. The simple blue background with a list of cameras is not what I would expect to see for an app that is associated with a $300 webcam.
While there is 4G capability, the handoff between the two is not what I would expect. In my testing, it could take up to a full minute for the camera to become available again. I, again, would expect the experience to be superior to this for a camera in this price range.
Conclusion
While the link-U bring brings 4G LTE to the security camera game, I’m not completely convinced this camera is a must have. The hardware included in the package is good quality and the premise of the camera is a great idea, my issue is with the execution of some aspects of the software package. If you were pressed to get a webcam at this price point I would say to give this one a pass.
If you’re interested in purchasing the link-U with LTE, you can find it here. Additionally, link-U offers the camera without LTE and other accessories like smart lights, plugs, and more. You can find them all here.
Nox App Player – an easy-to-use Android emulator packed with features (Review)
Overview:
Ever wanted to play your favorite Android games on a bigger screen? Well, thanks to Android emulators like BlueStack or Droid4X now you can.
But today we’re going to talk about, the Nox App Player which is another, relatively new Android emulator (simulator) that packs an extensive host of handy features and a clean interface. And unlike other emulators, it’s completely free and not plagued by advertisements or premium subscription offers.
Getting Started:
Download the Nox App Player app and install it on your PC. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Once the software is up and running on your computer, you’ll be able to start searching and downloading games right from the integrated Google Play Store.
Experience:
On my Windows PC, the Nox App Player ran smoothly at first. But as I performed various tasks like installing and running apps, customizing settings or snapping screenshots, I noticed the PC’s performance getting quite sluggish. I don’t have the most advanced desktop computer, so for those of you with better configurations, the Nox App Player should work just fine.
There’s also the option of running numerous Android circumstances at the very same time for multiplayer purposes. The app allows you to play a different game or different accounts of the same game concurrently. As long as the computer supports it, you could run unlimited Nox Android instances, but mine couldn’t handle more than two.
Nox runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat kernel and includes a user-friendly interface that’s super easy to explore (no App drawer available).
Nox allows you to customize your settings any way you want it so you can opt for a completely full screen or for 720p or fullHD resolution. You can also change graphic properties like Direct X and Open GL, as well as performance settings including CPU speed and RAM usage.
Other customizations include allowing users to change the keys instead of just “tapping” with your mouse on the virtual screen.
Nox also offers pre-enabled Root access. All you need to do is enable Root from the System Settings. This will get SuperSU automatically installed and then you can start granting root access to your installed apps. Users can also easily install apps by drag and dropping APK files.
I found it a bit annoying when titling games automatically rotated the screen, but fortunately, most of them have the option to turn it off.
While most games install without a problem, I experienced a few issues where I couldn’t get the apps to install. They just aborted the installation and shut down Nox altogether. The games installed fine on my Android phone, so a bug in Nox was to blame.
You can also connect your controller/gamepad to the Nox App Player, but I didn’t have any around to try out this feature.
Last but not least, if you’re using Nox don’t forget to check out the additional strip of features located on the right side. You can easily take a screenshot, set your virtual machine’s location or use Macro/Video recorder from there.
Conclusion:
Nox App Player is a great Android emulator that offers an abundance of customization options and features. Unfortunately for those who aren’t fans of Windows or Mac, the application is not currently available for Linux OS.
I liked the clean interface that’s super intuitive to use. But if you have questions about how to do something in the Nox App Player (example: how to connect your controller to Nox), the official website is home to a wide range or tutorials to help you get the most out of it.
However, I’d recommend you to try and use the app on a PC with a more advanced configuration, if you want optimal results, especially if you’re planning to go multiplayer.
Nox App Player is also a great solution for those who want to quickly test some apps, but they don’t want to download them on their phones. Are you ready to give it a go?
Download the Nox App Player here
Velocity Micro Raptor M60 Gaming Desktop Review
Research Center:
Velocity Micro Raptor M60
Velocity Micro’s Raptor M60 gaming desktop finds itself in a bizarre middle ground between mid-range and high-end PCs.. The line between these two markets continues to blur as prices go down and performance goes up. PC builders like Velocity Micro have made a niche for themselves in the gray area between these two markets, offering up powerful computers at reasonable prices by using off-the-shelf components, like those in our Raptor M60 review unit.
Our review model of the Raptor M60 featured an eight-core Ryzen 7 1800X processor, 16GB of memory, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, and two hard drives — a 512GB SSD, and a 3TB hard disk — for $3,000.
That’s a hefty price tag for a desktop, even a gaming desktop — but at first glance it’s not a bad deal. Mix together high-end graphics, AMD’s latest and greatest processor, and round it all out with a few mid-range components, and you have a rock-solid gaming PC. But occupying the middle-ground between mid-range and high-end PCs means the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 faces stiff competition on both ends of the price spectrum.
Just the essentials
The Velocity Micro M60 is a big black rectangle. It offers smalls windows on the side and on the top, where the glowy-blue fans show through, but otherwise it’s form over function. It’s not the flashiest design we’ve ever seen, but a striated pattern on the otherwise matte-black chassis does give everything a quality feel, and a certain understated elegance.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
The case itself doesn’t call attention to itself, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s nice to see that not every gaming desktop has to be decked out in black-and-red, with a big open side-window to show off a fancy lighting rig inside.
Origin and Digital Storm, for instance, offer similarly specced and priced desktop PCs with exterior designs more reminiscent of what you’d expect from a gaming desktop. More lights, more colors, more angles.
The Raptor M60 isn’t an unattractive PC, and it would blend in to really any décor, but if you’re looking for something that screams “gaming PC” you might want to look elsewhere.
Every plug in every place
Sometimes being unremarkable is a good thing. When it comes to ports, the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 is just that. It has everything you’ll need, and that’s it. On top of the chassis, toward the front, there are two USB 3.0 ports, beside a headphone jack and microphone jack. In the back, it has six USB ports, two HDMI and two full-sized DisplayPorts, Ethernet, five audio jacks, a PS/2 port, and even an old-school VGA port.
Everything is easily accessible on the back, and the top-facing USB ports are conveniently located for anyone who has the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 situated under a desk. On top of a desk, and the top-facing ports are a little less convenient, but given its understated design, it practically begs to be put under a desk.
Hold the door
The Raptor M60’s straightforward case facilitates easy access to its internals by offering a side-panel that just pops right off without any thumb screws. It’s an elegant exterior design, but once you get inside, it’s a different story.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Pop the side off, and everything inside is obscured by an internal fan array. Those two fans visible on the exterior of the case are seated on a little flange that swings open, granting access to the motherboard. Well, it’s supposed to swing open, anyway.
To open the little fan-door, you must reach in and awkwardly disconnect the two fans from the motherboard. Otherwise, it won’t open all the way. The cable pulls dangerously taut just by moving the fan door enough for one hand to reach inside and fumble for the power cords to disconnect the fans.
It kept up beautifully even while doing some particularly heavy multi-tasking, devouring everything we could throw at it.
Frankly, that’s just a bad design, the likes of which we just don’t see elsewhere. The Digital Storm Velox, for instance, offers unobstructed access to its internals, and so does the AVADirect Avant. This isn’t rocket science. Once the side panel is removed, the internals should be easily accessible.
The convenience of being able to effortlessly pop the side panel off without thumbscrews is completely counteracted by the inconvenience of dealing with that internal swinging fan-door. Un-plugging the fans to open the door all the way is an awkward exercise, but plugging them back in is just as much a pain. If the door is too far open the cords don’t reach, and if it’s closed too far, the power supply obscures the little plugs that connect the fans to the motherboard.
Unfortunately, it’s not a problem with an easy solution. If the fan cables offered enough slack to open the internal door all the way, they would run the risk of getting tangled in the CPU fan. It’s like the case goes out of its way to get in your way.
Eight cores walk into a bar
Featuring one of AMD’s brand-new Ryzen 7 1800X chips, the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 is very quick on its feet. With eight physical cores, 16 processing threads, and a 4.8GHz overclock, it has an insatiable hunger for daily computing tasks. It kept up beautifully even while doing some particularly heavy multi-tasking, just devouring everything we could throw at it. But let’s look at the numbers to see how it stacks up against stock Ryzen 7 1800X chips, and comparable Intel processors.
In single-core performance, the Ryzen 7 1800X isn’t quite as capable as the latest Intel Core i7-7700K — the processor driving the Digital Storm Velox, AVADirect Avant, and pretty much every other gaming rig on the market right now. In our tests, a stock i7-7700K easily outperforms the Ryzen 7 1800X in per-core performance but that’s not to say the Ryzen chip is slower all around, though.
Looking at multi-core performance, the Ryzen 7 1800X narrowly outperforms the i7-7700K. With all eight cores firing, there’s a small — but noticeable — gulf between the Ryzen CPU and both the overclocked and stock versions of the Intel i7-7700K.
Will that always mean better performance? Not exactly. It’s important to point out that not every application or game makes use of hyperthreading, or if they do, they might not do it very well. So, the Ryzen 7 1800X won’t always outperform an Intel i7-7700K, but it will sometimes.
Moving on to a real-world use case, encoding a 4K video, the Ryzen 7 1800X proves that those eight cores aren’t just for show. While it may not have run circles around the Intel Core i7 on our Geekbench tests, it comes close in our Handbrake test.
In fact, the stock and overclocked versions of the Intel Core i7-7700K both took a few seconds longer to encode the same 4K video file. Those aren’t the kinds of gains you’ll see across the board, but those extra cores can really come in handy with operations like video encoding.
The quick and the slightly less quick
A fast hard drive doesn’t have the kind of impact on system performance that a fast GPU or CPU does, but slow hard disk speeds can really weigh down your overall experience, especially when moving massive game-sized files.
This is not an issue the Raptor M60 suffers from, not by a long shot. Its 512GB Samsung 960 Pro PCIe SSD is not only surprisingly quick, but it also obliterates the competition in read and write speeds. But don’t take our word for it. Look at the results.
Only the Cybertron CLX Ra, a $5,575 behemoth, even comes close to the Velocity Micro Raptor M60’s read or write speeds, but the Raptor M60 still wins out by a sizable margin. Capable of reading 2,876 megabytes per second, and writing 2,042MB/s, the Raptor M60 just runs circles around its nearest competition up and down the price scale.
Looking at closer competitors like the Velox and Avant, it’s clear that the Raptor M60’s solid state drive is something special. Neither PC is capable of coming close to the Raptor’s read or write speeds. The Velox achieves an admirable read speed of 1360MB/s and a write speed of 1329MB/s, offering quick and balanced performance.
The AVADirect Avant came closer, hitting read speeds of 2013MB/s, and write speeds of 1414MB/s. That’s quick, but the Raptor M60 still beats both by about a gigabyte-and-a-half-per second when it comes to write speeds.
To SLI or not to SLI
What does $3,000 worth of gaming performance look like? For most other price ranges, there’s an acceptable or unacceptable level of compromise we would expect. At less than $2,000, 1440p game performance might be a little inconsistent. However, in systems priced above $4,000, any performance hiccups are pretty unacceptable.
Between those two extremes, performance becomes a precarious balancing act. Should you expect more because it’s so expensive, or should you cut it some slack because it’s not as expensive as its competitors? Well, let’s have a look at how the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 stacked up to its nearest competitors on both ends of that spectrum.
There are a lot of different results here, but starting off with the 1080p benchmarks, we can see consistently high performance from medium-detail settings in Civilization VI, all the way through ultra-high settings in For Honor.
The two desktops we compared in the Civilization VI, Battlefield 1, and Deus Ex tests were both running two graphics cards in SLI configurations — essentially the highest performing graphics setup you can currently get. There’s plenty to debate about whether SLI setups offer much in the way of actual FPS gains, but here we can see that the single Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with 11GB of video RAM is an exceptionally capable solution.
It kept up surprisingly well with two different SLI configs in Civilization VI at 1080p, and even pulled ahead of Digital Storm Velox, and its GTX 1080 SLI, setup in Battlefield 1. Notoriously challenging Deus Ex, however, saw the Raptor M60 and its GTX 1080 Ti fall behind the Velox, and its twin GTX 1080s.
The AVADirect Avant’s twin GTX 1080 Ti setup completely overpowers the Velocity Micro Raptor M60’s single GTX 1080 Ti, of course. The Avant eclipsed the Raptor M60 by a sizable margin in For Honor, further illustrating that the 1080 Ti is an incredibly powerful graphics card — particularly when it’s running in an SLI setup.
However, the gain is not as much as might be expected. Even in For Honor, which proved most favorable towards SLI, netted a mere 25 percent increase over the Velocity Micro M60’s single GTX 1080 Ti.
We see similar results here in 1440p performance, with the Raptor M60 keeping up with the Digital Storm Velox and AVADirect Avant. In one instance, Battlefield 1, it even eclipsed the Velox in average FPS, if only just.
The For Honor results bring to light just how the Raptor M60 performs against one of its own kind — the MSI Armor GTX 1080 Ti in our test rig running an Intel Core i7-6950X and 16GB of RAM. Despite having a top-of-the-line Intel ten-core behemoth under the hood, our test rig managed nearly identical numbers to the Velocity Micro Raptor M60, with its Ryzen 7 1800X processor and GTX 1080Ti graphics card. While neither one came close to the AVADirect Avant’s performance, this close margin between these systems really proves that the GTX 1080 Ti can hold its own in a variety of configurations.
Again, remember that Velocity Micro sent us a system with one GTX 1080 Ti. Most companies send us a SLI setup. While those are quicker, they’re also much more expensive. AVADirect’s Avant, which we used for comparison, was $3,850 as-tested – and it’s one of the least expensive SLI-capable desktops we’ve reviewed.
Warranty
The Velocity Micro Raptor M60 comes with a standard one-year parts and labor warranty against manufacturer defects, and offers call center support during normal business hours. This is a reasonable warranty, but some competitors offer better terms in the form of longer warranties and/or 24-hour support.
Velocity Micro Raptor M60 Compared To
Origin Neuron
Alienware Area 51 (2017)
MSI Trident 9S6-B90611-02S
Digital Storm Velox (Kaby Lake)
Cybertron CLX Ra
Acer Predator G1
Origin Millennium (2016)
Falcon Northwest Mach V (2016)
Digital Storm Aventum 3
AVADirect Avant gaming desktop
Acer Predator G6
AVADirect Z170
Digital Storm Bolt II
Acer Predator G3 (AG3-605-UR20)
Falcon Northwest Mach V
Our Take
Despite a few flaws, the Velocity Micro Raptor M60 is a solid gaming desktop. Aside from its problematic internal layout, it stands up to its nearest competitors and performs well for the price — but does it perform well enough?
Are there better alternatives?
Yes, lots of them. Just running through the configuration tools from Digital Storm and AVADirect and speccing out a nearly identical PC, each one spits out a price just a hair above — or even below — the Raptor M60’s $3,000 price tag, depending on your choice of case and cooling.
It’s a tricky price point, and the Raptor M60 doesn’t make a very good case for itself. At $3,000 it’s too expensive to forgive some weird design choices, and too inexpensive to feature impressive performance or proprietary components that could justify the price — like liquid cooling, or unique lighting.
How long will it last?
The Velocity Micro Raptor M60 will provide impressive gaming performance for at least the next couple years. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, paired with the AMD Radeon Ryzen 7 1800X processor, makes for a formidable machine capable of taking on just about anything you could throw at it for the foreseeable future.
Should you buy it?
Maybe, but only after shopping around. The Raptor M60’s performance is great, but that’s a credit to off-the-shelf internals, not anything unique to this PC. In fact, you can get these specs at this price from nearly any other manufacturer — and you’d end up with a PC without a wonky internal fan-thing.
Yes, we’re still talking about that internal fan-door-thing. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense, it gets in your way, and it complicates what can already be a complicated process — internal maintenance. It’s the kind of lackluster design we just don’t see elsewhere, as neither of its nearest competitors feature internals that actively obstruct your ability to swap out components, or just admire your hardware. This one does, and that’s something potential buyers should consider when weighing their options.
HTC U11 could get improved video recording and color calibration in update
Why it matters to you
If true, HTC’s eagerness to support its shiny new flagship with new features immediately after release is good news for owners.
The HTC U11 has already proved to be a modest success for the Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer, which has had a bit of a rough go of it over the past several years as it struggled to compete with the latest from Apple, Samsung, and, oddly enough, Google’s Pixel line. Although the company is responsible for building the Pixel, its own HTC-branded products have received considerably less attention — though the U11 could be turning that tide somewhat.
Now, a new report from XDA Developers claims HTC has a few notable enhancements waiting in the wings for U11 owners. Some of these are more sweeping and significant than others but, either way, HTC is adding crucial functionality to its new high-end handset outside of typical Android system updates. That said, the rumors come from one of XDA’s forum members — a supposed “HTC insider” — so take these suggestions with the requisite level of caution.
Anyway, the most noteworthy addition looks to concern the camera. While we found the U11’s camera to be capable and fast in our review, some have reported lag in the app and shutter. A new update that has made its way to international models intended to fix the issue should arrive for users in the United States and the United Kingdom shortly. However, on top of that, HTC is also said to be bringing a 1080p60 video recording mode to customers in the future.
The HTC U11, like many smartphones, can record at full-HD resolution — but only at 30 FPS. Higher-end devices support a 60 FPS mode for smoother video and the U11 could hopefully join them with an upcoming feature update.
Another tweak is related to the color calibration of HTC U11’s display. HTC reportedly intends to tone down the saturation a bit, bringing the panel closer to the industry-standard sRGB spec. However, if you would rather keep the ultra-vibrant colors, you can choose to leave them on, as the update will only provide a switch in the settings menu. Many other phones already do this as well, like Sony’s Xperia line, which offers several different viewing modes and post-processing on colors depending on user preference.
There is no word on when exactly we can expect to see these updates drop. We reached out to HTC for clarification. Since this is an unofficial report, it is possible they will never show up, or be modified before release. Watch this space to keep up-to-date as details emerge.
Conversely, if you own another HTC device, the HTC 10, One A9, One M9, and Bolt have all received Nougat at this point. You can check our handy guide for more details. The company also keeps a constantly updated list of the most recent Android versions for all its devices, along with convenient download links.
New Alphabet venture Dandelion wants to heat your home with geothermal energy
Why it matters to you
We’ve heard plenty about using solar or wind energy in our homes, but less attention has been paid to geothermal energy. Until now.
Google has a new sibling in its Alphabet family, and its name is Dandelion. The latest venture to be spun out of Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory (where employees work on ambitious ventures like balloon-based Project Loon), Dandelion focuses on geothermal heating and cooling for homes, and became its own company on July 6.
According to its new website, Dandelion’s mission is to replace homeowners’ existing heating, cooling, and hot water equipment with a geothermal system that harvests energy from under their yards. The idea is to use a heat pump and subterranean pipes to transport heat from the earth to your home. In fact, these pipes will extend 300-500 feet beneath the Earth’s surface, where temperatures are almost always at about 50 degree Fahrenheit. Another pump at ground level moves water through these U-shaped pipes, and a heat pump exchanges warm for cold air (or vice versa) when needed.
But why would someone be motivated enough to install such a system of tubes beneath their home? According to Dandelion, it just makes financial sense.
“With zero down financing and low, predictable monthly payments, you can start saving on your heating and cooling bills from day one,” the company notes on its website. Furthermore, you’ll certainly be doing the planet a favor, as geothermal energy is certainly a renewable resource and is apparently more than three times as efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems. Finally, Dandelion notes that its new system is “quiet, clean, and includes a smart thermostat so you can keep your home comfortable year-round.”
Currently, Dandelion is only available in upstate New York, though its seems safe to assume that the company will soon be expanding its service areas. If you happen to live in a part of the country where Dandelion is already around, getting started requires all of three steps. First, customers are asked to undergo a free home assessment, which involves chatting with an expert to determine whether or not the solution will work for your particular situation. Then, a team member visits your home, designs the geothermal system, and schedules the actual installation. Finally, installation is handled by a local installer, and Dandelion says it typically takes two to three days. The system is currently slated to cost around $20,000.
The master decryption key for the Petya ransomware can’t help NotPetya victims
Why it matters to you
While this master decryption key is incapable of helping NotPetya victims, it can be used for those who were originally affected by Petya and removed their storage for future decryption.
The developer behind the original Petya ransomware has provided a tool to help minimize the damage inflicted on infected PCs. It is in the form of a master decryption key to release the files held hostage by the ransomware. However, after close examination, it is incapable of unlocking PCs seized by the recent NotPetya “destruction-ware” epidemic.
Originally, the Petya ransomware was not designed to lock down an entire PC for ransom, but just specific files. It must be downloaded by the user and remains on the victim’s PC to encrypt files and demand money for a decryption key. There are two other non-destructive variants of Petya as well including one called GoldenEye.
However, NotPetya surfaced weeks ago using the Petya ransomware as a weapon. It is capable of hopping from PC to PC across the network using an exploit called EternalBlue, which Microsoft actually patched prior to the outbreak. That means businesses affected by NotPetya had yet to upgrade their machines, leaving them open to attack.
Once on a PC, NotPetya goes after the master boot record, thus overwriting the program that begins the Windows boot sequence. In turn, the table that keeps track of all files stored on the PC’s hard drive or solid-state disk is encrypted, making Windows unable to locate any file.
Once NotPetya encrypts a machine, it throws up a notice demanding money for the decryption key. In the early days, there was an account for receiving Bitcoin money from victims but that was quickly shut down. NotPetya continued to spread like wildfire with no way of regaining control of the infected machines.
However, on July 5, Janus Cybercrime Solutions jumped on Twitter and provided a link to a password-protected file located on a cloud-storage service. After cracking the password protection, researchers discovered it to be a master decryption key for the three versions of the Petya malware. They also realized that it has absolutely no effect on the current NotPetya epidemic.
Despite the key’s inability to unlock NotPetya-seized PCs, the master decryption key seemingly arrives too late. Petya and its variants mostly reined in 2016 and since then, victims have either paid the ransom or reformatted their PCs and reinstalled the software (which you should do from time to time anyway).
Even more, the master decryption key is not an out-of-the-box tool for anyone to use. Instead, it must be inserted into a stand-alone decrypter application. If anything, this master decryption key will help speed up current methods of recovering files encrypted by the Petya ransomware. This should come in handy for victims who may have replaced their PC’s entire storage unit and still have the drive on hand for future decryption.
Ultimately, this is bad news for NotPetya victims. Right now, the destruction-ware is seemingly locked down to the enterprise and business sectors, but that does not mean it will not jump ship into the mainstream waters. Make sure your version of Windows is up to date and follow our steps right here to prevent infection.
The answer to more efficient solar panels? Invisibility cloaks, apparently
Why it matters to you
In time, invisibility-cloaked solar panels could save you serious money on your electric bill.
When you think about ways to save money on your household electricity bill, there can’t be too many more eye-catching concepts that a solar panel invisibility cloak. That’s exactly what researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have demonstrated with a new prototype solar panel that is approximately 9 percent more efficient than regular solar panels.
“Many types of solar cells have so-called ‘contact fingers’ on their front side: tiny metallic strips that help to conduct the electrons that the solar cell generates when illuminated,” researcher Martin Schumann told Digital Trends. “Without these contact fingers, their efficiency would be reduced, because the electrons cannot get to the external contact as easily.”
From an electrical point of view, these contact fingers are necessary for high-efficiency solar panels. However, they also reflect a part of the incoming light in the same way that any metal object would do. This effect is known as contact finger shadowing, and means that less current is generated by the panel because the contact fingers partially block the light reaching the cell.
“We wanted to find a way to keep the contact fingers, but make them invisible, so that the solar cell can have low series resistance and no contact finger shadowing at the same time,” Schumann continued. “We have achieved this by adding a polymer layer with a carefully designed surface to a solar cell with contact fingers. This layer works similar to a lens: it refracts the incoming light. Its surface is designed [so] as to distribute the incoming light evenly between the contact fingers, so all the incoming light reaches the solar cell and none of it is reflected off the contact fingers anymore.”
In this way, the team was able to increase the panel’s efficiency by up to 9 percent. The work is described in a paper published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.
Sadly, you’ll have to wait a bit longer before the technology is commercialized. “The purpose of our research was to demonstrate that our approach can increase the efficiency of a solar cell,” Schumann said. “All the experiments were done on a lab scale, [using] cm²-sized solar cells. We can think of several challenges that have to be addressed when going to larger solar cells or even modules with sizes up to square meters. This will have to be the subject of future research.”
Hey, when it comes to cool uses of invisibility technology, we can’t help but think that saving us money on our bills has to rank pretty darn highly. Even if we’ll always have a soft spot for the dream of invisibly creeping around Hogwarts, Harry Potter style!
Apple reportedly moves near Imagination Technologies’ headquarters in the U.K.
Why it matters to you
With the new office space, plans might actually be in motion for Apple to include its own graphics chip on future Apple devices.
After what has already been an ongoing dispute between Imagination Technologies and Apple, the two companies have actually become closer — in proximity, that is. Apple is reportedly renting out office space in the U.K city of St. Albans, only miles from Imagination headquarters, The Telegraph reports.
Apple will use the 22,500 square-foot space to develop its own graphics technology after speculations surfaced in April that the company was going to replace the PowerVR GPU designed by Imagination Technologies. This GPU was used in various Apple mobile devices including the Apple iPhone and the iPad.
After confirming the news in June that it was in dispute with Apple, Imagination Technologies announced it was officially up for sale and already in contact with potential buyers. Finding another buyer is the company’s next best chance for survival after losing 70 percent of its value when information of Apple sourcing GPU components elsewhere emerged.
Now that Apple has moved in so closely to the microchip company, there are supposedly fears that Apple will try and recruit Imagination Technologies’ own staff. Apple has already posted corporate graphics-related job openings on its site in the same region where St. Albans is located, Apple Insider noted.
However, Imagination Technologies is certain Apple will not have its plans carried out so easily. Imagination claimed Apple will not be able to create new graphics technology without infringing on intellectual property, patents, and information previously shared. This caused both companies to further argue the timeline of events with Imagination seeming surprised by Apple cutting ties.
In response, Apple, in a statement to Bloomberg, said that Imagination was already informed in 2015 that it would no longer be purchasing the company’s latest technology. While Imagination Technologies claim it was only informed in March, Apple said it discussed matters such as licensing agreements as early as February in an effort to give as much notice as possible.
While this does not seem like a clean break, Apple’s plans to create its own graphics processor will give the company far more control over all the elements that make up its devices. It will also be essential for keeping up with its grand future plans for augmented reality.
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OnePlus 5 review: A second opinion
OnePlus’s latest is the fastest phone out there right now. And despite some reservations around its highly finicky camera setup, it’s hard not to recommend for the price.
Contrary to its marketing mantra, picking up a OnePlus phone has always involved “settling” in some way or other. When the very highest of the high-end sell for almost twice the price of the company’s latest, something’s got to give.
What’s more important is the question of whether the OnePlus makes the right compromises: Whether corners are cut and savings are made in a way that makes sense, or whether vanity specs are pushed at the expense of the day-to-day user experience.
The OnePlus 5 is a mix of both good and bad compromises. It’s not a home run, and there’s still room for improvement on the software side, particularly when it comes to the (somewhat controversial) camera setup. Overall, though, this is still a fantastic phone, and one I’m going to be sticking with for a while.
Read on to find out why.
I don’t completely buy into the idea that the OnePlus 5 is a straight iPhone 7 Plus rip-off. Sure, it’s similar. And OnePlus does itself no favors when it publishes side-by-side images like this on its own Instagram account, but the reality of using and holding a OnePlus 5 is nothing like the feel of an iPhone.
If anything, the OnePlus 5 is better described as a slightly nicer OnePlus 3T. That’s not the most flowery description you’ll hear of a phone. But let’s face it, this isn’t the most interesting-looking phone out there. Countless other Chinese handsets — including the R11 from OnePlus’s sister company Oppo — have been pushing this “almost an iPhone but not quite” look over the past year.
What the OnePlus 5 lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in ergonomics and svelte proportions.
What the OnePlus 5 lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in ergonomics and svelte proportions. The overall footprint is slightly smaller than the 3T, and the chassis more curvy. Despite the presence of actual bezels sandwiching in the 5.5-inch display, it’s still pretty compact for a 5.5-incher.
That panel itself hasn’t changed from last year — same 1080p Optic AMOLED, and it still works pretty well in most conditions, though auto-brightness tends towards darker levels than I’d like indoors. Daylight visibility is fine, but not exceptional, and you have to imagine if a mid-cycle refresh is coming later in the year (OnePlus isn’t saying, for what it’s worth), the screen would be one obvious area to upgrade.
For now, though, it’s fine. It’s no GS8, but I’m not about to gouge my eyes out anytime soon.
The one major area of controversy around the display — the so-called jelly scrolling is something that hasn’t bothered me at all during my time with the phone. I don’t notice the effect unless I really, really go looking for it. And even when I do, it’s so subtle as to not be bothersome at all. For some people it’ll be a deal-breaker; I’m one of the few who can notice it occasionally, but have a hard time caring about it.
The same mixed praise applies to the loudspeaker — plenty loud, but also tinny as a can of digestives, and certainly no HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi. For what it’s worth, the Snapdragon 835’s integrated DAC ensures the OnePlus 5’s output sounds great when paired with a decent set of studio headphones, providing more than sufficient oomph. Bluetooth audio support was also flawless, and for what it’s worth the 5 also supports Bluetooth 5 for additional future-proofing.
8GB of RAM won’t help you out — but 128GB of storage might.
On the subject of future-proofing, how about those eight gigabytes of RAM? This is what I’ll call a pure vanity spec. In 2017, there’s no practical utility for this much memory — especially when there’s also a 6GB version which runs just as fast. OnePlus is doing it to show off, and that’s fine. But if you opt for the higher-specced, higher-priced OnePlus 5, do so because of the extra storage — 128GB in total — and not because you expect a DVD and a half’s worth of RAM to get you anywhere.
Qualcomm’s very latest Snapdragon 835 is running the show here, powering an incredibly fast software experience in OxygenOS 4.5. The OnePlus 5’s absolutely screaming performance is a team effort of hardware and software, of course, but it strikes me that it’s software tuning more than anything that makes this the fastest smartphone I’ve ever used. (And I’ve used every major smartphone for the past six years.) Everything from the flawless scrolling speed (jelly jokes aside), superior app load times and top-class gaming performance is industry-leading.
And OnePlus’s software continues to play host to dozens of useful little tweaks and customizations atop a clean, near-stock Android 7.1.1 interface. You’ll have to go digging in the settings to find them all, but there’s a mess of different gestures you can enable to launch the camera, take a screenshot or control your music. The alert slider makes a welcome return too, giving you an easy way to silence distractions while you sleep, or take in a movie.
OxygenOS 4.5 is the fastest smartphone software I’ve ever used.
I also want to single out OnePlus’s ambient display and tap-to-wake features for praise. These features combine the best parts of Android 7.0 and 8.0’s ambient notification features to provide glanceable info when you want it, but without the accidental triggers I’ve come to hate on the Google Pixel.
Speaking of Google’s phones, OnePlus’s launcher has inherited some Pixel traits, keeping around the (marginally useful) widget deck, but implementing a swipe-up app drawer, in addition to the hefty loadout of customization features that debuted on the OnePlus 3 and 3T.
Bottom line: If you value raw speed and appreciate the look and feel of stock Android, you’ll absolutely love OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5.
The OnePlus 5’s dual camera setup is also lightning-quick — fast to launch, with instant captures and zero shutter lag to boot. But image quality is kind of a mixed bag right now, and my working theory is that there’s still some work to be done on the software side.
The 5’s camera is identical to those of the Oppo R11, combining a 16-megapixel f/1.7 standard camera with a 20-megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.6 aperture. Neither has OIS, which in my view is the most problematic thing about this camera setup.
Even after a handful of software updates, the OnePlus 5’s camera feels a little half-baked.
For the most part, I’ve been pleased with the photos the OnePlus 5 has been able to capture. In particular, the telephoto lens is a fun way to re-frame outdoor shots without relying on digital zoom. (Though the portrait mode, I’ve discovered, is rather useless at detecting depth, with the fake bokeh effect often overlapping with the subject.) In darker conditions, the phone automatically switches to a digitally zoomed crop from the main sensor, with its brighter lens.
Low-light performance is decent, with ample color detail being retained and photos appearing less noisy than contemporaries like the Honor 9. But the OnePlus 5’s aggressive noise reduction can cause fine detail in night shots to be totally obliterated.
That’s par for the course in a smartphone camera at this price point.
However the most problematic thing about the OnePlus 5’s camera performance is how much subtle hand motion will affect daylight shots. Even in photos taken on bright sunny days, there’ll be noticeable loss of detail and even occasional ghosting in handheld photos, regardless of whether you’re using Auto HDR mode, or HQ mode, which is designed to improve fine detail capture.
This is exactly the reason why most high-end phone cameras now include optical stabilization, and it’s a real shame that this feature didn’t make the cut on the OnePlus 5. The more sensible decision, I feel, would have been to just put that camera budget into one really good shooter. Instead, we have two cameras that, right now, feel a bit half-assed.
Of course software should also be able to mitigate this issue, by taking faster exposures at higher ISO levels — which is one of the reasons why I think some extra software tuning needs to be done here. For what it’s worth, AC India Editor Harish Jonnalagadda tells me the OnePlus 5’s sister phone, the Oppo R11, often takes better photos than the 5. That’s significant considering the weaker internal hardware of the R11, and suggests OnePlus may be able to make up some ground with future software updates.
Rounding out the spec sheet is a 3,300mAh battery, which has served me well over the past couple of weeks, routinely getting me through a full day’s use with between four and five hours of screen-on time throughout heavier days of around 14 hours.
I’ve quickly fallen back in love with Dash Charge.
The OnePlus 5 isn’t really a multi-day phone, but with Dash Charge at its disposal it doesn’t need to be. The fast, fast, fast fast-charging tech makes a return, unchanged from the OnePlus 3 and 3T, refilling to around the halfway mark in around half an hour. (That’s markedly faster than just about everything right now, with the exception of Huawei’s SuperCharge.)
One minor side note on battery performance: On a couple of occasions I noticed the Android OS process would wakelock the phone overnight, leading to quicker battery drain than expected. I haven’t been able to track down the cause of the problem, but a reboot seemed to set things right.
Overall, then, I’m generally pleased with the OnePlus 5, though I’d question the focus on vanity specs like 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage over features increasingly seen as table stakes in the high-end world, like water resistance and a bright 2K display. (Hell, I’d trade that extra 2GB of RAM for OIS in the camera any day.)
You can’t do everything when you’re selling a phone for less than $500, though. And I feel that despite these price constraints, OnePlus has done a fantastic job, creating a phone that’s worthy of praise, your money and — for the foreseeable future — my SIM card.
OnePlus 5
- Complete OnePlus 5 review
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- Which OnePlus 5 model should you buy?
- Camera comparison: OnePlus 5 vs. Galaxy S8
- The latest OnePlus 5 news
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