Apple Ordered to Pay $506M to University of Wisconsin in A7/A8 Patent Dispute
U.S. District Judge William Conley today ordered Apple to pay $506 million to the University of Wisconsin’s Alumni Research Foundation for infringing on a patent related to computer processing technology used in its A7, A8, and A8X chips, reports Reuters.
The $506 million total is nearly double the $234 million in damages that a Jury ordered Apple to pay back in 2015, with Conley adding an extra $272 million. According to Conley, Apple owes additional damages along with interest because Apple continued to infringe on the patent until it expired at the end of 2016.
The lawsuit in question dates back to 2014, when the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation accused Apple of infringing on a patent titled “Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer,” that was originally granted in 1998 and covers a method for improving processor efficiency.
A jury ruled that Apple’s A7, A8, and A8X processors infringe on the patent, and the university has also filed a second lawsuit covering Apple’s A9 chips, which has not yet been ruled on.
Apple plans to appeal the judge’s decision.
Tags: lawsuit, patent, Patent lawsuits
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BenQ EX3200R gaming monitor review
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BenQ EX3200R Gaming Monitor
In 2017, a 31.5-inch monitor with a 1080p panel isn’t as attractive a prospect as it used to be. With new 1440p and 4K displays hitting the market every day, 1080p seems almost quaint. That’s why our BenQ EX3200R review was such a surprise.
We were skeptical that a $400, 1080p display could stand up to some of the best curved ultra-wides currently on the market. But as we learned, it would be unwise to underestimate the EX3200R.
Elegant, simple, straightforward
Perched atop a pair of silvery blades, the BenQ EX3200R looms imperiously over your mouse and keyboard. Its mighty wings spread wide to present its luxuriously smooth 31.5-inch display. There it waits, ready. Eager.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration – but the EX3200R sports a classy and understated chassis, with narrow plastic bezels all the way around. The giant 31.5-inch display is mounted atop an extra-wide polished metal base which does a great job of keeping the monitor nice and stable. It does take up a lot of space though, despite its slim, bladed design.
The stand allows the display to be tilted forward or backward, rotated slightly side to side, but that’s about it. You can also wrestle it up or down a bit, but it’s not the most adjustable stand we’ve seen. Fortunately, the EX3200R is VESA compatible, so you could just pop the stand off entirely and mount it to your wall, or to another stand.
The Samsung CF791 features similarly stylish design. It’s clad in glossy white plastic and lustrous matte aluminum, perched atop a big silver circular base, providing a very unusual and deluxe look. The BenQ EX3200R isn’t as bright or dramatic, but the chrome blades that serve as its stand offer a twist on the typical black plastic monitor design.
It’s a small touch, but the stand lends the EX3200R a certain professional look. This might be a gaming monitor, but it takes itself seriously. It doesn’t need red accents, or a predatory name to make it one of the best gaming monitors on the market, and it knows it.
A few ports shy
The BenQ EX3200R sports a single HDMI 1.4 port, a DisplayPort 1.2 port, and a mini-DisplayPort 1.2 port. That’s it, besides the power cord, and headphone jack.
With new 1440p and 4K displays hitting the market every day, 1080p seems almost quaint.
Looking at a monitor like the Samsung CF791, there’s not a huge difference in what kinds of ports are offered, but including two HDMI ports at the very least has become something of a standard. The CF791 had two HDMI 2.0 ports, a single DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB port.
It’s not exactly a make or break omission on the EX3200R’s part, but it’s disappointing and a little strange. If you have any plans to use it as a TV replacement, you’ll find yourself juggling cords as you switch back and forth from your desktop to a game console, and back.
Clear-cut, with lots of options
There’s numerous buttons under the front-right side of the display, more or less lined up with the raised dots on the bottom edge of the bezel. The power button and the input switch button are labeled. The rest are marked with plain black dots.
Pushing one of the unlabeled buttons pops up the on-screen menu, where you can adjust brightness, contrast, and color temperature, or switch between a number of presets. There are modes for gaming, movies, and a few open slots where you can save custom color settings.
BenQ EX3200R Gaming Monitor Compared To
Dell S2418H
LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K
Samsung CF791
Dell U3417W
Samsung CFG70
LG 38UC99
Dell s2417DG
Acer Predator Z35
Eizo Foris FS2735 gaming monitor
Dell S2716DG
BenQ BL3201PH
Dell P2715Q
CTL X2800
LG 34UM95
Dell P2714T
Press one of the unlabeled buttons a little further left, and you’ll get the quick menu, where you can only adjust brightness or contrast. It’s not the clearest control scheme we’ve ever seen, but it gets the job done — even if you’ll accidentally hit the wrong button and go to the quick menu instead of the full menu from time to time.
That’s the kind of headache you’d avoid with a monitor like the Dell U3417W, which features a clear and intuitive button system, and robust on-screen menu controls.
Breathing life into 1080p
The moment you fire up the EX3200R, it’s clear that something is different. All those little operating system animations you’ve seen a thousand times slide across the screen like they’re skating on glass. They move with an unearthly grace.
That’s all thanks to the monitor’s 144Hz refresh rate. By refreshing more than two times faster than a typical monitor – most monitors have refresh rates of 60Hz – everything you do on the EX3200R will be glassy smooth because of how quick it’s able to refresh what’s on screen. Plus, it supports AMD’s FreeSync. That means Radeon cards can synchronize their output with the display’s refresh rate, which prevents screen tearing, and smooths the visuals dramatically.
And that’s not the only good news. Take a look at our test results.
Just look at that contrast ratio. As you can see, 2060:1 is an unusually high score. Half that would have been a killer contrast ratio for a desktop gaming monitor, but at 2060:1 the BenQ EX3200R is punching way above its weight – and its price tag.
In practice, that contrast ratio contributes significantly to the EX3200R’s stellar picture quality. Because this monitor can render very bright colors right beside inky black ones without losing any fidelity in between, games and movies look fantastic.
Looking at some other metrics though, the EX3200R loses a bit of its lustrous sheen. The color gamut here is just average. The EX3200R was only capable of rendering 75 percent of the finicky AdobeRGB color space, while a higher end monitor like the Samsung CF791 reproduced 85 percent.
That’s not the kind of difference that you’d notice during gaming, or really any other everyday task, but it’s important if you plan to use the EX3200R for photo editing or other creative endeavors. Another metric you’ll want to pay attention to, in that case, is color accuracy.
OS animations you’ve seen a thousand times slide across the screen like they’re skating on glass.
Here, the EX3200R fared well against the competition, hitting an average color error of 1.29, making it the most color-accurate monitor of the bunch. That’s a little above average, with most monitors landing between 1.5 and 2.0. The High-end Samsung CF791 hit 2.56, while its smaller cousin, the CF591, came away with a disappointing score of 6.26. The Dell U3417W, a 34-inch ultrawide, hit 1.69.
In practice, this means that the EX3200R, and any other monitor in the 1.5-1.8 range, is accurate enough that you’d struggle ot notice any discoloration in daily use, or even in games.
That score might be an issue if you were color-correcting photos or videos, but the EX3200R’s AdobeRGB color gamut would be a bigger problem. All in all, these results back up what becomes apparent the first time you use this monitor – it provides an awful lot of bang for your buck.
Even with a less-than-stellar color gamut, the EX3200R’s superb contrast ratio eclipses what you’d get out of almost any other monitor – and certainly any monitor within the same price range.
No calibration required
Sometimes calibration turns a good monitor into a great one, like the Dell S2417DG. Other times, fiddling with the monitor’s factory calibration yields disappointing results. The BenQ EX3200R is one such monitor. After hooking it up to a Spyder colorimeter and letting the delicate little device get to work, we found the EX3200R was a little less impressive.
Contrast and brightness fell a small degree, but color gamut rose a percentage point, so it wasn’t all bad. It’s not too much of a surprise, really. Calibration can be a mixed bag sometimes and if a display like the EX3200R is already fine-tuned and ready to go, at-home calibration can have a negligible effect.
Warranty information
The BenQ EX3200R features a three-year standard warranty protecting against manufacturer defects. That’s the kind of warranty we’d expect to see on a monitor with a price tag in excess of $1,000 but seeing it on a $400 monitor is a pleasant surprise.
Our Take
With high quality craftsmanship, superb display quality, and a silky-smooth refresh rate, the BenQ EX3200R is a superb gaming monitor. At 1080p, it’s just not as sharp as it could be, and if you sit close enough, you’ll be able to really pick out those pixels. We can forgive that because of this monitor’s reasonable price and excellent scores in other areas.
Is there a better alternative?
There are better curved gaming monitors on the market, yes, but none which offer the low price and high performance of the EX3200R. If price isn’t so much an issue, and you really want 1440p or 4K, you have a lot of options. Chief among which would be the Samsung CF791.
While it’s contrast ratio isn’t as high as the BenQ EX3200R, it’s still 980:1, which is excellent and ensures a rich viewing experience. It’s a 1440p monitor so that lush 35-inch curved display is incredibly sharp. Not to mention, it’s a very attractive monitor even when turned off. Clad in silver and white, with an elegant and razor-thin bezel running all the way around, it’s a nice addition to any office — or gaming lair.
For high refresh rate options, though, 1080p is still your best bet. Unless you have a top-of-the-line gaming desktop, hitting high framerates to get the most out of a 144Hz or 200Hz display panel is very difficult at 1440p and nearly impossible at 4K — without a truly monstrous gaming rig.
If the EX3200R’s 144Hz panel isn’t quite quick enough for you, there’s always the Acer Predator Z35. It’s another 1080p curved ultra-wide, but it pushes that refresh rate all the way up to 200Hz. To put that in perspective, that’s almost as big a difference as the leap from 60Hz to 144hz. If the EX3200R is buttery smooth at 144Hz, the Predator Z35 is Teflon-smooth.
But, both other options will cost you a lot more than the EX3200R. The Acer Predator Z35 starts at $900, and the Samsung CF791 starts at $750.
How long will it last?
The BenQ EX3200R will likely last for quite some time. It’s well made and sturdy, the solid metal legs don’t bend or flex, and the stand holds fast no matter how hard you try to wobble it. Its resolution, however, will start to look dated a lot sooner than a 1440p or 4K panel will.
Thanks to that 144Hz refresh rate, the EX3200R will likely be able to forestall the inevitable, if only for a couple years. It’ll still make your games look unbelievably smooth long after its poor pixel density has made using it for web browsing something of a chore.
Should you buy it?
Yes, you should. The BenQ EX3200R is a high-performing gaming monitor with the price tag of a decent mid-range monitor. It offers the most bang for your buck in its price category, and it outperforms more expensive monitors by a comfortable margin.
With a 144Hz display panel and luxuriously high contrast ratio, the EX3200R is an absolute steal at $400.
Oaxis InkCase i7 Plus hands-on review
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Oaxis InkCase i7 Plus
Ever wished your iPhone 7 Plus had a second screen? Ever wanted to add 80 grams to the weight, and a big thick wedge of bulk into the deal? If you’ve answered an enthusiastic yes to these questions, the Oaxis InkCase i7 Plus (or InkCase i7 if you have a standard iPhone 7) is for you. It’s a protective case for your iPhone that incorporates an E Ink display, so once fitted to your iPhone, there’s a screen on the front and back of the device. It has its own battery inside, so it won’t suck power from the phone, and in theory reduces power consumption by letting you read books and articles without using the iPhone’s screen. It’s impossible to argue with these facts, but in our InkCase i7 Plus review, we’ve found the upsides don’t outweigh the downsides — to the point where we’d rather use a few elastic bands to secure a Kindle to the back of our iPhone instead.
We’ll start out with the positives. The E Ink screen is glorious. There’s still little to match an E Ink display for visibility in most conditions, and overall energy efficiency. The battery inside the InkCase i7 Plus will last for at least a week, which is more than can be said for the iPhone 7 Plus. However, it can’t match a Kindle, which can last for several months without needing a recharge. It measures 5.2-inches and has a 960 x 640 pixel resolution, which is higher than a standard Amazon Kindle. The response time is fast, but the typical E Ink pause is still there. Don’t expect pages to change instantly, or menus to flip past at the speed of an LCD display, because they won’t. Take it outside in the sunlight, and you won’t believe how easy it is to read. Forget the beach, you could sit in the middle of a solar panel array and not have any trouble reading the latest chapter of Game of Thrones.
The InkCase i7 Plus is also IP67 water resistant — matching the iPhone — and meets military standards of drop protection. The screen is scratch resistant, and has a big lip around the edge so it doesn’t come into contact with any surfaces. The covers over the iPhone’s buttons are also excellent, and there’s plenty of space for any Lightning connector accessories you want to plug in. It’s a shame Oaxis didn’t make the InkCase’s power button in the same way. It’s almost impossible to actually press unless you use a fingernail, and even then, the pressure needed borders on the painful. It’s awful. That’s also only the beginning of what’s wrong with the InkCase i7 Plus.
Take it outside in the sunlight, and you won’t believe how easy it is to read.
We’re pretty experienced with tech here at Digital Trends, but setting up and getting the InkCase ready for use took about two hours. The iPhone itself didn’t take that long. A good 30 minutes of this was trying to check if the firmware needed updating using Oaxis’s own tools downloaded from its website, and something the instruction booklet recommends doing. It refused to work at all, so if the firmware is out of date, it’s staying that way. The case connects to your phone using Bluetooth, but due to the difficult-to-press power button, it took several goes just to turn the case on and keep it that way. It would auto-sleep while trying to get connected with Pocket — the newsreader app the InkCase uses to aggregate stories — forcing us to use the power button again. Eventually, we turned off the auto standby mode, just to avoid the button.
It took multiple attempts to sync article aggregator app Pocket with the case, despite it saying articles had transferred across. It also took a while to delete the pre-installed articles, and to work out how to unlock the InkCase from standby. Why? You have to select a yes or no option, but the icon design means it’s guesswork as to which one is actually selected. If you get it wrong, you have to start again. We mentioned E Ink screens don’t respond quickly, so this takes time. Trial and error eventually teaches you which option is selected, but it really shouldn’t be that way. It’s frustrating, and doesn’t make you want to use the case at all.
The frustration continues when you flip the phone over to read the E Ink screen, and feel a vibration alerting you apps have gone into “jiggle” mode, or when you turn back, find an app is open and drawing power. If you don’t lock the screen first, your fingers naturally rest against the iPhone’s display, and cause all sorts of havoc. When you’re looking at the iPhone normally, the raised lip over the E Ink screen is uncomfortable to hold.
Finally, the iPhone’s mute switch is impossible to reach with the case on, and the case itself is a real mission to remove. That’s all before you realise the InkCase i7 Plus only supports ePub or TXT book files that are transferred using iTunes. There’s no PDF support, no way to read books purchased through Amazon on the InkCase, and we couldn’t get any iBooks synced across either. You can transfer photos to the E Ink screen to use as a wallpaper, and set it up to show calendar appointments, fitness activity, and a few other handy notifications, all in the name of saving your iPhone’s battery.
Oaxis InkCase i7 Plus Compared To
Samsung DeX Station
Ampy Move
Neo Smartpen N2
Motrr Galileo
Typo keyboard case
Moga Mobile Gaming Controller
Hasbro My3D
Iomega SuperHero
BlackBerry Presenter
Callpod Chargepod
Griffin Elan Holster
However, these are minor features that aren’t the reason you’d buy the InkCase. You’d buy it because you read a lot of books, want to conserve your iPhone’s battery life, and want something more easy on the eyes. The InkCase isn’t the solution. It’s bulky, uncomfortable, has a flawed interface, and may not even display the books you read anyway. If you buy the InkCase i7 Plus through the Kickstarter campaign’s early bird offer, it costs $100 — miss out and it’s $160. An Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is $120, and although it doesn’t physically attach to your iPhone, we don’t see that as a downside considering what a pain the InkCase i7 Plus can be.
The Navy’s railguns are ready for live-fire field tests
The US Navy has been testing its railguns, which fire shells at high velocity using electromagnets instead of explosive propellant, for years. Test footage emerged in 2012 showing off successful demonstration of the experimental weapon on land targets. But at long last, the military’s new artillery piece is ready for live-fire testing in the field.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) noted in a press release that the weapon has already pulled off multi-shot salvos at low-muzzle energy. Ideally, they hope to get the latter up to 32 megajoules — the force of 32 one-ton cars hitting at 160 mph — and get the firing rate up to ten shots per minute by the end of the year, head of Naval Air Warfare and Weapons for ONR Dr. Tom Beutner told DefenseTech.
The ONR hasn’t indicated when the electromagnetic cannon will get deployed to its fleet, but back in February 2016 the military started eyeing the last of its three slick new Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers, the Lyndon B. Johnson, as the first ship to get one. Whether the gun will be ready by that ship’s expected launch date in 2018 is unclear.
Google tests vacation rental filter alongside hotel search results
Last year, Google issued some updates that made it easier to track down flight and hotel deals and it has recently been testing an option that would bring up vacation rentals when users search for hotels. The new feature shows up under the “Accommodation Type” category alongside other filter options like price, amenities and rating. According to Skift, which counted around 7,000 such listings in its searches, Google is testing the feature out in multiple markets.
To be clear, the vacation rentals are not related to Airbnb, but are similar in concept and include listings like apartments and condos. As of now, the number of vacation rentals that show up in the Google searches don’t compare to those offered by Airbnb in the same market, but listings from major sites, such as Booking.com and Hotels.com, are showing up in the search results.
Skift reports that there are three major shortcomings to the searches presently. The vacation rental filter options aren’t quite up to snuff yet and are much less detailed than those provided by Airbnb. And the listings are also lacking in text descriptions, photos and reviews, which could limit users’ confidence in the listings. But the CEO of Koddi, a marketing tech vendor, told Skift, “These are all data and engineering problems and commercial partnership issues, and Google is in a great position to solve them if the tests show that there’s consumer demand.” And, ultimately, this function is still in testing mode. So, if and when Google decides to make it official, it’s sure to get the user-focused treatment flight and hotel searches have gotten in the past.
Via: 9to5Google
Source: Skift
FDA approves first MRI machine for premature babies
Premature babies are some of the most vulnerable patients in a hospital, and they also need some of the most dedicated care. Treating these tiny patients in the neonatal unit, or NICU, can be a challenge, especially when it comes to magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs). Taking a baby through the hospital to an MRI machine and exposing them to germs is not a decision a doctor takes lightly, and that’s why this new announcement is a welcome one: The FDA has cleared a new MRI machine for exclusive use in neonatal units.
This system, called the Embrace Neonatal MRI System, is designed specifically to scan the heads of premature babies. Doctors can place the baby in a temperature controlled incubator, then move the incubator directly into the MRI machine. The incubator helps keep babies from moving too much.
It’s a fully enclosed MRI machine that doesn’t require a safety zone; that’s why doctors can use it in the NICU. The entire process, including preparation, takes less than an hour. And if a baby goes into crisis while in the machine, it only takes 30 seconds to remove them from its environment.
It’s not hard to argue that advances that help premature babies survive the earliest and most difficult days of their lives are excellent. Not only does this machine ensure their nonexistent immune systems won’t be exposed to hospital germs, but it makes sure they have timely access to MRIs. When mere hours can have drastic impacts on a baby’s prognosis, you can bet this machine will make a difference.
Source: Aspect Imaging, FDA
Moto Z2 Force hands-on review
Research Center:
Moto Z2 Force
Motorola had two flagships in 2016 — the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force. They each had different specifications, and the Force was only available on Verizon. Thankfully, things are less confusing this year. There’s just one flagship (that we know of so far): The Moto Z2 Force, and it’s available on every major U.S. carrier. In our Moto Z2 Force hands-on review, we’ll take a look how the smartphone stacks up against the competition, and if it’s worth the high price tag.
Solid build quality, but big bezels
The Moto Z2 Force doesn’t look too different from last year’s Moto Z Force. The company says it’s 13 percent thinner, and 12 percent lighter than the 2016 device, but that means the battery capacity has taken a hit — more on that later.
On the rear, the Motorola logo is now more prominent with a border, and the 16 pogo pins for the Moto Mods are also housed in a similar cut out. There’s another border around the entire back of the smartphone, creating a two-tone appearance. But perhaps the most visible difference is the camera — it still sticks out from the back, but now it houses a dual-camera setup.
The front also has some minor design changes. The edges around the display, or bezels, are still huge, but the fingerprint sensor and the front flash are both oval. It doesn’t have a metal frame around the top speaker or the fingerprint sensor, and we’re already seeing the front speaker collect a lot of dust.
That dust isn’t great, since it’s in the only speaker on the phone. The volume rocker is on the top right edge, above a textured power button, and sadly there is no headphone jack again. You do get a 3.5mm adapter in the box, but you won’t be able to charge your device while listening to music, unless you use wireless earbuds. The phone charges via USB-C.
The build quality feels great, and we like how thin the Moto Z2 Force feels. The AMOLED screen, which is protected by Motorola’s Shattershield technology, is 5.5-inches with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixel (535 pixels-per-inch). It’s colorful, looks sharp, and can get pretty bright.
Our biggest complaint is how the Moto Z2 Force only has a water-repellant nano-coating that protects the device from splashes and rain. Almost every other manufacturer’s flagship phone has an Ingress Protection rating of IP67 or IP68, which means they are essentially waterproof. For the $800 price tag, you should be getting the same with the Moto Z2 Force.
Near stock Android, fluid performance
Our review unit is a Verizon model, but since the Moto Z2 Force is unlocked, it works on all carrier networks. We found a decent amount of bloatware installed, like NFL Mobile and VZ Navigator, and these apps cannot be uninstalled — only disabled. We recommend buying the device from Motorola to skip out on all the pre-installed Verizon apps.
The Moto Z2 Force is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor — expect great performance.
Regardless, the Android 7.1.1 software experience is excellent. Motorola’s Android skin is almost the same as the one on the Google Pixel. The Google feed is available with a swipe to the right from the home screen, and you can swipe up for apps. Apps open up incredibly fast, and overall performance seems smooth. We’ll have to do more testing, but the Moto Z2 Force is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor — expect great performance.
The 835 is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage (a 6GB RAM and 128GB variant will be available outside the U.S.), and a MicroSD card slot lets you expand the capacity.
Motorola also has the same Moto features from previous devices, like how you can twist the phone twice to trigger the camera app, or wave your hand over the phone to check notifications with Moto Display. But there’s also the new Moto Voice function that was available on the Moto Z2 Play — you can say “Show me” to perform some hands-free actions. For example, say “Show Me Chrome,” and the device will open Google Chrome browser. Say “Show Me my day,” and it will show what’s on your agenda. It’s supposed to only recognize your voice to be more secure, but a coworker easily overrode it, and was able to open my apps with his voice.
Moto Z2 Force Compared To
Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom
Moto Z2 Play
OnePlus 5
Huawei Nova 2 Plus
LeEco Le S3
Huawei Mate 9
ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe Special…
LeEco Le Pro3
HTC Bolt
Lenovo Moto Z
Alcatel Idol 4S
Meizu M3 Note
Oppo F1 Plus
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
LG G4
The Moto Z2 Force has a much smaller battery than the original Moto Z Force — it’s now 2,730mAh instead of the original 3,500mAh capacity. It’s clear Motorola cut the battery to make a thinner and lighter phone, but why? We prefer a longer-lasting battery to a thinner phone, however nice it feels. Motorola likely expects you to buy a battery Moto Mod to extend the phone’s battery life.
We can’t offer a verdict on the battery until we do more testing.
Depth mode works better with people
Motorola is jumping on the dual-camera bandwagon, and it’s mimicking features from other smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Huawei. The Moto Z2 Play can now take “true” black and white photos directly from the camera app, so you don’t need to waste time adding a filter. There’s also a “depth” enabling feature, which works exactly like the iPhone 7 Plus’ Portrait Mode.
The dual 12-megapixel cameras have a f/2.0 aperture, and they are quite capable, so far. The black and white photos look great, though we’ll have to do more testing to see how they stack up against the Huawei P10’s Leica-branded monochrome camera. The depth effect is hit-or-miss. It works far better on people — as it’s intended — but the image quality seems to drop. We’ll compare it to the iPhone 7 Plus and OnePlus 5’s portrait modes and report back.
Availability and price
Last year’s Moto Z Force was only available on Verizon. The Z2 Force breaks that trend and is no longer a carrier-exclusive device, but it has an even more princely price. Our buying guide explains it all, but it starts at $750. From Motorola, it will cost you $800. That’s a tall order, especially when you consider purchasing a few Moto Mods — some of which cost $70 or $300.
We’re not sure the Moto Z2 Force is worth the asking price just yet; we’ll have to use it more to make a final call. There’s a lot of competition (the best smartphones out now has many competitors), and it seems as though flagship smartphones are only increasing in price. If you’re interested, pre-orders for Motorola’s latest flagship are live now and orders will ship on August 10.
USB 3.2 specification will double speeds using existing USB Type-C cables
Why it matters to you
You can keep buying USB Type-C cables without worrying if they will support the next generation of USB 3.2 devices.
The advent of the USB Type-C connection meant an easier way to connect to PCs and mobile devices to chargers and peripherals. The connector is bi-directional, meaning that you don’t need to worry about orienting it the right way. Now, a faster new USB 3.2 specification has been announced that provides yet another advantage for USB Type-C.
The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced the new USB 3.2 specification on Tuesday. It’s an incremental update that creates a new multi-lane operation for new USB 3.2 devices and offers the advantage of working with existing USB Type-C cables.
In the past, USB hosts and devices were single-lane, a limitation that did not extend to the new USB Type-C connection. USB 3.2 takes advantage of the multi-lane capabilities of the new connector and cables, providing for two lanes of 5Gb per second or 10Gb per second operation and thus double the speed of USB 3.1.
That means that a USB 3.2 host that connects to a USB 3.2 device can achieve greater than 2GB per second data-transfer rates. A USB Type-C connection that’s SuperSpeed USB 10Gb per second is required to achieve this level of performance. As usual, the new USB 3.2 connection will remain backward compatible with older USB 3.X devices.
Regarding the new USB specification, USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman Brad Saunders said:
“When we introduced USB Type-C to the market, we intended to assure that USB Type-C cables and connectors certified for SuperSpeed USB or SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps would, as produced, support higher performance USB as newer generations of USB 3.0 were developed. The USB 3.2 update delivers the next level of performance.”
In addition to providing multi-lane operation with current USB Type-C cables, the USB 3.2 specification also provides for a minor update to the hub specification that also increases performance and ensures seamless transitions between single- and multi-lane operation.
The announcement is aimed at developers and the current final draft review phase will be completed and the final specification published by September during the USB Developer Days North America Event. Ultimately, all of this primarily means that USB Type-C connections are likely to become even more common on new machines as manufacturers seek to entice buyers with even faster performance.
MrMobile goes hands-on with the Moto Z2 Force
For the fifth year running, Motorola’s spicing up the summer with a smartphone that’s not afraid to stand out – but this year, the bombastic brand name feels a bit … Forced.
I’m Michael Fisher, alias MrMobile, and I went hands-on with the Moto Z2 Force Edition and the latest Moto Mod, the Moto 360 Camera. Check out this video, and then head over to Android Central’s hands-on coverage for more.
Featured Products
- Moto Z2 Force Edition
- Moto 360 Camera Mod
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The Moto GamePad Mod is finally here and it’s awesome
Mobile gamers will be a fan of this.
Motorola’s stable of Mods for its Moto Z lineup of phones is constantly growing, and one of the coolest of the lot is the GamePad Mod that adds physical gaming controls to your phone. It was teased back in June with the launch of the Moto Z2 Play, but now we’ve actually used a production model and can tell you what this accessory brings to the (gaming) table.
While it may look a bit bulky at a glance, it’s a totally understandable size once you see everything that’s inside. At the base of it the GamePad has to be slightly thick to be stable while twisting and gripping during gameplay, but also that the control surfaces have something to grab on to. The controls are basic, but exactly what you need: joystick and d-pad on the left, joystick and standard buttons on the right, and a pair of bumpers on the top. There’s also a 1033mAh battery inside to keep your phone topped up while playing.
Support for gamepad controls varies by game, but most of the types of games that you’d expect to work with a controller do, and it’s handled at the OS level so you don’t have to worry much about anything funky happening.
The GamePad’s biggest advantage may be its physical connection and large battery.
Then there’s the big unseen advantage: with a physical connection to the phone, there’s no fiddling with pairing Bluetooth or messing with Wi-Fi to make it work. Just pop your phone on, and it instantly recognizes the controls — no latency, no disconnects, no problems. That, with all of the other things aside, is worth checking this thing out for.
Even though Motorola is finally talking about the GamePad Mod again, it isn’t yet ready to release it to the public. The product page still asks you to “register for updates” and doesn’t provide any better timeline than a summer launch, which we were told back in June. The price, if it stays at the originally quoted $79, will be a fantastic deal for such a functional accessory among plenty of other Mods that push over $200.
Moto Z2 Force Edition
- Moto Z2 Force is official
- Moto Z2 Force specs
- This is the Moto 360 Camera Mod
- Join the discussion in the forums!
AIVAnet 