Vic Gundotra is wrong about Android photography

The iPhone has no monopoly on computational photography, and Android cameras are not inherently weaker. The latest arguments to the contrary, from the man who once led Google’s mobile efforts, are weird and wrong.

Former Google SVP and current AliveCor CEO Vic Gundotra has thoughts on smartphone cameras. The man who was once in charge of Android, and everything else mobile at Google, gifted tech reporters with many a choice quote this weekend.

The iPhone is the only option for taking great photos on a phone. Android is for people who don’t mind being a few years behind. Apple’s lead in computational photography is what sets it apart. Android by its nature impedes innovation in mobile photography.

Cue headlines.

Gundotra isn’t wrong in saying that the iPhone 7 Plus takes great photos. The original photos he posted to Facebook, of two smiling kids in a dark restaurant, captured through the iPhone’s portrait mode, are impressive.

Gundotra also talks about computational photography, a major trend in phone cameras right now, and says that — get ready for the juiciest quote of the bunch — he would “NEVER buy an Android phone again” if he cares about photography. Based on his posting history, Vic seems to care quite a lot about photography. So it follows that he’s not planning to buy another Android phone ever again. Considering who he is and the positions at Google he once held, that’s pretty newsworthy, however flimsy the arguments supporting it might be.

But first, some backstory.

Vic Gundotra vs. Vic Gundotra

People change jobs all the time. The fast pace of change in the tech world means that allegiances can also change rapidly. Nevertheless, the total 180-degree turn that Vic Gundotra has executed on Android photography is worth some examination.

The total 180-degree turn that Vic Gundotra has executed on Android photography is worth noting.

Gundotra worked closely with Steve Jobs on Google apps for the original iPhone before publicly torpedoing Apple (and its CEO) at Google I/O 2010. Here’s Vic on open versus closed at the time, in his role as SVP overseeing mobile.

“If Google did not act [with Android], we faced a draconian future — a future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice. That’s a future we don’t want.”

From 2011 to 2013, Gundotra led Google’s social efforts. Here he is again in 2013 talking up the prospects for future Nexus cameras on Google+.

“We are committed to making Nexus phones insanely great cameras. Just you wait and see.”

Four years later, he’s firmly back in the iPhone camp.

“I would NEVER buy an Android phone again if I cared about photography.”

“If you truly care about great photography, you own an iPhone. If you don’t mind being a few years behind, buy an Android.”

Life, it seems, comes at you fast.

As noted, Gundotra hasn’t worked for Google for four years at this point, and so he’s under no obligation to toe the party line anymore.

But it’s not his high praise for the iPhone that makes these juxtaposed quotations so jarring, it’s the vigor with which he goes after his former employer’s platform.

And what makes it all the more strange is that his arguments really don’t stand up to much scrutiny in the smartphone ecosystem of 2017.

The problem is not Android

Gundotra draws a tenuous line between Android’s open-source nature and its supposed laggardness in photography.

Here is the problem: It’s Android. Android is an open source (mostly) operating system that has to be neutral to all parties. This sounds good until you get into the details. Ever wonder why a Samsung phone has a confused and bewildering array of photo options? Should I use the Samsung Camera? Or the Android Camera? Samsung gallery or Google Photos?

Well, for starters, the “Android Camera” app does not exist and never has. (The Google Camera was briefly available on the Play Store, but not anymore. And it was certainly never a required preload on phones from other manufacturers.)

The lack of Google APIs for every single feature didn’t stand in the way of image quality, or innovation.

Your Samsung phone will use the Samsung camera app to take photos. That camera app is maintained and updated by Samsung, and tuned to get the best possible photos from whichever Galaxy you own. Just like Apple does for the iPhone.

The Gallery/Photos thing? Yeah, still kind of a mess from a user experience standpoint. But it doesn’t impact the photography itself.

It’s because when Samsung innovates with the underlying hardware (like a better camera) they have to convince Google to allow that innovation to be surfaced to other applications via the appropriate API. That can take YEARS.

Also true, but also a factor that affects what you can do with your pictures after the fact. Many manufacturers included RAW capture support on Android phones before Google introduced the Camera2 API in Lollipop — they didn’t have to wait for Google to act, they could innovate of their own accord.

Google occupies a powerful position as a platform holder, but Android manufacturers have managed to include all kinds of wacky and innovative features on top of the OS, without waiting for Google’s code to be updated with new APIs. That includes camera technology, where Android phones have been first with dual-camera systems, multi-frame photography, 4K video recording, 960fps slow-mo, simulated depth-of-field and countless other innovations.

All of these features work great on the devices they’re built for. Just like portrait mode on the iPhone.

Also the greatest innovation isn’t even happening at the hardware level – it’s happening at the computational photography level. (Google was crushing this 5 years ago – they had had “auto awesome” that used AI techniques to automatically remove wrinkles, whiten teeth, add vignetting, etc… but recently Google has fallen back).

Yep, computational photography (and high-quality post-processing in general) is just as, if not more important than top-tier camera hardware specs in 2017. But for someone like Gundotra to say Google has “fallen back” on computational photography is wrong to the point of voluntary ignorance.

Google’s own Pixel phone is a case study on how to use computational photography to reach new heights in mobile imaging. The Pixel’s HDR+ mode, in development while Gundotra was still as Google as part of the Gcam project, is the very thing he claims Android can’t do because of its various limitations. The same applies to multi-frame photography on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and HDR Boost on the HTC U11: computational photography is more than alive and well on Android, it is thriving.

Forget DxOMark scores — many independent photo comparisons, including our own, have placed Android phones with computational photography features, like the Pixel, U11 and Galaxy S8, ahead of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

What’s more, outside of smartphone photography, Google is pushing ahead with impressive vision-based systems like Google Lens, announced at this year’s I/O keynote. At the same event, we saw cutting-edge demos combining AI and computational photography, where a wire fence could be intelligently removed from a photo of a kid playing baseball.

Gundotra was still at Google while it was pioneering HDR+ through the Gcam project.

Google certainly isn’t slowing down, let alone falling back on this kind of thing. For someone who was around when Google was pioneering all this stuff to suggest other wise is just… well, weird.

Apple doesn’t have all these constraints. They innovate in the underlying hardware, and just simply update the software with their latest innovations (like portrait mode) and ship it.

Kinda true — Apple controls the entire hardware and software stack — but this is an oversimplification. Portrait mode is never coming to older iPhones, because the hardware can’t support it. The “latest innovations” still have to operate within the restrictions of each iPhone’s hardware, and broadly speaking there’s been no great change in photo quality on iPhones with new iOS releases. (Portrait mode arriving shortly after the 7 Plus’s launch is the exception that proves the rule.)

Bottom line: If you truly care about great photography, you own an iPhone. If you don’t mind being a few years behind, buy an Android.

In 2013, maybe.

Today, there’s no shortage of options if you truly care about great smartphone photography. The iPhone is one of the top offerings. There are many Android phones that can match or even beat it, and many include computational photography features just as impressive as the images Vic Gundotra showcased in his Facebook post.

Far from Android being a few years behind on photography, it seems that it’s Gundotra’s view of the OS, and the phones that run it, that’s out of date.

More: The best smartphone camera, as judged by you

OnePlus 5 4.5.7 update adds new font, 4K video stabilization and more

Wi-Fi and battery standby fixes also incoming in latest OxygenOS OTA.

Following on from the recent emergency calling hotfix, OnePlus has today released a meaty OTA for the OnePlus 5 that squishes some bugs, enhances security, and adds a couple of neat new features.

OxygenOS version 4.5.7 brings with it the July 1, 2017 Android security patches, along with Wi-Fi connectivity and standby battery life improvements — two areas where some OnePlus 5 owners have been experiencing issues to date. Other bug fixes include preventing sound leaks through the speakers when headphones are connected, as well as shutter sound glitches in silent mode (in India), and a fix for missing sound channels in video.

This update also sees OnePlus introduce a new font, dubbed “Slate.” Slate — which visually, appears somewhere between Google’s Roboto and the old Droid Sans — doesn’t replace the default font, but is available as an option under Settings > Font. The new firmware also enables electronic image stabilization (EIS) when shooting at 4K resolution, addressing one frequent feature request for the phone.

As always, OnePlus will deliver this new firmware via a staged rollout. If you’re not seeing the update on your phone just yet, the usual (and somewhat convoluted) trick of using a VPN app to connect via Canada should let you skip the queue.

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Samsung Connect Home review: Two products for the price of one

Turn your “dumb home” into a smart one and expand your Wi-Fi network all at the same time with Samsung’s mesh router system.

There’s nothing worse than when someone comes over to your house and complains that your Wi-Fi is slow, especially if you consider yourself a seasoned tech-head. Fortunately, we live in an era of mesh Wi-Fi networking systems, which exist to not only help simplify the process of extending Wi-Fi range but also to help encourage the use of those pricey broadband subscriptions we’re paying each month.

There is already a whole host of mesh networking kits available to purchase. Products like the Eero and Google Wifi already exist for people like me who recognize the importance of extending the Wi-Fi range but have little patience for anything networking related. Perhaps more attractive, however, is the Samsung Connect Home ($379.99) because of its unique kick. Samsung has added connected home capabilities, so not only can you keep your household adequately outfitted with internet access, but you can also easily automate parts of your house with Samsung’s SmartThings.

See at Samsung

Made for your home

A stack of three Connect Home nodes.

I found that Samsung’s mesh system fit in better with my décor than Google Wifi.

One thing I look at when I’m shopping for electronic devices to display in my home is whether or not it fits into the décor. I found the Samsung Connect Home’s matte, “squircle” shape fit in just fine with my collection of strangely-shaped rocks — more so than Google Wifi’s large, cylindrical nodes.

Each of the Connect Home modules measures in at 4.72″ x 1.16″ x 4.72″. They all feature a bright green LED that will keep you from dozing off at night, though you can turn them off from the Samsung Connect app after the router is all set up. (We’ll talk more about what else the app can do in just a bit.) There are two Ethernet ports on the back — aptly labeled “in” and “out” — as well as a port for the power adapter and a reset button, which can come in handy if your network tends to go haywire. (Mine did, but I later discovered it’s because my husband had messed with our system settings beforehand. Communication is key to good home networking, people.)

Each Connect Home node contains a 2×2 MU-MIMO antennas array and a 710MHz quad-core processor — essentially the same component configuration as Google Wifi. Its connection speeds cap at 866Mbps in the 5GHz spectrum and 400Mbps in the 2.4GHz spectrum. The three-pack featured here is meant for dwellings up to 4,500 square feet, though a single Connect Home module can power up to 1,500 square feet. I previewed the product in my 1,900 square foot townhouse with all three nodes set up in different parts of the house across two floors.

All the nodes look the same, so you’ll have to rely on the packaging to help you set up in the appropriate order. If you buy it in a pack of three, Samsung places the starter node at the top of the box with an Ethernet cable bundled in, with the two additional nodes underneath. I find this to be more helpful than Google Wifi’s packaging, where each of the individual devices lay in the box as if a carton of eggs.

The Samsung Connect Home blends in nicely with any home accents.

The Connect Home’s clunky, proprietary power adapter.

There’s also the Connect Home Pro, which is an entirely separate product. That can handle up to 1733Mbps speeds at the 5GHz spectrum, and 800 Mbps at 2.4GHz for homes up to 1,500 square feet. It’s for more — what else? — professional-level home networking use cases and also offers the same smart home capabilities. A single node will net you $250, though you can sync it up with the standard Connect Home system if you please.

My biggest gripe with the Connect Home is its proprietary power adapter. The plug itself is big and clunky, so it tends to stick out in tight spaces and crowds up power strips.

I much prefer the USB-C connection of Google Wifi, especially considering it’s interchangeable with many other devices. The exclusive nature of the Connect Home power adapter also means you have to buy a new one if either of them breaks or are chewed out by a resident animal.

Easy to set up

The Samsung Connect app is the portal to the Connect Home and its SmartThings capabilties.

Samsung’s vision for the smart home is that it should be easy for anyone to set up, and in the case of the Connect Home, it certainly is. For those who might feel a little anxiety as they begin unpacking the box, Samsung includes a helpful little fold out card with instructions on how to set up the Connect Home.

All it requires is to download the Samsung Connect app, mainly the beacon of the Connect Home system. You don’t need a Samsung phone to do all this either; I walked through the entire setup process with my Google Pixel XL.

A walkthrough of the Samsung Connect app, which works on any Android device.

The Samsung Connect app is your portal to the Connect Home and any connected smart devices. The app connects to the nodes through Bluetooth so that the Wi-Fi network can breathe on its own. When you’re setting up a new node, all you have to do is tap the floating action button to add a device; if it’s not discoverable for whatever reason, you can manually add it to move the process along.

You’re going to want to pin this app to your Home screen.

As you move through setting up each node, the Connect app will give you the option to test the network before adding another Wi-Fi hub. It took me roughly an hour to get the entire mesh Connect Home Wi-Fi networking system configured and ready to go, but your results may vary.

Eventually, you’re going to want to pin this app to your Home screen, as this is the controller for the mesh Wi-Fi networking system. From the main screen, you can tap on My devices to check up on the status of your nodes, including how many devices are on the network at a given time and how traffic is performing. You can even check on the network when you’re out of the house to see if the kids are at with their video games again. And if those guests come over and want to use the internet, you can set up “Guest access” for them, and limit how many of their devices are allowed on the network. Don’t expect any robust Wi-Fi settings here, though. They’re just easy enough to parse without causing you to break a sweat.

Speed tests for the Samsung Connect Home Wi-Fi mesh router system. The right-most result was measured at 40 feet away from the base router.

I was impressed with the range of the Samsung Connect Home, and pleased that switching to it didn’t affect my network speeds. I ran a couple of speed tests throughout my house to check out the range of the mesh Wi-Fi network and the latency remained fairly consistent until I stepped out the back door — that’s when it shot up. Even still, I had ample connection at the far corner of the back yard, or 40 feet away from the router. We’ll have no problem streaming Spotify radio or checking on the Ring doorbell from out there, and nor will our guests.

The “smart stuff”

A few of Samsung’s SmartThings.

Samsung’s various offerings of SmartThings has helped make it one of the more popular ways to quickly automate your home. It typically requires a separate SmartThings Hubs to work, but with the Connect Home, the ability is already baked in.

The existence of SmartThings is there to convince you to buy more stuff.

As long as your Wi-Fi network is healthy and able, so is your ability to turn your dumb home into a smart one in mere minutes. I started out with SmartThings multipurpose sensor and outlet. I set up the first one to notify me every time my back door opens, and the second one to turn off the light in my bedroom when I command it to through Google Home. I set both up with the aid of IFTTT, but you don’t have to use a third-party service to automate these things. You can easily create individual “Rules” for each device inside the Samsung Connect app.

The existence of SmartThings in the Connect Home router is there to convince you that you need to buy more stuff. I’m feeling it myself; the minute I got the first SmartThings up and running, I felt an unabashed sense of accomplishment. There’s something eerily empowering about scheduling a lamp to come on at the end of the day, and that seems to be the point of this entire product — now I’d like to automate more things, please.

Is it worth buying?

I’ve been using the Samsung Connect Home mesh Wi-Fi router system for a little under a week, and the connection has been reliable for the eight devices that have constantly been on since setup. The network held up fine as I was streaming YouTube TV downstairs and the PC upstairs was playing Overwatch; I can even sit out with my tablet in the backyard and download full magazine issues through Texture without delay.

If you like the idea of better Wi-Fi and an automated home, the Connect Home is a worthy consideration.

If you’re looking for a robust solution to your current Wi-Fi network, consider what The Wirecutter suggests as the best Wi-Fi mesh networking kit before moving forward. The Samsung Connect Home has quite a bit of competition barreling up against it in the home networking aisle, and because it’s more geared for the mainstream consumer who doesn’t require all the bells and whistles that other mesh networks offer, it may be missing features you actually want.

I like the idea of the Connect Home’s easy smart home integration, however, which is why it’s replacing Google Wifi at my abode for the time being. For my small family and my little home office, the Samsung Connect Home is more than enough to keep my corral of Android devices connected. The integrated SmartThings compatibility also affords me an excuse to tinker with further automating my home. And its relative ease of setup means it’s something I can suggest to my tech-curious friends and family members without scaring them off.

See at Samsung

Moto E4 Plus has a 5000mAh battery and it’s coming to the U.S. Aug 11 for $180

Motorola is bringing its battery monster Moto E4 Plus to the U.S. for a $50 premium over the regular Moto E4.

Motorola is on a device release tear. Just days before its Moto Z2 Force flagship is expected to hit carriers Stateside, the company is announcing the availability of its entry-level Moto E4 Plus for the unlocked and carrier markets.

While the metal-and-plastic phone shares many characteristics of its $129.99 Moto E4 sibling, the biggest difference is in its size — both in sheer volume and weight, and in the corresponding expansion of the battery. Whereas the Moto E4 has a 5-inch display and a 2800mAh battery, the E4 Plus ups the ante to 5.5 inches (at the same 720p) and a massive 5000mAh battery. Also improved is the camera, up from 8MP to 13MP on the Plus.

Full Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus specs

Starting August 3 (that’s this Thursday for those keeping track), the Moto E4 Plus will be available for pre-order at Verizon prepaid (locked) and unlocked at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Fry’s, Motorola.com and Newegg. It will be available to purchase August 11.

Following that, the phone will come to Sprint and Ting, along with some other retailers, on August 11, and Republic Wireless on August 14. Motorola says the Moto E4 Plus will also eventually be an Amazon Prime Exclusive Phone, but the price and release date are not yet final.

We have a Moto E4 Plus in the lab and are testing its longevity now, but you’ll have to give us a few days — this thing just won’t die.

See at Motorola

Deal: Buy a Samsung Galaxy S8 from T-Mobile and get one free!

T-Mobile customers can buy one Galaxy S8 or S8+ and get a second one FREE!

If you’re a new or existing T-Mobile customer looking to get a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, we’ve got a deal for you! For a limited time, you can receive a BOGO rebate of $750 for two S8 phones or $800 for two S8+ phones — payable via prepaid MasterCard — in one of two ways:

New customers can purchase two devices on the Equipment Installment Plan and activate on a T-Mobile ONE Unlimited plan while existing customers need to just choose the phone on the Equipment Installment Plan and add one voice line with unlimited data to the plan. 

Once you’ve purchased the phone and activated it, you can redeem your rebate online within 30 days of activation. You’ll receive your prepaid MasterCard within 6-8 weeks.

This is a great deal if you’re a new customer making the switch to T-Mobile, or if you’re an existing user just looking to get two new devices for the price of one. There are plenty of options and flexibility with T-Mobile, but here’s where you can get started:

Buy S8 from T-Mobile

Buy S8+ from T-Mobile

Motorola introduces special edition Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus

Motorola can’t stop releasing phones. Here are two more.

The first line of Motorola’s blog post introducing the new Moto G5S and G5S Plus is telling: “We’re all about innovating fast so we can always provide the best features to consumers.”

This is a company that has debuted eight phones so far in 2017, and today is bringing two more to the table. The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus, besides being difficult to say without swallowing one’s tongue, are so-called special editions of the already-released Moto G5 series.

Starting with the G5S, it gets a screen size bump up to 5.2 inches, along with a battery boost to 3000mAh — coincidentally, the same as the Moto G5 Plus. It also gains an improved 16MP rear camera with Phase Detection Autofocus, plus a wide-angle front-facing camera with LED flash, along with a standard outlay of 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone is also made from a single piece of aluminum now, instead of a combination of metal and plastic. Unchanged is the processor, a Snapdragon 430, and the charging port — it’s still Micro-USB. It’s going to retail for 249 EUR in the fall, and it’s not coming to the U.S.

The G5S Plus is slightly more interesting. Not only is it coming to the U.S. this fall for an undisclosed price, but it benefits from a larger 5.5-inch screen, up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, along with dual 13MP cameras, one color and one monochrome — just like the Moto Z2 Force.

Its 3000mAh battery is unchanged from the Moto G5 Plus before it, as is the 2GHz Snapdragon 625 processor; this is very much a camera play. Also unchanged is the lack of NFC (😢), which is absurd given that this is a more expensive special edition. Seriously, Moto?

Motorola plans to sell the Moto G5S Plus unlocked in the U.S., and will likely have some carrier announcements to go along with that messaging. In Europe, it will sell for 299 EUR later this year, too.

See at Motorola

Android O and Bluetooth 5: Everything you need to know

Android O has full support for Bluetooth 5, so device makers don’t have to do the work themselves.

The HTC U 11 and Motorola Z2 Force both shipped with Android N and Bluetooth 4.2 support. Both are gaining Bluetooth 5 support with their respective Android O upgrades. Let’s talk about what that means and why they waited.

This is a software-only update

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 hardware supports Bluetooth 5. We know this is the case, not just because Qualcomm tells us, but because phones like the OnePlus 5 and Galaxy S8 and S8+ shipped with Bluetooth 5 support. HTC mentions this in its recent FCC filing:

The major change is to enable Bluetooth 5.0 by software without any hardware change. The source code/SW file about this SW enabling will ONLY be held by HTC Corporation and it is IMPOSSIBLE to release these source code/SW file to any other third party to effect the RF function, power, or rating of this device. Except for the changes mentioned above, no other modification is performed.

The change will come when these phones are updated to Android O (and no, we don’t know when that will be), and you won’t have to do anything or send your phones anywhere or get a new SIM card. It will just work.

That’s cool, but what makes Bluetooth 5 better than 4.2?

Bluetooth specifications are a lot like USB specifications. They use a numeric system to track them, and to qualify as being compliant, the hardware must be able to meet certain thresholds for transfer and receive speeds, power consumption, and compatibility. That means a higher number will be newer and better in some ways than a lower number and a jump from 4.2 to 5 is more significant than a jump from 4.1 to 4.2.

Bluetooth 5 brings longer range, faster data speeds and a better way to connect.

Bluetooth 5 offers three major features: 4x longer range, twice the data speeds, and eight-times longer ADV packets (ADV stands for advertising, and advertising packets are used to broadcast what a device can do to all other Bluetooth devices in range). It’s easy to understand why more range is good, but it’s important to know that data transfer is more than just sharing files. For example, music is also digital data when streamed over Bluetooth and a higher speed means it can deliver more of the audio data for “better” sound and less chance for syncing errors.

Larger ADV packets are important, too. When a device can share more information about its capabilities, the handshake between two devices is faster and less error-prone. There are a lot of technical advantages to a longer ADV packet, and if you’re interested, you should have a look. Just know that devices can’t connect via Bluetooth without using ADV packets, and having more data in each makes for a better experience.

An example: Using Bluetooth 5, your phone can stream music to your headphones up to 120 feet away (versus 30 feet for older Bluetooth standards), send twice as much digital data so your music sounds fuller and won’t stutter as much, and can connect with fewer errors because the two devices know more about what each is capable of. It’s good all around.

So, why are HTC and Motorola waiting for Android O to make the switch?

We can’t be 100% sure why they are waiting, but it’s likely because of the extra support for Bluetooth 5 that comes in Android O.

The Bluetooth 5 standard was completed in December 2016, so everyone has known about the changes for a while. When Android N was finalized, the Bluetooth 5 standard wasn’t complete yet, so there are some pretty significant features that aren’t supported. Two important features, in particular, are missing from Android N.

• The preferred PHY (Physical) Low Energy layer. When two devices communicate over Bluetooth they need to work out the best and most efficient way to send data. Each device has a set of checks to look for the “right” method to use here, and Bluetooth 5 support isn’t being checked. This means that the connection would fall back to an earlier Bluetooth standard and the Bluetooth 5 features won’t be used.
• ADV packets longer than 60 bytes can’t be checked. When two Bluetooth devices “talk” to each other, the ADV packets are scanned. In Android N, the packet is expected to be a certain length, so packets larger than 60 bytes can return an error or simply not be read. In Android O, this has changed and there is no expected length of each packet and the raw data is read until the end of the packet is reached.

In simpler terms, this means that on Android versions earlier than O, a Bluetooth 5 device isn’t able to properly announce what it is and what it can do, and when the connection is finally set up, it will fall back to an older standard even if the hardware supports it.

Bluetooth 5 just wasn’t ready when Android N was developed.

The Samsung Galaxy S8, for example, has to use code in the Bluetooth layer from Samsung itself to get around these issues because Android doesn’t have the support. This costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time, and in the end, it might all have to be changed to be more compatible with Android O. It’s more a business decision than a technical decision. Since Samsung took the time to add its own extras to Bluetooth, it wisely built in the Bluetooth 5 standard instead of an older standard.

Bluetooth is going to be awesome when we get Android O and Bluetooth 5 support, right?

Nope. Sorry.

All the benefits of Bluetooth 5 require both devices to be Bluetooth 5-compliant. If one device, for example, is Bluetooth 4.x-specified, the connection falls back to the 4.x standard. That means until your headphones or car system is Bluetooth 5 ready, none of this matters. Two Galaxy S8 phones connected via Bluetooth can have faster file transfers, but there’s no guarantee that Samsung’s version of Bluetooth 5 and Android O’s version are 100% compatible, so a GS8 to HTC U11 connection might not benefit.

Bluetooth 5 benefits require both devices to be compliant.

When Bluetooth 5 becomes old news and everything supports it (which won’t be anytime soon) this will change and we’ll see the benefits. One good piece of news is that IoT (Internet of Things) devices are usually ahead of the curve and we’ll see Bluetooth 5 support long before other devices start to use it. This can be a pretty big deal when talking about low-energy scanning, because of the longer ADV packets. You’ll save battery life when looking for beacons or other LE devices.

Android has always been forward thinking when it comes to Bluetooth, and we see this with every new release. Just be on the lookout for other devices that are Bluetooth 5-complaint to take advantage of the new standards.

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This $15 block of foam is the best AR kit you can buy today

Go buy a Merge Cube right now if you want to play with AR. Seriously, just go do it.

While Apple prepares to roll single-point augmented reality to the entirety of iOS this Fall, and Google prepares to release several phones with spatially aware camera arrays onboard for whole-building augmented reality, Merge Labs wants to show you a $15 block of foam you can play with. It looks like something you’d see as a prop in a sci-fi TV show from the 90s with no budget, but when you point you phone at it what happens on the screen is nothing short of amazing.

It’s called Merge Cube, and you’re really going to want one of these if you care at all about Augmented Reality.

Read More at VRHeads!

Kick your workout up a notch with the $15 iClever Bluetooth Headphones

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with another pair of extremely affordable Bluetooth headphones.

The iClever Bluetooth Headphones are currently on sale at Amazon for just $14.99 when you use the promo code G6NZHOP8 at checkout. That brings this item down by $9 to its lowest price ever.

These headphones are wireless and in-ear with a built-in microphone and a battery that can last for up to seven hours before needing its next charge. There’s also an ear hook made of silicon designed to help the earbuds stay in place while you’re on the move.

These were really made with athletes and exercise in mind, and as such they are also sweat-proof and feature a full range of controls including some for volume and calls so that you don’t have to stop your workout to deal with your phone. Three different sized earbuds are also included to bring you the best possible fit.

See at Amazon

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• Dive into the world of Philips Hue with a refurb Starter Kit for $45
• Amazon’s free Kindle First books for August are now available

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MrMobile goes hands-on with the BlackBerry KEYone Special Edition

Normally, a new color option and a minor spec bump aren’t newsworthy enough for a hands-on video. But the BlackBerry KEYone Special Edition (or, if you want to be all official about things, the “Limited Edition KEYone Mercury Black Device by BlackBerry made by Optiemus Infracom”) is noteworthy for more than a new paint job. For one thing, the special-edition KEYone improves on the base model in RAM and internal storage, two areas it was especially lacking. And for another, it’s assembled by an entirely different company.

Of course, there’s more to the story, so click on through for MrMobile’s BlackBerry KEYone Special Edition hands-on … and be sure to check out all the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition coverage on CrackBerry for all the fine details I missed!

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