ASUS ZenFone AR comes to Verizon for $650

The first phone with both VR and AR capabilities has debuted on Verizon.

Verizon is launching a bunch of new devices, including the massive battery-clad [Moto E4 Plus]https://www.androidcentral.com/moto-e4-plus-coming-us-august-3), but the main event is a phone that was announced all the way back at CES: the ASUS ZenFone AR.

The promise of a phone that combines Google’s nascent Tango and Daydream technologies in one device has been a long time coming, and Verizon appears to be the only U.S. carrier brave enough to take on that unproven proposition. We already know the virtues of Daydream — Google has shown, again and again, that there are plenty of reasons to love mobile VR — but Tango is another thing entirely.

It does seem like a good way to “window” shop, but other than that, augmented reality has few current uses in the consumer market. Still, even without taking advantage of the additional features, the ZenFone AR is a capable handset: a 5.7-inch QHD AMOLED panel pairs with the Snapdragon 821 chip and 6GB of RAM, along with 128GB of storage, a 3300mAh battery and a 23MP rear-facing camera. Practically the newest stuff but for the slightly older Qualcomm SoC.

At $658, or $27 monthly, the ZenFone AR isn’t cheap, but it’s comparable to other flagship devices in its class, and offers plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of mobile technology.

See at Verizon

Leaked press render shows off LG V30 next to the Galaxy S8+ and LG G6

LG’s upcoming flagship looks a lot like the Galaxy S8.

LG confirmed that the V30 will sport a 6-inch OLED display with curved edges and tiny bezels, and we’re now getting a look at the upcoming flagship’s design thanks to a leaked press render. The leak comes by way of a tweet from Ice Universe, and shows off the front of the phone in its entirety along with a shot of the V30 next to the LG G6 and the Galaxy S8+

From the image, it looks like the V30 will be taller and wider than the G6, with an overall design aesthetic that’s similar to the 6.3-inch Galaxy S8+.

The phone still offers minimal side bezels, but with the LG logo no longer taking up precious real estate at the front, the manufacturer was able to trim the top and bottom bezels — 20% at the top and 50% at the bottom when compared to the V20.

The phone in the render lines up perfectly with LG’s own teaser of the V30 from earlier today, lending further credibility to the leak. The V30 will make its debut on August 31 at IFA. With the company posting disappointing sales figures in Q2 2017, the onus will be on the V30 to drive sales for the latter half of the year.

Best MicroSD Cards for the BlackBerry KEYone

Double your KEYone’s storage — or more — with these reliable microSD cards!

The BlackBerry KEYone is easily the most unique Android phone released in 2017. One of the best features included is expandable storage. With only 32GB of internal storage, you’re probably going to want a microSD for storing all the photos and videos you’ll shoot with your KEYone.

The KEYone can handle up to 2TB of additional storage — but those are hypothetical numbers at this point. Don’t get suckered in by someone offering a 1TB microSD, and always be sure to buy your microSD cards from reputable sites — scammers are out there looking to make a quick buck selling fake microSD cards.

Consider checking out Android Central’s breakdown of the best microSD cards for Android, or read on for some recommendations taken straight from the CrackBerry KEYone forums.

• Lexar Professional 1000x microSDXC
• Samsung EVO+ microSDXC
• Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB U3 microSDXC

Lexar Professional 1000x microSDXC

This card was specifically recommended by VictorRight in the CrackBerry KEYone forums and receives top marks for being one of the fastest cards you’ll find. It uses UHS-II speeds for reads and writes, which means you’ll see no slowdown using the card with your KEYone.

There are four sizes available — the 64GB is your best value at around $50. You can go BIG with a 256GB card, but you’ll also pay $260 — basically a dollar per GB.

See at Amazon

Samsung EVO+ microSDXC

Samsung’s EVO+ microSD cards are top-quality, as you’d expect from such a trusted brand. These things are rugged enough to withstand pretty much any conditions you throw at them, so even if your phone gets zapped by X-rays, torn apart by magnets, or takes a dip in the pool, your data will remain secure.

You can add 128GB to your KEYone for only $50, which is an absolute steal and a must-buy if you’re frustrated with the 32GB of internal storage.

See at Amazon

Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB U3 microSDXC

Sandisk emerged as the clear favorite in a CrackBerry forum thread on microSD cards, so if you’re just looking for extra space and don’t care too much about extreme read/write speeds, you can be confident that these cards will work with your KEYone.

You’ll find options for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, with the latter coming in at just over $50.

See at Amazon

Which cards do you trust?

Brand loyalty is totally a thing for storage devices, so which brand do you trust most? Let us know what microSD card you use in the comments below!

BlackBerry KEYone

• BlackBerry KEYone review
• KEYone vs. Priv: Battle of the BlackBerry keyboards
• BlackBerry KEYone specs
• The latest KEYone news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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Newton email app keeps things tidy with a Priority Inbox-like tool

If you’ve wished you had the ability to use Priority Inbox and Tabs features in non-Gmail accounts, well, you’re in luck. Newton’s Tidy Inbox feature is now available across iOS, Android and Mac devices.

The aim of Tidy Inbox is similar to Priority Inbox: It weeds out less important items such as newsletters and social media updates; the idea is to make sure you focus on your most important emails first. And it works with any email account, from Gmail to your custom domain. But what sets this feature apart from Gmail, according to product manager Umesh Gopinath, is that it’s specifically not smart. It doesn’t try to automatically determine what emails you want to and don’t want to see, leaving you at risk of missing important emails. You tell Tidy Inbox what categories (social media emails, for example) should skip the inbox and show up in the Low Priority folder.

If you haven’t heard of Newton, we took the app on a test drive last year. Our Deputy Managing Editor was impressed by just about everything — the interface, the efficiency and the email management experience were all stellar. The price point, though, is what gave him pause: a $50 per year fee. It’s got a lot of features, from Undo Send to Send Later to snoozing emails, but it’s hard to justify that hefty price tag. Still, if you’re a current Newton user, or interested in trying it out, the addition of this feature is likely welcome news.

London is bankrolling an extra 1,500 residential EV chargers

London is already one of the best places to drive an electric car in the UK, with an abundance of chargers in car parks, hotels and side streets. London mayor Sadiq Khan wants more, however, to shift people away from gas-guzzlers and realise his dream of a zero-emission transport system by 2050. Today, Transport for London, London Councils and the Greater London Authority have announced £4.48 million in funding for new, street-side EV chargers. Twenty-five boroughs will receive roughly £300,000 each to install 1,500 charging points in residential areas.

Teams from each district will now try to figure out where the chargers should be located. The funding, which forms part of the “Go Ultra Low City Scheme,” is primarily concerned with accessibility and uptake, however boroughs will also be encouraged to try new, innovative charging solutions. These include the converted lamp post chargers that have been trialled in Barnes, Hounslow, Twickenham, Kensington and Westminster. They’re supposed to be cheaper and quicker to install than traditional charging points — and blend into London’s architecture — but are typically slower than purpose-built fast-chargers developed by Tesla and others.

The 25 boroughs are: Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster. Khan promised the chargers will make “a real difference” when Londoners consider their next car purchase. The UK government already has plans to ban sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2040. Additional chargers should ease that transition in the coming decades and instil confidence that such a switchover is feasible.

“We need to be more ambitious in tackling emissions at all levels of Government,” Khan said. “That’s why I’m calling on Ministers not only to introduce a fully-funded diesel scrappage fund to get polluting vehicles off our streets immediately, but they must also step up their investment in charging infrastructure to ensure every Londoner can look at moving to electric vehicles over the coming years.”

Via: MayorWatch

Source: Transport for London

With Funimation deal, Sony’s PS4 will be a must-have for anime fans

Japanese animation has exploded in popularity over the past few years, thanks to increased availability on streaming services like Crunchyroll, Hulu and Amazon. It was popular enough for Funimation, which specializes in translating anime for American audiences, to launch its own service in 2016. It’s no surprise that larger media companies came looking for a piece of the pie, with Sony grabbing a 95 percent majority stake in Funimation this week.

For the most part, localization companies like Funimation pay a licensing fee to an anime producer for the rights to a particular title. The company then takes whatever steps it needs to get the show ready for Western distribution, like subtitling or dubbing it in English. In the past distribution mainly meant physical media — VHS, DVD and Blu-ray — with a small number of shows even reaching broadcast or cable networks like Toonami and Adult Swim. But the rise in streaming services means that companies can no longer rely on moving product or selling television rights. They also need to push their content on a site like Netflix or Amazon.

Unfortunately, those services have increasingly been going directly to Japan to source their anime. After all, Funimation and its ilk are essentially middlemen, taking a cut of the potential profit. By making deals with the producers themselves, streaming sites can lower costs and sign more-favorable contracts, including exclusives and longer licensing terms.

With the bigger streamers flexing their muscles and snatching up shows at outrageous prices, niche anime providers like Crunchyroll and Daisuki have struggled to stay afloat. Crunchyroll’s parent company recently expanded into other genres with its new service VRV while Daisuki will shut down completely in October. Right now Crunchyroll relies on partnerships like the one it struck for Funimation’s catalog, but the deal with Sony could disrupt their mutually beneficial dynamic.

It makes a lot of sense for Funimation to sell out to Sony Pictures Television: The larger company has extensive reach and can put Funimation titles in more places. With more money at its disposal, Funimation also has a better chance of securing hot anime licenses. Popular titles often inspire crazy bidding wars. With Sony’s backing, Funimation is now on more-equal footing with other streaming companies.

The sale also puts Funimation in closer contact with Aniplex, Sony’s anime division. While the Funimation deal doesn’t explicitly involve the production company, there’s still the possibility of the two firms working together going forward. Sony executives like CFO Kenichiro Yoshida already have their eyes on leveraging that connection, using Funimation as another distribution vehicle for its content. Anyone who’s ever used PlayStation Network has probably noticed how Sony films get prime positions in the PSN store; Funimation’s iOS, Android, Windows and Xbox apps are a prime place to promote Sony-owned and -licensed content to gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem.

In Sony’s earnings announcement this week Yoshida referred to Funimation, Aniplex and PlayStation as part of a group, with the PS4 at the center. The PlayStation division is Sony’s biggest moneymaker, but it needs strong content to stay that way. Unfortunately, the movie division is still losing cash, and PSN’s first original series, Powers, failed after two seasons. Meanwhile Funimation is an entertainment brand that has proved itself over 23 years. It brings not only a fresh infusion of marketable content to the Sony ecosystem but also the tools to sell to a young, tech-savvy audience.

Disney will show the sights, sounds and smells of ‘Star Wars’ in VR

Disney is teaming up with virtual reality gaming centre The Void to launch an immersive Star Wars experience at two of its sites. Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire lets you step inside the intergalactic world of the hit films through a VR headset. You’ll also be able to touch, feel, and even smell your surroundings (which may not bode well if you end up chilling with Yoda on Dagobah). Built in collaboration with Lucasfilm, the new experience hits Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort this holiday season.

For those not familiar with The Void, its gaming centres offer “hyper-reality” attractions. Essentially, you enter real rooms in groups, wearing the company’s headsets and haptic feedback vests that allow you to interact with the VR environments. Some of these are based on movies, like its Ghostbusters: Dimensions experience that lets you use virtual plasma packs to zap green ghouls.

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is The Void’s first partnership with the House of Mouse, since it joined its accelerator program in July. It will see the company open its gaming centres on the Disney sites — through which guests will jump into the virtual adventure.

The social VR experience could be the first of many immersive Star Wars-themed attractions at the parks, courtesy of the folks at Lucasfilm’s ILMxLab division. Just last month Disney revealed ambitious plans of building an entire hotel based on the franchise. And then there’s its upcoming Star Wars theme park, due to open in 2019 at both Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida.

Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster, totally not running for president

There have been rumors circulating about whether Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is planning a presidential run in 2020. After all, he decided he wanted to “personally hear more of [the] voices” that use Facebook and embarked on a 50-state tour of the US for 2017. Now, news that Zuckerberg has hired Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster who served as a top adviser to President Obama and chief strategist during Hillary Clinton’s campaign, has reinvigorated those rumors.

Is Zuckerberg actually running for office though? As Politico points out, all the talk is just that: talk. Benenson’s company will be doing research for the Zuckerbergs’ philanthropy organization Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. It’s possible (even likely) that this move is simply a push to move the organization’s work and influence into political spheres.

It’s also possible that some of these political moves are because Zuckerberg acknowledges that Facebook played a crucial role in the 2016 elections. From proliferation of fake news to the repeated censorship of journalists, it’s hard to deny that the social network played a vital role in bringing us to where the country is today.

Still, those presidency rumors are getting increasingly difficult for Zuckerberg to quash; he’s made quite a few key hires in the last few months, rejected atheism and, oh yeah, there’s that strange fifty-state tour I mentioned before. It’s not clear exactly what Zuckerberg is up to, but we’ll keep an eye on how this all shakes out.

Source: Politico

Facebook’s related articles will add fact to fake news shares

Facebook’s related articles section can now help you determine whether a story that’s being shared on the website is nothing but a hoax. After hearing from users about how related articles give them more perspectives and additional info, the social network has decided to use it to help people figure out which stories are real or fake. Going forward, the company will be using an updated algorithm that can pinpoint potential fake news based on users’ comments and reports. It will then send those stories to third-party fact checkers.

Once those fact checkers have published their own take on the story, Facebook can list them in the related section, which you’ll be able to see even before you click on the main link. In addition, the company won’t list a link that’s being widely reported as a hoax under related articles to prevent spreading fake news even further.

Facebook hopes that by bundling a story with another that refutes it or that has a different viewpoint, people can make informed decisions. “We don’t want to be and are not the arbiters of the truth,” News Feed integrity product manager Tessa Lyons told TechCrunch. “The fact checkers can give the signal of whether a story is true or false.”

TC says the feature is rolling out in the US, Germany, France and the Netherlands today, because Facebook already has partner fact checkers in those countries. It might take a while to reach other locations, depending on how quickly Facebook can cut deals with local fact checkers worldwide.

Source: Facebook

Apple and Other Tech Companies Accused of ‘Weakening’ Green Electronics Standards

In a new 45 page report by Mark Schaffer of Repair.org, Apple, Sony, and other tech industry companies have been targeted as the reason behind lagging green electronics standards in the United States, which are meant to establish an overall set of environmental leadership specifications for the design, usage, and end-of-life phases of electronic devices.

According to Repair.org, Apple and companies like it consistently output products with extremely low repairability scores, and often fail to meet quality green electronics standards.

The report said that this is mostly because these tech companies “hold so many positions” on the boards of green electronics standards that they can vote and resist changes they see as potentially unfavorable for their product development. This has caused the standards to become “increasingly ineffectual,” making them hard to update and unable to keep up with the fast-paced advancements in the technology that they are written for.

“Green standards in the US play an important role. They are supposed to shape the electronics industry for the better and encourage manufacturers to make more sustainable products. As consumers, we should be able to trust them to identify only the most sustainable products,” says Gay Gordon-Byrne, Executive Director of Repair.org. “Instead, members of the IT industry have co-opted standards for their own benefit, warping them into a tool that drives sales at the expense of the environment. This is patently unacceptable, and it needs to change.”

Manufacturers including Apple, Blackberry, and Sony have consistently blocked meaningful criteria that would influence their product design, including strong incentives to encourage design for repair or recycling.

In the report, Repair.org looks at the repair/reuse criteria included in the UL 110 standard for cell phones, which was approved in early 2017 and “contains some repair criteria and optional requirements for battery removability without tools.” Apple and Samsung were able to claim the highest “gold” ratings for the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8 right off the bat when the standard went live in July, which the report called “troubling.” Repair.org explained that a “properly developed” standard should see newly claimed devices barely able to achieve a lower “bronze” rating, and have to work their way up the standard.

Under a section called “manufacturers oppose leadership standards,” the report delves more into Apple’s refusal to comply with the support of standardized tools that could be used to disassemble their products. Despite Apple’s voting against such a rule, it’s said that enough companies decided to vote in favor of this section of UL 110.

The only effective, repair-focused language in UL 110 is an optional criterion that awards manufacturers extra points for batteries that can be removed without the use of tools. It is the only repair-related criterion in the UL 110 standard that incentivizes a different design. Still, one manufacturer steadfastly opposed this proposal and refused to vote for its inclusion in the standard: Apple. Ultimately, this was one of the few instances in which manufacturers broke ranks. Enough device-makers voted to have the optional criterion included in the recently published version of the standard.

Still, the UL 110 standard’s various sections — including end-of-life, reuse, and recycle — are described as “watered down” and “neutered” to the point that device makers don’t have to alter the course of EOL practices that they’ve been following in previous years. The report then lists a few common arguments manufacturers have given for their actions, including public safety concerns if at-home repair was widely supported, easily accessible authorized repair centers, and more, all of which Repair.org refutes.

Apple has long been a proponent of environmental protection and action in its position as one of the biggest device makers on the planet. This past April, the company released its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report and announced its goal to set up a “closed-loop supply chain,” which would drastically reduce global electronics waste by building new Apple products using only recycled materials, including old Apple products.

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