Pixel, Nexus, and Android One devices are getting native video calling

Why it matters to you

Google’s new Duo-powered video calling feature makes it easier to start chats from select devices.

Video chats with family, friends, and significant others are about to get a whole lot easier — at least for Pixel owners. On Wednesday, October 11, Google announced the rollout of integrated video calling for the Pixel, Pixel 2, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 XL, Nexus smartphones, and Android One devices.

Here’s how it works: Starting today on supported devices, you can start a video call through the Phone, Contacts, and Android Messages app. It piggybacks on Duo, Google’s video calling app for iOS and Android, but there’s work behind the scenes that removes some of the hassle. If you ring someone on a carrier that supports ViLTE (Video over LTE) calling, for instance, you’ll be automatically routed through the carrier’s dedicated ViLTE pipeline.

It’s not a perfect system. Google said it will add the ability to switch between audio-only and video calls, but not for “months.” And if you and your calling party aren’t on a network with with ViLTE, you’ll both be directed to install Duo from the Play Store.

Still, it’s a significant step for Google, which has long demurred from adding FaceTime-like functionality to Android. It planted the seeds in March of this year, when it teamed up with with spam-blocking app Truecaller to handle voice and audio messages.

“Video calling brings you face to face with your family and friends, whether you’re in the same city or thousands of miles away,” Jan Jedrzejowicz, product manager for Google’s phone app, wrote in a blog post. “We want to make it even easier to start a video call from your Android device, so we’re making video calling an integrated part of your phone,” Jedrzejowicz said.

Enhanced video calling comes on the heels of an improved Duo experience. At an April press event in Brazil, Google launched a fallback feature that helps maintain connections on unstable networks. When download speeds dip or the network becomes unreliable, video call quality degrades gracefully before switching to audio only.

“We’ve built Duo to be fast and reliable, so that video calls connect quickly and work well even on slower networks,” Google software engineer Justin Uberti wrote in a message. “Call quality adjusts to changing network conditions to keep you connected [so] when bandwidth is limited, Duo will gracefully reduce the resolution to keep the call going smoothly.”

Razer has something big to announce November 1 — and it’s probably a phone

Razer has something in store for gamers on November 1, and a teaser indicates it’ll be a mobile device of some sort.

Razer, the well-known gaming company, took to its social media channels to tease the upcoming announcement of its “biggest unveiling.”

Accompanying the date is the image of a shadowy figure enjoying what is pretty obviously a mobile device of some sort, and is almost certainly a smartphone.

WATCH for our biggest unveiling… 👁️https://t.co/gwrwrxbhf9 pic.twitter.com/OyBFVocHOF

— RΛZΞR (@Razer) October 11, 2017

Razer hasn’t exactly been shy about what it has been working on in the mobile space. Earlier in 2017, Razer acquired Nextbit, the makers of a pretty unique Android phone called the Robin. Alongside an IPO filing in July, Razer revealed that it was indeed working on a smartphone for release by the end of 2017.

Razer typically focuses its efforts on creating high-end gaming accessories, but it has expanded its reach to gaming laptops and even lighting kits in recent years. As for what Razer will bring to the table for a smartphone, it’s safe to say that it will likely focus on gaming in some way. But exactly what form that will take remains to be seen. For now, you can head to Razer’s event page to sign up for alerts on whatever it’s set to announce on November 1.

Anker Soundcore Boost Review: Big sound, sleek design, one flaw

The Anker Soundcore Boost boasts bigger sound and cool features… but ultimately at the expense of epic battery life.

Anker’s been known for its battery packs, but it may soon be equally respected for its Soundcore line of Bluetooth speakers. The Soundcore Boost was released for 2017 and features improved sound quality and deeper bass, along with a redesigned exterior that is both flashy and adds extra functionality.

At $80, it’s twice as expensive as the reliable and rugged Soundcore 2, so what does that extra money get you? Much better sound quality and a great portable speaker for around the house.

Overall design

The Soundcore Boost continues the Anker tradition of monolithic Bluetooth speaker design — minimalist, sleek, and available exclusively in black. The Boost stands out from the other Soundcore speakers with a more refined look that’s clearly aiming to find a home in your living room rather than your camping gear.

The NFC sensor on the top is a smart addition that makes pairing phones painless and perfect for parties.

It’s hard to ignore the curvaceous design of the wraparound speaker grille on this speaker — classic and clean with next to no speaker bezel if you will. On top, you have your usual assortment of controls with the addition of the “BassUp” button which kicks up the bass without distorting the music. The charging port and aux input are behind a rubber panel on the left along with a USB port for charging devices.

The other really convenient features built into the Boost is NFC compatibility. The NFC-sensor on the top is a smart addition that makes pairing phones painless and perfect for parties.

The Anker Soundcore 2 earned praise in my review for its rugged portability after testing it through a rainy camping trip. The Soundcore Boost works equally well as a portable speaker and features the same level of IPX5 water resistance, but the fancier wraparound speaker grille design makes it feel more suited for a bookshelf than a book bag.

Sound quality

The Soundcore Boost delivers some of the best I’ve heard from a portable Bluetooth speaker, but especially when well-placed within a room. I’ve found putting it at head height on a bookshelf or something similar delivers the best acoustics.

BassUp is the Boost’s key feature, delivering deeper bass at the push of a button.

Of course, the main audio feature here is BassUp, which lets you boost the bass with the push of a button. It allows you to go louder with a deeper low-end that doesn’t distort or buzz. It’s a nice feature that’s easy to use and quite noticeably improves the low end of music or spoken word without distorting the rest of the mix.

Part of the reason why I believe the Soundcore Boost is best as a stay-at-home speaker is that it does such a great job of filling a room with sound — at a reasonable volume but especially with BassUp activated. If I’m cleaning up the house and moving around between rooms, I’ll place the Soundcore Boost in a central area of my house with BassUp on and it’ll send my podcasts or playlists throughout the house reasonably. It’s as loud as an Amazon Echo speaker but a little clear at the highest volume levels.

For me, the Soundcore Boost is a great companion speaker for keeping around the house. On a near daily basis, I’m using it paired to my laptop to watch videos or listen to a podcast in the shower, and it’s always available for providing music at a party or around the bonfire.

Battery life

With the extra subwoofer and fancy features included in the Boost, you had to know there’d be a hit to the battery life. Whereas the Soundcore 2 boasted an incredible 24-hours of playtime, the Soundcore Boost claims a respectable but underwhelming 10 hours — and that number will also depend on your usage of BassUp or the USB port to charge your phone.

The lesser battery life is another reason why the Soundcore Boost makes more sense as a stay-at-home Bluetooth speaker. While I’ve reliably taken a Soundcore 2 speakers with me for a weekend camping trip without needing to recharge, I’m less confident taking the Boost. It’s ironic, too, since it’s the Boost offers the great feature to also let you charge your phone.

It’s not a dealbreaker in and of itself, but coupled with the higher price point, it’s a fair conclusion to sacrifice the audio upgrades and cool design for a speaker with a battery that just keeps chugging.

Should you buy it?

The Soundcore 2 was an easy recommendation to make for a $40 Bluetooth speaker, so the question you’re left asking is whether the Soundcore Boost’s enhanced sound quality and sleek new design are worth paying twice the price of its speaker siblings.

It will also ultimately come down to your specific needs for a Bluetooth speaker. If you’re looking for a fun speaker to throw in your backpack and take with you everywhere, I would definitely lean towards recommending the Soundcore 2, but if you’re looking for a more advanced portable speaker that’s built perfectly for a dorm room or office or just something with a little more oomph to the bass the Soundcore Boost might be worth the extra investment.

Had Anker managed to deliver a 24-hour battery along with all the other features found in the Soundcore Boost, it would be an easy recommendation to make. But at $80, with great options available for significantly less it becomes a matter of your lifestyle and personal tastes.

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Cyanogen founder Steve Kondik working on Oculus Go at Facebook

The man behind CyanogenMod is now working on making standalone VR a big deal.

At Oculus Connect in San Jose, California, Facebook’s VR team made a number of big announcements that included a permanent price drop for the Oculus Rift to $399, and new features for the burgeoning Oculus platform.

One of the more interesting hardware announcements was the Oculus Go, a standalone $199 headset that sits in between the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR and the requires-tethering Rift. Expected to launch sometime in 2018, here’s what we know about it so far. From VRHeads:

This headset requires no phone and no cables running to the PC. It will be able to play movies, run games, and help you meet up with friends in VR. It is built to be lightweight, is has a new mesh foam interface, and it supposedly has the best visual clarity so far seen in VR, thanks to new lenses and a WQHD LCD fast-switch display with a higher fill-factor than OLED.

Also interesting is that Cyanogen founder, Steve Kondik, revealed on his Facebook page that he’s been working on bringing the Oculus Go to market. After Cyanogen Inc., the company he ran with controversial CEO Kirt McMaster, shut down in late 2016, Kondik took some time off before beginning work at Oculus in March 2017. He briefly had a stint at Samsung between 2011 and 2013 before returning to Cyanogen.

Cyanogen has since transitioned to Lineage, which releases custom ROMs for many popular Android devices, including those that have been left behind by their manufacturers.

Everything you need to know about the Oculus Go from Oculus Connect 2017!

Tickets are now on sale for The Void’s ‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’

Pick up tickets, and journey into the world of Star Wars with a new hyper-reality experience!

Star Wars fans finally have the ability to really jump in and experience the universe they’ve known and loved for so many years at Walt Disney World. The VOID, ILMxLAB, and LucasFilm have joined up to create a hyper-reality experience that allows fans to really jump into the action.

You’ll be sent undercover, in groups of four, disguised as Storm Troopers to collect vital intelligence that the Rebellion needs in order to survive. This untethered experience will put you in a chest rig, and headset, but you’ll be able to wander untethered to complete your mission.

You can purchase tickets on THE VOID website and you’ll have access to two options:

• Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which opens on December 16, 2017.
• Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, which opens on January 5, 2018.

Like Void’s Ghostbuster experience, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire combines physical sets with real-time interactive events to deliver an experience that is not to be missed.

See at THE VOID

Google is adding Duo video calling to the dialer and SMS app of Pixel, Android One phones

A step in the right direction for seamless video calling.

Remember Google Duo? That’s the company’s person-to-person mobile video calling solution, announced alongside Allo back at Google I/O 2016. Neither app has gained much traction in the open market, but Google’s working on that with the announcement that Duo video calling will be built into the phone dialer, contacts app and Android Messages SMS app on Pixel, Nexus and Android One phones. Now right alongside options to message or call people, you’ll see an option for a video call that’ll be handled by Duo.

That is, of course, contingent on you and the person you’re calling having the Duo app installed and configured. Many of the phones this will be enabled on will already have Duo pre-installed, but it’s hardly a guarantee that people will have set up the app ahead of time — still a big mountain for Google to overcome.

This is a great way to do it — that unfortunately still requires people sign up for Duo.

Interestingly, this announcement isn’t purely about Duo — Google has also included so-called ViLTE (or, video over LTE) support. So if you’re calling on mobile data between two phones on carriers that support the ViLTE standard, the video will be carried over that rather than Duo. An odd addition, but one that will at least open up more video call possibilities that go through and improve the public’s perception that they actually work. T-Mobile says it sends its native video calls over ViLTE already, as does SK Telecom in South Korea. ViLTE is definitely still in its early stages of expansion to operators worldwide.

Once Google can convince a significant number of people to get Duo installed and set up, this system of starting up video calls right where you already do your regular communications makes the most sense. Having to open up a separate app or do something different for a video call compared to an SMS or standard phone call doesn’t make sense, particularly as video calling stands as a relatively niche feature.

And yes, this is a great place to point out that Google’s messaging, calling and video calling strategy is still a relative minefield of different apps, services and distracting idiosyncrasies across platforms.

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Qualcomm appealing Taiwan’s decision in $773 million fine

The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission recently ruled in favor of the $773 million USD fine against Qualcomm, but the company plans on appealing the court’s final word.

Qualcomm might not be a household name for everyone, but chances are your phone is powered by one of the company’s processors. Qualcomm was hit with a healthy fine of $23.4 billion Taiwan dollars (around $773 million in USD) for reportedly violating Taiwan’s competition law, and the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) recently issued a press release saying that it agrees with this fine.

Following this announcement, Qualcomm responded by saying that it disagrees and will be appealing to the decision made by Taiwanese courts once they have time to review what the TFTC has to say.

It’ll take weeks before the court issues a final word on the matter, and according to Qualcomm, the fine that it’s charged with has “no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomm’s revenues or activities in Taiwan.”

Qualcomm has been hit with a streak of bad luck and press lately, and although the company will appeal the court’s decision, the TFTC deciding against Qualcomm certainly doesn’t make matters any better.

Where did all of this Qualcomm hate come from?

All the big announcements from Oculus Connect 4

Here’s everything major that was announced at Oculus Connect 4 in San Jose.

Oculus is moving forward with its VR platform, showing off new hardware, software, developer tools, and more at Oculus Connect 4. If you missed the keynote speech, we’ve put together a list of all the big announcements that are making waves in the VR world.

Read more over at VRHeads!

Your Amazon Alexa device can finally tell different voices apart

Although Google beat Amazon to the punch by quite a few months, you won’t find us complaining at all about this latest addition.

If you’re in the market for a smart speaker, your two biggest choices lie with Amazon’s Echo line and Google’s Home devices. The original Echo was first made available in late 2014 for select Amazon Prime subscribers, and that means the Alexa AI has been learning new tricks and features for nearly three years. Despite this, Alexa is just now learning how to tell different voices apart from one another.

With this new feature, any Alexa-powered device will now be able to provide specific information to users based on who’s talking to it. For example, if you ask for your Flash Briefing, you’ll now hear different news stories from what your partner has set up with their Amazon account.

In addition to Flash Briefing, Alexa’s ability to distinguish different voices will also creep into shopping, Amazon Music (family plan only), and Alexa to Alexa calling. Amazon says that it plans on expanding this functionality to additional services as time goes on, and along with this, Alexa should get better at telling people apart as you use the feature more.

If this sounds familiar, that’s because the Google Assistant picked up this functionality on Google Home way back in April – a commendable feat considering the sizable lead that Amazon had over Google when it comes to this market.

Alexa will be able to start telling different voices apart starting today, and instructions on how to set this up can be found here. Amazon certainly is playing catch up with Google in this case, but we’re still excited to see the AI finally pick up this very helpful trick.

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Oculus redesigns the Rift interface for Touch and customization

From the stage at Oculus Connect 4, Oculus’ Nate Mitchell just announced Rift Core 2.0. It’s designed around Touch, offering a motion-control-focused interface that apes a lot of what hackers have been doing with BigScreen. The big addition is Dash, which as its name implies, is a dashboard accessible from within any VR app or experience. It lets you use your desktop apps within VR, too. “It’s a total game changer,” Mitchell said. You can permanently pin something to the dashboard, too. “Every application can have its own virtual display,” Mitchell said.

This sounds incredibly ambitious, and like it’s going to take a lot of power to run. Mitchell said that it was made possible thanks to NVIDIA and AMD. As an example of what Dash is capable of, Mitchell said they debugged Dash from within Dash in VR. Yo dawg.

The company also overhauled Home, and you’ll be able to fully customize it to make it feel like, well, home. Couches, works of art, you name it, you can decorate your virtual domicile with it. You can even mount your achievements on the wall, and you’ll launch games by dropping old-school cartridges into a Sega Genesis look-alike. Oh, and you’ll be able to visit your friends’ apartments too. The beta starts this December and will be free to access for everyone with a Rift.

Source: Oculus