Experimental AR projection system lets surgeons see ‘through’ a patient’s skin

Imagine if surgeons or other clinicians were able to more easily see their patients’ internal anatomy without having to cut into them. That’s the basis for an intriguing project, developed by researchers at the University of Alberta. Called ProjectDR, it’s an augmented reality system that allows medical images such as CT scans, ultrasound, X-rays, and MRI data to be displayed on an individual so that it moves along with them.

“The ability to project medical images directly onto a patient’s body helps those viewing these images to recover patient-specific anatomical information in context for more accurate interpretation and action,” Pierre Boulanger, professor in the Department of Computing Science, told Digital Trends. “Using this system, patients can be digitized before the procedure, and these images can then be used as guides to perform surgeries — including the real-time location of the tools used by the surgeon relative to the projected information. The real-time aspect of the system allows this alignment to adapt to patient motion and to display video images like the one used in endoscopic surgeries.”

University of Alberta

As Boulanger points out, the required computer hardware for the ProjectDR system is actually relatively simple. It includes a 3D-optical tracking system for global positioning, a range sensor — like a Microsoft Kinect — to digitize the curved surface of the patient’s skin, and a special laser scanning projector to display the images without losing focus.

The computer tracks, processes, and renders the augmented images using specialized real-time algorithms developed by the researchers. Clinicians in the room don’t require any individual hardware, like a smartphone or tablet, to view the images. It’s also compatible with the strict aseptic requirements of an operating room since it involves nothing more nefarious than projecting laser light onto a patient’s body.

“We are now in the process of doing pilot testing with surgeons — first into simulated operating conditions and then in real-world operating room conditions for simpler procedures,” he said. “In many ways, this technology is disruptive and requires rethinking how surgical procedures are performed. We are also testing the system for teaching anatomy and surgical procedures. As for commercialization, a few companies are interested in the concept, and licensing negotiations are currently on the way.”

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Samsung, LG, Huawei: Here’s what to expect at MWC 2018

Looking forward to upgrading your phone? You’ll want to keep an eye on Mobile World Congress (MWC), a massive industry trade show in Barcelona. Every year, many of the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturers show off their upcoming devices here, and this year’s conference is going to be bigger than the last because Samsung is back to debut the Galaxy S9.

MWC 2018 runs from February 26 to March 1, but many major press conferences kick off the show on Sunday, February 25. Here’s what to expect.

Samsung

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Samsung skipped Mobile World Congress in 2017 to show off the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus at its own event in March in New York City, but it’s heading back to Barcelona to debut the Galaxy S9.

The Galaxy S9 has already made its way through FCC certification, and based on leaked images, it doesn’t look too different from its predecessor. That means it still has a bezel-less design with curved edges, but the good news is Samsung may have improved the location of the fingerprint sensor.

Under the hood, the Galaxy S9 is expected to make use of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 845 processor (in the U.S.), but the highlight will be the camera. Samsung’s press conference invites for media say, “The Camera. Reimagined,” which means the company will likely be utilizing recently-announced camera improvements. Reports suggest the smaller Galaxy S9 may only have a single-lens camera, but the Galaxy S9 Plus may boast a dual-lens camera like the Galaxy Note 8. While we can expect a flashy announcement at MWC, devices will likely start shipping mid-March.

The press conference will take place on February 25 at 6 p.m. CET (Central European Time), or 12 p.m. ET.

Read more about the Samsung Galaxy S9

Huawei and Honor

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

There are conflicting rumors about what we’ll see from Huawei at MWC 2018, and it’s likely all tied to the Chinese company’s disappointing CES. Huawei was set to launch the excellent Mate 10 Pro on AT&T, making it first time the company has sold a phone on a U.S. carrier. AT&T pulled out of the deal at the last minute, however, and the latest rumors suggest Verizon has dropped plans to carry a Huawei smartphone.

Early rumors suggested we could see the Huawei P20 — a followup to the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus — at MWC, but the latest reports the launch may have been pushed to April. Regardless, Huawei will have a presence at the show, and we’ll have to wait to see if we get a new phone or not.

Honor, a subsidiary of Huawei, will likely have a presence in Barcelona as well, but the company may not have a new phone to show off. In December 2017, it unveiled the budget Honor 7X and the mid-range Honor View 10. If anything, we may see some official pricing and availability dates for the View 10 in the U.S.

Read more about the Huawei P20

LG

LG always launches its G-series flagship phone at MWC. In 2016, it was the LG G5, and last year it launched the LG G6. Sadly, the smartphone market hasn’t been to kind to the South Korean company. While there were many rumors suggesting the LG G7 will launch at MWC, more recent reports claim a later launch date. Rumors suggest the company is contemplating a name change for the G-series, and even a complete redesign of the product to help make it standout against the crowded competition. Like Huawei, it’s unclear if the company will announce a phone at MWC.

Read more about the LG G7

Motorola

Motorola’s 2018 smartphone lineup recently leaked online, including alleged renders and specs of successors to phones like the Moto Z2 Force, the Moto X4, and the Moto G5. The company usually launches its flagship Z-series devices in the summer, and the Moto X4 arrived in the fall of 2017. At MWC 2017, Motorola announced the latest in the G-series — so we’re expecting the company to show off the Moto G6 at MWC 2018. The Moto G6 is rumored to look a little more like the Moto X4, and this budget phone is said to have a dual-lens camera, an 18:9 aspect ratio, and a Full HD+ screen resolution.

Read more about the Moto G6

Sony

Sony will likely unveil a flagship phone at Mobile World Congress this year. The company usually has a whole lineup to show off, but so far we’ve only heard rumblings of the Xperia XZ Pro. The smartphone is rumored to have a 5.7-inch display with a 4K resolution, and it’s expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 845 with 6GB of RAM. It may have dual cameras on the rear — a first for Sony — with one 18-megapixel sensor and one 12-megapixel sensor. The battery will reportedly have a 3,420mAh capacity, and the phone may have an IP68 water-resistance rating.

Sony’s press conference starts at 8:30 a.m. CET on February 26 (2:30 a.m. ET).

Read more about the Sony Xperia XZ Pro

BlackBerry and Alcatel

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

BlackBerry had a spectacular 2017, thanks to the surprising success of the KeyOne — an Android smartphone with a physical keyboard. If you’re unaware, BlackBerry phones are now manufactured by TCL, which also makes phones under the Alcatel brand. At CES 2018, BlackBerry told Digital Trends it would launch two smartphones with physical keyboards this year, and it’s likely we’ll see at least one at Mobile World Congress. Expect further improvements with the keyboard, including new features.

Alcatel will debut three tiers of phones, with yet another new naming scheme. There’s the Alcatel 5 series, the Alcatel 3 series, and the Alcatel 1 series. All three are budget phones with an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Read more about Alcatel’s upcoming phones

HTC

Simon Hill/Digital Trends

HTC’s participation at Mobile World Congress has waned across the years, and while the company has confirmed to Digital Trends it will have a presence at the show, there’s not much evidence yet it will debut a smartphone. Rumors have already begun circulating about a followup to last years’ HTC U11 — the HTC U12, but recent reports claim HTC will launch the device at its own event in March or April.

Read more about the HTC U12

HMD Global/Nokia

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

HMD Global, the company reviving the Nokia smartphone brand, had a stellar 2017. It launched a slew of devices — mostly budget phones — as well as the Nokia 3310 feature phone at MWC 2017.  According to rumors, Nokia may launch as many as seven new devices at MWC 2018 — the Nokia 1, Nokia 4, Nokia 6, Nokia 7, Nokia 8, and Nokia 9.

There’s a good chance we may not see all of these phones at the show, and only a select few, but it’s a safe bet you can expect a few devices to be announced.

Read more about the Nokia 9

Google

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Google always has a presence at MWC, but and aside from its free shakes and Android pin challenge, most of its announcements revolve around partnerships — such as an Android One phone by General Mobile. Last year, however, the company announced it was bringing the Google Assistant to Android phones other than the original Pixel smartphone. Judging by Google’s all-out assault at CES to promote the Google Assistant, it’s likely we may see a similar push at MWC. We don’t expect any new hardware here, but the company may be gearing up to announce some Assistant-related news.

We’ll continue to update this story with the latest rumors ahead of the show, and we’ll add links to official live streams to major press conferences so you can join in on the fun.

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3D printing brought this stunning six-stringed custom violin to life

3D printing can be used for bringing all manner of innovative projects to life — and University of Texas student Sean Riley’s latest creation is just one more piece of compelling evidence. Riley, an accomplished musician and classically trained violist, recently used additive manufacturing to produce an unusual six stringed violin (regular violins have four strings). It turned out great!

The project, Riley told Digital Trends, started when he discovered a violin concerto, named “The Dharma at Big Sur,” written by his favorite composer, John Adams. Sadly for Riley, it was written for a 6-string electric violin: an instrument that exists, but is incredibly difficult to acquire. Even if you are able to find one, the typical asking price is somewhere in the vicinity of $5,000, making it unaffordable for most musicians. Fortunately, Riley hooked up with mechanical engineering student Daniel Goodwin and art major Rebecca Milton to find another solution to the problem: 3D printing.

The University of Texas at Austin Libraries

“It doesn’t look like a typical violin because I consider the standard violin to be a perfect instrument,” Riley said. “There are already 3D-printed violins out there — the 3Dvarius is a beautiful example of this — but the six string violin isn’t just slapping two more strings on the instrument. Since there aren’t any 3D designs [for] what I was looking to make, Danny had to begin from scratch. The three of us worked together on each detail to the millimeter. The biggest challenge was getting three very busy people in the same room at the same time.”

Ultimately, the project was completed to everyone’s satisfaction, and Riley has now been playing the instrument for around six months. “The next step is the most important to me: I want more music written for it,” he said. “Currently I know of only one piece, ‘The Dharma at Big Sur.’ I feel it is my responsibility to expand the repertoire for the six string electric violin. That is an impact on the music world that I feel I can make.”

Riley says that disaster very nearly struck the day before the instrument’s first performance, when he accidentally broke it. This is where 3D printing demonstrated another of its skills, however. “All we had to do was press a button and, $10 of filament later, I had my violin back,” he said. His first public recital with the instrument will take place on February 22.

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Microsoft adds new features to Office and OneDrive apps for iPad, iPhone

While the iPad is quickly becoming a computer replacement in many workplaces, it’s far from perfect. A lot of third-party apps have been slow to incorporate new features that bolster the iPad’s productivity features. Microsoft, however, is going against the grain by adding several new features to its Office and OneDrive apps for the iPad and iPhone that makes using the productivity powerhouse much easier.

Drag and drop

Perhaps the most useful new feature for both Office and OneDrive is the integration of drag and drop functionality. Apple introduced drag and drop to the iPad with the release of iOS 11 in 2017. With drag and drop, it’s easy to move images and files to different files on the iPad and iPhone.

With the latest update of Microsoft Office, it’s simple to move content to different apps. For example, if you’re working on a presentation, you can drag a graph from Excel directly to PowerPoint instead of having to import the data.

You can also drag and drop files in OneDrive. This is a much welcome addition that allows you to easily organize your documents in the OneDrive app. The update also allows you to quickly share files by dragging them to other applications like Mail or iMessage.

Co-authoring

Although co-authoring has been available on Office Online as well as the Mac and PC versions of Office for some time, it’s finally making its way to iOS apps. This feature allows you to share and collaborate on documents in real time. The co-authoring function also allows you to see who is in a document and track any changes so you won’t have to worry about losing past contributions.

OneDrive improvements

Microsoft gave OneDrive a major overhaul in its latest iOS update. The new OneDrive app is more user-friendly so it’s much easier to find documents. If you use list view, you can also see metadata so it’s simple to who you’ve shared a document with and when it was last updated.

Microsoft also gave the preview function in OneDrive a major boost. With the newest version of OneDrive, you can instantly preview more than 130 different types of files. You can now preview the majority of common file types without ever leaving the app. It also allows you to view files without having to download dozens of different apps that can quickly eat up storage space.

Other features

Improved accessibility features played a pretty big role in the latest iOS update. Users now have greater control over the way large text is displayed in Office apps. Office also features greatly improved voice-over features in the update, thanks to the VoiceOver rotor in iOS.

To use the new features, you need to update the Office and OneDrive apps in the App Store. If you don’t see updates available, check again in a few days as Microsoft plans to roll out this week.

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Apple may postpone some major new iOS features until 2019

Apple is always working hard on its next iteration of iOS, its mobile operating system, but recent reports suggest that some of the biggest features originally planned may be pushed to next year’s iOS 13, instead of being launched in this year’s iOS 12. Why? Apple reportedly wants to focus a little more on stability this time around.

The report comes from Axios, which notes that Apple is pushing back some pretty major updates — like a refresh of the home screen, updates to CarPlay, and refreshes to some of its core apps. Instead, the company wants to make sure that iOS 12 is as polished as possible.

The news makes sense. iOS 11 had its fair share of bugs, and it’s likely Apple wants to ensure the next iteration of the operating system does away with those. Apple is also playing with a new form-factor in the iPhone X, so it’s possible that some of the bugs that Apple wants to iron out have to do with that.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that Apple won’t add any new and exciting features to iOS 12, but it does mean that they might be a little less dramatic. The report notes that Apple may add new features in areas like augmented reality, parental controls, and health tracking.

Apple has done this in the past, too. As noted in a report from Engadget, Apple focused on under-the-hood improvements in iOS 9, and Apple generally alternates between big upgrades and small refinements each year on MacOS, Apple’s computer operating system. Other developers do the same. Google’s newest version of Android, Android 8.0 Oreo, was mostly an incremental upgrade.

We’ll likely see the first few features of iOS 12 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which will take place in June, though it won’t be until September or October that the software will first make it to the public in Apple’s new slate of iPhones. The company is rumored to be launching a total of three new phones featuring the new iPhone X form-factor, though at least one of those phones may be a so-called “budget” option without 3D Touch or an OLED display.

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With a selfie, Bitmoji Deluxe makes avatars look more like you

Snapchat wants to create Bitmojis that look a bit more like you — starting with a selfie. On Tuesday, January 30, Snap Inc. announced Bitmoji Deluxe, a new addition to the Bitmoji app that allows users to use a selfie as a reference point, as well as adding more feature options to give users more diverse options for customizing their character.

The update now allows users to start their Bitmoji creation with a selfie to easily reference throughout the creation process. Don’t remember the exact shape of your eyebrows? Just consult that selfie. The original selfie can be consulted in several steps of the creation process, Snap says.

As users generate the avatar, Bitmoji Deluxe brings more physical attributes, styling preferences and personalities than the classic options in the app. The expanded options cover a range of categories, including new facial features, skin tones, and accessories. Expanded hairstyles are one of the most common requests from users, Snap says, so the Deluxe brings new hairstyles and colors, along with options for customizing with highlights and ombre effects. Snapchat says the changes are designed to help bitmojis feel more personal.

In addition to expanding the feature options, the Bitmoji app will now preview each new selection on the current character. Along those same lines, a new navigation bar sits inside the app at the bottom, offering access to the different categories, another change designed to further enhance the user interface.

The enhanced options are available by updating the Bitmoji app on both iOS and Android. Users can find the new options by selecting “change avatar style” in the settings menu and choosing the Bitmoji Deluxe. Snap says the classic bitmoji isn’t going anywhere either — users can return to their classic character by switching back in the settings. Like earlier versions of the app, the finished bitmoji can be used as an avatar for Snapchat, iMessage, Google Gboard. and other chat applications.

Snap says that the company will continue to use Bitmoji Deluxe to create avatars that are more inclusive. The social media and camera company acquired the Bitmoji app midway through 2016, quickly integrating into the Snapchat platform. Bitmoji Deluxe joins a list of updates since that acquisition, including geo filter options that change during the day, integration into the Snap Map and 3D bitmoji World Lenses.

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SpaceX is blazing a trail to Mars, one milestone at a time

With a swelling mountain of smoke a chorus of machine gun pops, SpaceX successfully test fired its Falcon Heavy Rocket in late January 2018, setting the stage for a proper launch of what will be “the most powerful operational rocket in the world” in the company’s own words. It’s the latest achievement for a company that has rapidly seized the public imagination in the last decade or so, reinvigorating the dream of exploring space.

Celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with one not so simple mission: Establishing a human foothold on Mars. Given the dire state of NASA funding, Musk believed that people needed to see life reach Mars in order to get excited about the idea. After looking into the price of buying a rocket for his mission, Musk realized that the hurdle wasn’t willpower, but cost. As he explained to Wired, “The real reason we weren’t going to Mars wasn’t a lack of national will; it was that we didn’t have cheap enough rocket technology to get there on a reasonable budget. It was the perception among the American people — correct, given current technology — that it didn’t make financial sense to go.”

To that end, SpaceX has been focused on developing rockets that are just as functional, yet far cheaper. SpaceX has crossed a number of milestones since its founding, and while not all of them were impressive, the failures are as important as successes in any endeavor, especially when that endeavor is getting humanity to Mars. Here are some of the biggest milestones in SpaceX’s history.

Falcon 1 reaches space
September 2008

SpaceX

The Falcon 1 got off to an inauspicious start. The first flight attempt only lasted about a minute, and the next two also fell short (to be fair, it is rocket science). On the fourth try, the Falcon 1 successfully reached orbit, becoming “the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach Earth orbit,” according to SpaceX.

Dragon Returns
December 2010

SpaceX

SpaceX isn’t just about rockets. Its fearsomely named Dragon spacecraft is a capsule built to carry people and supplies to the International Space Station. In 2010, SpaceX launched Dragon into orbit onboard a Falcon 9 rocket (the Falcon 1’s bigger, more powerful sibling). While reaching space is impressive on its own, the Dragon made history when it returned to earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off the coast of Mexico in what must have been an impressive cannonball. It was the first time a private spacecraft returned from orbit.

Dragon reaches the International Space Station
May 2012

In yet another first, SpaceX built the first private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. More than a year after the Dragon’s successful landing in the Pacific, SpaceX sent it to the ISS. After a lengthy approach — the Dragon launched on May 22, then spent days maneuvering and sending data back to SpaceX — astronauts aboard the ISS used a robotic arm to pull the capsule to a docking port.

Falcon 9 sticks the landing
December 2015

After unsuccessful attempts, SpaceX finally managed to land its Falcon 9 rocket, on the ground no less. Landing successfully was crucial to SpaceX’s plans for cheap rockets; one of the biggest expenses with spacecraft in the past was that they weren’t really reusable, and that is a huge barrier to extraterrestrial ambitions. As Musk explained to Wired, “It’s the fundamental thing that’s necessary for humanity to become a space-faring civilization. America would never have been colonized if ships weren’t reusable.”

The vertical landing wasn’t just a first for SpaceX, but an important step in rocketry. “No one has ever brought a booster, an orbital-class booster, back intact,” according to Musk.

First droneship landing
April 2016

Once you’ve landed a rocket on land, where can you go from there? How about landing a rocket on a small platform floating in the ocean? That’s just what SpaceX managed in 2016, finally landing on a droneship after several crashes. Landing on a relatively small object out in the ocean is impressive — seems like the folks at SpaceX might be fearsome Cricket players —  and important for future missions, as it is more cost effective to try and land in the ocean than on land.

SpaceX reuses a rocket for the first time ever
March 2017

Landing a rocket intact is only one part of reusability; you also have to be able to get it back up into space, a feat SpaceX accomplished in 2017. Having successfully landed numerous rockets, SpaceX put its second successfully-landed rocket back on the launch pad. SpaceX launched the rocket and landed it on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dragon flies again
June 2017

Having proven that it could use Falcon 9 rockets multiple times, SpaceX set out to demonstrate the same reusability with the Dragon. On June 3, 2017, the company used a Falcon 9 rocket to launch a previously used Dragon spacecraft back into orbit. It was the company’s eleventh mission to bring supplies to the ISS, and the Dragon in question was previously used in the fourth such mission. After reaching orbit, Dragon separated from the rocket, continuing on its own toward the space station. The success of the mission means that the capsules — which can transport not just supplies but people, too — can be used repeatedly, paving the way for humans to make trips to and from other planets.

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4 Best Battery Cases for the Galaxy Note 8

Don’t be the sucker holding a $1000 phone with a dead battery!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is the latest ultra-functional smartphone that uses that glorious S Pen that allows you to do more with your phone throughout the day — as long as you don’t run out of battery life.

That’s where a battery case can come in real handy. If you’ve found your Note 8 battery can’t make it through a full day of use, you might want to consider a battery case that will offer you a bit of a boost whenever you need it without leaving you tethered to a wall. But before we dive into the options below, we should say from the outset that most battery cases will prevent your phone from using NFC due to their thickness and density — certainly something to keep in mind.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at our options!

• Mophie 2950mAh Juice Pack Battery Case
• ZeroLemon 10000mAh Ultra Power Battery Case
• ZeroLemon 5500mAh SlimPower battery Case
• RUNSY 6500mAh Battery Case

Mophie 2950mAh Juice Pack Battery Case

Mophie is one of the leading manufacturers of smartphone battery cases and they produce a premium product with a price to match. For the Note 8, they offer the Mophie Juice Pack, which offers up 2950mAh of extra battery life for your phone, perfect for giving you an extra boost of juice when you’re phone’s running low near the end of the day.

Available for $100, it’s far and away the most expensive option on this list, especially when you consider the battery capacity is the smallest. This is because Mophie tends to value keeping things slim over packing more battery into a beefier case. However, the Juice Pack does include some pretty clutch features including wireless charging compatibility, so you can still use it on all of your various wireless chargers around the house. Mophie states on its website that its products are covered by a 2-year warranty, and it also offers a variety of wireless charging docks to keep your phone and your case topped up throughout your day.

See at Amazon

ZeroLemon 10000mAh Ultra Power Battery Case

Alright, if you don’t mind carrying around a brick in your pocket and never want to see another low battery warning again, you’ll want to snag the ZeroLemon Ultra Power Battery Case. With a 10000mAh battery, this thing will keep your phone juiced up even through the busiest travel days.

ZeroLemon states that this case will add over 200% extra battery life to your phone, meaning you can go the whole day without having to plug in your phone. It’s also designed to be rugged against drops and features a rubberized material finish for a nice comfortable grip in hand.

However, if you bought your Note 8 partially because you loved its slim profile, you probably won’t like that this case makes your phone nearly an inch thick. Then again, a thin phone with no battery life is practically useless, right? Get this case for just $60 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

ZeroLemon 5500mAh SlimPower battery Case

Sold on getting a ZeroLemon case but wish they offered something a little more slim? You should get the ZeroLemon SlimPower case! It’s half the price of the bigger ZeroLemon case at just $30, but is still handy with enough juice to fully recharge your Note 8.

It’s also slightly slimmer than the other ZeroLemon case which is important if you’re planning to use this on a daily basis. ZeroLemon has done what they can to ensure they don’t add too much height to an already very tall phone, so looking at this phone head on it looks pretty nice. If you value design over pure battery power, this is the case to get.

See at Amazon

RUNSY 6500mAh Battery Case

Looking for a compromise between all the other options on this list? Check out this RUNSY battery case for the Note 8. It’s positioned between the two ZeroLemon cases with a 6500mAh battery, and yet features a slimmer design than even the slimmer ZeroLemon case.

It’s also a very well-reviewed case on Amazon which is nice to see from a manufacturer that we’re not too familiar with. Priced at $50, it’s not unreasonably expensive and a great all-around choice for any Note 8 owner.

See at Amazon

What do you think of these battery cases?

Are battery cases functional enough for you to forgive the added bulk? Let us know in the comments below!

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Vivo Xplay7 rumored to be the first phone with 10GB RAM

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

The above quote from Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ian Malcom is one of my favorite lines from the movie, and if there’s ever been a time where it applied to the smartphone space, it’s now. Pictures of a presentation from Vivo were recently uploaded to Chinese social network Weibo, and they suggest that the company’s latest phone – the Vivo Xplay7 – will feature an astounding 10GB of RAM.

We’ve seen phones like the OnePlus 5T get close to this by offering 8GB, and while those numbers sound exciting on paper, RAM amounts beyond 6GB or even 4GB don’t provide much of a real-world improvement when it comes to performance in the Android space right now.

However, that 10GB of RAM isn’t the only thing the Vivo Xplay 7 will have to offer. The phone is also rumored to ship with the Snapdragon 845 processor, 18:9 display with practically no bezels, dual front and rear cameras, and between 256GB and 512GB of internal storage.

In addition to this, the Xplay7 is also expected to use the same in-display fingerprint sensor found on the Vivo X20 Plus along with something called “Face ID 2.0.”

There’s currently no word on pricing or availability, but even with the overkill 10GB RAM aside, the Xplay7 is shaping up to be a mighty impressive phone.

Vivo’s in-display fingerprint sensor shows the future of smartphone biometrics

Google Assistant may soon get customizable hot words

You could name your Google Assistant Bob, Mary, or anything else you’d like.

Before the Google Assistant came about, one of the best voice assistants on Android came from Motorola with Moto Voice. Moto Voice was able to search the web and perform basic actions, and starting with the 2nd-generation Moto X in 2014, Motorola allowed you to use whatever hot word you’d like to get Moto Voice’s attention. Now, it looks like Google Assistant may finally get something similar.

Our friends at 9to5Google recently conducted a breakdown of the Google app (version 7.20), and while doing so, discovered a string of code suggesting that users will soon be able to replace the “Ok, Google” and “Hey, Google”prompts with whatever you choose.

“%1$s is used to reference the customizable hot word, and it’s found in lines of code such as “You’ll be able to access your Assistant directly by saying “%1$s”” and Teach your Assistant to recognize “%1$s”.

It’s unclear when Google will roll this functionality out, but I certainly hope it’s sooner rather than later. I don’t have a problem with the current “Hey, Google” command, but being able to change this to something more personal would be a really welcome touch.

If/when Google enables this feature, what will you name your Google Assistant?

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