Qualcomm smartwatch chip may include eye tracking support for AR glasses

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Qualcomm is working on a new processor platform for wearable devices, replacing the aging Snapdragon 2100 chip that powers the majority of smartwatches today. Like a new chip for smartphones, any new wearable processor will likely provide benefits based around features and power, but a new chip for wearables will also bring other key updates that could revitalize the struggling world of Wear OS watches.

The new chip, which will reportedly be known as the Qualcomm 3100, will apparently arrive in the fall and be joined by a new smartwatch to show it off. Qualcomm’s senior director of wearables, Pankaj Kedia, said this first watch will be followed by others from Qualcomm’s existing partners before the end of the year, in an interview with Wareable.

What benefits will the chip bring? Qualcomm hasn’t gone into specifics, and is keeping expectations in check. Crucially, the new processor platform will let watchmakers build smaller watches. While the Snapdragon 2100 — the second generation of Qualcomm’s wearable efforts — helped companies shrink the size of smartwatch cases, they still can’t be described as slim. Qualcomm’s not saying how much size reduction the new platform will allow, but on a watch, just a few millimeters can make a difference.

It’s also promising “significant” changes to the battery life. A Wear OS watch now struggles to make it past a working day, but Qualcomm says this will improve with the new generation chip. How much? We don’t know yet, but changes to the way the Ambient Display — where the watch face stays visible on the screen all the time — works will be part of the improved efficiency. This will also enable Qualcomm to integrate more energy-intensive fitness features, such as GPS and heart-rate monitors, without sacrificing battery life.

According to XDA Developers, the Snapdragon 3100 could reportedly be used for all wearable devices — including Google’s next generation of augmented reality glasses. The chipset will apparently be able to monitor the position of your pupil and cornea reflections with a camera, capturing 12 frames per second. Using the smart glasses, you might be able to navigate through menus with only your eyes rather than having to physically swipe through. Since it uses only 36 million instructions per second of computing power, the monitoring capability shouldn’t deplete the battery.

No-compromise watch

To do this effectively, more than one platform will be developed, so fitness watches can add features required by wearers, and fashion brands don’t need to bother. All the new chips will have the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and 4G LTE connections may become more commonplace. Adding phone features has been possible for a while, but very few watches have integrated it.

Qualcomm talks about the new chip helping to produce a “no compromise” smartwatch demanded by both watch buyers and big-name watch brands. This means a watch that looks good all the time, is slim and sleek, and has good battery life. It’s what we’ve wanted from smartwatches since the beginning, and the failure of touchscreen watches to deliver it has ensured a rise in popularity for the hybrid smartwatch.

What about the mystery smartwatch that will showcase the new Qualcomm chip? Mention a fall release date, and we instantly think of Google’s end-of-year event, where new Pixel phones are often revealed. Could this be when the fabled Pixel watch finally makes its debut? It’s possible, but rumors are gathering around an unusual LG watch, and we shouldn’t ignore Fossil’s massive commitment to producing touchscreen watches either.

It seems that by the end of the year, touchscreen smartwatches may finally get the update we’ve been waiting for.

Update: Qualcomm 3100 may have support for eye tracking

Editors’ Recommendations

• Everything we know about the upcoming Google Pixel Watch
• Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Samsung Gear S4 smartwatch
• Everything you need to know about Google’s Wear OS for smartwatches
• Mobvoi Ticwatch E review
• Kate Spade Scallop Touchscreen review

Microsoft Build and Google I/O are over. Who came out on top?

Last week, Microsoft and Google gave us competing views of the future of computing.

“The world is becoming a computer,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at Build, honing its demos on artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Like Microsoft, Google demoed how voice can be given to AI systems, but Google’s I/O demos were more consumer-driven, which probably explains the results of the poll we took below. Android P, self-driving cars, and a smarter Assistant turned out to be more relatable than business drones and digital conference rooms for most people.

.@Microsoft Build and @Google I/O are over. Which company came out on top? #io18 #MSBuild

(Please RT for a greater sample size.)

— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) May 14, 2018

One of the most memorable moments from either conference was Google’s Duplex demo, which simultaneously excited and terrified the entire internet. Duplex leverages Google’s advanced work with natural speech, and the technology was shown incorporated into Assistant to give it a variety of voices and the ability to make phone calls on your behalf. At the onset, Assistant can only handle simple calls, like scheduling appointments, and the results were nothing short of impressive. Assistant sounded human, and its voice and speech was very natural, and it definitely overshadowed Microsoft’s demo of how Cortana and Alexa will be integrated.

Perhaps the biggest testament to how natural Assistant sounded when it made calls on your behalf is the backlash Google received. Consumers are questioning the ethics of having a computer “fool” receptionists into thinking that they are talking to a human, leading Google to amend its policy to disclose Assistant-made calls in the future.

Microsoft’s most tangible demo was its conference room technology, where Cortana was able to identify all attendees in a conference room and offer more precise closed captioning by offering real-time meeting transcripts denoting what was said and by whom. Microsoft claims that this will improve accessibility, and its demo showed how a deaf employee was able to collaborate with her colleagues thanks to Cortana’s help. On the other hand, Google took a medical approach to accessibility, by using AI for faster disease diagnosis, leading to better patient outcomes. This makes specialty care more accessible, Google said.

Google may notch an early win today with Google Assistant’s Duplex technology proving that we can give voice to AI, but Microsoft’s early bet on the intelligent edge and the intelligent cloud may better prepare it to affect bigger changes in the future. Microsoft is reconstructing the foundation for its future, and Google is still building its house.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Google Duplex sounds human when it, um, calls to book appointments
• Microsoft wants Cortana and Alexa to be friends. Is that cool or just awkward?
• Before Google’s lifelike Duplex A.I., these chatbots paved the way
• How to change Google Assistant’s voice on your Android or Apple phone
• Here’s everything we saw at the action-packed Google I/O 2018 keynote

This 10-course bundle may be your ticket to a six-figure career in Project Management

You’ve been thinking about getting a new certification to move you ahead at work; in fact, it’s been on your to-do list for a long time. Being a Project Manager is the ultimate goal, and you know you’d be perfect for the job with the right certification. With tuition costs that seem to climb with every passing year and limited free time on your hands, how are you supposed to attend classes and afford any kind of certification? Project Management Professionals are sought after in nearly every field, and even if you’re convinced that you can’t afford the time or money to get your certificate, can you afford not to? Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Becoming a certified Project Management Professional, or PMP, is absolutely within your reach. Online certification is just as recognized as classroom learning today, and it’s far more convenient, too. The professionals at iCollege want you to start your journey to becoming a PMP as soon as possible!

Take this 10-course bundle which features over 100 hours of content. If you’ve seen other Project Management courses advertised before but couldn’t decide which one to get, this is the one because it includes courses on:

• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Associate In Project Management (PMI-CAPM)
• Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
• CompTIA Project+ PK0-003
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Sig Sigma Black Belt
• PRINCE2 Foundation
• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Operation

If you were to buy these courses individually it would cost you close to $3000, but for a limited time you can get this entire bundle for just $49. Yep, you read that right. You’ll save 98% off the regular price on these courses that may help you jumpstart a new career!

See at Android Central Digital Offers

Android P: Everything you need to know

From new gestures to extending battery life, here’s everything you need to know about Android P!

Following last year’s Oreo release, 2018 is the year of Android P. We’re still some time away before Google rolls out the new software to all users, but even in its current form, P is showing a lot of promise.

Things are bound to change leading up to Android P’s official launch, but for the time being, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s big update.

It completely changes Android’s navigation system

Back in 2011 with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google introduced Android’s iconic three button navigation system we’ve come to know and love – Back, Home, and Recents. Seven years later with Android P, these are being eliminated in favor of a gesture-based system.

Android P is the first time Google’s heavily relying on gestures for navigating the UI, and in their current form, they work as follows:

• Tap the Home button/pill to go home
• Swipe up to access the recent apps page
• Swipe up twice or do a long swipe for the app drawer
• The Back button only appears in certain apps/menus when it’s needed

This combination of taps and swipes is a bit confusing right now, but we’re expecting Google to roll-out a more refined version of this in later Developer Previews or in the final build. You can still use the traditional three buttons in Developer Preview 2 if the gestures aren’t your thing, but it’s rather obvious that this is the future Google wants for Android.

Android P’s gestures are a jagged pill you should learn to swallow

The user interface is more rounded and colorful

Android P isn’t as drastic of a visual change like we saw with the jump from KitKat to Lolipop, but compared to Oreo, there are some elements that are noticeably different.

At first glance, things like the colorful icons in Settings, circular Quick Settings icons, and rounded corners for just about every menu jump out like a sore thumb. These elements do take some getting used to, but I ultimately came around to liking them quite a bit.

Something else you’ll notice with Android P is just how alive it feels. Between the new gestures and updated animations, Android moves in a way that I’ve never seen before. Oreo was smooth and buttery, but Android P flies underneath your fingertips in a way that can only be experienced in-person.

There are tools for helping you use your phone less

Google talked a lot about helping people with their “digital wellbeing” at this year’s I/O conference, and a lot of those efforts are baked right into Android P.

Although not live in Developer Preview 2, later versions of Android P will introduce a new system called Android Dashboard. Android Dashboard will offer a quick glimpse into how you’re using your phone, including stats on which apps you’re using the most, how many times you’ve turned on the screen, how many notifications you’ve received, and how much time you’ve spent on each app.

You’ll also find a feature called App Timers that’ll restrict you from using a certain app after you’ve spent x amount of time on it, as well as tools for easily turning on Do Not Disturb and switching your screen to a monochrome color palette to help you wind down for bed.

Google’s ‘digital wellbeing’ initiative feels incomplete and insincere

Google’s trying to squeeze as much juice as possible out of your battery

It seems like Google’s always trying to find ways to maximize your phone’s battery life as much as possible, and with Android P, those efforts are present in a new Adaptive Battery mode.

Similar to how Adaptive Brightness automatically adjusts your display’s brightness level based on your environment and usage, Adaptive Battery will examine how you use your phone and limit CPU usage to apps you infrequently use.

Google notes that Adaptive Battery can lower CPU usage by as much as 30%, and thanks to the use of Machine Learning, it’ll only get better the more you use your phone.

App shortcuts are everywhere

With Android Nougat, Google introduced us to App Shortcuts for the first time. Holding down on an app icon to quickly access certain elements of it can be genuinely useful at times, and with Android P, Google’s taking these to the next level with App Actions and Slices.

App Actions will try to determine what you’ll do next with your phone and give you recommend shortcuts for doing so within the app drawer, Assistant, and more. For example, if you watch Good Mythical Morning each day with breakfast, you might see an App Shortcut in your app drawer for searching Rhett and Link on YouTube during the morning.

On the other hand, Slices will allow you to perform more complex actions from the Assistant or Google Search. In the example Google gave at I/O, searching “I want to book a ride” will give you a special link to call a ride home via Lyft (assuming you’ve got the app installed).

All the little things

In addition to the big changes found in Android P, there are a ton of smaller elements also scattered throughout the update. Some of my favorites include:

• Built-in screenshot editor
• Zoom pop-up when highlighting text
• Changing the volume now defaults to your media volume
• Volume controls appear on the right of your screen instead of the top
• Do Not Disturb is more customizable and easier to understand

You can sign up for the beta now

Similar to last year’s Oreo beta, anyone with a Pixel phone can opt-in to the Android P beta right now to get an OTA update to download and play with the new software.

However, Google’s Pixel phones aren’t the only ones that get to have fun with this early access. Google’s opening up its Android Beta Program to third-party OEMs for the first time ever thanks to Project Treble, including Nokia, OnePlus, Sony, Essential, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo.

How to get Android P on your Pixel right now (or roll back to Oreo)

The official build should be released in August

If you’d rather not mess with the beta and just wait for the final version to drop, we’re not too terribly far out from it.

Google notes that the final release for Android P will be published in Q3, and based on the above timeline and Oreo’s release schedule, we should see Android P get a proper launch at some point in August.

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

How to adjust your Oculus Go privacy settings

The Facebook-owned headset has some unique ideas about what you want enabled by default.

One of the coolest things about the Oculus Go headset is its focus on social VR. The ability to jump into a virtual room with someone to share a video or play a game together is impressive, and something developers are continuing to embrace with new games headed to the platform. These social features are largely managed through the Oculus Home system, which includes its own friends list system to see what your friends are up to.

The default settings for this system, which starts off by connecting to your Facebook account if you let it, make it easy for anyone to discover your account by searching for your real name among other things. If that’s the kind of thing you’d like a little control over, the privacy settings in the Oculus Go app are here to help. Here’s how to get started!

How to keep Oculus Go from syncing with your Facebook account

Oculus and Facebook are connected as deep as you can get with this headset. When you take screenshots, you can only share them directly to Facebook unless you know how to extract them from your headset. If you’ve never had an Oculus account before, the set up app lets you create an account entirely through Facebook. If you’re not big on the things happening with that company right now, you might take issue with this. Even if you’re OK with linking your Facebook account for sharing, you may not want Oculus Go syncing all of your contacts to search for other Oculus Go owners.

Fixing this is easy, but requires the Oculus App on your phone to get it done.

Tap on the Settings gear on the bottom of the Oculus App
Tap Linked Accounts near the top of the Settings menu
Tap the slider on Sync Facebook Friends in this menu

Once the slider is set in the Off position, Oculus Go will stop looking at your Facebook contacts for friends.

How to keep your real name from the Oculus Go search results

You create a username in Oculus Go for people to search for, but by default Oculus Go also makes it possible to see and even search for your account with your real name without being your friend. If you’re not a fan of that idea, you can adjust these settings fairly easily.

Change who can see your real name

Tap on the Settings gear on the bottom of the Oculus App
Swipe down to Privacy Settings and tap on the text
Under the Real Name setting, tap the group of people you want to be able to see your real name

The cool thing about this setting is you can choose between everyone seeing your real name and no one being able to see your real name, with some options in between for people on your friends list or specific people on your friends list. Choose wisely, but remember you can change it later if you need!

Disable Real Name Search

Tap on the Settings gear on the bottom of the Oculus App
Swipe down to Privacy Settings and tap on the text
Under the Real Name setting, tap the slider labeled Real Name Search

This will make it so the Oculus Go friends search function will only return search results for the username you created when setting up your account.

Change who can see when you are using your Oculus Go

Tap on the Settings gear on the bottom of the Oculus App
Swipe down to Privacy Settings and tap on the text
Swipe to the middle of this section to find ‘Who can see your activity on Oculus?’
Tap on the group you want to share this information with

You will see a check mark next to the option you have selected, making it so whoever you want to share this information with will be able to see when you are online and what app you are using.

If you select ‘Only You’ from this list, no information on the apps you are using will be available on your friends list.

Change who can see your friends list on Oculus

Tap on the Settings gear on the bottom of the Oculus App
Swipe down to Privacy Settings and tap on the text
Swipe to the bottom of this section to find ‘Who can see your friend list?’
Tap on the group you want to share this information with

Depending on how you have this setting adjusted, you can make it possible for everyone to see who you frequently interact with or lock this information down so no one can see who your friends are. It’s entirely up to you, but by default your Oculus Go is set to share this information with everyone.

Oculus Go

• A parent’s guide to Oculus Go
• Oculus Go vs. Lenovo Mirage Solo
• Best Gamepad for Oculus Go
• Best Battery Backup for Oculus Go

Oculus Go 32GB
Oculus Go 64GB

Next generation of DirecTV Now is finally here!

The update brings 20 hours of DVR and a new UI, for starters.

At long last, the much-awaited next generation of DirecTV Now lands this week. It’ll hit Apple TV and iOS today, along with in your web browser. (DirecTV also says it’ll hit “select Chromecast devices” today, but that’s not really how Chromecast works. So we’ll have to see what that means.)

Support for the update will come to Android, Fire TV and Roku over the next few weeks.

What’s the big deal? The biggest feature you have to look forward to is a cloud-based DVR, which had been sorely missing. It’s still sort of in beta mode, DirecTV Now says, so some functions may be limited, and it’s not available on all channels. Recordings will expire after 30 days, and you get 20 hours of storage for free.

Also, the app itself will be updated with a new look, “ls and programs front and center. Plus, now you can enjoy your current stream while browsing for what to watch next.”

You’ll also be able to stream on up to there devices at one time for an additional $5 a month.

And finally, you’ll be able to stream your local channels while you’re on the road.

Here’s how things look on an iPad:

Now we still have to wait on a proper Android TV app.

Pixel Buds updated with gestures for skipping tracks and power controls

It’s also easier to switch between paired devices.

Google’s Pixel Buds may not be as elegant or seamless as AirPods, but they’re a solid first attempt and have us excited for what we’ll see with version two later this year. Before that, however, Google’s updating the current model with three highly-requested features that are rolling out to users now.

The first new addition is the ability to manually turn Pixel Buds on/off with a triple tap on the right earbud. Triple-tapping while the Pixel Buds are on will shut them off, and doing the same gesture while they’re off will boot them up.

Also new is the ability to double-tap on the right earbud to skip the song you’re listening to. This double-tap gesture currently prompts your notifications to be read aloud, but you can switch this to skip songs via your Pixel Buds’ settings in the Google Assistant app on your phone.

Last but certainly not least, Google’s making it much easier to switch the Pixel Buds back and forth between devices it’s already been paired with. Following this update, you can simply select the Pixel Buds from the Bluetooth menu on a paired device to have them disconnect from whatever else they’re connected to.

This is how most all Bluetooth devices work, but for whatever reason, Google didn’t have this in place with Pixel Buds. I’m still not sure why a system like this wasn’t available from Day One, but in any case, it’s here now.

See at Best Buy

Best Chromebooks for Graduates in 2018

• Best overall
• Best on a budget
• Best big screen
• Best on the go

Best overall

Google Pixelbook

See at Best Buy

A graduate needs a high-performance laptop that will be just as good in 2025 as it is in 2018. That’s the Google Pixelbook. Incredibly well built and engineered using the latest components, the Pixelbook will be a great choice for years to come and worth the hefty price.

The bottom line: The Pixelbook is expensive, and worth it if a graduate needs a workhorse and needs it to look great.

Why the Pixelbook is best for graduates

The Pixelbook is not cheap. It’s not the most expensive Chromebook, but starting around $1,000 means it had better be great if it’s going to be worth buying. And it is.

It’s designed to be both your laptop and your tablet, and it does a great job doing so. The Intel Core CPU, plenty of on-board memory and a large storage drive aren’t something you usually find in a Chromebook, and something you don’t need for every-day “light” computing. But having it all there means the Pixelbook can do more and seeing things like support for Linux applications come to Chromebooks means a machine destined to last a while is going to need beefy hardware.

Being easy on the eyes is important, too and the Pixelbook’s unique design ticks this column neatly. A gorgeous 12-inch display paired with an excellent back lit keyboard and trackpad that rival’s Apple’s offerings makes for a wonderful laptop, and a 360-degree hinge makes for the perfect media device or tablet. Did we mention it’s only 0.4-inches thick?

The Pixelbook is the best in category because it perfectly fits the needs of almost every graduate in terms of performance, utility, and design.

Best on a budget

Samsung Chromebook Plus

See at Amazon

Samsung’s Chromebook Plus offers a sturdy, yet equally beautiful option that’s half the price of a Pixelbook. being the “budget” pick shouldn’t imply anything bad and in this case it doesn’t.

The Chromebook Plus has a great 12-inch display and an excellent slim aluminum body and also has a 360-degree hinge for use as a tablet or a media device. It can be offered at a lower price because the components inside — an ARM octocore CPU, 4GB of memory and 32GB of storage — aren’t over the top. It is a wonderful way to do all the things most people do with their laptop and will continue to do them for years to come.

Bottom line: For anyone who won’t need the extras a Pixelbook brings the Chromebook Plus will serve well for years. At half the price of our top pick.

Best big screen

Acer Chromebook 15

See at Amazon

The Chromebook 15 is all about that screen. While most Chromebooks fall into the 10-inch to 13 -inch categories, this model comes with a 15-inch 1080p IPS display (powered by an on board Intel iris GPU) that’s bright and easy to see for everyone.

The other specs are adequate: an Intel dual core Celeron CPU, 4GB of Memory and 16GB of storage. The storage is not going to work for the person who wants to install everything, but for the average user who wants a gateway to the web it’s sufficient. And the web will look great on that display.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for the biggest brightest display on a Chromebook, you found it in the Acer Chromebook 15.

Best on the go

Acer Chromebook Tab 10

See at Acer

Instead of trying to build a Chromebook that can double as a tablet, Acer just built a Chromebook tablet.

As you would imagine, it doesn’t have the over-the-top specs our top pick does and it’s not sporting a huge 15-inch display. But it does have the form factor that makes it perfect for anyone who is constantly on the go and an operating system that makes it a little more than just another Android tablet.

The caveat? It’s not for sale just yet. Enough people have used it that we know what to expect, but it won’t be on store shelves until June 2018.

The bottom line: A tablet is the ultimate in portability, and Acer has just what you need if that’s your main priority. The rest of it’s qualities aren’t bad, either!

Conclusion

The Chromebook landscape is changing and we see more models with high-end specs begin released, with even more to come. But right now, these are the Chromebooks you want to look for if you’re a grad, getting ready to become one, or buying a gift for one.

Best overall

Google Pixelbook

See at Best Buy

A graduate needs a high-performance laptop that will be just as good in 2025 as it is in 2018. That’s the Google Pixelbook. Incredibly well built and engineered using the latest components, the Pixelbook will be a great choice for years to come and worth the hefty price.

The bottom line: The Pixelbook is expensive, and worth it if a graduate needs a workhorse and needs it to look great.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Chromebooks in education: Everything you need to know
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Chromebook Buyers Guide
• Google Pixelbook review
• Join our Chromebook forums

How to change the screen size in PlayStation VR Cinematic Mode

Become completely immersed

PlayStation VR’s Cinematic Mode is basically everything you would see in a ‘normal’ PlayStation 4 experience but seen through your headset. Regular, non-VR adapted games and apps can still be viewed through the headset in this mode, which is good since there’s a lot of times you’ll need to access things that aren’t specifically VR.

It’s like looking at a big cinema screen, but you can change how big the screen is for a more pleasant experience that is adapted to your taste. So, whether you want small, medium, or large, here’s how you can change your screen to fit your VR experience.

Head to the Settings menu on the far right of the main menu.
Then scroll down to Devices, which is after Video Playback Settings.
Towards the bottom of the Devices screen, you’ll want to select PlayStation VR.
Second from the top, after Screen Brightness, you’ll click Screen Size.
You have a choice of three different options now, conveniently labeled Small, Medium and Large.

Choose your preferred size and watch the screen change before your eyes!

We’ve found that the stock medium setting has the best representation of how you’d see the PlayStation 4 on a regular screen. Large is, well, large and basically fills your entire field of view inside the headset. Remember that it’s like looking at a large screen, so it’s flat and harder to see everything at a glance this way.

If you chose small you get a smaller display but it will follow your head movements and stay central inside the headset. For the other modes, you have to hold down the options button to reset the cinematic mode screen position.

What is the setting you enjoy the most while in the Cinematic Mode?

Let us know in the comments what your thoughts are!

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

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