Android P features you’ll love: Improved photo and video with HDR and HEIF

HEIF photos and native HDR playback will make Android P look as good as it runs.

Android P isn’t just about features that might change how you use your phone; there are also a couple of new additions that will change how you see things while you’re using it.

These two additions will be hardware-dependent, but we’re pretty sure a flagship phone from all the Android partners will support them. They can have a major impact on your media creation and consumption, so let’s take a look at exactly what they are and what that means.

High Efficiency Image Format

HEIF (High Efficiency File Format, pronounced heef) is a fairly new method to compress image files and it’s coming to Android P.

You might have noticed that some file types, like bitmaps (a .bmp file) are a lot bigger than other file types, like .jpg files. That’s because of compression. You can compress almost any file at least once. An algorithm searches through the file’s data and does things like erase duplicate data, lower color depth, and use rounding to make very similarly colored pixels the same color. This can take a very large file, like a 50MB .TIFF file and compress it down to a much smaller 2MB .jpg file — and our eyes see very little difference if it’s done correctly.

The photos from your Android phone should look the same but the files will be a lot smaller.

There are two important reasons that this works. First, our eyes can see millions and millions of colors, but we can’t actually tell that some reds are different than others (for example). Second is that the display we are using to see the images can’t render all of the data, and files can be cut back to 16 million colors at best quality, and 8 colors at the absolute worst. Your phone doesn’t have an 8-color display, no matter who made it, and some phones have a 24-bit (known as True color and capable of displaying 16 million colors) display. Chances are the camera on your phone will save images as 16- or 24-bit .jpg files and you won’t know that some of the data has been stripped.

HEIF takes things a step further than JPEG does and can compress files to a smaller size with no loss of quality, but more importantly can also hold some extra data about the image itself. Apple adopted HEIF compression with iOS 11 and most people can’t tell any difference. That means it works as intended! Extra data that can be stored in a HEIF compressed file includes:

• ** Low-resolution thumbnail** so your photo gallery doesn’t have to build thumbnails on the fly.
• Burst-mode images can be saved with all the single shots inside one file.
• Rotation data so the image can be displayed at 0/360, 90, 180, and 270 degrees of offset.
• Auxillary items like an image alpha or depth map are saved inside the file.

Android won’t be taking advantage of all of these features, at least in the beginning. We will benefit from the smaller file size and thumbnails, and it’s said that some burst-mode data will be saved in a HEIF file created by Android.

Android will support compressing images using the HEIC (High Efficiency Image Compression) format and viewing them. Your phone will need an ISP (Image Signal Processor) capable of “building” a HEIC file but every phone that gets Android P will be able to view them.

HDR VP9 Video

VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google. If you use Chrome or Android, you already have seen VP9 video even if you didn’t know it! It’s a format that offers a good amount of compression without any substantial loss in quality and websites like YouTube and Google Play Movies stream using it to Android and Chrome.

HDR makes a notable difference in quality at any resolution.

With Android P, those VP9 streams will be natively supported to be shown using HDR (High Dynamic Range). You might not have ever seen an HDR display showing HDR content. It’s not really new, but it is new enough that many of us don’t have HDR anything to watch Netflix or YouTube videos on. If you have seen HDR content on a good display, you know how cool it is. It’s a much bigger difference than HD 1080p to HD4K video was, especially on a big display.

You will need to have a display on your phone that can show HDR content, but we’ve seen those for a while, and phones like the LG V30 and its gorgeous 6-inch P-OLED screen will love having native HDR available to any developer who wants to use it.

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Do you prefer using Samsung Messages or Android Messages?

From the forums.

Despite the popularity of services like WhatsApp and Telegram, good-old texting still remains as one of the most popular forms of communication for a lot of users.

There are plenty of third-party SMS apps you can grab from the Play Store, but two of the most popular first-party ones are Samsung Messages and Google’s Android Messages.

Android Messages is gradually being updated with new features to slowly turn it into a much more powerful messaging service using the power of RCS, and while Samsung Messages has more features to-boot, it also has a tendency to send random photos of yours without your consent or leaving any trace of doing so.

With all that said, what app do you prefer using? Some of our AC forum users recently answered that very question, and this is what they had to say.

tube517
07-03-2018 06:43 PM

“

Android Messages is a work in progress. It does not have as many features as the Samsung messages app….yet.

RCS(Chat) is also a work in progress on AM so it hasn’t been fully implemented.

Hopefully, they will add scheduling and customization to AM

Reply

chanchan05
07-03-2018 07:34 PM

“

RCS is available on the Samsung Messages app if you have the latest update. In fact, the latest slew of bugs that you will reported on the latest Samsung Messages app is about the RCS update which T Mobile pushed to it. So you actually lose stuff going to Android Messages, like the customizations, but you also lose the bug so that’s good.

Reply

bhatech
07-04-2018 01:20 PM

“

Personally prefer Android messages anyway much cleaner look and simpler. But I’m biased since I like Google apps more than Samsung apps since I have multiple Android phones and like to use same apps in all of them.

It’s interesting how this RCS implementation is going on with different carriers. Looks like a mess and fragmented.

Reply

What about you? Do you prefer using Samsung Messages or Android Messages?

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CordCutters.com puts Amazon Fire TV Cube up against NVIDIA Shield

Amazon Fire TV Cube, and NVIDIA Shield. Two great streamers in their own rights.

Can Fire TV Cube compete with so much Tegra power? Actually …

Sometimes age ain’t nothing but a number. And that’s certainly the case with the NVIDIA Shield. So how is it an Android TV box that hasn’t really changed since its introduction in 2015 is able to keep up with the new hotness that is the Amazon Fire TV Cube?

It all starts with the hardware, of course. A powerful SOC and all the accoutrements you’d expect. (That’s a big nod to the power of the NVIDIA Tegra X1 platform, for course.)

And then there’s the software. Shield has received consistent updates throughout its life, recently receiving a major update to Android 8.0 Oreo.

Both, however, have a world of smarts to them — Shield with Google Assistant, and Fire TV Cube with Amazon Alexa.

Does that mean there’s no reason for an Android fan to consider a Fire TV Cube? Not necessarily.

Read at CordCutters.com: Amazon Fire TV Cube vs. NVIDIA Shield

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Control for PlayStation 4: Everything you need to know

This game looks weird, and that’s exactly why it has our attention.

Remedy Entertainment is back with another intriguing game, and this time it’s on the PlayStation 4. Control is a game that will be both familiar, yet strange. We’ve seen many of its gameplay elements at play before in games like Quantum Break, but there are other things at play that will make it one game to keep an eye on. Let’s dive into all we know about it.

What is Control?

Control is a third-person action-adventure shooter, but it won’t be all about the guns. Remedy is using the Northlight engine developed for Quantum Break to bring us yet another fresh experience. You’ll be shooting guns, but you’ll also be manipulating time, space, and gravity.

What’s the story?

Right now, we know you’ll be playing as a female character named Jesse Faden, played by Courtney Hope. Jesse is the new director of the Federal Bureau of Control, which we can only assume is some sort of governmental agency aimed at regulating the use of supernatural powers that some have seemingly been gifted with.

Of course, Jesse herself has such powers, and her intention is to use them for good. Not everyone is keen on following those intentions, however, with a corrupt entity known as The Hiss infiltrating the Bureau and manipulating other agents to carry out dirty work.

The game seems to feature a cult-like structure, with Jesse and presumably other Control agents having undergone ritualistic processes to obtain their powers. Taking place in New York, Jesse first discovers something isn’t right when people at the Bureau headquarters — also known as the Oldest House — are spotted floating above their workspaces.

That’s all we’ll be getting from Remedy on plot details at this time; however, we do know they won’t be following conventional storytelling practices. We also know this will be a fully single-player experience despite earlier rumors that there is a cooperative mode.

Exploration, powers, and more

Instead of being inundated with a barrage of cinematic cutscenes placed between pockets of exhilarating gameplay, Remedy wanted Control’s story to be told through the world itself. That means the narrative will be driven by pure exploration.

This would seem to sound like the same sort of lazy storytelling we’ve seen in games like Destiny where plot details are scattered throughout the world on info cards, but we’re told that the world acts as a true storytelling component. In fact, the Oldest House will transform greatly throughout the course of the game, giving you new secrets to discover as you continuously explore the ever-changing building. A quick-witted oracle doesn’t tell you the secrets of the building, the building tells you the secrets of the building.

Remedy describes it as a sandbox game in that regard. You’ll use Jesse’s various powers of levitation, telekinesis, and more to find your way to new areas of the building as it continues to evolve. It begins with her service weapon, which is no ordinary firearm. It’ll tweak and contort and do all kinds of weird things, and it’ll gain more abilities as you upgrade it.

This focus on using raw gameplay as the primary means of advancing the plot makes Control a refreshing reminder that interesting gameplay mechanics can still be the driving force in triple-A video games, and not over-the-top cutscenes or other forcible forms of storytelling. That’s not to say those other forms aren’t sweet in their own right, but we wholly applaud Remedy for trying something different.

When can you play it?

Control is slated for a 2019 launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Remedy says it’ll be plenty vocal about the game leading up to its launch, so stay tuned for more updates as they come in!

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5 reasons to choose a Chrome tablet over a Chromebook

The tablet experience on Chrome is only getting better, while still making for a really useful laptop.

We’re slowly entering a brave new world when it comes to Chromebooks. Android app support came along in 2016, making convertible Chromebooks a more enticing option. The Android app support has only gotten better since, and we’re starting to see full tablets and detachable options like the HP Chromebook X2.

For many people, a Chromebook is already replacing Android tablets. Others still just want a laptop to be a laptop, and a tablet to be a tablet.

Here’s why you should consider a Chrome tablet over a Chromebook!

• Less weight
• Easier pen use
• Easier mobility
• You can use it as a laptop anyway
• It’s only going to get better

Less weight

Simply put, if you take away half of a computer, it weighs about half as much. This is a bit nuanced since that means the processor and storage and other components needs to live on the screen side, but a tablet without a keyboard ends up being much less weight than a convertible laptop. The HP Chromebook X2 weighs 3.07 pounds as a laptop, and only 1.62 pounds as a tablet, while the Pixelbook weighs in at 2.4 pounds. That’s not a huge difference on paper, but it makes a big difference when you’re reading a long book or taking notes. And speaking of notes…

Easier pen use

The lower weight contributes to this, but being able to grip a solid surface instead of individual keys on the back of the tablet helps as well. If you do a whole lot of inking, you’ll want a Chrome tablet to make the experience that much better.

Easier mobility

Right now the HP Chromebook X2 is the only Chrome tablet available to normal consumers — the Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is only available in educational channels — and its 12-inch screen makes it about the same size as most other Chromebooks. But other 10-inch and smaller tablets will become available, meaning the device will require less space in your bag. You’ll still be able to use all the same accessories you can use on typical Chromebooks, so you can have your tablet on the go and a hub of expandability at home.

You can use it as a laptop anyway

While the Acer Chromebook Tab is 100% a tablet — it doesn’t have a keyboard included like the HP model — it will still work with Bluetooth or USB keyboards. This is certainly clunkier than having a laptop with an attached keyboard, but it will work. As will your mice, webcams, microphones, and external displays. Meanwhile if you try taking the display off of a Pixelbook, it and your wallet will get very angry.

It’s only going to get better

There are still a few areas that need smoothing out on the Chrome tablet experience. The interface is slowly moving to be more touch-friendly, with Android apps being able to run in split screen and access the microSD card. If you’re going to use a Chrome tablet in a school or other enterprise, you’ll need a physical keyboard to enroll the Chrome tablet into your administrative console.

But there’s hope. A Google representative told Ars Technica that they expect to have a complete, tablet friendly UI by the end of 2018. A new Chrome version comes out every six weeks, so you’ll see your tablet experience evolve very quickly over the next few months.

What are your thoughts?

Do you want your Chromebook to just be a laptop, or would you like to also use it as a tablet? Let us know down below!

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This $13 AmazonBasics indoor TV antenna has a 35-mile range

Catch all the local broadcasts.

The AmazonBasics 35-mile ultra thin indoor TV antenna has matched its lowest price ever with this drop to $12.99. It normally sells for around $20 and hasn’t gone below $15 since last September.

If you live anywhere near an urban center and have broadcast towers near you, the 35-mile range should be enough. You can use this reception map to see how it will work from your location. Whatever signals your antenna can reach, that’s what you’ll get to watch for no more than the price you’re paying today. It can pick up HD channels like ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, and more. It has black and white sides and can even be painted if you want. The coaxial cable is 10-feet long.

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Samsung Galaxy S10: News, Rumors, Release Date, Specs, and More!

2019 is going to be the year of Samsung.

Samsung’s Galaxy S phones always give us something exciting to look forward to at the beginning of each year, and 2019 officially marks the 10-year anniversary of when the first Galaxy S flagship was released.

Similar to what Apple did with the iPhone X, we’re expecting the Galaxy S10 to be truly special. The Galaxy S9 and S8 were both excellent phones, but in honor of such a big anniversary, Samsung will likely pull out all the stops to release a truly special and jaw-dropping gadget.

If you’re ready to learn more about the Galaxy S10 and find out what we could look forward to next February, here’s everything you need to know.

The latest Galaxy S10 news

July 5, 2018 — Samsung may announce the Galaxy S10 after the Galaxy X

Here’s something we weren’t expecting. According to reliable tipster Ice Universe on Twitter, Samsung will announce the Galaxy S10 during Mobile World Congress 2019 in February. While that isn’t out of the ordinary for Galaxy S phones, what Samsung might do just a month ealrier is.

CES2019：Galaxy XMWC2019：Galaxy S10

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) July 4, 2018

In January at CES, we’ll officially be introduced to the long-awaited Galaxy X. This is the foldable phone we’ve been hearing about for years, and should this turn out to be true, this would probably allow Samsung to easily dominate the first half of next year.

June 27, 2018 — ISOCELL Plus technology could result in big camera improvements for the S10

Samsung’s long been one of the top players when it comes to smartphone cameras, and on June 27, the company announced its latest innovation in mobile photography — ISOCELL Plus.

ISOCELL Plus can capture considerably more light than Samsung’s traditional ISOCELL sensors (first introduced in 2013), with Samsung touting as much as 15% greater light sensitivity. Perhaps even more impressive, Samsung notes that ISOCELL Plus “also enables image sensors to equip 0.8-micrometer (µm) and smaller-sized pixels without any loss in performance, making it an optimal solution for developing super-resolution cameras with over 20 megapixels.

It’s not explicitly said that ISOCELL Plus will be present on the Galaxy S10, but I’d be surprised if Samsung didn’t include it on next year’s phone.

All the important details

How many versions is Samsung going to launch?

For the past four years, Samsung’s launched two models of its Galaxy S series:

• 2015 — Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
• 2016 — Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
• 2017 — Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus
• 2018 — Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus

With the Galaxy S10 in 2019, Samsung is expected to shake-up its formula by releasing three different models at the same time — codenamed Beyond 1, Beyond 2, and Beyond 3.

Beyond 1 and Beyond 2 will be similar to older S flagships with the former having a flat screen while the other has Samsung’s iconic curved display. Beyond 3 is where Samsung’s putting all the marbles, with things like a larger screen and triple camera system on the back.

When will the Galaxy S10 be released?

Perhaps the biggest question on your mind is “When will I be able to buy the Galaxy S10?”.

Save for the Galaxy S8 that was announced at its own special event, Samsung usually unveils its Galaxy S flagship phones during Mobile World Congress each year.

MWC 2019 is scheduled to take place between February 25 and 28 in Barcelona, and there’s a good chance that’s where we’ll get our first look at the S10. To back up this thought, reliable leaker Ice Universe said on July 5 that the S10 will be unveiled at MWC — just a month before the Galaxy X.

As for when you’ll be able to purchase the S10, it should officially launch around two or three weeks from when it’s announced. Should Samsung decide to reveal the phone during MWC, that’d place it with a launch date of around early-March.

How much will the S10 cost?

When it comes to price, that’s where things could get interesting next year.

Samsung’s only ever released one or two variants of its S flagships at a time, such as the S7/S7 Edge, S8/S8 Plus, etc. However, as noted above, the Galaxy S10 series will likely consist of three different phones.

This could result in vastly different pricing across all models, and depending on how you look at things, that’s either a dream come true or a nightmare.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 has a starting price of $720, and my guess is that the lowest-end Galaxy S10 will come in with a similar or slightly lower price of around $650-$700. The mid-tier S10 will probably cost a bit less than the S9+ at $800-$820, whereas the highest-end variant may very-well sell for $999.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

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How to take a screenshot on the Galaxy Note 8

Learn it now, use it forever.

Being able to take a screenshot is one of the core competencies of using a smartphone. With the Galaxy Note 8 a screenshot becomes even more crucial, with its S Pen giving you all sorts of options for marking it up. Going a step further, the phone actually gives you a few different ways to capture a screenshot, whether you want to grab a small section of the screen, the whole screen, or even more than what you currently see. Here’s how to do every kind of screenshot on the Note 8.

How to take a one-page screenshot

Taking a single screenshot of your entire screen is simple enough. Samsung gives you two ways to do it.

Screenshot using a key combination

Open the content you wish to screenshot.
At the same time, press and hold both the power button and volume down button for two seconds.
You’ll see the screen flash, and the screenshot will briefly appear on the screen.
The screenshot will be instantly shareable, but also remain in your notifications and Gallery for sharing later.

Screenshot using a palm swipe

Open the content you wish to screenshot.
Place your hand vertically along the left or right edge of your Note 8, and swipe in from that edge with your hand touching the screen.

• If this method doesn’t work, check Settings > Advanced features to enable “Palm swipe to capture.”

You’ll see the screen flash, and the screenshot will briefly appear on the screen.
The screenshot will be instantly shareable, but also remain in your notifications and Gallery for sharing later.

Capture more

No matter how you initiate your screenshot, after capturing you’ll briefly see a set of options at the bottom of the screen, including “scroll capture.” This “scroll capture” button makes the phone scroll through the content shown on your screen and take multiple screenshots, which are automatically stitched together into one long screen showing everything together. This is particularly useful for capturing a full webpage, a set of directions or a long restaurant menu online.

Just tap “scroll capture” as many times as you want, and as soon as you’re done you can share, edit or save the screenshot just like any other.

Take a screenshot with the S Pen and Screen Write

If you’re inclined to take a screenshot and then get to work on it with your S Pen, you can do just that.

Open the content you wish to take a screenshot of.
Take out the S Pen to launch Air Command, tap on Screen Write.
The screen will flash and capture a single screenshot.
You’re now instantly taken to an editing pane, where you can write on the screen with the S Pen.
In the top toolbar, you’ll see options to change the color of your pen, enable an eraser and undo/redo your strokes.
When finished, tap Crop, Share or Save to complete your work.

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Everything that’s new in the OxygenOS Open Beta

Wondering what’s new in the latest Open Beta? You’re in the right place.

There are a lot of reasons to like OnePlus phones, but one aspect that’s remained since the beginning is the excellent software experience they offer. All OnePlus phones now run OxygenOS, and if you want to test out new software features before anyone else, you can sign up for the OxygenOS Open Beta.

OnePlus updates the Open Beta quite frequently, with each new version including bug fixes, security patches, and feature galore.

To make sure you never miss a beat, here’s everything new in the beta right now.

July 3, 2018 — Project Treble and a new UI come to the OnePlus 5 and 5T!

Open Beta 13 and 11 for the OnePlus 5 and 5T is rolling out to users now, and it certainly sounds like one of the most exciting upgrades we’ve seen in a while.

Right off the bat, this Open Beta brings Project Treble support to both phones. This is the new update system from Google that allows for much faster turnaound times with new software, so it’s great to see that it’s making an appearance with the 5 series.

OnePlus highlights a “brand new user interface” that changes the appearance of the Phone app, settings, power menu, and more. The UI is still recognizable as OxygenOS, but the subtle visual improvements are a welcome touch. Even more exciting, there are now considerably more pre-made accent colors to choose from and you can finally customize your own colors to your exact liking.

Here are some of the other goodies you’ll find:

• Improved search tags in the app drawer.
• A “New installs” category tag in the app drawer.
• Improved app list for hidden space and toolbox.
• Optimized log for the contacts page (Phone app).
• Brand new design + improved user experience for the Weather app and all forecasts are now integrated under a single interface leading to a fully immersive experience.

As always, Open Beta 13 and 11 are rolling out to users incrementally right now and will expand to everyone enrolled in the beta over the next few days.

June 13, 2018 — OnePlus 5/5T and 3/3T get June 2018 Android security patch and camera enhancements

There’s a new Open Beta in town for the OnePlus 5, 5T, 3, and 3T! Here’s what you need to know!

For all four phones, you’ll get the June 2018 Android security patch and bug fixes for the OnePlus Switch app.

Specifically for the 5 and 5T, there’s “camera clarity improvement and optimizations to reduce ‘oil painting effect.’”

How do you install the Open Beta?

If you’ve got a OnePlus phone, enrolling in the Open Beta is fairly simple.

You’ll need to manually download the latest available version for your device from OnePlus’s website and sideload it, but once you do this, any future versions will be sent to you as over-the-air updates.

Harish wrote up a step-by-step guide walking you through the whole process, and I highly recommend checking it out to ensure nothing goes haywire.

How to install the OxygenOS Open Beta on your OnePlus phone

What phones are supported?

Right now, the list of phones supported by the OxygenOS Open Beta include:

• OnePlus 3
• OnePlus 3T
• OnePlus 5
• OnePlus 5T

The Open Beta isn’t available for the OnePlus 6 quite yet, but that should be changing in the very near future.

OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5

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How to allow extensions in Incognito mode on your Chromebook and why you want to

Sometimes being incognito just isn’t enough.

Chrome’s Incognito mode is a great thing. It won’t hide who you are on the internet but it does keep all traces of the websites you’ve visited out of your Google account and local browser storage.

Sometimes, you want to keep those cookies and trackers from being stuck to you and your account. Reasons range from looking at porn to using a computer on someone else’s account to sneaking around the five per month limit at some major news outlets. All reasons are valid if it’s what you want (or need) to do.

You can take this one step further if you need to by adding some necessary extensions to incognito mode. Your Chromebook is pretty safe from malicious things actually being installed, but things like web beacons and trackers can still try to keep tabs on you. And even Incognito mode can’t stop the piss-poor ads that end up getting put everywhere. But extensions can. Here’s how easy it is to do.

More: Best Chrome apps and extensions

You don’t need to install anything special or enable any settings or flags to run extensions in Incognito mode. You just need to have them installed and trust that the people who developed the extensions themselves aren’t collecting data they shouldn’t be. Google is pretty tough on the latter, and extensions you get from the Chrome Web Store are limited to the data they actually need.

To enable an extension in Incognito mode:

• Open the extensions page by entering chrome://extensions/ in the Chrome omnibar.
• Find the extension you want to enable in incognito mode.
• Check the box that says Allow in incognito.

Be mindful of the warning — an extension can store data from an incognito browsing session even if the browser itself can’t. This data might also have a trail of where you visited and the things you clicked on. It won’t have any data about who you are, what your Google account is, or anything else that can personally identify you.

More: Best Chrome extensions to protect your online privacy and security

Once you’re done, the next incognito session you open (control + shift + n opens a new incognito window) will have the extensions you selected active. Now your private browsing can have the same features as your normal browsing.

Update July 2018: Added links for the latest extensions you might want to use when browsing in incognito mode.

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