Blu’s Pure XR brings 3D Touch to Android for $299
Right on schedule, Blu has followed up last year’s Pure XL with its latest affordable, feature-heavy (and unlocked) Android phone: the $299 4G LTE Pure XR. On its face, the XR version sports a curved, 5.5-inch 1080p SuperAMOLED screen with a (possibly trademark infringing) “3D Touch” feature similar to the iPhone 6s, but at about half the unlocked price. Under the hood, the XR runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow driven by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of memory (plus microSD expansion).
Blu doesn’t skimp on the rest of the features either: Although it’s a bit of a downgrade from the XL’s 24-megapixel sensor, the XR sports a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. Rounding out the specs are: a home button fingerprint sensor, dual SIM slots, USB Type-C port and a 3,000 mAh battery that just edges out the iPhone 6s Plus battery in terms of raw capacity. (According to Blu, the 2-amp quick charger can add an hour of talk time with a 10-minute charge.) The handset has a full metal, unibody design available in Grey and Gold and is on sale now from Amazon and Best Buy. Although the Pure XR is unlocked right out of the box, it’s still a GSM-only device, so users will be limited to AT&T, T-Mobile, metroPCS and other GSM networks.
Via: 9to5Google
Source: Blue Products
Google announces 30 finalists for its first indie games festival
Google’s first indie gaming festival is less than a month away, and today the company is announcing the 30 games that made the cut for the competition. You can find the whole list here, but note that you won’t be able to try out all of them just yet — 20 of the 30 games haven’t been released in Google Play yet. Games that are out in the store now include Chetan Surpur’s Orbit, High Score Hero’s Hovercraft: Takedown, Double Coconut’s Parallyzed and Roofboot (both still in beta) and Worthing & Moncrieff’s A Matter of Murder. (The full list of games can be found here.)
Google judges have whittled down 200 submissions that came in over the last month down to these final 30, all of which will be on display and playable at the event. Fans will get a chance to vote on their favorites, and a combo of fan votes and judging will narrow things down to a field of 15 games, all of which will have a chance to present their creations to the judges and audience in an effort to win a prize.
If you haven’t heard of these games, well, that’s why Google is having its indie games festival in the first place: the whole goal is to expose small, lesser-known developers to a wider audience. The festival takes place in San Francisco on September 24th, and registration is now open to the public. If you’re an Android fan who wants to see creative games get more exposure on the platform, this event is worth keeping an eye on.
Source: Google
UK: Facebook, Google, Twitter ‘consciously failing’ on terrorism
The UK parliament has slammed Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for “consciously failing” to remove terrorism recruitment content. According to a report from the Home Affairs Committee, the social networks are “the vehicle of choice in spreading propaganda and the recruiting platforms for terrorism.” In statements to the WSJ, the companies denied that they are lax with extremist postings. “We deal swiftly and robustly with reports of terrorism-related content,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
The committee based its report on statements from intelligence groups, the Muslim community, counter-terrorism experts and security specialists. Other experts told the WSJ that the document is misleading, saying terrorists are more likely to recruit via heavily encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram — apps that are also in the US and UK governments’ crosshairs.
These companies have teams of only a few hundred employees to monitor networks of billions of accounts and Twitter does not even proactively report extremist content to law enforcement agencies.
The role of online networks in abetting terrorism has been a hot topic of late — Twitter said it recently suspended 360,000 terrorism-related accounts since the beginning of the year. The lawmakers think that, given their billions in revenues, the firms aren’t doing enough, though. “These companies have teams of only a few hundred employees to monitor networks of billions of accounts and Twitter does not even proactively report extremist content to law enforcement agencies,” the report states.
The Home Affairs committee wants social websites to take a “zero tolerance approach to online extremism,” and recommended laws that would force social networks to quickly remove terrorist propaganda and inform law enforcement. (While the group’s rulings are non-binding, they heavily influence UK’s parliament.) The European Union recently secured commitments from Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Google to put hate speech policies in place and remove and report content within 24 hours.
Source: Parliament.uk
Google taps Airbnb exec to turn self-driving cars into a business
Google’s self-driving car project hit a rough patch with the departure of one of its earliest team members, but it’s evident that the tech giant is still bent on turning the experiment into a viable business. The company has hired Airbnb executive Shaun Stewart, who led his former employer’s vacation rental team, as a director for its autonomous vehicle group. He’ll focus on commercializing the division — just what that entails isn’t clear, but previous rumors (and industry expectations) suggest that he may translate Google’s self-driving technology into a robotic ride-for-hire service.
Stewart may be a particularly good fit. As our TechCrunch colleagues observe, his expertise revolves around short-term travel rentals. Before Airbnb, he was the CEO of the luxury vacation deal site Jetsetter — he knows a thing or two about getting these services off the ground. And that’s important when the concept of a driverless taxi is still brand new, with plenty of nuts-and-bolts details that need to be pinned down in the years ahead.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Reuters
Google Wallet introduces automatic transfers
Google has just pushed out an update to its Wallet mobile app that allows automatic transfers to your bank account. Previously, if you wanted to use money from the account elsewhere you’d have to go in and cash out your Google Wallet balance first. Omitting this part should be a boon for regular users who don’t have to remember an extra step just to have access to their cash.
Choose a debit card or bank account to link to your Google Wallet, which you can enable for automatic transfers (unless, as TechCrunch mentions, you’d prefer to keep your balance stored with Google, which is still possible). It will take some time to transfer to your debit card, but overall it’s a smoother solution than the old process.
It’s great to see Google Wallet updating to add more functionality, especially since it killed off the service’s linked debit card only a couple of months ago. This levels the playing field between other payment services like Venmo, Squarecash and PayPal, and helps put Wallet back on the map after its previous missteps.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Google Wallet (Google Play)
The Engadget Podcast Ep 3: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
Editors Nathan Ingraham and Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O’Brien to talk about Android Nougat, PlayStation 4 rumors and why Amazon would create an Echo-exclusive music service. Then the panel addresses the endless harassment faced by Leslie Jones, and use the word “garbage”… a lot.
Oh, and as promised, here are your Flame Wars leaderboards:
Wins
Loses
Winning %
Chris Velazco
3
1
.750
Devindra Hardawar
4
3
.571
Nathan Ingraham
3
4
.429
Cherlynn Low
1
3
.250
Relevant links:
- The slim PS4 is looking realer every day
- Amazon could launch an Echo-exclusive music service
- Android 7.0 Nougat arrives today
- Hackers target Leslie Jones, post nude photos to her site
- Twitter permanently bans one of its most offensive users
- Twitter is letting all users filter out trolls from their notifications
- Gawker.com will shut down as part of Univision buyout
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
Watch on YouTube
Subscribe on Google Play Music
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Stitcher
Subscribe on Pocket Casts
Google is killing off the Device Assist app on Nexus handsets
Google is killing off its homegrown Device Assist app that helps navigate the ins and outs of certain phones. That means tools like speed tests, settings for battery saving and live tech support are going away in favor of website with tips and tricks. Affected fpolks with Android One, Google Play Edition or Nexus handsets will notice a “detected issue” card within the app, according to Android Police, with a link for Google Support when they try to use the application. It has already been removed from the Play Store, and 9to5Google writes that the app is still semi-functional and that no new tool tips will be added.
Via: 9to5Google
Source: Android Police
Google’s Fiber rollout isn’t going as planned
Google Fiber may have just gone live in Salt Lake City, but the process of laying all that fiber optic cable is reportedly making Alphabet’s homebrewed ISP the company’s most expensive unit outside of the core Google business. According to a new report from The Information, those costs have prompted Larry Page and Sergey Brin to push Google Fiber away from its original plan and more towards a cheaper wireless standard.
The Information’s report cites low subscriber numbers, as well as some disputes between Page and Fiber CEO Craig Barratt as the main reasons for the shift in focus. Page, who is known for setting hard targets, reportedly instructed Barratt to cut the cost of home internet by a tenth and slash his 500-person staff in half. According to an earlier report from Recode, it costs at least $1 billion for Google Fiber to enter a new market.
That said, the switch from fiber to wireless has been coming for some time: In June, after Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt discussed the possibility of using gigabit WiFi to cover the last mile, Google Fiber (which falls under the Google Access umbrella) snatched up Webpass — a company that was already using a combination of fiber and high-speed wireless connections to do just that. Earlier this month, Google also started seeking permission to test wireless broadband in 24 other US locations, although those tests will likely be limited to Google employees to start.
Via: Recode
Source: The Information
Playing solitaire and tic-tac-toe is as easy as a Google search
A Google search is handy for getting info on nearly anything, but now the company is making it easier to play two timeless games on both mobile and the web. When you search for “solitaire” or “tic-tac-toe,” you’ll be able to play them both from the comforts of your browser on the desktop or inside the Google app on your phone or tablet. The company has been keen on adding these bits of whimsy to its search tool for a while now as these games follow animal sounds and a coin flip. You know, in case you need to decide who’s picking up the check in today’s cashless society. There’s also those Google Doodles that have been a mainstay for years, most recently offering Olympic-themed games.
Source: Google
Google offers 360-degree tours of US National Parks
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the US National Parks Service, Google has put together a collection of virtual tours combining 360-degree video, panoramic photos and expert narration. It’s called “The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks” and is accessible right from the browser. You can choose from one of five different locales, including the Kenai Fjords in Alaska and Bryce Canyon in Utah, and get a guided “tour” from a local park ranger. Each one has a few virtual vistas to explore, with documentary-style voiceovers and extra media hidden behind clickable thumbnails.
There’s plenty to sit through, along with a larger exhibit put together by the Google Arts & Culture team. The site is essentially a hub for Google’s various exhibits — each section is like a miniature museum, containing high-res photographs of important places, documents and artefacts.
While both websites are suitable for the classroom, teachers in the US might want to try a “Hidden Worlds Expedition” instead. They’re designed for the Expeditions app — a two-pronged approach to virtual school trips. While the children look around with Google Cardboard headsets, the teacher can give a running commentary using a fact sheet accessible from their smartphone or tablet. Together, it’s hoped that these resources can get people interested in the great outdoors, and appreciate what the National Parks Service is fighting to preserve on a daily basis.
Via: Google (Blog Post)
Source: The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks
AIVAnet 