Huawei’s Ascend P7 wants to be the LTE phone of the people
With the Ascend P6, Huawei looked to build a smartphone that emphasized design and material quality over performance. Unfortunately, it shipped without LTE at a time when networks were making a big push on the new standard, and so marginalized the P6 in favor of devices from rival manufacturers. Lesson suitably learned, the company is back with the P7, a handset that’s marketed as a cheaper alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8. Unlike its predecessor, it comes with LTE and a series of refinements that should eliminate all of the issues that were found with last year’s model. We’ve spent some time with the prototype, and wanted to share with you our initial impressions.
Unlike the previous generation, which had an aluminum band around the edge and a coated aluminum back, both sides of the P7 are coated in a generous helping of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3. Despite resembling a bizarro-world iPhone 4, the metallic band doesn’t comprise part of the phone’s antenna assembly, so you’ll be spared any concerns over “death grip.” Speaking of which, the prominent microSD and SIM card slots remain down the right-hand side of the slab, but the headphone jack plug-cum-ejector pin is gone — it may have been a neat design trick, but it was hardly the most practical of features.
Despite having a 5-inch display, it’s also deceptively small, given that the bezels on either side of the 1,920 x 1,080 screen have been shrunk to under 3mm on either side. The in-cell Japan Display screen itself has a pixel density of 445 ppi, the same as the Nexus 5, and appeared to be bright and sharp — not that we had any issues with last year’s model. Speaking of which, the company wasn’t prepared to talk pricing, but we gather that the P7 will retail for the same rough bracket that you could grab the P6, hovering under $600.
The Ascend P7 comes with the company’s Emotion UI 2.3 that sits between you and KitKat (Android 4.4). As usual, there’s mostly refinements and finesses placed upon what we’ve seen before, including a low-battery mode that’ll push the phone’s UI into grayscale to warn you to find an outlet. It may not be new, but Huawei is also going to start emphasizing that you can now switch from Emotion UI to a simplified home screen that’s pretty reminiscent of Windows Phone 8. With big, bright blocks, it’s designed for smartphone novices and those with poor eyesight, and means that this device could supplant the Lumia 620 as a device you’d buy for an elderly family member due to its relative ease of use.
Huawei has no background in imaging technology, so for the P7′s camera, it once again teamed up with Sony for the BSI shooter on the rear side of the device. This time out, however, you’ll be using a 13-megapixel sensor and a lens with an f/2.0 aperture. You’ll also get the usual nifty tweaks including HDR and real-time filtering for all of those faux-Instagram shots of your dinner. The company is also working on a one-second snapshot function, whereby a sharp double-press of the volume key will instantly take a picture from standby mode. There are also options like audio snapshot, where you can take 10 seconds of ambient noise to accompany each image, and the ability to add text and watermarks to your pictures.
If you were excited at the 5-megapixel forward-facing camera on the P6, then the 8-megapixel unit (with an f/2.4, five-element aspherical lens) that replaces it will have you screaming in apoplexy. In addition to the face-beautification modes that were found on last year’s model, there’s now a Selfie Panorama mode, which will let you take a wide location shot with your fizzog obscuring most of the historic location you’re capturing.
One of our biggest complaints about the P6 had to do with the Huawei-made system-on-chip that ran things from within. The homegrown 1.5GHz quad-core K3V2 silicon was efficient, sure, but was entirely unable to keep up with smartphones carrying chips from NVIDIA or Qualcomm. Has the company learned its lesson? It’s too soon to tell, but we do know that it’ll be another homemade variant of an ARM Cortex-A9 with a quad-core 1.8GHz CPU, a Mali-450 MP4 GPU, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 16GB storage.
When we tested the 2,000mAh battery on the P6, we were dismayed to see that it lasted for less than five hours on a charge. Huawei, however, claims that it acted quickly to switch battery suppliers in the wake of those early reviews, and produced several software tweaks to ensure that customers didn’t suffer from the same fate. The cell inside the P7 has only a modest increase, to 2,500mAh, but we’re told that the company has been working hard to make certain that it’ll have even more staying power, despite the huge demands of the new LTE modem.
All in all, the Huawei P7 is a device where time and effort has mostly been spent fixing the gripes of last generation’s hardware. The pre-production model that we used was comfortable in the hand with surprisingly solid build quality. Huawei may still be in the second or third tier of handset makers, but it’s easy to forget that it’s only been making phones under its own flag for less than five years. We’re looking forward to seeing what this device can do under the rigorous conditions of a full review, so check back in the near future to find out more.
Sharif Sakr contributed to this report.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Google Maps gets offline mode, lane assist, and more
Google has just deployed a huge update to its Map application which brings offline mode, lane assistance, and Uber integration.
Updated for both Android and iOS, the new Maps app brings the following new functionality:
Don’t miss your next turn or exit. The Google Maps app now shows you which lane to stay in or move to so you’ll never find yourself driving for miles down the wrong road. You’ll also have easy access to alternate routes while you’re navigating, so you can choose the best drive for you.
Don’t worry if you’re not online. Before setting off on your next vacation, hike, or roadtrip, search for an area and tap on its place info sheet, then when available, you can select “Save map to use offline”.
Don’t be late for last call. With new filters, you can browse through restaurants, bars and hotels by opening hours, rating, price, and more.
Don’t limit your options. Frequent Uber rider? If you have the Uber app installed, you can now compare your ride with transit and walking directions right from Google Maps in some cities.
Don’t miss that train. With more than a million public transit stops on Google Maps, you’ll get reliable information to help you get where you’re going.
Don’t forget the park you wanted to visit. See places you’ve saved on Google Maps across all your devices when you’re signed in.
Don’t wait to explore your next vacation spot. Search for your ideal destination—anywhere from the Gateway Arch to the Taj Mahal—then tap on the place card to dive into Street View where available.
The post Google Maps gets offline mode, lane assist, and more appeared first on AndroidGuys.
You can get LG’s first Chrome all-in-one later this month for $350
Five months is almost enough time for us to question whether a product announced at CES will become vaporware, so any news about the LG Chromebase is welcome. This morning, we learned that LG’s first Chrome OS-based all-in-one will be officially available at online retailers on May 26th for $350. The Chromebase comes with a 21.6-inch 1080p IPS LCD, an Intel processor that’s based on Haswell and 100GB storage space on Google Drive for two years. This was just one product out of several announced in tandem by Google and Intel today, all of which are reasonably priced and are aimed at competing against the PC industry.
Chrome OS will bring offline Play Movies later this year
One of the biggest concerns with Chrome OS is the fact that much of the platform relies on an internet connection to actually do what they’re supposed to do. Fortunately, Google’s aware of this and is working on it, one feature at a time. Today, the software giant announced that the Play Movies Chrome app will support offline movies and TV shows in the next several weeks. This feature has already been available on Android devices, so it’s nice to see it expand into the Chrome OS sphere, along with continued manufacturer hardware support for the platform.
Google aims for the mainstream with 20 new, more powerful Chromebooks
If you haven’t picked up a Chromebook just yet, you might want to wait a little longer. Intel has just announced that it plans to roll out as many as 20 new Chromebooks by the latter half of this year. This new set will be thinner, lighter, more powerful and generally more diverse in terms of design. It’s clear that Google is making a play for the mainstream.
Most of these will be based on Intel’s more powerful and efficient Bay Trail-M system on a chip.
“Bay Trail is optimized for power, performance and cost,” Intel’s VP and general manager, Navin Shenoy, said. “The first Chromebooks are also now available with over 11 hours of battery life, which is up from about 10 hours on Haswell.”
They’re also the first ever Chrome devices to be fanless, he said, and will be 15% lighter. Also expect a lot more different Chromebook designs and form factors. There’ll be some models with touchscreens, and some, like the Yoga, will have a folding display. In addition to just Chromebooks, Intel also introduced a tiny HP Chromebox that you’ll be able to hook up to any display and announced the availability of LG’s all-in-one Chromebase. Last but not least, Shenoy also announced that all of the Chrome devices released today will be made with the world’s first “conflict-free” microprocessors, that were not mined by slave regimes in the Republic of Congo.
At least a couple of them will be based on the company’s Core i3 processor, including an Acer version that’ll be available for $349 this summer and an updated version of Dell’s 11-inch model that should ship later in 2014. In addition, Intel is partnering with at least four major manufacturers — Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba — to produce Bay Trail-powered devices. Lenovo has announced two of these last night: the N20 and N20p. Not to be left out, ASUS also rolled out a couple of new offerings. They include an 11.6-inch C200 and a 13.3-inch C300, both of which will begin shipping this summer.
Caesar Sengupta, VP of product management at Google, took to the stage to say that sales numbers for the Chrome devices have been great. “Chromebox is the number one selling desktop,” he said, “And the top six rated laptops on Amazon are all Chromebooks. They’re both the highest rated and the most affordable.” He also pointed out that eight of the top computer manufacturers offer Chromebooks, and that Chrome devices are available in over 20 countries and nearly 10,000 schools, with more coming in the future. Shenoy also showed off an education Chromebook reference design that he hopes will inform the next generation of Chromebooks for schools. In addition, Sengupta told us that not only are Google Now and voice commands coming to Chromebooks, but also Play movies will be available to view offline as well. “The momentum is solid and gathering pace,” he said.
Filed under: Google
Major Google Maps update adds Uber integration, better transit info and more
Today Google announced a pretty hefty update to its Maps app, with improved navigation instructions, new search options and even the ability to jump into the Uber app to order a ride. Available for download now via Google Play and the App Store, the update includes lane guidance and easier access to alternate routes when you’re already in navigation mode. Another new feature lets you search for a specific area, such as Toronto, and save that place info sheet for offline use. For those traveling to a new city, there’s the ability to view places saved on Google Maps across all devices. You’ll also be able to star new locales to keep them bookmarked for the future.
Google’s added new filters to assist in your search for restaurants, bars and other places of interest. Sorting options include opening hours, rating and price, among others. And for those who are taking public transportation, the Google Maps update brings enhanced route options, with the ability to select “last train home” so you don’t get stranded. And finally, there’s that Uber integration we mentioned earlier — in addition to letting you order a ride, Maps will compare Uber’s options with transit and walking routes. Check it out for yourself via the download links below.
Via: Google Maps (Google Play), Google Maps (iTunes)
Source: Google Maps
Google Classroom helps teachers easily organize assignments, offer feedback
In doing its part to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day, Google has announced a preview of Classroom: a simple system for course work organization. The free software is nestled inside Google Apps for Education and serves up a quick and easy way to create/organize assignments, give feedback and communicate in real time with students. As you might expect, Classroom leverages Google Docs, Drive and Gmail in order to complete the aforementioned tasks, automatically creating folders in the cloud-based repository for each student when there’s a new assignment. “Classroom is based on the principle that educational tools should be simple and easy to use, and is designed to give teachers more time to teach and students more time to learn,” writes product manager Zach Yeskel. If you’re an educator that’s interested if giving it a shot, you can apply to be part of a limited preview. Google plans to release Classroom to any school using is education-minded apps program in September — just in time for the fall semester.
Filed under: Software
Source: Google
Google discusses security with the NSA, but don’t draw any wild conclusions
Following Edward Snowden’s PRISM leaks last year, companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft sought to distance themselves from the NSA and claimed to be unaware of some government surveillance activities. And while we’ve seen companies demand greater transparency from the NSA, that doesn’t mean backdoor discussions about security haven’t been going on as well. Consider this, for instance: Email communications obtained by Al Jazeera show that Google execs such as Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin have cooperated with the NSA on issues such as “mobility threats” as far back as 2012, before Snowden revealed information about the government’s capabilities for spying on Americans’ online activities.
It would be easy to over-hype the significance of interactions between Mountain View bigwigs and the NSA, but the emails don’t indicate anything particularly untoward on Google’s part. Instead, the communications reveal that NSA Director Keith Alexander invited Google CEO Schmidt to a “classified threat briefing” to discuss security issues. An email from Alexander also shows that Google, Apple, Microsoft and other companies worked together to define core security principles, and several other tech firms — including Dell and HP — worked with the NSA to minimize threats to enterprise platforms. In other words, Google is clearly not alone in maintaining a dialogue with the government.
While the alarmist undertones may be a bit uncalled for, Al Jazeera does raise the logical concerns about how the NSA uses the information it receives from Google and other internet giants. In any case, though, Google’s emails with the security agency hardly implicate the company in any wrongdoing. Reportedly, additional emails between Google execs and the NSA have yet to be released, so stay tuned.
Source: Al Jazeera America
Google Stars leak reveals a new way to share and search your bookmarks
Google+ expert Florian Kiersch recently revealed that Google’s testing a bookmarking app called “Stars,” and he’s just posted a video (embedded below) showing how it might work. The initial leak exposed how you could star web pages from Chrome’s address bar, organize them by folders, and search content within those pages. Those searches would use suggestions and auto-complete like Chrome, displaying the results in an “image-rich grid.” Now, a splash screen (above) has confirmed much of that, and his demo shows how your favorites can be organized from a primary screen and set to private or public visibility. That’s how you’d automatically share links with the public or keep them confined to your Google+ circles. Stars may arrive in the future as an app or extension on Chrome and would probably be embedded in other Google apps too — assuming it survives the beta.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Via: TNW
Source: Florian Kiersch (Google+)
You can now crop and add borders to images in Google Docs
You’ll have to download the standalone apps to get to work on mobile devices, but you can now crop, rotate and add borders to images inside Google Docs. The same handy modification tools that have been available in Slides now make their debut in Mountain View’s word processor. Gone are the days of firing up a separate app to crop those snapshots down size before properly illustrating your thesis. If you’re in need of a step-by-step breakdown, Google provided one right here.
Filed under: Software
Source: Google Drive (Google+)
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