Researchers hack phone vibration motor to act as a microphone
On the list of things that might be eavesdropping on your day-to-day conversations, the tiny motor that makes your phone buzz isn’t necessarily the first one that comes to mind. But that is exactly what happens with the VibraPhone — a proof-of-concept device created by two researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to show that the motor in your smartphone or fitness tracker can be re-wired to act as a serviceable microphone.
The concept is fairly simple: the motor uses electric current to change a magnetic field that makes the vibrating mass move, like a clunky, low-frequency speaker. A microphone does the reverse by translating sound wave vibrations into electrical current with a magnetic diaphragm. In their research, Nirupam Roy and Romit Roy Choudhury of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign show that the vibration motor can be similarly affected by sound wave vibrations in the air.
“We show that the vibrating mass inside the motor, designed to oscillate to changing magnetic fields, also responds to air vibrations from nearby sounds,” the team wrote. While the concept makes sense, it’s actually the quality of the recording that is surprising. According to Roy and Choudhury, “the fidelity to which this is possible has been somewhat unexpected.” Despite the fact that the motor/microphone can only pick up frequencies lower than 2 kHz, the research team was able to devise a process that could reconstruct a complete spectrogram. (There are more audio samples available on the project site.)
Now, before anybody starts ripping the vibrating motors out of their phones, TechCrunch is quick to point out that this hack currently requires someone physically take apart a phone and rewire the motor to connect it to the phone’s audio system. But, as Roy explained, it may also be possible hack the power controller chip to collect the necessary voltage information to rebuild an audible waveform. And there’s also the possibility of hijacking the feedback motor in other devices like fitness monitors.
Still, Roy and Choudhury don’t see their VibraPhone tech being used for nefarious purposes. Instead, they are investigating whether the concept could be used to “recover speech from the subtle vibration of vocal cords, facial bones or skull” to create an “assistive system for persons with speech impairment.”
Analysts predict the end of the smartphone boom
Gartner’s latest research into the state of the mobile industry is a dire warning to all phone manufacturers. The financial analysis firm believes that the growth in smartphone sales will fall to a single digit, half the rate it was in 2015. It’s hard to think that people buying 1.5 billion devices in a calendar year is a bad thing, but for companies who make profit on scale, it’s a nightmare. Last year, LG made just 1.2 cents in profit for every phone it sold, and you need to sell a lot of phones at that cost before you can consider yourself a big deal.
The issue here is the same that it’s always been, which is that almost everyone in the world who can afford a smartphone already owns one. For years, China was held up as a beacon of hope for companies struggling to wring more profits out of the US and Europe. With its enormous population and emerging middle class, a desire for smartphones would be impossible to satisfy, or at least that was the theory. By 2015, that country had become saturated with devices, helped by local players Huawei and Xiaomi selling devices almost at cost.
Another problem is that most people are still feeling the pinch of the various financial crises that have rocked the world since 2001. People in the west are pulling out of the 24-month upgrade cycle, preferring to hold on to their perfectly working devices for up to 30 months at a time. After all, it’s not as if the Galaxy S5 magically turns into a piece of garbage 730 days after you buy it.
But Gartner throws some shade at smartphone manufacturers themselves, saying they’re not doing enough to woo customers into buying new devices. As the technology updates have “become incremental, rather than exponential,” there’s little reason to rush out on launch day to grab the latest handset. Smartphones are something that you replace when they wear out, not something desirable in themselves.
The firm says that India is the next great hope for smartphone companies to make a profit, but even now it may be too late. The country still buys feature phones more than smartphones, and the average selling price for a device is $120. That means that only devices that come in under that price is going to make a profit, although Google’s Android One initiative may eventually prove its worth here. But local players like Micromax are mounting a stern defense, teaming up with Cyanogen to appeal to more affluent customers.
Buried at the end of the report is a note of optimism, saying that companies will still try to enter the “complex and competitive” phone business. But nestled alongside is the warning that some of the established players will “exit the market.” It mentions no names, but we can already think of one company that’s struggling to stay afloat after being undermined by ultra-budget Chinese competition.
Gartner ends by saying that at least one “nontraditional phone maker” could become a top five player in China by 2018. With the cost of low-end smartphones plummeting and the market becoming saturated, it’s not unreasonable to see that. For instance, a giant like LeEco or Tencent could offer almost free handsets much like Amazon does with its Fire tablets: as a trojan horse to hook you in to its other businesses.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Gartner
Swarm brings back Foursquare’s real-world perks
Foursquare is continuing its quest to bring back all the things you liked from its old check-in app. Swarm now offers real-life perks depending on where and how often you check in. You’ll get a discount if you swing by certain stores, for instance, or enter to win a prize if you complete a challenge across multiple shops. Only some locations will have these benefits, but Foursquare is promising “hundreds” of prizes ranging from cruises to drones to VIP concert tickets.
The first challenge is already underway, and it’s a big one: you can win a $10,000 vacation to anywhere you want if you check into three “summertime locations” (think beaches or movie theaters) no later than June 19th.
It’s a relatively small move, but it could do a lot to help Foursquare draw in users who might have drifted away. While it’s fun to get bragging rights for a mayorship, part of the allure of the original Foursquare app was getting that discount at the coffee shop you visit every day. If Swarm offers enough perks in the right places, you’ll have a good incentive to keep using the app regardless of how competitive your friends might be.
Source: App Store, Google Play
Three asks Ofcom to limit BT in next spectrum auction
Ofcom is expected to auction off fresh slices of mobile spectrum later this year, which carriers will use to improve speeds on their networks amid our ever-increasing demand for data. It’ll be a significant event in the mobile world, with the spectrum on offer being the equivalent of roughly 75 percent of the capacity released in 2013 to pave the way for the launch of the UK’s first 4G services. Ofcom hasn’t set a formal date yet, but already Three’s CEO David Dyson is calling on the regulator to protect his network’s interests so it can remain competitive with its larger rivals.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Dyson fears that BT could end up with something of a monopoly on the airwaves if they’re sold to the highest bidder. As it stands, it’s reported that Three commands 15 per cent of spectrum, O2 14 per cent, Vodafone 28 per cent and BT a whopping 42 per cent, given its own spectrum is now pooled with that of EE’s. Following BT’s acquisition of EE, Dyson believes the combined company “has got the financial ability to outcompete everyone in the market in how much they are willing to pay.”
Given BT’s dominant position, Dyson argues it could use its bank balance to hoover up as much spectrum as possible, purely to stifle rival providers. Thus, he wants Ofcom to impose “fairly significant restrictions” on BT and Vodafone in the upcoming auction, including potentially making the former releasing some of its existing spectrum before being allowed to buy more.
Though Dyson may be stomping his feet a little prematurely, he does have a point. Should O2 and Three have merged, the resulting company would’ve had a spectrum allowance equivalent to Vodafone’s, and a bigger customer base with better cash flow. Basically, an equal player at auction — the auction that was supposed to take place early this year before Ofcom was forced to delay while the BT/EE and O2/Three proposals played out.
The European Commission ended up blocking the marriage of Three and O2 based primarily on concerns that shrinking the number of mobile operators from four to three would have a negative impact on competition. Ofcom was of the same disposition, and now Dyson is asking that the regulator continue to protect competition by engineering the auction appropriately.
Network infrastructure, of which intangible spectrum forms a part, is something Three’s top brass have been paying a lot of attention to of late. Last month, it came to light that Three is seeking over £150 million in damages from EE over a mast-sharing agreement between the two. Three claims it has only been allowed to access half of the mobile masts it was promised under the deal, which EE denies of course. This mast-sharing agreement also played a part in the recent devaluation of Three UK by owner CK Hutchison.
Looking into his mirky crystal ball, Dyson told the FT that if “we can make the business model work,” CK Hutchison would continue to invest and support Three, “but as the smallest [operator] we have few customers to recoup the investment.”
Source: The Financial Times
Samsung might have bendable, foldable smartphones ready for 2017
Bloomberg sources say that Samsung is thinking of introducing phones with bendable screens. In fact, Samsung said that it would have that technology ready by 2017 itself, just a few years ago at its investors conference. However, this goes some way to proving that Samsung has developed the tech enough to bring it to consumer product. A pair of devices will have flexible OLED screens, with one folding like a cosmetic compact and another that transforms from a 5-inch smartphone-sized screen to a display roughly eight inches large; so… a tablet.
Screen tech could be the next battleground between Samsung’s Galaxy series of phones and the Apple iPhone, which is also rumored to pack OLED screens in the future. The phones, codenamed “Project Valley”, may even appear as early as Mobile World Congress, around February 2017. Just give me my picnic blanket 4K TV already. I’ve suffered enough.
Source: Bloomberg
Deezer sells Stitcher less than two years after purchasing it
Podcast app/directory Stitcher is changing hands again, as this time Deezer is selling it to the E.W. Scripps company. That comes just 591 days after Deezer bought Stitcher in the first place, seeking to pair podcasts with its music library and a few months after the podcast app suffered a prolonged outage. According to Scripps, Stitcher has 8.5 million registered users and is installed on 50 models of cars, however it did not reveal how many of those users are active. Apparently it’s enough to justify a $4.5 million purchase price a Wall Street Journal source described as a small acquihire, and the Stitcher team will join Midroll Media, a podcast producer and advertising network.
If you use the app, nothing will be changing immediately, and Deezer sent an email to podcasts saying their content will continue to be available on its platform too. Since Deezer made its purchase, Google Play Music and Spotify have both dived into podcasts, SoundCloud added paid offline listening and Apple’s iTunes has… not done much except continued to be the largest overall platform. Stitcher says that the new owner should help advertisers and content partners with “an expanded portfolio of opportunities to help you reach the audiences you’re seeking” but we’ll have to wait and find out exactly what that includes.
Source: E.W. Scripps, Stitcher
You can finally post to Instagram from other iOS apps
Ever since Apple introduced app sharing extensions in iOS 8, budding iPhone photographers have been wondering where Instagram’s extension was. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could share a photo from any app, rather than diving into Instagram and choosing from your camera roll? You’re getting that chance today: Instagram has quietly introduced a sharing extension to the latest version of its iOS app. So long as you turn on the extension, any app that supports iOS’ official sharing method can send a photo Instagram’s way. That’s a particularly big deal if you’re fond of third-party imaging apps, which don’t always automatically save pictures to your photo library.
The addition is overdue, to put it mildly. Android users have had this share-from-anywhere luxury for a while, and numerous other photo-focused apps (such as Flickr) have had iOS sharing extensions for a long time. All the same, it’s good to see Instagram fill in a missing piece of the puzzle.
Via: iMore
Source: App Store
T-Mobile’s new Uncarrier move gives company stock to subscribers
John Legere has spent basically his entire tenure as T-Mobile CEO sweetening the deal for new and current customers, and today his largesse took a very peculiar form. As part of the newly announced Uncarrier 11 initiative, T-Mobile launched StockUp, a new rewards program that grants one share of company stock to every T-Mobile primary account holder. Those folks can bank up to 100 shares a year by referring their friends — not too shabby, considering shares are currently valued at $43.62 and T-Mobile’s strong financial growth could nudge that number even higher.
The deal is even sweeter for long term loyalists: customers who have been around for at least five years get two shares for each newcomer they refer. Legere joked that T-Mobile customers are collectively his boss now, but don’t get any ideas — there are probably some stringent financial mechanisms in place you keep you and a few hundred thousand friends from staging a hostile T-Mobile takeover.
There are a few caveats to be aware of, though. This deal is only for consumer postpaid subscribers, and you’re out of luck entirely if you use T-Mobile subsidiary MetroPCS.
Legere live-streamed the news from New York City, an event that also saw the company roll out another rewards program called T-Mobile Tuesdays. Every week, the company plans to give out freebies through a T-Mobile Tuesdays app that’s now live in Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. Legere says the program includes “food, movie tickets, gift cards, subscriptions, ridesharing and more,” though the first week’s gift is a free ticket to go see Warcraft. Considering the reviews we’ve seen so far, you might want to see what comes free next week instead. On the flip side, you’ll also be able to access recurring freebies like free Vudu video rentals and medium Domino’s Pizzas.
Oh, and to ease the intense boredom that sets in on long flights, T-Mobile customers will get one hour of free Gogo in-flight wi-fi and free in-flight messaging on iMessage, Google Hangouts and Viber for the duration of your time in the middle seat.
Sprint poached Verizon’s ‘Can you hear me now?’ guy
Geico has a Gecko, Progressive has Flo and Verizon… doesn’t have the “can you hear me now?” guy any more. That’s because actor Paul Marcarelli has been signed up by Sprint to be the new face of its brand, while mugging off his former employer. In the first of a series of commercials, the former Verizon guys says that his oft-repeated question is now irrelevant because “it’s 2016 and every network is great.” Sprint is using him to push the idea that its coverage is just one percent behind Big Red, so people shouldn’t have to worry about coverage issues.
It’s a big deal for Sprint, which is celebrating its coup with a fresh round of publicity and plenty of tweeting from CEO Marcelo Claure. It is, after all, a rare ray of sunshine for a company that has suffered the most over the last few years. A revitalized T-Mobile stole the firm’s third-place position in the US mobile world, and (parent company) Softbank refused to bankroll further success. Claure was given instructions last year to slash $2 billion from the firm’s budget. It’s led to a war of words with T-Mobile, with Claure famously calling the third-placed company’s Uncarrier marketing as “bullshit.”
1/7 Good evening @Verizon – someone special just joined #TeamSprint & I think you may recognize him… pic.twitter.com/78N36iFT0H
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) June 6, 2016
Mobile networks have spent plenty of time and money to groom faces that’ll help to give their brand an edge in a fiercely competitive market. T-Mobile hired Carly Foulkes in 2010 to be the face of the company until she was dropped in 2013 — ironically, for John Legere to take the spotlight. AT&T, meanwhile, uses Milana Vayntrub to play the character of Lily Adams, a well-meaning store supervisor. Verizon has taken to using the lovable, relatable Ricky Gervais in its own attack ads on Sprint. It’s ironic, given that Verizon already employs the world’s most engaging screen presence — he reviews mobile phones for Engadget.
Via: Verge, Android Central
Source: Sprint
What to expect from Lenovo’s Tech World event this week
Lenovo is pulling out all the stops this year. While it’s no stranger to big launch events, this company is hosting a Tech World keynote on June 9th that promises a little bit of everything, including Motorola’s latest flagship phones and the first commercially available device using Google’s Project Tango mapping technology. But exactly are we going to see? And are there any wild cards in store? We’ve rounded up the leaks and rumors to give you a good idea of what to expect when Lenovo and Moto take the stage in San Francisco this Thursday.
Moto Z
This is the main reason why you’re here, isn’t it? You’re probably wondering how Motorola will follow up the Moto X Pure Edition, especially now that Lenovo is putting more of its mark on the iconic phone brand.
From all indications, the answer is to drop the Moto X name completely… along with some of the things you associate with Motorola’s top-of-the-line smartphone. You might instead see the Moto Z Play and Style, a pair of 5.5-inch devices that would focus on personalization even more than you’ve seen with past Moto phones. You’ll reportedly get modular backplates (MotoMods) that let you change the functionality of the phone — JBL speakers, a projector and even a Hasselblad-branded camera would be just a quick swap away. However, you’d lose the curvy back that made the Moto X so easy to grip, and a fingerprint reader on the front would do away with Motorola’s historically compact front bezels.
If the rumors are accurate, Lenovo would repeat the split between high- and low-end models. The Moto Z Style, like the Moto X Pure/Style, would be the star of the show with its quad HD display, 32GB of storage, 3GB or 4GB of RAM and an 0.2-inch thick body. It’s likely to pack a speedier Snapdragon 820 processor, too. The Moto Z Play, meanwhile, would be for the budget crowd with a 1080p screen and choices of either 16GB of storage and 2GB RAM or 32GB of space and 3GB of RAM. Verizon is expected to have at least one Droid-branded variant, although it’s not clear what you’ll get besides flashier designs (metallic hues may be the main theme) and lots of carrier branding.
Lenovo’s Project Tango phone
In a sense, the other high-end device due at Tech World is no mystery at all: Lenovo already promised to formally launch its Project Tango-powered smartphone at the event. The large (under 6.5 inches) device will revolve around Tango’s signature 3D mapping tech, which should both measure your environment and bring augmented reality worlds to your screen. The exact nature of what you get might be up in the air, however. Lenovo has promised a sub-$500 price, a summer release and a Snapdragon processor, but the finished design and performance haven’t been nailed down. We’d expect at least a few changes to the prototype Tango phone teased back in January.
Don’t expect a RAZR comeback
Sorry to dash your hopes, but one of the biggest stories for Tech World is what isn’t happening. Despite Lenovo and Motorola fueling expectations of a RAZR revival at the show, they warn that they’re “not re-releasing” the iconic clamshell. That video really exists to remind you of Motorola’s ability to change the cellular landscape, apparently.
Not that this comes as a total shock. Outside of Japan and the occasional smart flip phone, the RAZR’s form factor doesn’t have a huge following in 2016. The once ubiquitous name doesn’t mean that much in the 12 years following its launch (even the Droid-branded models didn’t last long), and Lenovo isn’t in a financial position to gamble on cellular nostalgia. The Motorola team may need to sort out its future before it dwells on the past.
Wild cards
What else? Lenovo has promised “freshly minted concepts” from its labs, so you should see some out-there technology that grabs headlines. Whether or not the tech translates to shipping products is another matter, but Lenovo is no stranger to bringing clever ideas to fruition.
Besides that, it’s hard to know what’s coming. We wouldn’t count on smartwatches when the second-generation Moto 360 is less than a year old. Lenovo might use this mid-year media gathering as an opportunity to announce new PCs, although the phone focus makes that seem less probable. The one certainty is that you can’t rule out a surprise or two: Lenovo is fond of pulling rabbits out of its hat.
[Image credits: HellomotoHK, Lenovo, Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
AIVAnet 