Plug this into your Android phone and it records 3D video
As the latest Android phones cram more camera tricks up their unibody sleeves, what about your current smartphone that’s barely a year old? Well that might be where the Eye-Plug comes in. Hidden inside a humble stand deep within Computex here in Taipei, the USB-C accessory plugs into your (currently Android-only) smartphone, adding another camera sensor to your phone for front- and rear-facing dual camera frivolity. (That’s where you need that handy reversible connection.) I tested out the prototype accessory, with full production scheduled for later this year. 3D selfie videos could be a horrifying reality.
The company’s spokesperson told us it would be priced at around $35, which sounds insanely cheap — we’re double checking that. The company alsowasn’t specifying the resolution of the camera, but the live preview footage we recorded and tested was a perfectly acceptable resolution for Google Cardboard 3D viewing. Alongside shooting your own 3D video, you can also do some post-processing focus and blurring, with the second camera helping to define depth.
There’s some caveats: there’s no iPhone model (it’s in the works), your Android phone needs a USB-C port, and the camera quality may not perfectly match your smartphone’s own shooter — not all sensors are made equal — so color accuracy could be wobbly. The accessory pairs with custom-made camera and 3D viewing apps, and don’t worry if your smartphone’s camera isn’t center-aligned: the software compensates and calibrates when you use the Eye-Plug, to keep things as 3D-ish as possible.
Stay on top of all the latest news from Computex 2016 right here.
Source: Eye-plug (Facebook)
Google wants to give its AI assistant a childhood
Now that Google Assistant is promising two-way conversations, Google wants to give the artificial intelligence a little more personality. The company has asked both a freelance artist (Emma Coats) and the head of its Doodle team (Ryan Germick) to make Assistant more relatable to its human users through multiple techniques, including a possible “childhood” that you might identify with. You could also see a more Siri-like playfulness, with both ready-made answers for silly questions as well as a little vulnerability.
There’s a practical reason for making you feel more at home with Assistant, of course. The easier it is to get along with the AI, the more likely it is that you’ll use it — and that, in turn, could lead to more internet searches. Not that many are likely to object. One of the biggest gripes with the current generation of AI helpers is their tendency to be cold and strictly task-oriented. Adding some character, even if it’s pre-programmed, could help bring this smart software into the mainstream.
Source: Fast Company
Sony’s Xperia X hits the US on June 26, but you don’t need one
After a confusing introduction at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Sony is finally gearing up to bring its new Xperias — the Xperia X, X Performance, XA and XA Ultra — to the US this summer. Alas, the Xperia X is set to land here first (on June 26th for $550), though it’s arguably the least interesting of the bunch. It’s a handsome little phone and channels many of the Xperia Z5’s design and construction strengths, but after a week of using it, one thing is clear: There isn’t a great reason to actually buy one.
I’ve been playing with the 32GB Lime Gold version, because really — how often can you go out and buy a cute green phone? The correct answer: “Not often enough.” Sony went all out with the color too. In fact, the only splashes of not-green you’ll find are the silver Sony logo, a silver sleep/wake button and a sticker indicating the NFC touchpoint is next to the 13-megapixel front-facing camera. There’s a micro-USB port on the bottom edge (sadly, not everyone has embraced the USB Type-C revolution yet) and a nano SIM tray that also has a spot for microSD cards as large as 200GB.
Expandable memory is always a nice touch, but it doesn’t make up for the Xperia X’s two most troubling omissions. Unlike global versions of the Xperia X, the US model’s power button doesn’t double as a fingerprint sensor. And unlike the Xperia X Performance, which will hit the US on July 17th, the bog-standard X isn’t waterproof either. D’oh.
Speaking of mild disappointments, the Xperia X’s main rear shooter is a reminder that it takes more than just megapixels to make a good camera. The 23-megapixel sensor is quick to shoot and there’s virtually no downtime between snapping photos, but there’s some noise to be found in detail-heavy pictures — it seems like Sony’s software goes a little heavy on the processing. While there is a full Manual mode and camera effects like an AR mode and artificial bokeh available for download, most of the time you’ll be shooting in the Superior Auto mode.
As usual for smartphone cameras, the Xperia fares best in bright shooting conditions. Though colors are usually punchy and expressive, they can get washed out in harsh lighting. As you might expect, the Xperia X also suffers from blur and muddiness in dimmer light; indoor shots on a cloudy day came out a little hazy. On the flip side, though, the 13-megapixel front camera consistently churned out detailed selfies.
Those selfies look great on the Xperia X’s 5-inch, 1080p IPS LCD screen, by the way. That shouldn’t come as a surprise: Just about everything looks great on this display. More importantly, it’s absolutely fantastic in direct sunlight; the sweltering summer weather we’ve had in New York these past few days couldn’t keep the Xperia X from letting me see all the sweet, sweet social updates that make modern life a waking nightmare. Colors (including Sony’s custom wallpapers) look vivid, and blacks are surprisingly deep by default, too. Not your style? Fair enough: You can make colors look even more vibrant, or turn off image enhancements entirely. Nicely done, Sony.
So far the Xperia X feels like a mixed bag, but surprisingly enough it’s the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 that makes the phone feel so premium. It’s a hexa-core chipset in the vein of the classic Snapdragon 808, albeit with two cores clocked at 1.8 GHz and four clocked at 1.4GHz. Throw in 3GB of RAM, an Adreno 530 GPU and a relatively uncluttered version of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and we’ve got a slick little package that never stuttered or felt sluggish during my week of testing. A brief aside: My only beef about Sony’s Android skin is that swiping down to search for apps from the launcher brings up a list of apps the phone thinks you should install, including a few sponsored options. Get. Out.
Anyway, there’s enough horsepower here to satisfy most people’s daily routines, but the Xperia X still lags behind last year’s Xperia Z5 when it comes to graphical performance. It feels a little weird to recommend a months-old phone over a brand-new one for mobile gamers, but that’s the long and short of it. On the other hand, though, battery life has been surprisingly good so far — I’ve been getting over a full day of pretty frequent usage out of the X, and it sat patiently on my desk for nearly three days waiting for me to do something with it before dying.
It’s easy to write off Sony as a smartphone also-ran, a company that could’ve been a mobile giant if not for years of questionable decisions. The Xperia X stands as a reminder that, even after all that, Sony still knows how to make a fine handset. That doesn’t, however, mean you should rush out and buy this thing. While there might have been production and supply issues at play, I’m a little disappointed we’re getting this model instead of the far more interesting Xperia X Performance, which comes out July 17th.
The price feels a little silly too: You could spend $549 on the really-rather-nice Xperia X, but the Z5 Premium and its heartbreakingly nice 4K screen will set you back just as much. Frankly, the argument to buy an Xperia X is pretty flimsy, but hopefully, it does well enough that Sony doesn’t change its mind about launching the phone(s) we really want later this summer.
Welcome to Computex 2016!
In the middle of humid Taiwan, Computex is a show mostly all about computers. There’s always other stuff, but it centers on PCs. ASUS started the show a little early, but we’re also hearing from Intel, Microsoft and more about what to expect over the next year or two. Mobile computing is The Thing now, so the likes of Qualcomm will have something to say as well. Virtual reality has ushered in a renaissance in PC gaming, and we’re sure that’ll also inform what we see this year.
You’ll find the news right here — we”ll be reporting all week.
Apple faces Caltech lawsuit over WiFi patents
Apple’s legal troubles with schools aren’t over yet: Caltech has sued Apple and chipmaker Broadcom for allegedly violating four WiFi-related patents. Supposedly, most Apple devices (including the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch) from the iPhone 5 onward use Broadcom chips that copy Caltech decoding and encoding technology to improve data flow. As with most such lawsuits, the institute is calling for both damages and a ban on offending hardware.
How well Apple or Broadcom fares isn’t clear, but there’s the very real possibility that they’ll have to pay the piper (either following a trial or an out-of-court settlement). Given that the tech is vital to the 802.11n and 802.11ac WiFi standards, neither company can afford to stop using it — not unless you miss the good old days of 54Mbps wireless access. And as The Verge points out, Caltech isn’t exactly a patent troll relying on dubious claims to make a tidy profit — it’s more likely to have a valid case.
Via: MacRumors, The Verge
Source: USCourts.gov (login required)
Up close with the ASUS ZenFone 3 series
Much like previous Computex shows, ASUS announced a bunch of new smartphones that won’t bust your wallet; only this time, the best-looking device turns out to be the base model: the ZenFone 3. We managed to get some hands-on time with this $249 device and to our surprise, it looks just as good in real life thanks to the spun-metal finish on the back. It also has a more premium feel than its predecessor due to the switch from a plastic body to a combination of metallic frame and 2.5D glass panels. At this price point (with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage), there’s little to complain about, but it’ll take some real-life usage to see if the mid-range Snapdragon 625 will suit your needs.
The high-end ZenFone 3 Deluxe isn’t far off, either. It comes with a metal unibody that’s subtly curved on the back for better ergonomics, and unlike most rivals’ metallic phones, the Deluxe manages to cover up most of its antenna bands — the remaining bits are just on the body’s chamfer. Still, we wouldn’t mind having the ZenFone 3’s body for the Deluxe as we’re more mesmerized by its concentric circles on the back, which is more effective than the same effect applied to the Deluxe’s chin and ear pillow on the front side. On a more positive note, the Deluxe’s Super AMOLED screen is visibly more vibrant, though we’ve yet to find out how well it performs under daylight. As for performance, we’re confident that the 6GB of RAM (at $499, with 32GB of storage) plus the Snapdragon 820 will keep things running smoothly, assuming the final software build won’t have any major bugs.
This leaves us with the 6.8-inch ZenFone 3 Ultra. Compared to its two smaller siblings, the Ultra has a less exciting design, featuring a flat metal unibody simply decorated with a chamfer, but at least it feels solid like the other two. As with the ZenFone 2, the Ultra’s volume keys are also placed on the back, which is a bit odd given that the other two ZenFone 3 models have them on the side. On a similar note, the Ultra’s fingerprint reader is located on the front side instead of the back like on its siblings, which perhaps makes more sense given that you’re less likely to be holding up the phablet as often; it is notably heavier, after all (233g instead of the Deluxe’s 170g), mainly because of the generous 4,600 mAh battery.
One thing we must praise is that those dual speakers at the bottom are super loud, which says a lot because even the single speaker on the lesser ZenFone 3 models is already pretty powerful. We just wish they were facing the front. $479 for this model gets you 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, so even though it’s running on a Snapdragon 652 (which should be more than plenty for everyday use), it probably wouldn’t take much to convince those who are addicted to watching videos on the road. As to how big that market is, only time will time.
Based on our early hands-on, it’s safe to say that ASUS is generally headed in the right direction with its latest smartphones, but there are still questions remaining: Are the cameras as good as they claim to be? And how stable is the latest ZenUI? We’ll let you know when we find out later.
ASUS ZenFone 3 looks and feels twice its price
Intel may have already quit the smartphone market, but its buddy ASUS continues to fight the good fight with a slightly different approach this year. At Computex, the Taiwanese giant announced not just one, but three new Android M smartphones: ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3 Ultra. These share a common design language, though in our opinion, it’s the $249 base model that has the best appearance thanks to the 2.5D Gorilla Glass on both sides, as well as the spun-metal finish on the back (underneath the glass). Together, these work well with any of the four color options: “Shimmer Gold,” “Aqua Blue,” “Sapphire Black” and “Moonlight White.” The sandblasted metallic frame around it adds a nice touch, too.
While the ZenFone 3 doesn’t feature Qualcomm’s top chipset, it’s the first phone to officially pack the mid-range Snapdragon 625 which is based on a 14nm process and has eight Cortex-A53 cores capped at 2 GHz, so its 3,000 mAh battery should last quite some time. You also get Cat 6 LTE (300 Mbps downlink, 50 Mbps uplink), dual-SIM support (one Micro SIM and one Nano SIM), 802.11ac MU-MIMO WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 and a mid-range Adreno 506 GPU as part of the package. The aforementioned $249 price point offers 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, and you can add more storage with a microSD card via the second SIM slot.
Like its plastic predecessor, this model features a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS screen, though its speaker at the bottom has been upgraded with a loud “5-magnet” driver powered by an NXP smart amp, and it’s Hi-Res Audio-certified for headphone output. Next to the speaker you’ll find a USB Type-C port — a first for ASUS phones — with USB 2.0 connectivity. Another addition is the new fingerprint sensor on the back, where it doubles as the center of the spun-metal finish.
The cameras play a big part on the ZenFone 3. The main one is now powered by Sony’s 16-megapixel IMX298 sensor (as featured on the Xiaomi Mi 5, Huawei Mate 8, Vivo Xplay5 and Oppo R9 Plus) with f/2.0 aperture, second-gen laser autofocus, phase detection autofocus, color-correction RGB sensor, dual-tone LED flash, 4-axis optical stabilization for stills and 3-axis electronic stabilization for video. Alas, the trade-off here is that you’ll have to make-do with the camera bump.
The same old low light mode (combines four pixels into one to boost sensitivity) and super resolution mode (produces 64-megapixel shots) are here to stay, and you can do long exposure of up to 32 seconds or even play with the full manual mode. As for the front imager, it’s now an 8-megapixel camera with an 85-degree wide view, and the usual beautification features are there for you selfie addicts.
The fancier ZenFone 3 Deluxe looks similar to the base model, except it uses a subtly curved metal unibody instead of a glass back, and ASUS is somewhat proud of the fact that it’s managed to hide most of the plastic antenna bands, leaving just a bit on the chamfer. For the sake of consistency, the spun-metal look is applied to the ear pillow and the chin instead of the back. It also uses a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display instead, thus offering 100-percent NTSC color space, as well as enabling an always-on screen feature for some handy information.
As you’ve probably guessed, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is powered by a Snapdragon 820 so it also does Cat 13 LTE with tri-band carrier aggregation (150 Mbps uplink), USB 3.0 connectivity and Quick Charge 3.0. It also has a sharper camera; in fact, it’s the first smartphone to use Sony’s 23-megapixel IMX318 sensor, and apart from the added 4K video recording support plus the fact that the super resolution mode has been bumped up to 92 megapixels, the feature set is otherwise identical to that on the ZenFone 3. Starting at $499, you get 6GB of RAM plus 64GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage, and there’ll be a 256GB variant arriving later.
Last but not least, the big daddy that is the ZenFone 3 Ultra is a 6.8-inch phablet with a 1080p LCD (95-percent NTSC gamut), a PixelWorks iris2+ TV grade processor (for optimized 4K playback), two speakers at the bottom and DTS Headphone:X 7.1 surround sound (a world-first, apparently), so it’s clearly made with multimedia entertainment in mind. As a bonus, there’s a larger 4,600 mAh battery that can act reverse charge other devices over a 1.5A current.
To keep it relatively affordable ($479 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage), though, the ZenFone 3 Ultra uses just an octa-core Snapdragon 652 (which is slightly more powerful than the ZenFone 3’s chipset) so there’s no USB 3.0 here, but you still get Cat 6 LTE, 802.11ac WiFi and Quick Charge 3.0. The cameras are also identical to those on the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and the fingerprint reader is here to stay, though it’s been moved from the back to below the screen. Not bad at all for this price point, so it’s just a matter of whether you are fine with carrying such a beastly phone.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for release dates for all three models. Until then, stay tuned for our hands-on.
ARM prepares for VR in 2017’s phones with new chips
Come next year, ARM has one major theme in mind for its next batch of mobile processors: virtual reality. Its new Cortex-A73 chip and Mali-G71 GPU are, naturally, faster than its current lineup. But more so than the past few years, where incremental improvements were enough, ARM sees VR as the ideal goalpost for its chips. The new Mali chip, for example, will be able to push up 4K screens with refresh rates of up to 120Hz (90Hz is the bare minimum for decent VR). And both new processors will also be easier on battery life, which means you’ll be able to stay jacked into virtual worlds for much longer.
The Cortex-A73 is both 30 percent faster and more power efficient than last year’s A72. ARM says it’s able to sustain peak performance speeds far more than its previous chips, and it has the smallest footprint yet for one of its mobile processors (under 0.65mm sq). The A73 is built on a 10nm FinFET (a type of 3D transistor) design, which is a big reason why it’s so much more compact and power efficient than ARM’s previous chips.
The Mali-G71 is an even bigger leap, with 50 percent faster graphics performance and 20 percent better energy efficiency. It’s built on ARM’s new Bifrost architecture, and it’ll also be able spit out graphics with a low latency of 4ms (also ideal for VR). The G71 also has 32 shader cores, twice as much as its predecessor, the Mali-T880.
ARM says ten companies have already licensed its new chip designs including Mediatek, Marvell and HiSilicon. But, as usual, it’ll be awhile before you’ll see the A73 and G71 in new devices. ARM’s partners have only just started testing out the hardware, so you’ll have to wait until early next year to see it in phones.
Iran orders messaging app makers to store data inside the country
Iran’s attempts to stifle dissenting views through online censorship don’t usually work all that well, so it’s trying a new strategy: bringing more of that data within its own borders. It’s ordering messaging app developers to move all their Iranian users’ data to the country within the next year if they want to “ensure their continued activity.” It’s not hard to see Iran would do this, of course — in theory, this makes it easy to delete unwanted content, spy on traffic and seize servers.
The clamp-down is potentially rough for secure messaging services like Telegram, which are particularly popular thanks to encryption that keeps messages safe from the government’s prying eyes. As Reuters points out, there are 20 million Iranian Telegram users in a country with just 80 million people — it’d be a big blow if Telegram had to withdraw.
Whether or not companies like this actually have to withdraw is another matter. Iranians are used to circumventing bans through technologies like virtual private networks, so an attempt to block messaging apps might do little more than introduce an additional step into the connection process. Unless Iran finds a way to completely shut off outside access, this move could be more symbolic than it is practical.
Source: Reuters
Phonebloks creator isn’t entirely happy with Project Ara
Dave Hakkens, the brains behind the Phonebloks modular phone concept, thinks Google could do better when it comes to Project Ara. In a blog post, Hakkens said he wasn’t happy that the modular phone’s latest version puts its processor, battery, antenna, sensors and screen in a single skeleton and that only add-ons like the camera, speakers and projector are available as swappable modules. When Hakkens dreamed up Phonebloks, he envisioned each component as a module you can replace. The Dutch designer announced the concept in September 2013 not knowing that Motorola was cooking up a similar project. The two later collaborated on Project Ara.
Hakkens thought up his concept as a way to reduce e-waste, but if all the important components are in one skeleton, then users will still end up tossing their phones out after a while. Further, he believes that Google should work with other companies to create an ecosystem of modules instead of doing everything on its own.
The Dutch designer’s vision, as you can imagine, wouldn’t be easy to execute. Nevertheless, he thinks Google has the resources as one of the most powerful companies in the world to cook up a better modular device. He does seem to be happy with one aspect of the new model, though: its blocky design, which is reminiscent of the original concept’s looks.
Source: Dave Hakkens
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