Google’s Nexus update images save you from wiping your device
Google has long made Nexus and Pixel C factory images available for people who just can’t wait to install new Android versions (or want an alternative restore option). However, they’ve always come with a big gotcha: since it’s a complete system image, you have to wipe your phone clean. You won’t have to start from scratch after today, though. Google has posted over-the-air update images for all its currently supported Nexus and Pixel C devices, giving you the satisfaction of an immediate upgrade (no weeks-long waits here) without nuking all your data.
The concept of downloading an OTA image isn’t strictly new. Third-party sites have hosted them for years, and Google itself has offered OTA images for Android N preview users who either run into showstopping glitches or want to roll back to Marshmallow. The difference is that you don’t have to either trust unofficial sources or run pre-release code to give this a shot. If you’re just concerned about getting the latest bug and security fixes as soon as they hit the internet, your life just got considerably easier.
Via: Android Police, 9to5Google
Source: Google Developers
Nintendo 2DS drops to $80 on May 20th
The 2DS is getting yet another price cut on May 20th. Less than a year after Nintendo brought it down to $100, from $130 originally, the company revealed today that its handheld console will now cost $80. That puts the 2DS in impulse-buy territory, so long as you’re willing to live without the three-dimensional effect found on the flagship 3DS. It does come with a digital copy of Mario Kart 7, though, which is about a $20 value on its own.
Yesterday, Nintendo also announced the release date for Pokémon Sun and Moon, in case you’re looking for a reason to spend $80 on the 2DS. Although those games won’t be available until November 18th, there are plenty others coming out over the next few weeks, including Kirby: Planet Robobot and the long-awaited Mighty No. 9.
Source: Nintendo (Twitter)
Instagram gets a new monochrome look to focus on your media
After testing a black and white design with a few users, Instagram officially rolled out the look as part of its major redesign today. The idea is that the monochrome interface will put a greater emphasis on your photos and videos. Judging from the screenshots and videos, media does tend to stand out more now on its iOS and Android apps. Additionally, the company has redesigned its app logo with a simple, multi-colored icon that drops the original’s skeumorphic design — it only vaguely looks like a camera. Instagram also updated logos for its other apps, Hyperlapse, Layout and Boomerang, with a similar look.
“While the icon is a colorful doorway into the Instagram app, once inside the app, we believe the color should come directly from the community’s photos and videos,” wrote Instagram’s head of design, Ian Spalter. “We stripped the color and noise from surfaces where people’s content should take center stage, and boosted color on other surfaces like sign up flows and home screens.”
I don’t have access to the newer app yet, but the redesign looks like an intriguing one for Instagram. It hasn’t done much to tweak the look of its apps for the past five years, so it makes sense for it to take some big leaps now. The black and white design feels much more mature, instead of something from a small startup that inexplicably became a giant social network.
Source: Instagram
Google wants emoji that give working women their due
Take a look at your phone’s emoji list. Notice how the only people representing jobs (such as police officers and construction workers) are men, while women are limited to brides and princesses? Some Google developers aren’t happy with that one-sided state of affairs. They’ve proposed a new set of Unicode emoji that better represent women in professional roles. Their 13 new emoji would show both men and women in very well-known industries, ranging from tech (our favorite) to farming to rock stars. They hope that this gives young women a subtle confidence boost — if it’s no big deal to use the emoji for a female software engineer, there won’t be as much of a stigma around becoming a software engineer.
The proposal is still very young, and there are chances that it’ll either go through significant changes or even get the axe. With that said, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Unicode Consortium gives this emoji expansion the green light. As proposed, the new icons would both tackle gender imbalance and expand the range of work-related emoji in one fell swoop.
Via: BuzzFeed, The Verge
Source: Unicode.org (PDF)
European regulators block Three and O2 merger
We suspected it was coming, but the European Commission has finally come out and said it: Three UK owner Hutchison Whampoa cannot buy UK carrier O2. In a statement, the Commission said that a potential merger between Three and O2 would have “reduced competition” and “resulted in higher prices,” which may have negatively impacted the quality of service for UK consumers.
When Hutchison confirmed it was buying O2, the UK’s second biggest mobile network, for £10.25 billion in March 2015, it immediately began offering concessions in order to secure approval. One was to introduce a five-year freeze on the price of minutes, texts and megabytes across both networks. Others included the sharing of network capacity with one or two MVNOs, the divestment of O2’s stake in Tesco Mobile and a wholesale agreement with Virgin Media.
European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager today confirmed that they didn’t go far enough to satisfy investigators, stating MNVO concessions were “commercially and technically dependent on the merged entity” and raised too much uncertainty over how they’d be implemented.
“Allowing Hutchison to takeover O2 at the terms they proposed would have been bad for UK consumers and bad for the UK mobile sector. We had strong concerns that consumers would have had less choice finding a mobile package that suits their needs and paid more than without the deal,” says Vestager. “It would also have hampered innovation and the development of network infrastructure in the UK, which is a serious concern especially for fast moving markets. The remedies offered by Hutchison were not sufficient to prevent this.”
Commission has decided to block Hutchison’s plan to take over O2 in the UK. Why? To serve UK consumers – affordable prices and innovation.
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) May 11, 2016
Although buyout rumours were swirling at the same time regarding EE and O2, Hutchison’s bid for O2 came after BT’s £12.5 billion deal for EE. The broadband provider was able to secure approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the acquisition went through in January, despite opposition from rival providers. However, in Three and O2’s case, the merger would ensure that the UK’s mobile landscape has only three major players, which is something the CMA would only get behind if Hutchison agreed to sell one of its mobile businesses or break them up to form an independent fourth provider.
The Commission’s three major areas of concern focus on the size of a combined Three/O2 network, the development of network infrastructure and a potential squeeze on smaller mobile providers who rely on wholesale agreements from the big four carriers to operate.
Together, Three and O2 would become the UK’s biggest carrier with a market share of more than 40 percent. The Commision argues that because of its size, the combined entity wouldn’t have an incentive to compete with EE and Vodafone, which may result in higher mobile prices across the industry.
Because Three and EE have a 3G network agreement and O2 is sharing infrastructure with Vodafone, the merged company would have played a role in determining its rivals’ network plans. European investigators believe that would weaken both EE and Vodafone and hamper the development of next-generation mobile networks (like 5G).
Hutchison has come out firing following the announcement and is threatening to pursue legal action:
“We are deeply disappointed by the Commission’s decision to prohibit the merger between Three UK and O2 UK. We will study the Commission’s Decision in detail and will be considering our options, including the possibility of a legal challenge.
We strongly believe that the merger would have brought major benefits to the UK, not only by unlocking £10 billion of private sector investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure but also by addressing the country’s coverage issues, enhancing network capacity, speeds and price competition for consumers and businesses across the country and dealing with the competition issues arising from the current significant imbalance in spectrum ownership between the UK’s MNOs.”
What’s next for the two carriers? Reports suggest that now the merger has been denied, other providers may decide to get in on the act. Liberty Global, owner of Virgin Media, reportedly expressed an interest in picking up O2 in the event that European regulators blocked the takeover. Should it not find a buyer, Telefonica may also consider making the company public.
Source: Europa
EE’s ‘Jay’ own-brand tablet is its cheapest to date
It’s been almost a year since EE added a new tablet to its own-brand, avian-themed range — or one aimed squarely at grown-ups, at least — so you know what that means. With only refurbished Harrier Tabs left in stock, it’s time for a new slate to become EE’s value offering. At £120 on pay-as-you-go, the “Jay” is the cheapest homegrown tablet EE’s ever launched; and it shows, at least when compared with the more powerful, larger-screened Harrier Tab.
The white and silver Jay is fronted by a 7.85-inch, 1,024 x 768 display, with a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2MP front-facer rounding out the rest of the visible features. Inside you’re looking at a 1GHz quad-core MediaTek processor running Android 5.1 Lollipop, a 3,600mAh battery, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable with microSD cards up to 32GB). And of course you get a 4G radio alongside WiFi 802.11b/g/n support, this being an EE tablet and all.
That’s good for users, giving them internet on the go, and also good for EE, since the network can tempt you with a monthly contract as an alternative to the £120 pay-as-you-go price. Available today in-store and online, contracts for new customers start at £16 per month with a £30 upfront payment. Existing customers, however, can forget about the upfront payment and get a slight discount on the monthly fee.
Source: EE (1), (2)
Microsoft Research wants to pit you against virtual swimmers
You don’t need other people to swim, but a Microsoft Research project can spice up your swimming routine by putting you in or pitting you against virtual teams. Redmond’s research division is working with a team of researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to develop SwimTrain. It’s a system consisting of an app, a waterproof case for your smartphone and a pair of underwater headphones that provides sensory/auditory feedback. SwimTrain puts you in a team of three swimmers — if you’re competing, it tells you how you’re doing against your two virtual opponents. If you’re in the same team, it helps you maintain your strokes so you can keep up with your virtual teammates.
The KAIST team created SwimTrain, because they wanted “a group fitness swimming game that allows a group of people to perform mediated synchronous interactions over a virtual space.” When they interviewed the 11 study participants who used the prototype they made, they found that the system “enriche[d] the social experience of swimming, motivate[d] swimmers to greater levels of exertion and allow[ed] swimmers to establish a strategy to win the game irrespective of their relative skill level.” Microsoft Research didn’t say whether we’ll ever get the chance to use the system, but you can know more about it through KAIST’s paper and the video below.
Source: Microsoft Research
EE disputes Three’s ‘undisputed’ reliability claim, wins
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a billboard advert for Three’s mobile network, after a six-month complaint from rival carrier EE was finally upheld. The ad, which features a purple Muppet-like character called Jackson being held aloft in a Rocky-style pose, featured the tagline: “The undisputed. UK’s most reliable network. Again.” EE claimed Three couldn’t state it was the “undisputed” market leader without saying it was based on YouGov sample data and the ASA agreed.
@ThreeUK Undisputed? Not quite: https://t.co/z8KvI0HHFY #makeitright #getitright pic.twitter.com/CGzfKJ6933
— EE (@EE) November 5, 2015
Because it had included a YouGov logo in its ad (shown above), Three believed consumers would understand that its claims were based on a research report. The poll asked customers who they thought the best mobile network based on a number of metrics and Three was voted the most reliable network for the fifth consecutive quarter. EE took to social media to publicly contend Three’s “undisputed” claim, highlighting awards it had won from network testing body Rootmetrics.
Three didn’t help matters when it admitted there wasn’t a “standard, objective industry test for network ‘reliability’” and that “‘reliability’ is related to personal experience and therefore the best way to find out a network’s reliability was to ask its customers.” The ASA therefore banned the ad because its main claim did not reference YouGov clearly enough or include any wording that said it was based on subjective consumer reviews.
So, what happens now? As with the majority of the ASA’s upheld rulings, the company gets a slight ticking off and told not to do it again. At this point, the Jackson ad is six months old, meaning that it’s unlikely to figure in Three’s current marketing material anyway.
Still, EE’s finding time to gloat about the decision:
Hi @threeuk your undisputed claim has been disputed. The ASA says you have to #makeitright https://t.co/liTezUpjfK pic.twitter.com/NpQRJeen7Z
— EE (@EE) May 11, 2016
Via: The Guardian
Source: ASA
BioLite’s new lantern doubles as a campsite power grid
After rolling out a slew of new gear earlier this year, BioLite is ready to announce their next piece of outdoor tech. The BaseLantern is a 500-lumen, flat-packing LED lantern that lights your campsite while also creating “a mini smartgrid” you can control from a smartphone.
On its face, the BaseLantern is a compact lantern, “no larger than the sandwich you pack in your lunch.” The lantern’s internal battery can do a couple handy things like charge your phone, top off your GoPro for the next day’s adventure, or extend the lighting from the campfire to the outhouses with a special port for BioLite’s SiteLights string lighting.
But as a lighting solution and battery pack, the lantern also packs a few smart tricks that set it apart: with the Bluetooth LE-connected smartphone app, campers can set the mood with the lantern’s color controls and lighting temperature, or check the check battery status and power analytics to see how much juice is left before everything goes dark. The killer feature though? Proximity activation for those times when you’re stumbling out of your tent in the dark, looking for a place to pee.
The BaseLantern officially launches on Kickstarter today and comes in two battery sizes: a 7,800 mAh version and a 12,000 mAh version. By their estimates, BioLite says the larger version will last anywhere from 7 hours on a high brightness setting to 114 hours on a low setting. Prices start at $99, or $79 for early supporters. With a successful campaign, the lantern is expected to light campsites around the world when it ships in October of this year.
Pebble watches are now better fitness trackers
After years of relying on third-party activity trackers, Pebble finally introduced its own homegrown version last December. Simply called Pebble Health, the native fitness app tracks your steps and sleep patterns and has a built-in coach to keep you motivated. Today, however, it’s getting a massive update to give you an even more holistic view of your overall health and achievements.
It still tracks those steps and sleep patterns of course, but there’s now a revamped Health section that lets you compare your activity and sleep levels for the past day, week and month. Plus, it also offers daily sleep and step summaries to get a better idea if your fitness plan is working. The new update is also great if you’re a runner, as it’ll now automatically figure out if you’re walking or running based on your movements. It’ll then offer you activity insights after you’re done. If you like, you can also get coaching based on your results. The Pebble Health app also now has Smart Alarms, which will wake you up in your lightest sleep phase — as long as it’s within 30 minutes prior to your set wake time — to make sure you wake up refreshed.
Other Pebble app updates include extended text reply options for iOS. This feature already existed for Android users, but now iPhone users will be able to take advantage of this too. Basically, you’ll now be able to use the Send Text app to send text replies (a canned response or a voice note) to your contacts, as long as you have a Time-series watch. Text replies to incoming calls are also supported, though you’ll have to be subscribed to either AT&T or Verizon to have that feature (This is in part due to the current limitations of iOS).
Still, the Health app is certainly the big update here. It remains to be seen if this push will draw more people to the Pebble fold, as it faces stiff competition from the likes of the Apple Watch and Android Wear as well as all the other activity trackers on the market. If you are a proud Pebble owner however, you can go on and download the latest update starting today.
AIVAnet 