These are the Motorola phones that will be updated to Android 7.0 Nougat
While we were drooling over the Pixel and Pixel XL, Motorola published the list of phones that will be updated to Android 7.0 Nougat. Most phones announced this year are on the list — including the Moto G4 and G4 Plus, Moto Z, Z Play, and Z Force — as well as last year’s Moto X Pure Edition and X Play.
But as is becoming the case more and more often, there are a few notable omissions. The Moto G 2015 won’t receive Nougat, nor does the entry-level Moto E3 Power, which made its debut in July 2016. Other phones in the Moto E series are also not going to make the switch to the latest version of Android.
Here’s the list of Motorola phones that will pick up the Nougat update:
- Moto G (4th Gen)
- Moto G Plus (4th Gen)
- Moto G Play (4th Gen)
- Moto X Pure Edition (3rd Gen)
- Moto X Style
- Moto X Play
- Moto X Force
- Droid Turbo 2
- Droid Maxx 2
- Moto Z
- Moto Z Droid
- Moto Z Force Droid
- Moto Z Play
- Moto Z Play Droid
- Nexus 6
Motorola says that it will start rolling out the update sometime later this quarter, with the Moto Z and Moto G4 receiving it first. Motorola’s comeback tale centered around offering a smooth Android experience — even on budget handsets — layered with its own additions in the form of Moto Display and Moto Actions, and quick software updates to its entire portfolio of devices. That was one of the main reasons for the success of the Moto G and Moto E series in emerging markets.
Along the way, there have been a few missteps. Last year, Motorola announced that it would not update the Moto E — which was just a few months old at that point — or a few carrier variants of the Moto X 2014 to Marshmallow. A year on, we’re in the same situation.
Sony posts everything you need to know about the PS VR
Since VR headsets are a fairly new category, Sony wants to entice you to buy the PS VR by publishing a lengthy FAQ about the device. In it, the company talks about everything, from its $400 to $500 (for the core bundle) pricing to technical information you need to know to be able to use it. For instance, Sony advises you to switch off your headphones’ surround sound, because it will interfere with the headset’s 3D audio. Further, wireless earphones won’t work with the device — you’ll have to use cans that you’ll be able to plug into the headset with a 3.5mm jack.
Another interesting tidbit is that your PS4 will work with the TV just fine even when it’s hooked up to the PS VR. However, this passthrough feature doesn’t work for HDR signals. So, if you want to take advantage of your TV’s HDR capability, you’ll have to unhook your PS VR and plug your TV straight to the console.
Besides these points, Sony also talks about the first games you’ll be able to play on the platform, its cute Aim controller, multiplayer capabilities and just about anything you can think of to ask. The PS VR will be available on October 13th. You can’t pre-order one anymore, by the company says it will give partner retailers extra units to sell on launch day.
Source: Sony
UberPool riders in London might have to do some walking
Uber has performed a number of experiments in the UK, and its latest slightly rewrites how fares for UberPool work in London. Whereas before a driver might take a roundabout way to get to your on-demand bus stop, now there will be more direct routes.
Rides requested between 6am and 9pm will have passengers directed to a “smart pickup point” where, if the app’s estimates are correct, you’ll arrive the same time as your driver. The idea is to shorten time spent in the cars by avoiding detours and traffic jams. The downside is you might have to hoof it a bit to reach both your pickup point and final destination.
We reached out to the company and asked what made this so different from the pre-existing “smart routes” and were told that the routes were just a test last year, whereas these are explicitly “smart pickup points.”
Fancy giving it a try? The service is offering a discount on UberPool fares, and the discount code is at the source link below.
Source: Uber
Full-body 3D scanning is about to get faster and cheaper
3D scanners come in all shapes and sizes these days, and obviously the bigger you go, the more you have to pay. In the case of full-body scanning, many existing solutions require you to stand still for 12 to 14 seconds which isn’t ideal for both the customer and the vendor, plus they tend to take up a large amount of space. Luckily, that won’t be the case with a new machine from Japanese startup VRC. Unveiled at CEATEC, the Shun’X — “shun” meaning “instantaneous” and “x” implying limitless possibilities — can scan a person in merely four seconds, and its footprint takes up just six square meters of space as opposed to the typical nine to eleven square meters.
On the inside, the Shun’X model at CEATEC is powered by eight Nikon DSLRs plus an ASUS Xtion Pro Live depth camera accompanying each of them, and these are split into two pillars — with another four filled with high-performance LEDs — that spin around a person. CEO Yingdi Xie, who has spent over ten years doing research in Japan prior to forming VRC, pointed out that it’s this combination of DSLRs and depth cameras that makes his system more precise than the others. Once the scan is done, VRC’s custom PC software will locally output a render in about two minutes, which is again faster than what the competitors offer and somewhat more convenient than their mandatory cloud services (which are usually for subsidizing the cost of the hardware alone).
A video posted by Engadget (@engadget) on Oct 4, 2016 at 12:00am PDT
While Xie wouldn’t directly reveal a price for his solution, he did drop a big hint: A similar DSLR-only system may cost about $150,000 if you buy it outright, whereas the Shun’X is aiming to slash that price by half; and it can even go lower, depending on the configuration. Better yet, because of the much higher throughput, Xie reckons an existing vendor can afford to charge as low as $10 per 3D render using the Shun’X. Just to compare, Artec’s “Optimal” business package charges each Shapify Booth vendor $20 per 3D model file (it’s $39,000 for the machine plus pre-payment for 3,000 files), so consumers would have to pay more after a markup; either that or the vendor buys the hardware for $180,000 to avoid that charge.
It’s still too early to tell whether the Shun’X will become the next big thing in the 3D scanning market, as VRC has only just started taking orders, but one thing’s for sure: Digital content creators in the likes of fashion and gaming businesses will greatly benefit from this rapid, high-precision scanner. 3D printing studios may also want in on this, though they are probably more desperate for faster printers.
Source: VRC
Watch the Made by Google launch event in 15 minutes
Google unveiled its plan for consumer hardware earlier today, showing off Pixel phones, the Google Home hub, Google WiFi router, Chromecast Ultra and Daydream VR headset, plus its Assistant AI ready to tie everything together. We liveblogged every second of the full presentation, but if you’re in a hurry you can catch a quick runthrough of all the announcements right here in just 15 minutes, or head straight to our hands-on impressions.
GOP website outed its response to the VP debate a bit early
Today the Republican National Committee showed tech companies aren’t the only ones to get a little jumpy with the publish button. Following Apple’s early Twitter leak of the iPhone 7, the GOP website pushed up blog posts declaring its VP candidate, Mike Pence, the “clear winner” of a debate against Democratic candidate Tim Kaine, before the debate actually began. The content has since been pulled but lives on in screenshots as the debate goes on live. Of course, a CMS timing error can happen to the best of us, but maybe this is one election data leak that won’t be attributed to emails or foreign hackers.
The GOP has already posted on their website a blog post entitled “5 Questions Tim Kaine was NOT Asked”
Oops? pic.twitter.com/JuPPCo61xF
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) October 4, 2016
Source: CBS, Deadline, The Atlantic
ComiXology Originals are precisely what they sound like
Taking an, ahem, page from Netflix and parent company Amazon, Comixology is working on its own line of original, exclusive comics, aptly named comiXology Originals. And they don’t seem priced too far out of line against offerings from Marvel and DC. When Adventure Time Marshall Lee Spectacular and the four-part Valiant High arrive they’ll run $3.99 each. Marley’s Ghost (a graphic novel take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol) will set you back $9.99, according to The New York Times.
“We want to make sure there is a comic for everyone,” co-founder and CEO of the service tells NYT. “If it’s super successful and becomes its own thing, hallelujah. But we’ll continue to experiment to attract new readers and hit the core [user].”
TechCrunch writes that you can pre-order these right now, with Adventure Time and Valiant High coming out next January and Marley’s Ghost next October 15th. Presumably, they’ll be available via the all-you-can-read Unlimited subscription.
Via: The Verge
Source: New York Times
With Assistant, Google is becoming a lot more like Apple
Google may have finally taken control of its hardware with the new Pixel phones, but the company’s still focusing on software. In particular: artificial intelligence. The AI-powered Assistant is an integral part of its new phones, Allo messaging app and smart speaker, making for a more uniform and useful experience across all of Google’s (and other brands’) devices. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Apple brought Siri to multiple platforms first.
Assistant brings voice control to the new Google Home smart speaker, in addition to the new Pixels, and lets you control your Chromecast playback with your voice. The goal, said the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai, is to make Assistant “universally available.” This means we can look forward to more integrations across other Google products, possibly including Chromebooks and Android wearables.
Imagine a not-unlikely future where you can use Assistant on your wrist to tell your Chromecast to pause Netflix when you go to the bathroom. You could even get rid of those Netflix socks altogether. Since Android Wear already offers built-in OK Google capability, it’s not a stretch to imagine that being supplanted by Assistant. Again, that’s similar to what Apple already allows for with Siri on Apple Watches and MacBooks. And just as Google is bringing its Android OS to televisions and (possibly) laptops, Apple has software that is the same (or very similar) across its TV, phone and tablet operating systems. It’s one platform for all devices.
The iPhone maker has long been criticized for its closed ecosystem, as Google has been hailed as a crusader for open platforms. But while Android remains an open OS, Assistant’s rollout is reminiscent of other Apple tools such as HealthKit and HomeKit, where developers get access to APIs a period of time after launch. Of course, Google doesn’t appear to have the intention of blocking access to Assistant’s code, and unlike with HealthKit and HomeKit you can build Assistant into your own hardware. But it’s worth noting that it’s implementing features in a way that’s more like its rival.
I’d be remiss if I overlooked the couple other players in the digital assistant space. Microsoft is making Cortana accessible and uniform across its phones and desktops, but it doesn’t have the breadth across product categories to take on Google and Apple. And although Amazon’s Alexa currently doesn’t exist in phones or laptops, it’s in a variety of speakers (Echo and Tap), the Fire TV and third party devices like this quirky smartwatch, and is catching up to Siri in what it can do and control.
Google’s method has one glowing difference that sets it apart: its approach to and expertise in artificial intelligence. The Assistant showcase comes after a slew of announcements about machine learning, including those around translations and image recognition, that evidence the tech giant’s commitment to AI. And while Microsoft and Amazon themselves have pretty advanced artificial intelligence, and are farther along there than Apple, Google’s history of being the world’s favorite search engine (and basically being in everyone’s business) provides a wealth of knowledge of user behavior and gives it quite the edge. It has more historical data to refer to and more information to train its machine-learning systems on, which should make it smarter, faster.
Pichai said the company intends to create a “personal Google” for everyone — a search engine-powered helper that knows exactly where all your pictures, receipts and emails are, as well as all of your upcoming events and their locations and how to get there. Although it may be later to the party than Apple was, the popularity and proliferation of Google’s services, as well as its AI prowess, could very well make Assistant the digital helper of choice.
Apple Discontinues Apple TV 3
Apple has discontinued the third-generation Apple TV, removing it from its online store. Additionally, links to the Apple TV 3 now reroute to the fourth-generation Apple TV. Apple confirmed it was discontinuing the device in an email to employees and educators obtained by 9to5Mac.
The Cupertino company will continue to fulfill backlog orders for the device, but is now putting its attention behind the newer fourth-generation device. In early September, it was reported that Apple had begun phasing out the Apple TV 3, pulling it from its brick-and-mortar stores
The Apple TV 3 was released in 2012 and given a spec bump the following year. In fall 2015, Apple announced the long-awaited fourth-generation Apple TV, including support for Siri, the brand-new tvOS, and the App Store.
Apple is still selling refurbished versions of the Apple TV 3 for $59. The fourth-generation Apple TV can be purchased from Apple’s online and retail stores in two configurations: 32GB for $149 and 64GB for $199.
Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
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Google Home, Google Wifi and Chromecast Ultra hands-on preview
Google expanded its presence in the Home with Chromecast Ultra, Google WiFi and, oh, Google Home.
Among Google’s announcements at its Pixel event in San Francisco were three pieces of in-home technology that on their own are interesting, but together are hugely noteworthy.
In addition to the Google Home assistant-in-a-speaker, which was announced at Google I/O earlier this summer, the company unveiled a streaming stick, the Chromecast Ultra, and a brand new mesh-enabled Wi-Fi router called, appropriately, Google Wifi (yes, lowercase i). Let’s break them down a little.
Google Home
This is the first time we’re seeing Google Home, and it’s quite the compact little speaker. With magnetic replaceable bases made of metal or fabric, the unit can be made to stand out (a bright red flourish, for instance) or blend in (a nondescript slate metal) depending on the environment, and because they’re magnetic they can easily be exchanged for various situations.
The slanted top is certainly a bold decision, but it definitely feels like something Google can get away with. The top is also touch-sensitive, and features a set of four dancing lights in the Google color scheme when a command is issued.
While the testing environment wasn’t conducive to extensive testing, Google Home promises to be attentive and sensitive, able to hear a voice from across the room using far-field microphones. With Google Assistant built in, Home becomes a place to ask questions and solve problems, or just access information directly from Google Search. The upside is that Google’s “knowledge graph” is in many respects the world’s vastest and, with your permission, Home can access personal information culled from Maps, Gmail and more.
To convey those details, Home also sports a speaker — a 2″ driver and dual 2″ passive radiators for deeper bass — which sounds better than we expected, but it’s not going to replace your Sonos Play:1 for music playback. What it can do, however, is reach into YouTube, Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn and more to access tracks and podcasts, which is pretty great, and there are more services to come. There’s also support for IFTTT and other smart home platforms like Nest, SmartThings and Philips Hue, so you can turn off your lights and turn on your thermostat with one command.
While Amazon’s Echo has a pretty invested developer community, this is Google, and it’s safe to say that after years of building developer relationships for Android’s Google Play Store, Home should gain a lot of traction very quickly. Google is already planning that future with Actions, an SDK for developers to plug into Google Assistant, which works on Home as well as the Pixel phones.
At $129, Google Home appears to be a bargain, and a loss leader that Google is looking to capitalize on, not only to get Assistant into as many homes as possible, but to show off the multi-room synergies with Chromecast, Chromecast Audio, and the new Pixel phones. This is an ecosystem, folks.
Look for Google Home at the beginning of November.
See at Google
Chromecast Ultra
The Chomecast Ultra is a Chromecast, but better. Google demoed a number of 4K experiences for us at the event, and they looked great, with limited buffering and no skipping to speak of. Of course, much of that smoothness will depend on your broadband speeds and Wi-Fi bandwidth, but Google’s got a trick up its sleeve for that: an ethernet adapter that attaches directly to the Chromecast Ultra’s HDMI port.
Being nearly twice as fast as the previous Chromecast, it can handle 4K Ultra HD streams and HDR content, where supported, which is great to see.
At $69, the Chromecast Ultra isn’t cheap, but it isn’t replacing the existing Chromecast, which is highly resembles. Look for it in November.
See at Google
Google Wifi
Google Wifi is perhaps the most vexing announcement of the day. Alone it’s a small puck whose user experience resembles that of the OnHub that was announced last year, but when paired with one or more friends, or an OnHub itself, it creates a mesh network that, according to Google, creates “fast Wi-Fi everywhere in your house, not just right next to the router.” Each puck is AC1200 compatible, with 2×2 Wave 2 MIMO support and dual-band 2.4/5Ghz compatibility. On the back are two ethernet ports, one for a modem and one for a switch or something else.
Google Wifi itself is fairly nondescript, and considerably smaller than the OnHub routers from TP-Link and ASUS released last year, but the value proposition is the same: easy setup, and no maintenance. Plugging in a Google Wifi to your modem is the only thing you need to do, aside from pairing with the app that is set to unify with Google On later this year.
When paired with an OnHub or another Google Wifi puck, Wifi creates a seamless mesh network that we hope truly solves the problem of dead spots throughout homes — my home is full of them, even with an OnHub. The good news is that OnHub isn’t going anywhere, and Google is working hard to make sure it and the new set of Wifi products work well together. Google also promises new features for both later this year, once Wifi has launched, including Family Wi-Fi, which allows parents to pause connectivity on kids’ devices.
Pre-orders for Google Wifi are expected in early November, starting at $129 for a single puck and $299 for a set of three.
See at Google
What do you think?
They’re not as flashy as the Pixel phones, but these products represent a Google that is thinking beyond the handset, or the operating system — it’s thinking of how the handset and OS are the center of a wide range of products in the home that enable continuous connectivity using either voice or touch.
We’ll have lots more on Google Home, Chromecast Ultra, and Google Wifi in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Everything we know so far
- New navigation buttons
- Google UI + circular icons
- Android 7.1 Nougat
- Pixel vs Pixel XL
- Older Nexus phones
AIVAnet 