Apple iOS 10 uses AI to help you find photos and type faster
Apple is making artificial intelligence a big, big cornerstone of iOS 10. To start, the software uses on-device computer vision to detect both faces and objects in photos. It’ll recognize a familiar friend, for instance, and can tell that there’s a mountain in the background. While this is handy for tagging your shots, the feature really comes into its own when you let the AI do the hard work. There’s a new Memories section in the Photos app that automatically organizes pictures based on events, people and places, complete with related memories (such as similar trips) and smart presentations. Think of it as Google Photos without having to go online.
AI plays a role even when you’re punching out a message, for that matter. QuickType text suggestions now lean on Siri intelligence to understand the broader context of what you’re trying to say. It’ll be aware of what you’re doing that day, and suggest things based on elements like your contacts or your location. If a friend asks for someone’s email address or wonders where you are, you can share it with one tap. QuickType is better at handling multiple languages and schedules, as well.
These features were somewhat expected — until now, Apple was one of the few big tech companies that wasn’t focusing heavily on AI as a helper for all your day-to-day tasks. We’re not going to knock a serious upgrade, though, and that local support might come in handy for those times when internet access isn’t always guaranteed.
Get all the latest news from WWDC 2016 here!
A closer look at Lenovo’s bendy concept phone and tablet
We knew Lenovo’s Phab2 Pro and Motorola’s Moto Z series were breaking cover today, but the moment that drew the loudest gasps was when a YouTuber bent a phone around her wrist. Lenovo’s crazy, flexible devices are incredibly far from being real products, but we still had to track them down to get a closer look at what makes them work. After all, these aren’t Kyocera Echo-style, half-assed folding screens — the Folio tablet and the Cplus phone have display panels that actually contort when you bend their respective bodies.
Crafting gadgets that can handle these usage scenarios is tricky, though, but Lenovo has a sense of humor about it. When bending the Cplus to curve around someone’s wrist, the Android phone’s tall display “cracks” — actually just a software trick that distorts the screen. The Folio, on the other hand, was more straight-laced. Folding the tablet in half bends the screen around the outside of the chassis, effectively turning it into a big ol’ phone.
Sheer wow factor aside, the Folio didn’t actually do much; it’s likely the more-polished Cplus had a considerable headstart in development. Alas, Lenovo representatives barely let us touch them. As CTO Peter Hortensius said, “These are not things that will survive in the wild.” Even so, we’re still pulling for the Folio and the Cplus to become full-fledged products. We’re just not holding our collective breath.
Get all the news from today’s Lenovo and Motorola event right here!
Marshmallow is now on 10 percent of Android devices
The latest version of Android just hit a big, big milestone. Google’s early June developer stats have revealed that Marshmallow is now on just over 10 percent of Android devices, representing a huge jump from just 2.3 percent in March. Notably, only some of that surge can be credited to people upgrading from Lollipop. While the not-quite-current version’s adoption did go down (to 35.4 percent), the biggest declines in usage were for Jelly Bean and KitKat. In essence: many of those moving to Marshmallow may well have been replacing devices that were 3 or more years old.
The timing isn’t coincidental, as you might have gathered. In the three months since we last looked back, numerous smartphone makers have delivered Marshmallow phones in force. The Galaxy S7 is the big kahuna, but you can also point to phones like the HTC 10, LG G5 and Sony’s newer Xperias as factors. If you bought a brand new device this spring, especially if it was reasonably high-end, it might have been hard to avoid Marshmallow.
To us, the big unknown is how well Marshmallow will fare by the time its successor rolls around in a few months, around Marshmallow’s first anniversary. Lollipop took a year and a half to become the dominant Android flavor. Although Marshmallow isn’t necessarily going to repeat history, its year-one figures should give you a good idea as to whether or not it’s doing as well as its predecessor.
Source: Android Developers
Huawei manager says it’s making another Nexus device
It’s now been seven months since Huawei began selling its first (very well made) Nexus smartphone and consumers are already looking at what Google has planned for its 2016 refresh. The search giant typically keeps its manufacturing partners close to its chest, so it’s fallen on the Chinese company to start teasing a future device on its behalf. In an interview with Gear Burn, Charlene Munilall, General Manager of its South African consumer business group, has suggested that Huawei is building another Nexus device, telling the gadget site “we’re doing the Nexus again this year, by the way.”
Huawei was one of two Nexus smartphone partners last year, with LG supplying the Nexus 5X. Google has said it will do the same thing this time around to cater for fans who like the option of a core Nexus handset or something more high end. Huawei could be placed to fill one of those spots, but early rumors have suggested that HTC is on board to make both Nexus smartphones, which are reported to be codenamed Marlin and Sailfish.
If that is the case, there is also the possibility that we’ll see a Huawei-made tablet. Google may want to follow up the release of the Pixel C — the first tablet that it designed completely in-house — with another Surface-like slate, and Huawei could be the one to provide it. That is if Huawei’s regional executive isn’t speaking out of turn, of course. We’re still a few months away from a potential Google event but we’ve reached out to the companies involved to clarify the manager’s statement.
Via: Pocket Lint
Source: Gear Burn
Amazon gives its Fire HD 10 tablet a classier metal shell
If you’ve been eyeing Amazon’s Fire HD 10 tablet, but aren’t a fan of its plastic shell, you’re in luck. The company now offers a metal version of the tablet, addressing one of the main gripes about the mobile device. The best part? Pricing remains the same as the current Fire HD 10, starting at $230 for the 16GB model (with “special offers”). Alongside the new aluminum design, Amazon is also debuting a 64GB version that will set you back $290.
Aside from the exterior changes, the Fire HD 10 is the same device. There’s still a modest 10.1-inch HD display that touts 1,280 x 800 resolution at 149 ppi. During our time with the slate, we did notice the lack of sharpness in the visuals, so that’s certainly something to consider. Inside, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM do the heavy lifting needed to stream that Prime content, with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and HD front-facing lens for selfies and video chats.
If 16GB, 32GB or the new 64GB storage options don’t suit your needs, you can expand that memory up to 128GB with a microSD card slot. Amazon also promises up to 8 hours of battery life, so you should be able to get through the better part of a day on a charge. Ready to part with those funds? The new aluminum design is available at Amazon now.
Via: The Verge
Source: Amazon
Dell’s new 2-in-1 PCs run the gamut in screen size
It’s no secret that the PC market has been shrinking due to the onslaught of smartphones and tablets, but if you ask Dell, it’s apparently bucking the trend thanks to its 2-in-1 notebooks and gaming laptops. At Computex, Executive Director Monty Wong told us that Dell saw 13 consecutive quarters of increasing PC market share, to the point where it overtook HP as the number one PC brand in the US back in Q1, according to IDC. As such, it’s no surprise that the PC giant has been mostly focusing on 2-in-1s at this year’s show, with the new lineup running the gamut from the world’s first 17-inch 2-in-1 all the way down to a $249 11-inch device. Let’s take a closer look.
Starting off at the high end, we have the aluminum Inspiron 7000 series 2-in-1s, which come in sizes of 13, 15 and 17 inches. The 17-incher is a first in the 2-in-1 market, with its beastly size making it especially handy for kitchen use, small meetings and maybe movie watching. These are all designed with prosumers in mind. As such, they pack Intel’s sixth-generation Core processor, NVIDIA’s GeForce 940M graphics chip and a backlit keyboard.
These will also come with an infrared camera for Windows Hello’s facial recognition login feature. In addition to the HDMI port, the two full-size USB connections (one of them USB 3.0), the SD card slot and the usual power plug socket, there’s also a USB Type-C port on the left for an external dock, monitor or secondary battery. This series starts at $749 and will be hitting Dell’s US site on June 2nd, followed by retail availability at Best Buy.
Next up we have the more mainstream Inspiron 5000 series. While their bodies are made of plain plastic, I’m digging their clean, understated design. There are only two size options: 13 inches and 15 inches, both offering a full HD touchscreen with wide viewing angle. The infrared camera is here to stay, and these machines will support up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM. In terms of sockets, you’ll miss out on the USB Type-C port featured on the 7000 series; instead you’ll get an additional full-size USB 3.0 port. These start at $529 and will be on Dell.com at the same time as the 7000 series.
Finally, there’s the Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1, an 11-inch convertible laptop aimed at children and budget-conscious shoppers. Given its $249 entry price, there’s not much to expect in terms of performance: It comes with an Intel Pentium chip, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage space and a 1,366 x 768 touchscreen. That said, you still get one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 connections, an HDMI socket and a microSD slot. It will be available June 2nd, initially in red and blue, followed by gray and white at a later date.
Stay on top of all the latest news from Computex 2016 right here.
Nokia will return to mobile with Android phones and tablets
The Nokia brand will return to the smartphone market. Just as Microsoft announced it’s offloading Nokia’s old feature phone business to a Foxconn subsidiary and a mysterious Finnish company called HMD Global Oy, Nokia has revealed that HMD is also acquiring the relevant rights to use the Nokia name on smartphones and and tablets for the next ten years. That means we’ll start seeing “Nokia-branded” phones and tablets very soon. And they’ll be running Android.
We don’t know a lot about HMD yet, but Arto Nummela, currently a Microsoft mobile executive, will leave the company to be HMD’s CEO when the deal closes. Before joining Microsoft Nummela worked at Nokia for over a decade. Florian Seiche, another Microsoft mobile executive with a Nokia past, will join HMD as president. If the pair’s involvement is anything to go by, it seems that HMD will feature some faces familiar to those that followed Nokia in its heyday.
HMD says it’ll invest $500 million over the next three years to develop and promote products. This money will come both from investors and from profits from the newly-acquired feature phone business. Nokia’s involvement in the new devices will be very limited. It’ll take a place on HMD’s board, and set “mandatory brand requirements and performance related provisions.” That essentially means it’s going to make sure that HMD isn’t dragging its name through the mud by releasing awful devices.
Although FIH Mobile — the Foxconn subsidiary that bought a share of Nokia/Microsoft’s feature phone business — isn’t involved in this rights deal, it will be the manufacturer of the new HMD smartphones and tablets. It seems as though HMD will be selling and marketing the devices, while FIH will be doing the manufacturing. Of course, the pair will have access to Nokia’s vast arsenal of mobile patents through the agreement.
The various deals required to make all this happen are expected to close before the end of the year. There’s no firm timeline for when we’ll see Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets, and no information on what flavor of Android they’ll be running.
Source: Nokia
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
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 apps now come with Android devices from 74 companies
If finding Microsoft apps on the Galaxy S6 caught you off-guard, you’re in for a real surprise this year. Microsoft has announced that its apps are now bundled with current and future Android devices from 74 companies, including newcomer Acer as well as ASUS, LG, Samsung and Sony. That’s a healthy boost from 31 vendors last year. There are bound to be gaps in coverage, but the odds are now fairly high that you’ll find the Office suite, OneDrive, Skype and other Redmond-made tools on your brand new smartphone or tablet.
As is usually the case, though, this isn’t coming out of sheer eagerness to embrace Microsoft’s vision. The Windows maker notes that “IP alignment” is a key factor here — to put it another way, these companies are bundling Microsoft apps in part to avoid patent disputes over their use of Android. They do stand to profit from the deal, but it’s clear that Microsoft is using its leverage to get its apps and services on as many gadgets as possible.
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