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Apple Glass Concept

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sun, 5 Jul 2020 22:31:00 -0700

Apple Glass Concept Shows Us All the AR Goodness We Need

These days smart glasses are back in full force, courtesy of some leaks supposedly coming from Apple. Turns out the Cupertino giant is prepping two wearables, one VR headset for gamers coming next year and one AR coming in 2022, looking more like regular glasses. The latter has been rendered in concept form by user the hacker 34.

It’s also a good way to see how these glasses would work. The device is called Apple Glass here and looks very much like a pair of regular glasses. It’s got an advanced LiDAR scanner on the left side of the frame, plus a light sensor, microphone and proximity sensor on the other side (top and front). At the middle, right above the nose sits the dual core G1 CPU. the lenses are dual transparent Retina screens. The designer envisions a so called rOS, inspired by iOS.

There are Home Cards available, basically a sort of widgets that show useful info. You can navigate with air swipes and the interface changes with the ambient light around. There’s AR navigation for map orientation shown in the video and real object detection, like iPhones for example. Calls are taken with the aids of the AirPods Pro. We don’t get specs, materials used for the lenses and frames, battery power, resolution and all that. It’s more of a proof of concept… which was done in PowerPoint by the way.

I actually dig the interface, but I’m not very sure about swiping in mid air to navigate. Swiping on the frame is also an option, but it sounds equally annoying. Voice command is probably the way to go, or maybe even eye movements/gestures. Also, you should remember about the theory that says the Apple Glasses will be bundled with a smart ring that you’ll put on your finger in order to control the UI. I would love to see THAT rendered.

via wccftech

India Covid-19 vaccine by August 15

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Fri, 3 Jul 2020 00:47:00 -0700

India races to release first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine by August 15

Covaxin, India’s indigenous vaccine candidate for the coronavirus, is slated to be launched on August 15, according to the ICMR. Human clinical trials for the vaccine—which is being jointly developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR-NIV—are set to begin this month, after the drug regulator gave approval for phase one and two human trials.

The ICMR has asked these institutes to fast-track clinical trials of the vaccine as it is being considered as one of the “top priority projects”.

The ICMR said that it is envisaged to launch the Covid-19 vaccine for public health use latest by August 15.(Representative Photo/Reuters)

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has partnered with Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) for clinical trials of indigenous vaccine for the coronavirus disease.BBIL is using the virus strain isolated at ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to develop the vaccine.The clinical trials will be held in 12 institutes across the country.

The ICMR has asked these institutes to fast-track clinical trials of the vaccine as it is being considered as one of the “top priority projects” which are being “monitored at the topmost level of the government”.In a letter to these institutes, the ICMR said that it is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15, after completion of all clinical trials.“BBIL is working expeditiously to meet the target, however, the final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project,” it further said in the letter.

It has also asked the institutes to ensure that the subject enrolment is initiated during the first week of July.Apart from IMS and SUM Hospital here, the other institutes selected for the clinical trial are located in Visakhapatnam, Rohtak, New Delhi, Patna, Belgaum (Karnataka), Nagpur, Gorakhpur, Kattankulathur (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad, Arya Nagar, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Goa.Meanwhile, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Thursday granted permission to pharma giant Zydus Cadila to conduct phase I and phase II human clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccine.The potential vaccine showed a “strong immune response” in animal studies, and the antibodies produced were able to completely neutralise the wild type virus, Zydus, part of Cadila Healthcare Ltd, said in a statement to Indian stock exchanges.Zydus will begin human trials this month in over 1,000 subjects in multiple sites in India, it said.

Xiaomi Mi Foldable Phone With a Twistable Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Thu, 2 Jul 2020 22:35:00 -0700

Xiaomi Mi Flip Twist is a Foldable Phone With a Twist… able Camera

Things are getting boring already… Xiaomi has leaked about a dozen if not more patents related to a foldable phone and they’ve yet to deliver. The last solid leak came in January 2019, when a Xiaomi official appeared on camera with a prototype. Well, concepts still pop up for that mythical Xiaomi foldable, like the one below.

The creation of Techconfigurations, this Xiaomi Mi Flip Twist actually combines a few courageous design ideas into one foldable phone. First of all, it has a twistable camera at the top, plus a foldable body, which is closer to a clamshell approach rather than a Galaxy Fold design. As you probably know, if you’ve read my posts so far, I’m not a fan of moving parts. The more you have, the more you can break on a phone. The top side of the Xiaomi phone hosts a “flagship camera module”, with a 108 MP main sensor, 12 MP telephoto camera and 13 MP ultrawide shooter.

It can rotate and make the primary camera a selfie camera. Interestingly, the rotating part is not motorized, so I guess it’s mechanical. The device has a 6.8 inch screen, of the AMOLED variety, with LTPO tech and 120 Hz refresh rate. It becomes a clamshell, as it folds the bottom part of the screen behind and attaches it right next to the camera. This leaves a lot of glass exposed, which may cause scratches, so we definitely need UTG protection here, or maybe even better.

Honestly, the device itself isn’t bad, but the rotating camera thing is a big no no. We also seem to be getting a secondary screen on the other side of the camera module, that completes the screen. Also, the Xiaomi Mi Flip has a body that’s waaaay too slim to not be incredibly fragile. The color variety is pretty nice, although I doubt Xiaomi would produce so many versions of a device with a nightmarish yield in factories. Chalk this one under “wet dreams”.

via Techconfigurations

OnePlus Z or OnePlus Nord release date, price, leaks

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 10:50:00 -0700

The OnePlus Nord price and name are confirmed

The OnePlus 8 Pro (Image credit: Future)OnePlus has a new, affordable phone and it's called the OnePlus Nord. We don't have a concrete release schedule yet, but we do know its price and name, and it's likely it won't be too long until we hear more about the phone.The new OnePlus Nord phone has a lower price tag than the OnePlus 8, addressing the concern many had about that device in its big price hikes up from the OnePlus 7 series, but it's no budget device either.While there was much speculation over the name - with OnePlus Z, OnePlus 8 Lite and OnePlus Nord all being rumored, the latter has now been officially confirmed as the name for the upcoming affordable smartphone.So when is this enigmatic OnePlus phone coming, and what will it look like? Well, there are various leaks surrounding the OnePlus Nord and we've compiled all the information below. We've also come up with a small wish-list on what we want to see.Latest news: The new, affordable OnePlus phone is confirmed to be called the OnePlus Nord and we also now know the OnePlus Nord price.

Cut to the chase

What is it? An affordable (not cheap) OnePlus smartphone
When is it out? Possibly July 10, limited pre-orders July 1
How much will it cost? Under $500 (around £410, AU$730)

OnePlus Nord release date and price

OnePlus Nord price: confirmed to be "below $500"
OnePlus Nord pre-orders: limited pre-orders available from July 1
OnePlus Nord release date: rumored for July 10

The OnePlus Nord release date is yet to be confirmed, but it's close. The firm has confirmed that it will open OnePlus Nord pre-orders at 9am BST (4am EDT / 1am PDT) on July 1, but there's a catch - only 100 units will be available to pre-order.

No further details about the pre-order have been revealed just yet, but we'll update this article once we know more. If past OnePlus sales events are anything to go by, that stock could disappear in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.As for when the OnePlus Nord release date will be for general sale, a recent rumor points to July 10. That's backed up by a tease from OnePlus itself that included the word 'July', and an earlier leak that pointed to the same month.

What we do know is the OnePlus Nord price. OnePlus has confirmed it will be "below $500".

That makes the OnePlus Nord comfortably cheaper than the OnePlus 8, which starts at $699 / £599 (about AU$1,100) - which is good, as OnePlus has been teasing the 'affordable' handset for a while now.

We wouldn't be surprised if "below $500" translates to $499, rather than an even lower price tag - but you could always keep your fingers crossed for something cheaper.

OnePlus Nord name

It is official, the affordable OnePlus smartphone is called the OnePlus Nord.

After several months of rumors surrounding a trio of names - OnePlus 8 Lite, OnePlus Z and, most recently, OnePlus Nord - it was the more bizarre of the three which ended up being the real deal.

It's not clear why OnePlus chose the Nord name, or how well it will translate across different countries and languages around the world, but we now have a name to put to the gaping void where the face of the phone should be, only OnePlus hasn't actually shown us it yet.

OnePlus Nord leaks and rumors

The leaked OnePlus Nord render (Image credit: @OnLeaks / 91mobiles)

A OnePlus Nord render gave us an idea of the phone, and it actually showed a phone that doesn’t look all that different from the main OnePlus 8 series, with a ‘punch-hole’ cut-out central to the top of the display, rear cameras in a bump to the left of the device, and seemingly no 3.5mm headphone jack.

We've also seen live hands-on pictures of the phone, that generally seem to back that render. The screen is flat, which is a change from the other OnePlus 8 devices, but the picture didn't show the back of the phone.

Just before the OnePlus 8 announcement a huge leak laid bare all three phones, including the Lite device. This leak said the Nord will have a 6.4-inch screen, 48MP + 16MP + 12MP rear camera combination, 16MP front camera, 4,000mAh battery, and Mediatek 1000 chipset.

It’s worth noting, however, that leak got the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro wrong in a few ways, so take the information with a huge pinch of salt. In addition, a separate leak suggested the OnePlus Nord will actually have a Snapdragon 765G chipset, which is a bit better but doesn't come with 5G baked in.

One of the latest spec leaks also points to a Snapdragon 765 chipset, along with 6GB of RAM, a triple-lens rear camera with 64MP, 16MP, and 2MP sensors, a 16MP front-facing camera in a punch-hole, a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, 128GB of storage, an in-screen fingerprint scanner,and a 4,300mAh battery with 30W fast charging.

Having said that, another leaker has said these specs are wrong, so we'd take them with a serious side of salt, especially as there's some disagreement on what specs the OnePlus Nord will have.

Indeed, an even more recent specs leak has said that the OnePlus Nord will have a dual-lens front-facing camera with a 32MP main sensor and an 8MP wide-angle one, both in a cut-out in the top left corner of the screen.

A surprise tease of the phone on a talk show suggested it will have three rear cameras, though, so it seems this part of the leaks could be correct.

That said, another trusted leaker has put out a teaser that suggests we may see the OnePlus Nord have four rear cameras. We'd still expect it to have three cameras, but exactly what to expect for the rear shooter is currently unclear.

Finally, a benchmark test listing for what seems to be the OnePlus Nord suggests it could have as much as 12GB RAM, which is a surprising amount for what we imagined to be an affordable phone. The same listing suggests the phone will have 5G connectivity and a Snapdragon 765G chipset, as previously mentioned.

OnePlus Nord: what we want to see

Here we've compiled everything we want to see in the OnePlus Nord, when it comes out.

The OnePlus 8 Pro's rear cameras (Image credit: Future)

1. Triple camera combo

If a smartphone has a main, ultra-wide and telephoto lens, it gives you versatility to take photos in a range of different situations. However, most budget smartphones lack the telephoto camera instead favoring a macro or depth-sensing snapper, meaning they aren’t great for long-range pictures.

We’d like to see the OnePlus Nord come with these three cameras, so the device is great for photography in a range of situations. It’s unlikely, since the base OnePlus 8 missed this combo, but we can dream.

OnePlus 8 had a 90Hz screen (Image credit: Future)

2. A 90Hz display

While new top-end and even mid-range smartphones are starting to pack displays with 90Hz or even 120Hz displays, affordable devices are rather late to this party, and it’d be no surprise if the OnePlus Nord had a 'standard' 60Hz screen.

However, as people who have used 90Hz or even 120Hz screens will attest, they can be great to use, as it makes scrolling content smoother whether that’s on social media or swiping between menus.

The OnePlus 8 had a 90Hz display so the Nord won't beat that, but we'd love the affordable phone to match it, especially as currently almost all affordable phones have 60Hz displays.

OnePlus 8 Pro was a 5G phone (Image credit: TechRadar)

3. 5G connectivity

Like with high-refresh-rate screens, there are no 5G phones on the market at time of writing that are truly 'affordable', as even the 5G phones with the lowest price tags are actually mid-ranged in price, and with only okay specs too.

For the plenty of people looking to get 5G connections without having to spend loads of money, a 5G OnePlus Nord would be great - 5G contracts tend to be expensive enough as it is without the handset being pricey too.

Until the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite later in 2020, OnePlus would have a monopoly on the affordable 5G phone market if the Lite had the connectivity.

These are the best OnePlus phones you can buy

Sony Playstation 5 Gets a Redesign

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 22:31:00 -0700

Sony Playstation 5 Gets a Redesign Courtesy of Concept Creator

Two weeks after the PlayStation 5 design unveiling we have another attempt at redesigning the console. It’s made by Concept Creator and basically adds an extra “layer” on the console. If it were a wedding cake, it would be an extra topping, or an extra “level” of icing.

In reality it amplifies the intricate shell around the device, like a collar, which has been doubled and also kind of wrapped around it. This seems to have been done to make the device more wholesome and hide the Blu-Ray drive better. We also get to see a black version of the device, which would feel a bit like an Xbox 360, if it weren’t for the blue light. What Concept Creator did is pull off a Big Mac from McDonald’s. The temptation for the average Joe would be to have all the patties of meat stacked in the middle.

Instead McDonald’s put another extra slice of bread in the middle to keep it all together. That’s exactly what the designer did here, adding an extra central wing of plastic, just like the side ones, which feel like the collar of Dracula. The black version of the PS5 has already been in high demand by fans and it also appears towards the end of the video below. Making the console fatter means that it will take a ton of space when it’s vertical.

This actually makes it more prone for horizontal use. We also get the device’s back, which didn’t appear in the official presentation. How do you feel about this design? Leave us a comment below with feedback.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag) — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 21:48:00 -0700

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 Gets Fresh Renders With Extra Small External Screen

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to debut on August 5th, during an Unpacked event taking place online only. It should debut with the Galaxy Note 20 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5G and today we catch a glimpse at the brand new design of the Galaxy Fold 2. It comes courtesy of Pigtou and Xleaks7 and seems to reveal a brand new external screen.

We also have a patent included here, the one that inspired this design. Turns out that unlike the previous rumors, we’re not about to get a bigger external screen, but rather a much smaller one. It’s actually a narrow strip of screen placed on the external part of the handset. The depiction also shows that there’s still a side placed fingerprint scanner and a brand new pink-beige hue for the foldable phone. It’s got a triple back camera, even though we were expecting a quad one and also a hinge that looks similar to the predecessor’s.

Sources also talk about a new 7.7 inch internal screen with a 2213 x 1689 resolution. It’ll have Ultra Thin Glass for protection and also support 120 Hz refresh rate. Both the external and internal screen will have punch holes for the selfie camera. The renders published by Pigtou are based on a new patent filing made by Samsung to the World Intellectual Parent Organization, so things will most likely end up looking like this. The strip screen is definitely not a good piece of news, since it makes it impossible or very hard to use the screen to take selfies or do actual work, media playback or tasks. You can just view notifications and that’s it.

The document from a regulatory filing reveals that the combined battery capacity of the Galaxy Fold reaches 4365 mAh, compared to the 4380 mAh of the predecessor. There’s still a good piece of news here: the bezels of the new screen will be much narrower (3.8 mm wide) and the ugly notch disappears. Some sources and leaks do mention the notch (including Pigtou), so nothing is set in stone. Expect a hefty price of around $2000 or maybe more and basically the same camera and CPU as the S20 or maybe Note 20.

via Phone Arena/ Pigtou

iPhone 13 With Penta Camera Setup at the

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 00:54:00 -0700

Oddly enough people seem more interested in the iPhone 13 or iPhone 14 rather than this year’s model. And that happens in spite of the fact we’re about to receive no less than 4 new iPhones pertaining to the iPhone 12 series.The folks of Techsaper have just come up with a fresh iPhone 13 concept, which is shown below and we analyze it.

First of all, if Apple is supposed to go back to the square look of the iPhone 4 on the iPhone 12, you can be sure that the approach will be kept next year as well. The design also seems to take some cues from the latest iPad releases, while the camera module seems to be different from all previous iPhones. If anything, it looks like the Oppo Reno 4, with its large lenses or the rumored large lenses of the Galaxy Note 20. The penta camera is a novelty here and it doesn’t sound unlikely.

2019 brought us the first triple camera iPhone and I imagine a quad camera one is due this year, something like a triple cam setup + a LiDAR sensor. Next year we may get one one more sensor. The module looks horrendous on this iPhone 13, protruding, large, bulky, tripophobia causing. Apparently, one of the camera is meant for Macro capture, then there’s a telephoto camera, an ultra wide one, a LiDAR one and the main shooter.

The primary cam is said to be a 64 megapixel affair. iPhone 13 is also said to bring 8K 60 FPS video and it should have an Apple A15 CPU inside, with a 5nm+ process. I don’t understand what happened with Apple’s plans regarding a special “coat of paint” or material that would hide all the camera lenses. It was supposed to appear last year, but it didn’t pan out. Also, the OnePlus approach sounds like a good idea, with that electro chromic glass from the OnePlus Concept One. Oh and by the way, the notch has got to go!

via techsaper

This Is Almost Certainly the Newly Refreshed 2021 BMW M5

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 10:27:00 -0700

A sleek new fascia and a bright red paint job dominate this leaked image of what looks to be the new M5.

A picture of what looks to be the yet-t0-be-revealed 2021 BMW M5 has made its way online, giving us our best look yet at what the Bavarian automaker has in store for its refreshed flagship performance sedan.

Like the normal 2021 5-Series revealed last month, the new M5 looks like it'll receive the same front fascia updates, with slimmer, straighter headlight assemblies and double-L daytime running lights. The front bumper design has been given a slight retouch, likely for better aero and drag reduction. There's also a set of new black alloy wheels.

While updated specs on the new M5 have yet to be revealed by BMW, we don't expect them to change much. Expect to see the same 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 under the hood, making up to 617 horsepower in Competition trim, sending power to all four-wheels via an eight-speed automatic and a trick xDrive system, with the ability to switch to rear-drive only. Rumors have suggested BMW could be preparing a track-ready M5 CS for its most hardcore customers, though there's been no official word yet.

According to BMW Blog, BMW plans to reveal the refreshed M5 sometime tomorrow, so it's possible we won't have to wait long to see more angles and learn about the updates under the skin.

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Google Pixel 5 May Look Like This, But Will You Buy It?

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 10:05:00 -0700

The latest news from the Google Pixel camp weren’t that good: they lost some people involved with the project, who left the company. They probably already took care of the Pixel 5 before they left and the product should debut in October. Its leaks have been present for months now, with renders included and today we get a better look at the device, courtesy of designer Sarang Sheth.

It seems that Google is eager to keep the big “forehead” upfront, packed with sensors related to Project Soli or not. At the the back side we have one of the weirdest looking cameras in recent history and I’ve seen some weird ones. The first thing that comes to mind is the lock on a door, if you want a comparison. However, in this orange version, that unusual triple camera is kind of growing on me, believe it or not. At least it’s centered and symmetrical and doesn’t have the huge lenses of the iPhone 11 Pro.

The latest news about Pixel 5 tells us that the device will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G or Snapdragon 768G even. We’re hearing about a price of $699 for the device, while the yet unlaunched Pixel 4a may come at $349 undercutting the iPhone SE 2020. We can’t yet tell if there will be a Pixel 5 XL or not and what it’ll bring extra, but my guess is a better CPU and more RAM. Reverse wireless charging is also on the table, from what I’ve heard.

The triple camera at the back hasn’t leaked yet, but the best bet is probably assuming we have three 12 MP sensors, hidden behind a wide, ultrawide and telephoto lens. Unless Google jumps on the Macro bandwagon hard. Actually one of the cameras could end up being a ToF/Bokeh sensor, as Google ditches ultrawide again… The price is OK I guess, but somehow I don’t see a selling point.

PS5 Release Date, Design, Specs and News for Sony’s PlayStation 5 Price Revealed Accidentally

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 01:22:00 -0700

The PS5 (or PlayStation 5) is the next-generation PlayStation console, with a release date confirmed for late 2020. During Sony's The Future of Gaming event on June 11, we finally got our first look at the PS5's design and the PS5 games line-up, which includes the likes of Horizon Forbidden West and a remake of Demon's Souls.

PS5: KEY FACTS

What is it? The Sony PS5 is the next-gen PlayStation console, replacing the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.

When will it release? "Holiday 2020" in the US, says Sony, so between October and December 2020.

What can I play on it? Loads of games! They include a new Spider-Man entry, a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel, a Demon's Souls remake, Resident Evil 8 and much more to come.

Will PS5 have VR? Oh yes. The next-gen console will be compatible with current PSVR hardware, and there are also rumors of PSVR 2.

What will the PS5 cost? TBC. The PS4 and PS4 Pro were both $399 / £349 at launch, but we expect the PS5 will cost somewhat more. Leaks have suggested around the $499 mark.

Can I play PS4 games on the PS5? The PS5 will definitely be backwards compatible with "almost all" PS4 games - earlier generations are still to be confirmed. It will launch with support for the majority of the top 100 PS4 games, according to Sony's Mark Cerny.

Will coronavirus delay the PS5 release? Sony has confirmed the PS5 release date is not currently delayed by coronavirus, and reiterated the fact that the PS5 is still on course for a "Holiday 2020" release in its end of year financial report.

The PS5 design was officially revealed on June 11, 2020.

When it came to the reveal of the console itself, Sony nailed it – the icing on the PS5 games reveal event, and with a few surprises in store too. Not one, but two PlayStation 5 consoles will launch – a standard edition with a 4K Blu-Ray disc drive, and a slimmer, disc-free PS5 Digital Edition.

Both make use of USB-C charging for their controllers, and can make use of a HD camera accessory, alongside a new PS5 wireless headset and media remote.The consoles themselves feature a striking design that’s sure to split opinion.

A curvy mixture of black and white plastics with blue highlight lighting, it’s far removed from the ‘black box’ designs of previous PlayStation consoles. What was not revealed however, were pricing and precise availability, which remain a mystery beyond the aforementioned ‘Holiday 2020’ window.

The digital edition sees Sony moving with what’s increasingly becoming a physical-media-free hobby, banking on players to make use of digital downloads and streaming services rather than buying games or movies on disc-based hardware.

It’ll certainly make swapping games with friends a challenge, as well as trading them in, and gaming stores will likely be a little worried by its presence – especially if it proves significantly cheaper than the main version of the machine. But for those that enjoy building a physical library, the disc-based console remains an option at least.

In addition, Sony has said that the PS5 UI will be getting "a 100% overhaul of the PS4 UI" - which will be revealed soon.

The PS5 design was officially revealed on June 11, 2020. For a closer look, check

PS5 DESIGN REVEALED

Sony PlayStation 5 price revealed accidentally

The Amazon France listing did not have any information about the prices of the peripherals

The gaming console was accidentally listed on Amazon France

Sony PlayStation 5 was launched earlier this month but there was one important aspect that the company refrained from revealing, the price. This led to a lot of speculations about what the actual price might be. Now, a new leak has given us a good glimpse at the price of the gaming console.

The gaming console was accidentally listed on Amazon France. A tipster in the region managed to grab a screenshot revealing the potential price of the product. If the screen grab turns out to be genuine, the console was spotted with a price tag of 499 euros (roughly ₹42,700). The listing also reveals the launch date to be 20 November.

The listing has been removed from the site but the tipster also managed to grab a screenshot of the Digital Edition of the console. The Digital Edition was priced 100 euros cheaper at 399 euros (Roughly ₹34,200).

The Amazon France listing did not have any information about the prices of the peripherals that were launched along with the PlayStation 5 earlier this month.

Ben Geskin@BenGeskin

PlayStation 5 Price: 499€?

Digital Edition: 399€? Not bad

3,752

12:25 PM - Jun 16, 2020

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Since there’s no official confirmation regarding this, we would suggest the reader takes information with a grain of salt. The launch date is expected to be placed before the holiday season in the United States and the leaked date falls in line with the estimates.

(Image credit: SonyPS5 RELEASE

Nokia 7610 5G Gets Rendered in 2020 , With 5 Crazy Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 23:08:00 -0700

Nokia 7610 5G Gets rendered in 2020 , With 5 Crazy Cameras

Since Nokia is really set on bringing back old school phones, why not give the Nokia 7610 a new lease on life? It happened back in 2017, but now things get really hardcore. It keeps the “boomerang” shape, but it gets a stylus and 2021 level specs.

The creation of Peacock Tech, this smartphone is a 5G machine, with a prominent metal frame and a comboof curved and angular design. Bezels are rather big, particularly in the corners, for the sake of the original format. There’s a fingerprint scanner in the screen and there’s also the brand new IP69 certification, letting you go 2 meters deep in water with this handset. The screen is huge, at 6.9 inches with a refresh rate of 244 Hz, which is mint for gaming.

Oddly enough there’s an S Pen mentioned here, even though that’s clearly a Samsung exclusive name. The back camera is a beast, with a periscope shooter and a total of 5 sensors, as well as Zeiss tech. This is the setup:

108 megapixel main camera
25 MP
16 MP
8 MP

There’s also a 44 megapixel front camera, hidden in the top corner, like a Xiaomi Mi Mix would have. Android 11 is present here and the materials are probably glass and metal. The battery goes to 6000 mAh and the price to $799. 55W fast charging is also here and it’s weird to see all this tech crammed into such a slim body. Nicely done concept, by the way, but too bad we don’t know more about the camera.

Did Scientists in Russia Reverse the time? Is Time Reversal Possible?

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:52:00 -0700

Scientist in Russia have carried out a time-reversal experiment and managed to turn time a very short fraction of a unit of time.

Scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and their colleagues from the U.S. and Switzerland returned the state of a quantum computer a fraction of a second into the past, thus circumventing the second law of thermodynamics.

The second law of thermodynamics states that the time in the Universe always runs forwards and cannot be reversed.

Entropy is the reason time flows in one direction, this bit of news I am about to give may likely shock you.

Professor Cox has a penchant for using ordinary objects to explain the extraordinary and we accept that time cannot be reversed.

"The Arrow of Time dictates that as each moment passes, things change, and once these changes have happened, they are never undone... in the life of the universe, just as in our lives, everything is irreversibly changing." - From the book " The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen" by Professor Brian Cox

However, scientists took a different approach to the issue.

“We have artificially created a state that evolves in a direction opposite to that of the thermodynamic arrow of time,” said MIPT expert Gordei Lesovik.

Several years ago, Russian scientists discovered that the second law of thermodynamics can be circumvented at the quantum level. They held an experiment to see whether the time can be reversed for one particle that exists within the laws of quantum physics.

It turned out that an electron can go back in time, that is, return to its earlier state. However, the reverse evolution of the particle’s state would only happen once in the entire lifetime of the universe, and only by 0.06 nanoseconds.

The experiment used an IBM cloud quantum computer. Gordei Lesovik and his colleagues will continue the development of time-reversing algorithms.

Apple Glasses Gets Detailed on Renders and Video by Hasan Kaymak

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 03:20:00 -0700

Apple Glasses

Apple Glasses have been leaking quite a bit lately, as the project seems to be up and running at the Apple HQ. As the name shows, we’re dealing with a pair of smart glasses, with a big focus on augmented reality. Till the real product comes we have a concept coming in hot from Germany, courtesy of designer Hasan Kaymak. He envisions a modern design, slimmer than expected and sporting fancy colors.

The product is actually dubbed “Apple Glass” and looks a bit like a smaller snowboard/ski visor. There’s a LiDAR Sensor 4.0 on board, much more evolved than the iPad Pro 2020 one. Apple Glass comes in 5 colors, including a cool rose gold. It has a stainless steel frame and it’s just as slim as regular eyewear. There are sensors on both the left and right side and one’s probably a high end camera and the other is a LiDAR. The device comes in Product RED and Jet Black, aside from silver and rose gold. Then there’s the newlavenderblue.

It comes with eye tracking, 3D scanning, AR object visualization, a Night Mode and a special iGlass OS. The frames are a bit beefier than expected, but they hold the bulk of the components. There are 2 sizes for the product and the OS on board looks very much like WatchOS, with a circular/floating cloud of apps approach. When Google Glass first came up, it was supposed to be a replacement for phones, but it was clunky, had poor battery life and overheated.

Also, it was hard no to trip on real life objects when using it. That’s the biggest setback of smart glasses: unifying the real world with the virtual one. Will the Apple Glass do it?

Old Manali

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 09:23:00 -0700

Manali

One of the most popular hill stations in India, Manali is a amidst the mountain slopes, with spell-binding views, charming streams, fairy-tale-like fog surrounding little hidden cottages and a lingering scent of pines and freshness. The heavy influx of tourists has led to the exploitation of Manali as a tourist destination, though the surrounding areas are still relatively untouched. Nevertheless, this is one place that should definitely be on your bucket list.

manali mall road

Old Manali

As you leave the very busy mall road back and arrive at the old Manali , you start entering into a completely different scene. Deodar trees start running parallel to you , on your right . After you cross the bridge , cafes start appearing on your left , right , everywhere, Swaying eucalyptus, lovely roads, sweet little eateries, small kitschy market places, and cafes that serve your favourite continental food at unbelievably low prices, the serenity of Old Manali is only disturbed by twittering birds and the sound of the gushing waters of the Bias River. Each Cafe has something special to OFFER, each has its own unique aura , its own style , you can't help but to give in to the aroma of the food in the air, from every part of the world . (and here I talk strictly about the food aroma, nothing else !)

How to reach Old Manali:

By Air – The nearest airport is at Bhuntar, located approximately 50 kilometres away from Manali. Domestic flights connect Bhuntar with Delhi and Chandigarh. Once at the airport, you can take a pre-paid taxi to Manali. However, owing to weather conditions, flights are not the most reliable option for getting to or out of Manali.

By Bus – Manali is very well-connected to important tourist destinations like Leh, Shimla, Kullu, Dharamshala and New Delhi by means of a network of state-run as well as private buses. The bus journey from Delhi to Manali is 550 kilometres, and it is advisable to book your tickets in the air-conditioned Volvo coaches, as the buses are more comfortable than ordinary ones, keeping in mind the long distance of the journey from delhi the ticket cost is around 900-1400 depending upon the holidays and seasons .

By Road/ Self Drive – The drive up to Manali is simply breath-taking! You can catch scenic glimpses of the adjoining mountains and valleys from almost every turn that the twisty uphill road throws you. Though a lot of tourists prefer a self-drive up to Manali, it is advisable to hire a taxi in case you are not comfortable with driving in mountainous regions.

Where to Stay in Old Manali:

There is lot of hostel and cottage/Room option avaialbale in old manali .Its depend on you what you want so if you looking for hostel i will suggest you Zostel , Rockway Hostel ,Yolo Backpacker Hostel ,One Light Hostel these all are one of the best options available if you looking for hostel that have good view as well as budget option. If you looking for room or cottage Little Itly, Bhrama Guest House ,Dragon Guest House are the best options available . But in both cases you need to show your skill because the owner tell you always high rates so if you try you can decrease the rates depend on the number of crowd.

little itly view

In between the way of Zostel hostel view

Where to eat:

Casa Bella Vista – Amidst the lush panoramas of Manali is a cosy café named Casa Bella Vista that serves lip-smacking Spanish and Italian dishes. Gorge on their freshly baked, hand tossed thin-crust wood oven pizza with a pint of chilled beer or your favourite mocktail.

Café 1947 – This vintage and traditional Italian café hails to be the first music café in Manali and is located on the banks of the River Manalsu. Relish your meal, read a book, play your favourite tunes or even start up an impromptu gig, Café 1947 will surely be a part of some of your best moments in Manali.

Dylan’s Toasted Roaster – Originally known as Double Vision, the café had a wall dedicated to Bob Dylan’s portrait. Bob Dylan’s fans and music lovers loved it so much that they coined a new name for the café and hence it was called the Dylan’s Toasted and Roasted. Handmade Cookies is must try thing here .

Dylan’s Toasted Roaster

Khyber – A multi-cuisine restaurant, Khyber serves delectable Chinese, Continental, Indian and Mughlai cuisines. Drinks are reasonably priced, and the booths are a good place to huddle.

The Lazy Dog Lounge -Live music and a western influenced menu draw visitors to the area to this hip, casual venue.

Johnson's Bar & Restaurant– Johnson's Bar & Restaurant is a charming Italian joint in Manali. The restaurant boasts of a talented Italian chef, good food and a well-stocked bar that serves a good selection of wines, liquors, exotic cocktails and shooters.

Near By Must See Places:

Solang Valley – Solang Valley is quiet and is best approached by road. The drive up to Solang is extremely picturesque. Once you are there, try out some Chinese food from the local roadside shacks, and enjoy the views.

Solang valley

Rohtang Pass – A beautiful and popular spot in Manali with more than 25 lakh visitors every year. In winter, the mountains at the Rohtang Pass are completely covered in snow and it is impossible to get there. Hence, the pass remains closed during winters (from October) and generally opens again in May.

Naggar Castle - Located in Naggar Town, amidst breathtaking forested hills, the Naggar Castle is a magnificent historical edifice. Once the residence of Raja Sidh Singh of Kullu, this castle is an amalgamation of European and Himalayan architecture. Fireplaces, fitting staircases, and magnificent stone and wood works grace the castle's interiors.

view from nagar castle

Hadimba Devi Temple -You should go to Hadimba temple even if you avoid temples , just for the beautiful WALK to it. Also dress in the typical manali outfits available outside the temple and click . Not cliche' but classic !

Vashist :

Just a few km away is another small village that has the famous hot mineral springs. We paid 100 rs to get there. FYI they charge less going down because it’s so steep the guy didn’t even start the engine! It was more money to go back up. It is walkable if you really want to. To be honest I was a little let down by them (unless of course I ended up in the wrong place). It was separated male and female and the female one was hidden down this hole or sorts right near the entrance. Although natural water coming in, it was built into a brick square of a tub. Men always get the best deal in India. From here you can find groups to do more hiking.

Jogini WaterFall - This is a 2km easy trek from Vashisht temple. It took us 90 mins to reach the waterfall, meandering through local villages, apple orchards. You’ll get a very nice view with the mountains on one side and valley on the other. The trek path is easy, my 55 year old mother joined us and completed the trek as well. On the way you’ll note a small waterfall, do not stop and continue your journey. You’ll note plenty of signboards requesting not to litter. On the way we stopped at a local tea joint called ‘Chai Cafe’ and had ‘Mountain Tea’. This tea is infused with a local herb and is supposed to cure flu, stomach ailments. Have this with a dash of honey and you’ll feel refreshed. Once you leave the local village, the calm serene environment will thrill you. The village roads are very dirty filled with cow dung.

Manu Temple –You this religious edifice is visited by countless devotee every year.Legends have it that Manu saved the holy Vedas and the seven sages from the great flood and subsquently made manali his home . A visit to this revered temple will definitely leave you mentaly and spiritually rejuvented .

What to do in old Manali:

Whitewater Rafting.

Rafting is a great option while in Manali! Groups are put together by many different companies and almost every hotel. The water is quite cold but manageable. It’s a relaxing rafting ride and safety isn’t an issue, unless you’re not sober. Personally, I don’t like rafting unless it’s grade 4 or 5’s, because I’ve been a little spoiled. Unless it’s quite cheap, I won’t usually go on low graded rapids.

Paraglide.

if you are adventure lover than this is best thing you can do it here its cost around 2000 -3000 rs depending on the season.

Trek or Hike.

You can go north into Spiti Valley with several companies. If you come off-season you’re less likely to find a guide. During season, find some travel buddies to help keep the price down. Manali is a great hub for adventure. Some treks are daily and others take 3 to 4 days to complete. If this interests you, you need to pack boots!

Heal & Learn.

Manali is a great place to take relaxing laid-back classes in mediation, reiki, or yoga (at Shri Hari Yoga Ashram). You can get massages and reflexology. Expect an Ayurveda massage to cost about 500 or more in the tourist areas. You can take classes here to learn massage and all the rest as well. Someone will offer to read your palm, use acupressure and magnetism on you, heal your chakras and use color healing on you- why not give it a go!? Maybe they’re one of these true Indigo children… and what they teach you could change your life! Traveling with Chloe really opened my eyes, which is hard to do to a western trained nurse.

Climb a Mountain.

Amazing time to do it. The prices aren’t like hiking base camps of those “go-to” mountains, so you’ll get a really good deal here.

Drive.

“Surely the gods live here; this is no place for man” -Rudyard Kipling, while exploring LehThis is where people start to take the Rohtang pass to Leh. Supposedly one of the most dangerous roads by bus, bike and car seems to be the safest option. You’re guaranteed spectacular glacier views. Keep in mind this pass closes by at latest November. It’s become known as the “valley of the gods”.

Fishing.

People always eat trout at least once while at this river. It’s full of them! So why not get a license for 100 rupees a day and go fishing.

Lounging in a Natural Hot Tub.

There are hot springs in Vashist temple that are worth a visit whether you like soaking in them or not. I explain more in my guide to Manali, but it really does feel nice to be in hot water while the cold air is around you. It was very local while I was there with not too many tourists, but I can’t see it being that way during season time.

Spend a night Camping at Manali

Camping at Bhakarthatch, Manali (Photo Courtesy: Flickr)

A tent pitched in the middle of a valley surrounding trees, shining in the lantern light in sensual darkness, is the most stunning sight. Imagine being inside that tent, sipping a hot black tea, marveling at the glittering stars and looking down towards a shining water stream at night. This is a die-for experience no Manali traveller must miss. Camping can be done at Bhakarthatch, Beas Kund, Shoja, Raison, Jibhi and Solang Valley.

Travel Tip: Sign up with a camping tour that pitches its tents in villages like Prini or Panchan or book a luxury camp to complete the experience.

Kasol - Tosh - Kheerganga

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 05:23:00 -0700

Sometimes you want to just get away from the city life and lose yourself in a trance. Walk with no destination in mind and chance upon a hidden village. Sit in surroundings so beautiful that you lose yourself and end up watching the sun rise and set from the same spot. Drink from fresh water streams and party with the people from some untouched villages in their style.

Kasol is the Place where you lost yourself to find your innerself. May be it is due to the magic in the air of kasol or may be its a lusting smell of the magical thing(HASH).This place is blessed by nature.
So here i will tell you my experience of 4 days in kasol,Tosh and Kheerganga.

How to reach Kasol:

To begin with, there are no direct buses from Delhi to Kasol. It is approximately 12-14 hour travel from Delhi to Bhunter. Buses are easily available from Delhi ISBT, Kashmere Gate. For ordinary buses you can make on the spot booking though I’ll suggest you reach an hour early to the time you want to start; for Volvo (cost ~1300rs) you have to make prior bookings as there are few buses with heavy rush and bookings can be done through makemytrip, redbus etc. or best HRTC. On Friday evening after office, I reached by 6.30pm at ISBT. Starting off at around 8pm in an Volo bus for Kullu/Manali, I got down at Bhuntar after roughly 12 hours journey. Bhuntar is at the bifurcation of the roads leading to Kullu Valley and Parvati Valley. All along the journey you’ll get beautiful scenic views of the mountains and a lot many Hydropower projects.

Local buses are the best means of transport in such areas as they are easily available, quite frequent and pretty cheap.From Bhunter, every 15 mins a local bus goes to Kasol, which is close to 1.5 hour travel and costs INR 50 per person. Frequency ensures getting a seat and is not very crowded. Alternatively, you can take a cab which takes about an hour and charges INR 900 upto INR 1350 as per the car and number of persons.

Some Scintillating Views from Bhutar to kasol way

Cash Alert!

There is only one ATM in Kasol which is out of cash or dysfunctional many times. There are 2-3 ATMs in Bhuntar, so if you don’t have enough cash for the trip already now is the time to withdraw. If you miss it by chance, you can get cash by swiping your card at the Currency Exchange Booth in Kasol by paying 5% surcharge.

Kasol

Himachal has always been a warm and a cold host in the summers. This time it’s calling for Kasol, a small hill station located in the Parvati valley. Kasol, in Himachal Pradesh is a favorite tourist destination, especially for those arriving from Israel. With a sizeable Israeli population, most of the signboards outside restaurants and cafes are in Hebrew and this place is also known as Mini Israel.The crisp mountain air, coupled with the delicious Israeli food, with the smell of burning herbs coursing through the otherwise unpolluted air, make up the so-called “Amsterdam of India”. Before you make any presumptions about the hippie paradise, you ought to slow down and enjoy the slow pace of life in one of the loveliest Himalayan Valleys in India. Frequented by tourists and hippies, Kasol has everything from Hills views to River views,short treks to long trek, Reggae Bars to Internet Cafes and cheap guest-houses.

What to do in Kasol:

Go for a small treks to chalal ,about 2 kms or Rashol, about 4 kms from Kasol and a is a four-hour trek which is worth taking. The saying, ‘more than the destination, it’s the journey’ holds true for this 4 hour trek. There are some cheap guesthouses available is Rashol. Those looking for solitude can take the remote road from Katagla to Chowki.Chalal, which is the hub of the psychedelic parties in the Parvati Valley. Trance-y music wafts from the diminutive village, and people intent on parties .

There is the mysterious Malana, whose people believe that they descended from the army of Alexander the Great and do not allow any kind of contact with the outside world. There is Tosh, which is quiet and quaint, pleasing and peaceful, a small replica of Kasol.

All of these places, although different in their own stead, have one thing in common – the cannabis that is heavily cultivated here, and a love for the same. Malana Cream, a kind of hashish that is cultivated in the Malana village mainly, is one of the most sought after drugs here, and the motivating factor for half the hippies who flock to the valley.
The beauty that lies beyond the picturesque hills is remarkable and each day is beautiful in its own way. The tiny, quintessential Himachal villages will make you feel relaxed and make you fall hopelessly and irretrievably in love with Himachal!

Places to stay:
There are good number of cheap guesthouse,Cottage and hostel availble in kasol ,
chalal and Rasol(200-700 INR per night) .

Places to eat in Kasol:
Shiv café, Evergreen Cafe, Bhoj, German Bakery, Little Italy, Maria café,JIm Morrision cafe,MoonDance Cafe

Note: Must try Israeli Food.

Kheerganga Trek

How to reach Kheerganga from kasol:
From kasol local buses(40-50 INR per person) are available to Bharsheni which is the last stoppage on the bus route or you can choose the taxi which cost you around 400-700 INR.

We started our journey by hitting Barshaini village from where trek to kheerganga start. It is a 12 km stretch. It has two major stops name Nagthan village(around 4 km from Barshaini) and Rudranag Temple(around 8 km from Barshaini). At Nagthan one can refill their water bottles and it has cafe also to have some food. Rudranag temple has a waterfall which has awesome scenic beauty and is an interlude to this awesome trek. Till Rudranag the trek led us to beautiful Panoramic Views ,Twisted Mountain trails, snow capped peaks dotted with brilliant yellow mustard flowers and Pink flowers. After Rudranag the the trek led us to thick lush green forest with rejuvenating air kissing your face with uphill ascent. Although the trail is well marked offering little scope for confusion, we got dog as our guide for the whole trek.

We took around 5 hours to complete this trek with 15-20 minutes pause at both stops. On reaching Kheerganga, we enjoy spending few hours in hot water spring. Initially the water seems to be very hot but gradually after entering the pool we feel normal. Believe me its the best feeling in the world taking bath in hot water spring which is located in between snow clad mountains--a reward in itself for most of us plagued by the monotony of routine life. The bath vanishes your tiredness and soreness and dizziness. There are few cafes available for stay and a Dharamsala also( INR 100/- per night). There is a small temple dedicated to Lord Shiva near the spring and a Kartikey cave just 100 mt trekking from the temple.

Kheerganga is not only peaceful, reviving and laid back , but if you are looking for a place for soul searching or to reach a state of thoughtlessness then it's the place. So serene and surreal where you want time to really stop;as you don't want this dream to get over soon.
Myth of Hot-Water Spring: It is said that Hot Spring was Kheer(Sweet rice pudding) originally but then converted in water so that it never gets over. One can still find White flakes considered to be milk cream in the spring.

Where to stay and eat :
In-between trek there is some cafes in Nagthan village(Sahil Cafe is good). At Kheerganga you will find lots of Cafes which provide stay(200-400 INR per night) and food.Some of the cafe also provide Camping facility.

cannabis leaf

Tosh

How to reach Tosh:

From kasol local buses(40-50 INR per person) are available to Bharsheni village which is the last stoppage on the bus route or you can choose the taxi which cost you around 400-700 INR. From Bharsheni tosh is 3 km away taxi is the only option available which cost you around (200-300 INR) otherwise you have to trek to tosh which take your 1-1.5 hour.

Tosh was another story altogether. To reach the village I had to cross a stream and walk into the snow clad wonderland of India. A small village, with just 150 – 200 houses but the view from the place was breathtaking.Tosh is a village lying at the height of 7900 feet on top of a hill surrounded by mountains from all the sides. Tosh offers some breathtaking views of the Parvati Valley.

Here you can experience the bounty of nature in all its glory, combined with some indigenous as well as exotic experiences as well. This destination is quite often thronged by visitors from other countries, and you can interact with them and experience their cuisine at local eateries as well.

There is nothing much to do in Tosh than to explore the surroundings. With every step you take there will an upsurge in love for this place.Such breathtaking views it provides of the beautiful Parvati Valley. In addition, as Tosh is becoming quite popular among the backpackers, many trance and psychedelic parties are being organized here.

The pristine beauty of Tosh is untouched by modernization and fast-paced life. The hippie culture of this village will surely transport you another world. Have you ever tried Hash? Are you looking for some peaceful days in your life? Tosh is waiting to welcome you!!! “You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!”

Places to eat and stay : Pinki didi cafe,Pink Floyd CAFE,Hill Top Cafe(View from these cafe is Awesoume)

4-Day KASOL ,KHEERGANGA TREK,TOSH, PARVATI VALLEY Video

Android TV - WebView

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 23:57:00 -0700

I am assuming, you people having basic knowledge of android tv.
In today's blog, I will tell you how to open webview in android Tv.

You should be knowing about android.support.v17.leanback.app.OnboardingFragment it is use for onboarding step, But I have also used it for opening web view as shown in above image

web_view.xml

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

android:gravity="center"

android:orientation="vertical"

android:paddingLeft="591dp">

<WebView

android:id="@+id/webview"

android:layout_width="fill_parent"

android:layout_height="0dp"

android:layout_weight="1"

android:background="#ffffff" />
</LinearLayout>

WebViewFragment.java

public class WebViewFragment extends android.support.v17.leanback.app.OnboardingFragment {

   private WebView wview;

   @Nullable

@Override

public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,

Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.web_view, null);
       wview = (WebView) view.findViewById(R.id.webview);
       wview.loadUrl("https://www.google.co.in");
       return view;
   }
   @Override

protected void onFinishFragment() {
       super.onFinishFragment();
      getActivity().finish();
   }
   @Override

protected int getPageCount() {
       return 1;
   }
   @Override

protected String getPageTitle(int pageIndex) {
       return null;
   }
   @Override

protected String getPageDescription(int pageIndex) {
       return null;
   }
   @Nullable

@Override

protected View onCreateBackgroundView(LayoutInflater inflater,

ViewGroup container) {
       return null;
   }
   @Nullable

@Override

protected View onCreateContentView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container) {
return null;
}

@Nullable

@Override

protected View onCreateForegroundView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container) {
return null;
}

}

Now use this fragment in activity

web_activity.xml

<fragment xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:id="@+id/webfragment"

android:name="WebViewFragment"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent" />

WebViewActivity.java

public class WebViewActivity extends Activity {

@Override

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
       setContentView(R.layout.web_activity);
   }
}

Now u just have to call startActivity(new Intent(context, WebViewActivity.class));

Android 7.0 for Developers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 6 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0700

Android 7.0 Nougat introduces a variety of new features and capabilities for users and developers. This document highlights what's new for developers.

Make sure check out the Android 7.0 behavior changes to learn about areas where platform changes may affect your apps.

Multi-window Support

In Android 7.0, we're introducing a new and much-requested multitasking feature into the platform — multi-window support.

Users can now pop open two apps on the screen at once.

On phones and tablets running Android 7.0, users can run two apps side-by-side or one-above-the-other in splitscreen mode. Users can resize the apps by dragging the divider between them.
On Android TV devices, apps can put themselves in picture-in-picture mode, allowing them to continue showing content while the user browses or interacts with other apps.

1. App running in split screen mode

Especially on tablets and other larger-screen devices, multi-window support gives you new ways to engage users. You can even enable drag-and-drop in your app to let users conveniently drag content to or from your app — a great way to enhance your user experience.

It's straightforward to add multi-window support to your app and configure how it handles multi-window display. For example, you can specify your activity's minimum allowable dimensions, preventing users from resizing the activity below that size. You can also disable multi-window display for your app, which ensures that the system will only show your app in full-screen mode.

For more information, see the Multi-Window Support developer documentation.

Notification Enhancements

In Android 7.0 we've redesigned notifications to make them easier and faster to use. Some of the changes include:

Template updates: We're updating notification templates to put a new emphasis on hero image and avatar. Developers will be able to take advantage of the new templates with minimal adjustments in their code.
Messaging style customization: You can customize more of the user interface labels associated with your notifications using the MessagingStyleclass. You can configure the message, conversation title, and content view.
Bundled notifications: The system can group messages together, for example by message topic, and display the group. A user can take actions, such as Dismiss or Archive, on them in place. If you’ve implemented notifications for Android Wear, you’ll already be familiar with this model.
Direct reply: For real-time communication apps, the Android system supports inline replies so that users can quickly respond to an SMS or text message directly within the notification interface.
Custom views: Two new APIs enable you to leverage system decorations, such as notification headers and actions, when using custom views in notifications.

screen 2 Notification

To learn how to implement the new features, see the Notifications guide.

Profile-guided JIT/AOT Compilation

In Android 7.0, we've added a Just in Time (JIT) compiler with code profiling to ART, which lets it constantly improve the performance of Android apps as they run. The JIT compiler complements ART's current Ahead of Time (AOT) compiler and helps improve runtime performance, save storage space, and speed up app updates and system updates.

Profile-guided compilation lets ART manage the AOT/JIT compilation for each app according to its actual usage, as well as conditions on the device. For example, ART maintains a profile of each app's hot methods and can precompile and cache those methods for best performance. It leaves other parts of the app uncompiled until they are actually used.

Besides improving performance for key parts of the app, profile-guided compilation helps reduce an app's overall RAM footprint, including associated binaries. This feature is especially important on low-memory devices.

ART manages profile-guided compilation in a way that minimizes impact on the device battery. It does precompilation only when then the device is idle and charging, saving time and battery by doing that work in advance.

Quick Path to App Install

One of the most tangible benefits of ART's JIT compiler is the speed of app installs and system updates. Even large apps that required several minutes to optimize and install in Android 6.0 can now install in just a matter of seconds. System updates are also faster, since there's no more optimizing step.

Doze on the Go...

Android 6.0 introduced Doze, a system mode that saves battery by deferring apps' CPU and network activities when the device is idle, such as when it's sitting on a table or in a drawer.

Now in Android 7.0, Doze takes a step further and saves battery while on the go. Any time the screen is off for a period of time and the device is unplugged, Doze applies a subset of the familiar CPU and network restrictions to apps. This means users can save battery even when carrying their devices in their pockets.

Screen -3 Doze now applies restrictions to improve battery life even when the device is not stationary.

A short time after the screen turns off while the device is on battery, Doze restricts network access and defers jobs and syncs. During brief maintenance windows, applications are allowed network access and any of their deferred jobs/syncs are executed. Turning the screen on or plugging in the device brings the device out of Doze.

When the device is stationary again, with screen off and on battery for a period of time, Doze applies the full CPU and network restrictions onPowerManager.WakeLock, AlarmManager alarms, and GPS/Wi-Fi scans.

The best practices for adapting your app to Doze are the same whether the device is moving or not, so if you already updated your app to gracefully handle Doze, you're all set. If not, start adapting your app to Doze now.

Project Svelte: Background Optimizations

Project Svelte is an ongoing effort to minimize RAM use by system and apps across the range of Android devices in the ecosystem. In Android 7.0, Project Svelte is focused on optimizing the way apps run in the background.

Background processing is an essential part of most apps. When handled right, it can make your user experience amazing — immediate, fast, and context-aware. When not handled right, background processing can needlessly consume RAM (and battery) and affect system performance for other apps.

Since Android 5.0, JobScheduler has been the preferred way of performing background work in a way that's good for users. Apps can schedule jobs while letting the system optimize based on memory, power, and connectivity conditions. JobScheduler offers control and simplicity, and we want all apps to use it.

Another good option is GCMNetworkManager, part of Google Play Services, which offers similar job scheduling with compatibility across legacy versions of Android.

We're continuing to extend JobScheduler and GCMNetworkManager to meet more of your use cases — for example, in Android 7.0 you can now schedule background work based on changes in Content Providers. At the same time we're starting to deprecate some of the older patterns that can reduce system performance, especially on low-memory devices.

In Android 7.0 we're removing three commonly-used implicit broadcasts — CONNECTIVITY_ACTION, ACTION_NEW_PICTURE, and ACTION_NEW_VIDEO — since those can wake the background processes of multiple apps at once and strain memory and battery. If your app is receiving these, take advantage of the Android 7.0 to migrate to JobScheduler and related APIs instead.

Take a look at the Background Optimizations documentation for details.

SurfaceView

Android 7.0 brings synchronous movement to the SurfaceView class, which provides better battery performance than TextureView in certain cases: When rendering video or 3D content, apps with scrolling and animated video position use less power with SurfaceView than with TextureView.

The SurfaceView class enables more battery-efficient compositing on screen, because it is composited in dedicated hardware, separately from app window content. As a result, it makes fewer intermediate copies than TextureView.

A SurfaceView object's content position is now updated synchronously with the containing app content. One result of this change is that simple translations or scales of a video playing in a SurfaceView no longer produce black bars alongside the view as it moves.

Starting with Android 7.0, we strongly recommend that you save power by using SurfaceView instead of TextureView.

Data Saver

Over the life of a mobile device, the cost of a cellular data plan typically exceeds the cost of the device itself. For many users, cellular data is an expensive resource that they want to conserve.

Android 7.0 introduces Data Saver mode, a new system service that helps reduce cellular data use by apps, whether roaming, near the end of the billing cycle, or on a small prepaid data pack. Data Saver gives users control over how apps use cellular data and lets developers provide more efficient service when Data Saver is on.

When a user enables Data Saver in Settings and the device is on a metered network, the system blocks background data usage and signals apps to use less data in the foreground wherever possible — such as by limiting bit rate for streaming, reducing image quality, deferring optimistic precaching, and so on. Users can whitelist specific apps to allow background metered data usage even when Data Saver is turned on.

Android 7.0 extends the ConnectivityManager to provide apps a way to retrieve the user's Data Saver preferences and monitor preference changes. All apps should check whether the user has enabled Data Saver and make an effort to limit foreground and background data usage.

Vulkan API

Android 7.0 integrates Vulkan™, a new 3D rendering API, into the platform. Like OpenGL™ ES, Vulkan is an open standard for 3D graphics and rendering maintained by the Khronos Group.

Vulkan is designed from the ground up to minimize CPU overhead in the driver, and allow your application to control GPU operation more directly. Vulkan also enables better parallelization by allowing multiple threads to perform work such as command buffer construction at once.

Vulkan development tools and libraries are rolled into the Android 7.0DK. They include:

Headers
Validation layers (debug libraries)
SPIR-V shader compiler
SPIR-V runtime shader compilation library

Vulkan is only available to apps on devices with Vulkan-capable hardware, such as Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus Player. We're working closely with our partners to bring Vulkan to more devices as soon as possible.

For more information, see the the API documentation.

Quick Settings Tile API

Screen-5 Quick Settings tiles in the notification shade.

Quick Settings is a popular and simple way to expose key settings and actions, directly from the notification shade. In Android 7.0, we've expanded the scope of Quick Settings to make it even more useful and convenient.

We've added more room for additional Quick Settings tiles, which users can access across a paginated display area by swiping left or right. We've also given users control over what Quick Settings tiles appear and where they are displayed — users can add or move tiles just by dragging and dropping them.

For developers, Android 7.0 also adds a new API that lets you define your own Quick Settings tiles to give users easy access to key controls and actions in your app.

Quick Settings tiles are reserved for controls or actions that are either urgently required or frequently used, and should not be used as shortcuts to launching an app.

Once you’ve defined your tiles, you can surface them to users, who can add them to Quick Settings just by drag and drop.

For information about creating an app tile, see the reference documentation for Tile.

Number Blocking

Android 7.0 now supports number blocking in the platform and provides a framework API to let service providers maintain a blocked-number list. The default SMS app, the default phone app, and carrier apps can read from and write to the blocked-number list. The list is not accessible to other apps.

By making number blocking a standard feature of the platform, Android provides a consistent way for apps to support number blocking across a wide range of devices. Among the other benefits that apps can take advantage of are:

Numbers blocked on calls are also blocked on texts
Blocked numbers can persist across resets and devices through the Backup & Restore feature
Multiple apps can use the same blocked numbers list

Additionally, carrier app integration through Android means that carriers can read the blocked numbers list on the device and perform service-side blocking for the user in order to stop unwanted calls and texts from reaching the user through any medium, such as a VOIP endpoint or forwarding phones.

For more information, see the reference documentation for BlockedNumberContract.

Call Screening

Android 7.0 allows the default phone app to screen incoming calls. The phone app does this by implementing the new CallScreeningService, which allows the phone app to perform a number of actions based on an incoming call's Call.Details, such as:

Reject the incoming call
Do not allow the call to the call log
Do not show the user a notification for the call

For more information, see the reference documentation for CallScreeningService.

Multi-locale Support, More Languages

Android 7.0 now lets users select multiple locales in Settings, to better support bilingual use-cases. Apps can use a new API to get the user's selected locales and then offer more sophisticated user experiences for multi-locale users — such as showing search results in multiple languages and not offering to translate webpages in a language the user already knows.

Along with multi-locale support, Android 7.0 also expands the range of languages available to users. It offers more than 25 variants each for commonly used languages such as English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. It also adds partial support for more than 100 new languages.

Apps can get the list of locales set by the user by calling LocaleList.GetDefault(). To support the expanded number of locales, Android 7.0 is changing the way that it resolves resources. Make sure that you test and verify that your apps working as expected with the new resource resolution logic.

To learn about the new resource-resolution behavior and the best practices you should follow, see Multilingual Support.

New Emojis

Android 7.0 introduces additional emojis and emoji-related features including skin tone emojis and support for variation selectors. If your app supports emojis, follow the guidelines below to take advantage of these emoji-related features.

Check that a device contains an emoji before inserting it. To check which emojis are present in the system font, use the hasGlyph(String)method.
Check that an emoji supports variation selectors. Variation selectors allow you to present certain emojis in color or in black-and-white. On mobile devices, apps should represent emojis in color rather than black-and-white. However, if your app displays emojis inline with text, then it should use the black-and-white variation. To determine whether an emoji has a variation, use the variation selector. For a complete list of characters with variations, review the emoji variation sequences section of the Unicode documentation on variations.
Check that an emoji supports skin tone. Android 7.0 allows users to modify the rendered skin tone of emojis to their preference. Keyboard apps should provide visual indications for emojis that have multiple skin tones and should allow users to select the skin tone that they prefer. To determine which system emojis have skin tone modifiers, use the hasGlyph(String) method. You can determine which emojis use skin tones by reading the Unicode documentation.

ICU4J APIs in Android

Android 7.0 now offers a subset of ICU4J APIs in the Android framework under the android.icu package. Migration is easy, and mostly entails simply changing from the com.java.icu namespace to android.icu. If you are already using an ICU4J bundle in your apps, switching to the android.icuAPIs provided in the Android framework can produce substantial savings in APK size.

To learn more about the Android ICU4J APIs, see ICU4J Support.

WebView

Chrome + WebView, Together

Starting with Chrome version 51 on Android 7.0 and above, the Chrome APK on your device is used to provide and render Android System WebViews. This approach improves memory usage on the device itself and also reduces the bandwidth required to keep WebView up to date (as the standalone WebView APK will no longer be updated as long as Chrome remains enabled).

You can choose your WebView provider by enabling Developer Options and selecting WebView implementation. You can use any compatible Chrome version (Dev, Beta or Stable) that is installed on your device or the standalone Webview APK to act as the WebView implementation.

Multiprocess

Starting with Chrome version 51 in Android 7.0, WebView will run web content in a separate sandboxed process when the developer option "Multiprocess WebView" is enabled.

We're looking for feedback on compatibility and runtime performance in N before enabling multiprocess WebView in a future version of Android. In this version, regressions in startup time, total memory usage and software rendering performance are expected.

Javascript run before page load

Starting with apps targeting Android 7.0, the Javascript context will be reset when a new page is loaded. Currently, the context is carried over for the first page loaded in a new WebView instance.

Developers looking to inject Javascript into the WebView should execute the script after the page has started to load.

Geolocation on insecure origins

Starting with apps targeting Android 7.0, the geolocation API will only be allowed on secure origins (over HTTPS.) This policy is designed to protect users’ private information when they’re using an insecure connection.

Testing with WebView Beta

WebView is updated regularly, so we recommend that you test compatibility with your app frequently using WebView’s beta channel. To get started testing pre-release versions of WebView on Android 7.0, download and install either Chrome Dev or Chrome Beta, and select it as the WebView implementation under developer options as described above.

OpenGL™ ES 3.2 API

Android 7.0 adds framework interfaces and platform support for OpenGL ES 3.2, including:

All extensions from the Android Extension Pack (AEP) except for EXT_texture_sRGB_decode.
Floating-point framebuffers for HDR and deferred shading.
BaseVertex draw calls to enable better batching and streaming.
Robust buffer access control to reduce WebGL overhead.

The framework API for OpenGL ES 3.2 on Android 7.0 is provided with the GLES32 class. When using OpenGL ES 3.2, be sure to declare the requirement in your manifest file, using the <uses-feature> tag and the android:glEsVersion attribute.

For information about using OpenGL ES, including how to check a device's supported OpenGL ES version at runtime, see the OpenGL ES API guide.

Android TV Recording

Android 7.0 adds the ability to record and playback content from Android TV input services via new recording APIs. Building on top of existing time-shifting APIs, TV input services can control what channel data can be recorded, how recorded sessions are saved, and manage user interaction with recorded content.

For more information, see Android TV Recording APIs.

Android for Work

Android for Work adds many new features and APIs for devices running Android 7.0. Some highlights are below — for a complete list of changes, seeAndroid for Work Updates.

Work profile security challenge

Profile owners targeting the N SDK can specify a separate security challenge for apps running in the work profile. The work challenge is shown when a user attempts to open any work apps. Successful completion of the security challenge unlocks the work profile and decrypts it if necessary. For profile owners, ACTION_SET_NEW_PASSWORD prompts the user to set a work challenge, and ACTION_SET_NEW_PARENT_PROFILE_PASSWORD prompts the user to set a device lock.

Profile owners can set distinct passcode policies for the work challenge (such as how long the PIN needs to be, or whether a fingerprint can be used to unlock the profile) using the setPasswordQuality(), setPasswordMinimumLength() and related methods. The profile owner can also set the device lock using the DevicePolicyManager instance returned by the new getParentProfileInstance() method. Additionally, profile owners can customize the credentials screen for the work challenge using the new setOrganizationColor() and setOrganizationName() methods.

Turn off work

On a device with a work profile, users can toggle work mode. When work mode is off the managed user is temporarily shut down, which disables work profile apps, background sync, and notifications. This includes the profile owner application. When work mode is off, the system displays a persistent status icon to remind the user that they can't launch work apps. The launcher indicates that work apps and widgets are not accessible.

Always on VPN

Device owners and profile owners can ensure that work apps always connect through a specified VPN. The system automatically starts that VPN after the device boots.

New DevicePolicyManager methods are setAlwaysOnVpnPackage() and getAlwaysOnVpnPackage().

Because VPN services can be bound directly by the system without app interaction, VPN clients need to handle new entry points for Always on VPN. As before, services are indicated to the system by an intent filter matching action android.net.VpnService.

Users can also manually set Always on VPN clients that implement VPNService methods using Settings>More>Vpn. The option to enable Always on VPN from Settings is available only if VPN client targets API level 24.

Customized provisioning

An application can customize the profile owner and device owner provisioning flows with corporate colors and logos.DevicePolicyManager.EXTRA_PROVISIONING_MAIN_COLOR customizes flow color. DevicePolicyManager.EXTRA_PROVISIONING_LOGO_URIcustomizes the flow with a corporate logo.

Accessibility Enhancements

Android 7.0 now offers Vision Settings directly on the Welcome screen for new device setup. This makes it much easier for users to discover and configure accessibility features on their devices, including magnification gesture, font size, display size, and TalkBack.

With these accessibility features getting more prominent placement, your users are more likely to try your app with them enabled. Make sure you test your apps early with these settings enabled. You can enable them from Settings > Accessibility.

Also in Android 7.0, accessibility services can now help users with motor impairments to touch the screen. The new API allows building services with features such as face-tracking, eye-tracking, point scanning, and so on, to meet the needs of those users.

For more information, see the reference documentation for GestureDescription.

Direct Boot

Direct boot improves device startup times and lets registered apps have limited functionality even after an unexpected reboot. For example, if an encrypted device reboots while the user is sleeping, registered alarms, messages and incoming calls can now continue to notify the user as normal. This also means accessibility services can also be available immediately after a restart.

Direct boot takes advantage of file based encryption in Android 7.0 to enable fine grained encryption policies for both system and app data. The system uses a device-encrypted store for select system data and explicitly registered app data. By default a credential-encrypted store is used for all other system data, user data, apps, and app data.

At boot, the system starts in a restricted mode with access to device-encrypted data only, and without general access to apps or data. If you have components that you want to run in this mode, you can register them by setting a flag in the manifest. After restart, the system activates registered components by broadcasting the LOCKED_BOOT_COMPLETED intent. The system ensures registered device-encrypted app data is available before unlock. All other data is unavailable until the User confirms their lock screen credentials to decrypt it.

For more information, see Direct Boot.

Key Attestation

Android 7.0 introduces key attestation, a new security tool that helps you make sure that the key pairs stored within a device's hardware-backed keystore properly protect the sensitive information that your app uses. By using this tool, you gain additional confidence that your app interacts with keys that reside in secure hardware, even if the device running your app is rooted. If you use keys from the hardware-backed keystore in your apps, you should use this tool, particularly if you use the keys to verify sensitive information within your app.

Key attestation allows you to verify that an RSA or EC key pair has been created and stored in a device’s hardware-backed keystore within the device’s trusted execution environment (TEE). The tool also allows you to use an off-device service, such as your app's back-end server, to determine and strongly verify the uses and validity of the key pair. These features provide an additional level of security that protects the key pair, even if someone roots the device or compromises the security of the Android platform running on the device.

Note: Only a small number of devices running Android 7.0 support hardware-level key attestation; all other devices running Android 7.0 use software-level key attestation instead. Before you verify the properties of a device's hardware-backed keys in a production-level environment, you should make sure that the device supports hardware-level key attestation. To do so, you should check that the attestation certificate chain contains a root certificate that is signed by the Google attestation root key and that the attestationSecurityLevel element within the key description data structure is set to the TrustedEnvironment security level.

For more information, see the Key Attestation developer documentation.

Network Security Config

In Android 7.0, apps can customize the behavior of their secure (HTTPS, TLS) connections safely, without any code modification, by using the declarative Network Security Config instead of using the conventional error-prone programmatic APIs (e.g. X509TrustManager).

Supported features:

Custom trust anchors. Lets an application customize which Certificate Authorities (CA) are trusted for its secure connections. For example, trusting particular self-signed certificates or a restricted set of public CAs.
Debug-only overrides. Lets an application developer safely debug secure connections of their application without added risk to the installed base.
Cleartext traffic opt-out. Lets an application protect itself from accidental usage of cleartext traffic.
Certificate pinning. An advanced feature that lets an application limit which server keys are trusted for secure connections.

For more information, see Network Security Config.

Default Trusted Certificate Authority

By default, apps that target Android 7.0 only trust system-provided certificates and no longer trust user-added Certificate Authorities (CA). Apps targeting Android N that wish to trust user-added CAs should use the Network Security Config to specify how user CAs should be trusted.

APK Signature Scheme v2

Android 7.0 introduces APK Signature Scheme v2, a new app-signing scheme that offers faster app install times and more protection against unauthorized alterations to APK files. By default, Android Studio 2.2 and the Android Plugin for Gradle 2.2 sign your app using both APK Signature Scheme v2 and the traditional signing scheme, which uses JAR signing.

Although we recommend applying APK Signature Scheme v2 to your app, this new scheme is not mandatory. If your app doesn't build properly when using APK Signature Scheme v2, you can disable the new scheme. The disabling process causes Android Studio 2.2 and the Android Plugin for Gradle 2.2 to sign your app using only the traditional signing scheme. To sign with only the traditional scheme, open the module-level build.gradle file, then add the line v2SigningEnabled false to your release signing configuration:

  android {
    ...
    defaultConfig { ... }
    signingConfigs {
      release {
        storeFile file("myreleasekey.keystore")
        storePassword "password"
        keyAlias "MyReleaseKey"
        keyPassword "password"
        v2SigningEnabled false
      }
    }
  }

Caution: If you sign your app using APK Signature Scheme v2 and make further changes to the app, the app's signature is invalidated. For this reason, use tools such as zipalign before signing your app using APK Signature Scheme v2, not after.

For more information, read the Android Studio documents that describe how to sign an app in Android Studio and how to configure the build file for signing apps using the Android Plugin for Gradle.

Scoped Directory Access

In Android 7.0, apps can use new APIs to request access to specific external storage directories, including directories on removable media such as SD cards. The new APIs greatly simplify how your application accesses standard external storage directories, such as the Pictures directory. Apps like photo apps can use these APIs instead of using READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, which grants access to all storage directories, or the Storage Access Framework, which makes the user navigate to the directory.

Additionally, the new APIs simplify the steps a user takes to grant external storage access to your app. When you use the new APIs, the system uses a simple permissions UI that clearly details what directory the application is requesting access to.

For more information, see the Scoped Directory Access developer documentation.

Keyboard Shortcuts Helper

In Android 7.0, the user can press Meta + / to trigger a Keyboard Shortcuts screen that displays all shortcuts available both from the system and from the app in focus. The system retrieves these shortcuts automatically from the app’s menu if the shortcuts exist. You can also provide your own fine-tuned shortcuts lists for the screen. You can do this by overriding the onProvideKeyboardShortcuts() method.

Note: The Meta key is not present on all keyboards: on a Macintosh keyboard, it is the Command key, on the Windows keyboard, it is the Windowskey, and on the Pixel C and the Chrome OS keyboards, it is the Search key.

To trigger Keyboard Shortcuts Helper from anywhere in your app, call requestShowKeyboardShortcuts() from the relevant activity.

Custom Pointer API

Android 7.0 introduces the Custom Pointer API, which lets you customize the appearance, visibility, and behavior of the pointer. This capability is especially useful when a user is using a mouse or touchpad to interact with UI objects. The default pointer uses a standard icon. This API also includes advanced functionality such as changing the pointer icon's appearance based on specific mouse or touchpad movements.

To set a pointer icon, override the onResolvePointerIcon() method of the View class. This method uses a PointerIcon object to draw the icon that corresponds to a specific motion event.

Sustained Performance API

Performance can fluctuate dramatically for long-running apps, because the system throttles system-on-chip engines as device components reach their temperature limits. This fluctuation presents a moving target for app developers creating high-performance, long-running apps.

To address these limitations, Android 7.0 includes support for sustained performance mode, enabling OEMs to provide hints about device-performance capabilities for long-running apps. App developers can use these hints to tune apps for a predictable, consistent level of device performance over long periods of time.

App developers can try out this new API in Android 7.0 on Nexus 6P devices only. To use this feature, set the sustained performance window flag for the window you want to run in sustained performance mode. Set this flag using the Window.setSustainedPerformanceMode() method. The system automatically disables this mode when the window is no longer in focus.

VR Support

Android 7.0 adds platform support and optimizations for a new VR Mode to let developers build high-quality mobile VR experiences for users. There are a number of performance enhancements, including access to an exclusive CPU core for VR apps. Within your apps, you can take advantage of intelligent head-tracking, and stereo notifications that work for VR. Most importantly, Android 7.0 provides for very low latency graphics. For complete information about building VR apps for Android 7.0, see the Google VR SDK for Android.

Print Service Enhancements

In Android 7.0, print service developers can now surface additional information about individual printers and print jobs.

When listing individual printers, a print service can now set per-printer icons in two ways:

You can set an icon from a resource ID by calling setIconResourceId().
You can show an icon from the network by calling setHasCustomPrinterIcon(), and setting a callback for when the icon is requested usingonRequestCustomPrinterIcon().

In addition, you can provide a per-printer activity to display additional information by calling setInfoIntent().

You can indicate the progress and status of print jobs in the print job notification by calling setProgress() and setStatus(), respectively.

Frame Metrics API

The Frame Metrics API allows an app to monitor its UI rendering performance. The API provides this capability by exposing a streaming Pub/Sub API to transfer frame timing info for the app's current window. The data returned is equivalent to that which adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo framestatsdisplays, but is not limited to the past 120 frames.

You can use the Frame Metrics API to measure interaction-level UI performance in production, without a USB connection. This API allows collection of data at a much higher granularity than does adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo. This higher granularity is possible because the system can collect data for particular interactions in the app; the system need not capture a global summary of the entire app’s performance, or clear any global state. You can use this capability to gather performance data and catch regressions in UI performance for real use cases within an app.

To monitor a window, implement the OnFrameMetricsAvailableListener.onFrameMetricsAvailable() callback method and register it on that window.

The API provides a FrameMetrics object, which contains timing data that the rendering subsystem reports for various milestones in a frame lifecycle. The supported metrics are: UNKNOWN_DELAY_DURATION, INPUT_HANDLING_DURATION, ANIMATION_DURATION, LAYOUT_MEASURE_DURATION,DRAW_DURATION, SYNC_DURATION, COMMAND_ISSUE_DURATION, SWAP_BUFFERS_DURATION, TOTAL_DURATION, and FIRST_DRAW_FRAME.

Virtual Files

In previous versions of Android, your app could use the Storage Access Framework to allow users to select files from their cloud storage accounts, such as Google Drive. However, there was no way to represent files that did not have a direct bytecode representation; every file was required to provide an input stream.

Android 7.0 adds the concept of virtual files to the Storage Access Framework. The virtual files feature allows your DocumentsProvider to return document URIs that can be used with an ACTION_VIEW intent even if they don't have a direct bytecode representation. Android 7.0 also allows you to provide alternate formats for user files, virtual or otherwise.

To get a URI for a virtual document in your app, first you create an Intent to open the file picker UI. Since an app cannot directly open a virtual file by using the openInputStream() method, your app does not receive any virtual files if you include the CATEGORY_OPENABLE category.

After the user has made a selection, the system calls the onActivityResult() method. Your app can retrieve the URI of the virtual file and get an input stream, as demonstrated in the code snippet below.

  // Other Activity code ...

  final static private int REQUEST_CODE = 64;

  // We listen to the OnActivityResult event to respond to the user's selection.
  @Override
  public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode,
    Intent resultData) {
      try {
        if (requestCode == REQUEST_CODE &&
            resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {

            Uri uri = null;

            if (resultData != null) {
                uri = resultData.getData();

                ContentResolver resolver = getContentResolver();

                // Before attempting to coerce a file into a MIME type,
                // check to see what alternative MIME types are available to
                // coerce this file into.
                String[] streamTypes =
                  resolver.getStreamTypes(uri, "*/*");

                AssetFileDescriptor descriptor =
                    resolver.openTypedAssetFileDescriptor(
                        uri,
                        streamTypes[0],
                        null);

                // Retrieve a stream to the virtual file.
                InputStream inputStream = descriptor.createInputStream();
            }
        }
      } catch (Exception ex) {
        Log.e("EXCEPTION", "ERROR: ", ex);
      }
  }

For more information about accessing user files, see the Storage Access Frameworks guide.

Pixel ‘phone by Google’

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Tue, 4 Oct 2016 10:59:00 -0700

Pixel ‘phone by Google’ announced

The future of Android is here

Following an absolute deluge of pre-event leaks and revelations, Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are now finally official. Differentiated primarily by the size and resolution of their screens — 5-inch 1080p display on the Pixel and 5.5-inch Quad HD panel on the XL — these two devices are built by HTC, but Google takes full credit for their design and makes this explicit with its "phone by Google" branding. Both Pixel models are powered by the latest Snapdragon 821 processor and run a specialized version of Google's Android software, which includes support for the Daydream virtual reality platform that was announced at Google I/O in the summer.

The Pixel name, says Rick Osterloh, Google's recently hired hardware chief, "has always represented the best in hardware and software, designed and built by Google, together." He highlights five key points for the new Pixel phones:

- Google Assistant. Pixel is the first phone with the new Google Assistant built in. When you touch and hold the home button or say the "hot word," the Assistant "jumps into action." In Google's event demo, the Assistant is used to bring up photos from a particular time or place from the past, and also plays whatever music you ask it to play, choosing your favorite music app by default. Similarly, it integrates the Google Now on Tap functionality, allowing the user to swipe up with information on the screen, such as a restaurant name, and provides further information, such as reviews and the restaurant's address. Also, like a bot, the Google Assistant will take your reservation for that same restaurant using only voice prompts.

- Camera experience. The Pixel and Pixel XL rear camera scores an 89 in DxOMark, the highest rating ever. That benchmark isn't the most consistent measure of good performance, but at least it's an indicator of the sensor's potential in the new Pixel phones. It has a 12.3-megapixel resolution with large 1.55-micron pixels and an f/2.0 aperture. Google claims that its new camera has "the shortest capture time on any mobile camera ever." There's also very intricate, gyroscope-based video stabilization on board, however there's no optical image stabilization for stills. Google isn't shy in presenting this as the best smartphone ever.

- Endless cloud storage. Google will allow free unlimited storage for full-resolution images and videos shot with the Pixel. That's much like the standard Google Photos backup ability, but takes off the size limit and compression, even on 4K video shot with the new phone.

- Connectivity and communications. Pixel users will be getting the latest Android updates directly from Google as soon as they become available. This is one of the biggest pain points with Android, and Google is stressing its lead in this category. The company has also paid close attention to the Pixel's endurance on the move, adding fast charging that gets you up to 7 hours of power in 15 minutes of charging. Google has also built in 24-hour live phone support right into the Pixel's software, so that a tech support operator can see exactly what's on your screen and thus help you better. And yes, the Pixel comes with Google Duo preinstalled, if you've been hankering for the company's video chat app.

- Made for mobile virtual reality. The Pixel is the first Daydream-compatible phone and Google today also announced the $79 Daydream View headset to accommodate the Pixel for VR use. The Daydream View comes bundled with a tiny motion controller that is so precise, claims Google, that you can even draw with it. When you're done using it, the controller tucks inside the Daydream View itself for safe storage.

On the hardware front, the Pixel phones are both made out of aluminum with a big glass window at the back, surrounding the camera, flash, and the fingerprint sensor (now dubbed Pixel Imprint). The Pixel XL has a 3,450mAh battery and the Pixel has a 2,770mAh battery. Both displays are AMOLED, both devices have 4GB of RAM, USB-C, a choice of 32GB or 128GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Yes, Google felt the need to advertise that last one. Google is also bringing back the Live Casesit introduced with last year's Nexus devices.

Pricing starts at $649 for the smaller 5-inch Pixel with 32GB of storage, available for preorder today. That number scales up to $749 with 128GB of onboard storage, $769 for the larger Pixel XL with 32GB, or $869 for the XL with 128GB. Google gives a choice between black or silver for color, with an exclusive "really blue" option with Verizon in the US, though the latter is limited to just 32GB of storage.

Working With GuidedStepFragment on Android TV

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 4 Oct 2016 02:59:00 -0700

Screen 1

Settings page like update profile

In my previous blog, I had given you the brief idea about the GuidedStepFragment, and modify its basic override method to use it as confirmation dialog on android TV.

Today in this post we will learn about the various actions to perform desire views task which happen in android mobile.

So, here we are going to start,

Editable Description Fields

Screen -2

It's now possible to input text in an action. Have you ever tried entering your email on TV with remote? Use GuidedAction.Builder.descriptionEditable(true) to make your actions editable. You can listen for completion on this field via onGuidedActionEditedAndProceed . You will all see GuidedAction.Builder.descriptionInputType in this to provide keyboard type.

I have created small actionable methods for the ease of usage , i.e.

private static void addEditable(List<GuidedAction> actions, int iconResId, Context context,
                                String title, String desc) {
    actions.add(new GuidedAction.Builder()
            .id(iconResId)
            .title(title)
            .descriptionEditable(true)
            .description(desc)
            .build());
}

GuidedAction SubAction Drop Down

Screen - 3

This has feature of drop down and selecting particular option and editing to main action's description. All you need to use is GuidedAction.Builder.subActions to add more sub actions to your main action. You can listen to any of your sub action by overriding GuidedStepFragment.onSubActionClicked. Here is my code for showing drop down as in screen - 3:

private static void addCheckedSubAction(List<GuidedAction> actions, int id, String title,

 String desc, boolean checked) {
    GuidedAction guidedAction = new GuidedAction.Builder()
            .title(title)
            .description(desc)
            .checkSetId(OPTION_CHECK_SET_ID)
            .build();
    guidedAction.setChecked(checked);
    actions.add(guidedAction);
}

private static void addDropDownAction(List<GuidedAction> actions, long id, String title,
 String desc, List<GuidedAction> selectionActions) {
    actions.add(new GuidedAction.Builder()
            .id(id)
            .title(title)
            .description(desc)
            .subActions(selectionActions)
            .build());
}

Guided Date Picker Action


Screen - 4

Simply put, this is just a date picker within action view just like editable Guided Actions.

You listen for completion from within the onGuidedActionEditedAndProceed method.

Here is my implementation.

private static void addDateAction(Context context, List<GuidedAction> actions, 
long id, String title, long date) {
    actions.add(new GuidedDatePickerAction.Builder(context)
            .id(id)
            .date(date)
            .datePickerFormat("DMY")
            .maxDate(new Date().getTime())
            .title(title)
            .build());
}

I am providing you the full working code for screen -1

public static class UpdateProfileStepFragment extends GuidedStepFragment {
        String name, mDob, email, mGender;
private static final int NAME = 0;
private static final int EMAIL = 1;
private static final int DOB = 2;
private static final int MALE = 3;
private static final int FEMALE = 4;
private static final int ACTION_GENDER = 5;

private static final int OK = 6;
public static UpdateProfileStepFragment newInstance(final int option) {
            final UpdateProfileStepFragment f = new UpdateProfileStepFragment();
//            final Bundle args = new Bundle();//            args.putInt(ARG_OPTION_IDX, option);//            f.setArguments(args);            return f;
        }


        @Override

     @NonNull

     public Guidance onCreateGuidance(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

            String title = "Update Profile";
            String email = "your email";

            String description = email;

            return new Guidance(title, description, null, null);
        }

        @Override

     public void onCreateActions(@NonNull List<GuidedAction> actions, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            name = "name";
            email = "email";
            mDob = "01/01/1980";
            long dob = 0;
            mGender = "";
            if (mGender != null && !TextUtils.isEmpty(mGender) && mGender.equalsIgnoreCase("female")) {
                isMale = false;
            }
            Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
          
                    dob = calendar.getTime().getTime();
               
            addEditable(actions, NAME, getActivity(), "Name", name);
            addEditable(actions, EMAIL, getActivity(), "Email", email);
            addDateAction(getActivity(), actions, DOB, "Date of Birth", dob);

            List<GuidedAction> genderActions = new ArrayList<>();
            if (isMale) {
                mGender = "Male";
                addCheckedAction(genderActions, MALE, "Male", "", true);
                addCheckedAction(genderActions, FEMALE, "Female", "", false);
            } else {
                mGender = "Female";
                addCheckedAction(genderActions, MALE, "Male", "", false);
                addCheckedAction(genderActions, FEMALE, "Female", "", true);
            }

            addDropDownAction(actions, ACTION_GENDER, "Gender", mGender, genderActions);
            addAction(actions, OK, getString(R.string.ok), "");
            addAction(actions, BACK, "Cancel", "");

        }


        @Override        public boolean onSubGuidedActionClicked(GuidedAction action) {
            if (action.getLabel1().toString().equalsIgnoreCase("male")) {
                isMale = true;
                mGender = "Male";
                findActionById(ACTION_GENDER).setDescription("Male");
                notifyActionChanged(findActionPositionById(ACTION_GENDER));
            } else if (action.getLabel1().toString().equalsIgnoreCase("female")) {
                isMale = false;
                mGender = "Female";
                findActionById(ACTION_GENDER).setDescription("Female");
                notifyActionChanged(findActionPositionById(ACTION_GENDER));

            }

            return super.onSubGuidedActionClicked(action);
        }

        @Override        public void onGuidedActionClicked(GuidedAction action) {
            if (action.getId() == OK) {
            } else if (action.getLabel1().toString().equalsIgnoreCase("Cancel")) {
                getActivity().finish();

            }

        }

        @SuppressLint("LongLogTag")
        @Override

    public long onGuidedActionEditedAndProceed(GuidedAction action) {
            if (action.getId() == NAME) {
                name = action.getDescription().toString();
            } else if (action.getId() == EMAIL) {
                email = action.getDescription().toString();

            } else if (action.getId() == DOB) {
                GuidedDatePickerAction daction = (GuidedDatePickerAction) action;
               
               Log.d(TAG, "onGuidedActionClicked() [ACTION_DOB] : " +

new Date(daction.getDate()));            }
            return super.onGuidedActionEditedAndProceed(action);
        }
}

If i have missed something, feel free to write in comments and let me know.

Android TV - Dialog

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sun, 2 Oct 2016 23:18:00 -0700

The leanback library for Android TV introduced the concept of guided step fragments. These have an intuitive way of presenting prompts to a user. I made a simple class that uses a GuidedStepFragment to create a simple yes/no dialog for TV. check out the code for this below:

Add declaration of this Activity to AndroidManifest.

<activity

android:name="ATVDialog"

android:theme="@style/Theme.Example.Leanback.GuidedStep" />

So we can start implementing GuidedStepFragment from here. Before real implementation, I will tell you basic structure of this GuidedStepFragment in brief :

GuidedStepFragment – Structure

As mentioned in official_doc, It is composed of a guidance view on the left and a view on the right containing a list of possible actions.

Overriding Method

To use GuidedStepFragment, we need to override at least these 3 methods.

onCreateGuidance(Bundle) – To create guidance view (left side). – Attributes of guidance (title, description etc) are specified here.

onCreateActions(List, Bundle) – To define list of possible actions (right side). – Attributes of action are specified here.

onGuidedActionClicked(GuidedAction) – This is onClick listener. – Behaviors after clicking action buttons can be specified here.

At least if you know this, you can use GuidedStepFragment. But you may want to modify the design layout of this Guidance. You can use “Theme” & “Stylist” to customize visual styling

Implementation (Overriding method)

To attach instance of GuidedStepFragment, we can use GuidedStepFragment.add function. Here instance of ConfirmationStepFragment class, which is a subclass of GuidedStepFragment, is added at onCreate of ATVDialog.

Please also check the sample implementation of 3 overriding methods such as, onCreateGuidance, onCreateActions and onGuidedActionClicked.

public class ATVDialog extends Activity {

    private static final int CONTINUE = 0;
    private static final int BACK = 1;
   
    @Override

    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        if (null == savedInstanceState) {
           
                GuidedStepFragment.addAsRoot(this, new ConfirmationStepFragment(),

             android.R.id.content);
           
        }
    
    }

    private static void addAction(List<GuidedAction> actions, long id,

     String title, String desc) {
        actions.add(new GuidedAction.Builder()
                .id(id)
                .title(title)
                .description(desc)
                .build());
    }

public static class ConfirmationStepFragment extends GuidedStepFragment {

        @Override

        @NonNull

        public Guidance onCreateGuidance(@NonNull Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            String title = "Confirm";
            String description = "Dialog description message";
            return new Guidance(title, description, null, null);
        }

        @Override

      public void onCreateActions(@NonNull List<GuidedAction> actions,

          Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            addAction(actions, CONTINUE,
                    "Confirm",
                    null);
            addAction(actions, BACK,
                    "Cancel",
                    null);
        }

        @Override

        public void onGuidedActionClicked(GuidedAction action) {
            FragmentManager fm = getFragmentManager();
            if (action.getId() == CONTINUE) {
               //Do action on confirm Click
            } else {
                getActivity().finish();
                  }
        }

Musique Play APP-Music Player

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 06:44:00 -0700

Musique Play APP-Music Player

Download

Musique Play is an elegant yet simple music player. It makes it easy to browse and play your music files. Smooth animations and swipe controls make this player one of the most convent music player, and the equalizer and playback controls make it one of the most functional. Musique Play will guide you easily to find all the music in your phone.You can share and delete particular song.

Features:
* Beautiful and simple User Interface.
* Play music - Play music by song, artist, album or playlist.
* Easy navigation - One touch to navigate in your music player.
* Quick search - Search for your music quickly.
* Playlists - Build and edit your songs into playlists.
* Party shuffle - Shuffle your music .
* Albums - View beautiful album art in your music player.
* Notification control - Control music from notifications.
* Play queue - View upcoming music.
* Now Playing - view current playing and upcoming songs in queue is very fascinating.
* Customize Theme-You can change Theme of Musique Play from setting to see Musique play in
your desired color preference
* Share particular song.
* Delete particular song.
* View As- List or Grid.
* Settings- Can change the theme of application of your choice.
* Settings(Now Playing)-four fascinating view for now playing scene ,can select of your choice.
* Create Playlist.
*Lock Screen play.

Download

iPhone 8 Concept Rendering Created by Techconfigurations

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 01:32:00 -0700

iPhone 8 Concept Rendering Created by Techconfigurations, Based on Patent Documents

Many analysts and people following Apple trends are convinced that next year’s iPhone will be a special kind of device. They call it iPhone Pro, iPhone X or simply iPhone 8. Anyway, there are some patents related to the device that have been used by Techconfigurations as inspiration to create the concept below.

The result is an iPhone 8 that feels like a cylinder, because it has a curved front and curved back, on the edges of course. There’s a dual camera at the back, but now with the typical integration you’ve seen in all those many renders. It feels more like HTC One M8 rather than Huawei Honor 6 Plus and the flash placement intrigues me.

The facade and particularly the bottom feel a bit inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, while the back is rather original, since the curves are more gentle than the ones of the Galaxy Note 5 for example. Keep in mind that Apple had that patent for years (shown in the video below) and they’ve yet to use it…Looks nice, but probably won’t happen.

Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Sat, 4 Jun 2016 23:12:00 -0700

Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge Receives Detailed Renders and Video

Who are we to avoid a good scoop? The Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge has just leaked, courtesy of prolific @OnLeaks and Uswitch and you can find quite a few shots of it below. Those sources are famous for rendering the likes of the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 before their launch via CAD models.

They take sketches and dimensions and turn them into 3D models like this one, which is very cool and I advise more designers to do in the future, to test their skills and get notoriety. Things we noticed here? Well, the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge does have curved edges, but it also looks a bit more square-ish than usual. It also seems very narrow, perhaps as narrow as the Xiaomi Mi 5, which was a landmark in that area.

Anyway, there seems to still be a clickable stylus pen available here and the back edges are no longer curved, like on the Note 5. An USB Type C port has been included at the bottom and the top and bottom bits are a bit wider than on the Galaxy S7. The front top side includes one or two extra cutouts for sensors, possibly associated to an iris scanner of flash selfie.

The main camera protrudes much less than last year. Dimensions also leaked: 153.5 mm x 73.9 mm x 7.9 mm, making the Note 6 Edge as thick as the Galaxy S7, a bit longer than the Note 5 and about 3 mm narrower. These are some believable renders right here…

Futuristic iPhone Seems Made of Curved Glass

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Fri, 3 Jun 2016 04:01:00 -0700

Futuristic iPhone Seems Made of Curved Glass

Designer Mister Cool has created a futuristic iPhone concept, one that seems made of glass and also very curved. Transparency is also an element of this render. I’d see this made only as a prototype and in about 5 or 6 years from now, but only as a vanity project.

Apple has been more timid in its approach to curved glass so far, well unless you count their new HQ, that goes crazy with the curved glass. Anyway, next year they’ll opt for OLED screens on their iPhone and this may also lead to using curved display panels. The question is who’s going to source panels like those? Samsung? LG? Maybe Sharp under Foxconn’s rule?

Now as far as this concept goes, it doesn’t seem to have a metal frame, but rather seems to be all glass. That would make it slippery, fragile, not to mention the transparency thing is useless and just a gimmick. Still, it looks pretty cool and would rock as a collector’s piece.

Microsoft Surface Phone Leaks Again, With Touch Cover Accessory

noreply@blogger.com (Chirag Khandelwal) — Wed, 1 Jun 2016 02:08:00 -0700

Microsoft Surface Phone Leaks Again, With Touch Cover Accessory

What do you do when you have no new phone renders and concepts? You have a look at the leaks floating online, such as the brand new one for the Microsoft Surface Phone, shown below.

Coming straight out of China via Baidu and published by user “nokibar”, this seems like a legit leak, because the source also published photos of the cancelled Lumia 850 and they were very believable. There seems to be an USB Type C port at the bottom and a Surface Touch Cover-style accessory, that seeems to have a leather back.

The smartphone is said to be launched in April 2017 in 3 versions: one with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, one that packs 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage and finally an ultra high end unit with 8 GB RAM and 500 GB storage. Seeing how Microsoft mistakenly listed Snapdragon 830 on the support list for Windows 10 Mobile, so that’s probably the CPU inside.

I also expect a kickass back camera… This may just be the last hail mary or swan song of Microsoft Mobile.