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iPhone X vs Galaxy Note 8 - Apple could lose to Samsung in a BIG way, analyst predicts

2017-09-12T22:59:00.002+05:00

APPLE is set to lose marketshare in the coveted premium smartphone space, following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, an analyst note from Barclays’ Mark Moskowitz has predicted

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Apple could be about to lose out to Samsung is a BIG way, one analyst has predicted

Apple could lose marketshare to other premium smartphones following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, analyst Mark Moskowitz has claimed.

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Express.co.uk has spent some time with the impressive Galaxy Note 8, read our in-depth review here.

Moskowitz’s latest analyst note claims Samsung is in position to claim more of the premium smartphone marketshare with the launch of its Galaxy Note 8.

The Barclays’ analyst has also expressed concern that less than 1 in 5 potential iPhone buyers will be willing to spend $1,000 or more on a new iPhone.

Apple is widely-tipped to target its next-generation iPhone (believed to be called iPhone 8 or iPhone X) at this premium price range.

Moskowitz says even though the Note 8 is not “revolutionary”, it does represent a return to stiff competition in the premium smartphone market, particularly between rivals Samsung and Apple.

The analyst note then shares doubts and predicts some of the challenge facing Apple.

BARCLAYS • MARK MOSKOWITZ

Samsung has already seen massive growth in the premium space, which could be a problem for Apple

According to one of Barclays’ surveys, only 18 per cent of possible iPhone buyers will plan to shell out $1,000 or more for a new iPhone.

Only 18% of potential iPhone buyers are willing to spend $1,000+ for a new device

Mark Moskowitz

Moskowitz writes: “While the device itself seems more evolutionary than revolutionary, we believe this launch represents the return of staunch competition into the premium segment ($700+ ASP) of the smartphone market following Samsung’s Note 7 debacle last year.

“For Apple, we are concerned that the company needs to meet momentous investor expectations following the expected launch of three new iPhone devices in September.

“This could be made more challenging when considering that only 18% of potential iPhone buyers are willing to spend $1,000+ for a new device (Wireless Subscriber Survey; 08/09/17), which is below the 30-35% figure investors seem to be expecting.”

iPhone 8 release LIVE: Apple launch keynote to reveal iPhone X, price, specs, new Watch

2017-09-12T22:52:00.000+05:00

iPhone 8 Launch Event, Key Announcements From The Keynote –

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• Apple Store is now offline ahead of the new products

• And we’re off – Apple has kickstarted its iPhone 8 launch event!

• Apple started its iPhone 8 launch event with a tribute to late co-founder Steve Jobs

• Apple CEO Tim Cook then told the audience that Apple is working with relief efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Irma

• Angela Ahrendts confirmed the new Michigan Avenue Apple Store will open in Chicago on October 20th

• First new hardware at the iPhone 8 release event – Apple Watch Series 3

• The next-generation smartwatch hardware has a built-in SIM, so you can reply to texts when you're away from your iPhone

• Watch Series 3 can stream Apple Music, get direcrtions from Apple Maps, and answer calls over its own 4G SIM

• Apple Watch Series 3 has the same phone number as your iPhone

• Apple confirmed it is now the number one watch manufacturer in the world

• Catch-up on all the latest rumours and leaks on the iPhone X here

Full Story –

Apple has thrown open the doors of its new Californian headquarters, Apple Park, for the feverishly-anticipated launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X.

The keynote presentation is being held in the newly-opened Steve Jobs Theatre.

The event started with a touching tribute to the late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs and his vision for the company.

CEO Tim Cook then appeared on-stage and talked about the relief efforts Apple is working with to help those affected by Hurricane Irma.

Senior Vice President of Retail, Angela Ahrendts then appeared on-stage to talk about the changes coming to the newly revamped Apple Stores worldwide.

Apple will open a new Michigan Avenue store in Chicago on October 20th, Ahrendts confirmed.

Apple Watch is now the number one watch brand in the world, CEO Tim Cook announced, with Apple now shipping more watches than Rolex, Fossil, Omega, and Cartier.

And with that – Apple debuted the Apple Watch Series 3.

The next-generation wearable includes a built-in SIM, enabling users to reply to text messages – even when you’re out of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range from your iPhone.

Using the in-built LTE SIM, Apple Watch Series 3 owners can stream Apple Music tracks, get directions from Apple Maps and answer phone calls.

The faster dual-core processor also allows Siri to answer your questions over the Watch’s speaker, something that wasn’t possible before.

Apple Watch Series 3 has the same phone number as your iPhone.

It intelligently swaps between your iPhone and Watch as you move around. Watch Series 3 will ship with watchOS 4.0.

The new Apple Watch software will be available for all previous generations of the Watch on September 19th.

watchOS 4.0 includes a slew of new health and fitness features, including data on your resting heart-rate.

Apple will now notify you whenever it detects an usually high heart-rate and it knows you are not exercising.

With a new vertically scrolling dock and native core Bluetooth support coming to the wearable, Apple Watch owners are set to gain a number of new features.

Most visible amongst these improvements will be the new watch faces.

While a number of new faces are coming, including an eye-grabbing kaleidoscope offering, the first Siri-enhanced watch face is arguably the biggest.

EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS

iPhone 8: Express.co.uk has taken our seats inside the newly-opened Steve Jobs Theater

APPLE

iPhone 8 launch event started with a touching tribute to Steve Jobs and Hurricane Irma victims

This new Siri face will evolve throughout the day learning how you use your watch to present the most relevant information at all time, all without you having to lift a finger.

While the new, intelligent Siri watch face is a headline grabber, perhaps the most exciting of the new watch faces are those that are sure to appeal to Disney fans.

With the Apple Watch having long offered Mickey Mouse-themed watch faces, the wearable is now expanding to adopt new Disney Pixar characters, namely those from Toy Story.

Apple makes a live stream of the event available to watch on your macOS, iOS and tvOS device, as well as Windows machines via Microsoft Edge.

Express.co.uk will be in the crowd in the newly-opened Steve Jobs Theatre and will bring you all the latest news and opinion as the event happens.

Samsung Galaxy S6 review: Hands on

2015-03-20T17:32:00.000+05:00

While there are plenty of brilliant smartphones coming in 2015 - the HTC One M9 being one of them - it's the iPhone 6 that Samsung is looking to claw some ground back against, and it's used the most powerful tool in its arsenal once again: raw power.

This is one of the best specified phones on the market, with 3GB RAM, a (likely) Samsung own brand octacore chipset inside (although Sammy has yet to confirm this to us) and 32GB / 64GB / 128GB flavours to choose from.

Combine that with a complete retooling of the way this looks and you can see that Samsung is fighting back - but is the new conglomerate of smartphone power working well as a package?

Design

We're pretty sure that if you asked any of the Samsung phone team what they wanted to improve with the Galaxy S6, you'd hear the word 'design' mentioned time and again, such is the power that idea embodies in the smartphone market.

It's no surprise we love the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6, as both have beautiful bodies atop decent specs. Samsung's gone one better with the Galaxy S6, bringing a gorgeous combination of metal around the edge and Gorilla Glass 4 front and back for impressive strength should you drop this creation.

The more impressive thing is that Samsung has taken the best the market has to offer from each camp and fused it into one handset. It's got the large 5.1-inch screen of its contemporaries in the Android market, and yet put it in a frame that's barely bigger than an iPhone 6.

Although we probably shouldn't mention the Apple part of the comparison... a quick peek at the band and speaker placement of the phone shows something... erm... a little similar to what Cupertino has made of late. We're hoping that's just an engineering trick, and we're not going to be dragged back to watching the two tech titans slug it out in the courts again.

Display

The screen on the Samsung Galaxy S6 is, according to the brand, one of the sharpest on the market. That certainly sounds plausible, given it's got a QHD resolution but smashes it into a tiny 5.1-inch size, giving it an eye-slicing 577ppi. The screen is also capable of insane brightness, with a high-power outdoors mode automatically activating when it gets a little bit too sunny.

Samsung's used its own proprietary Super AMOLED tech for this new display, and as such the blacks and whites look well balanced and crystal clear. The high-res naysayers might say that at this size it's almost impossible to tell the difference in sharpness between a QHD and 1080p display... they may be right, but the video of Iceland preloaded to show off the phone looks just stunning.

Features and performance

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is all about redifining simplicity AGAIN for the brand, after the wilderness years brought about through hand-waving gestures on the Galaxy S4.

With that in mind, Samsung tells us that it's simply trying to go back to basics: make a camera with low light sensitivity (check, thank you f1.9 aperture front and back) for the 16MP and 5MP sensors on each side, put a really powerful core in there, slim down TouchWiz to make it seem less childlike and improve the overall gloss of the device.

Well, that's all there, present and correct. The heart rate monitor has moved slightly (and can now be used to fire the camera for your selfie moments when you realise the world simply MUST know where you are and how much fun you're having) and the fingerprint sensors survives the complexity cull too.

The latter has been overhauled too: it's now an Apple-esque touchpad option for improved accuracy. The swipes of before have gone (although this has yet to be properly confirmed by Samsung... gotta love prototype models) which should mean people actually use the fingerprint technology on board for once.

The battery is the only thing that's got us a little bit worried here. The 2550mAh option is a LOT smaller than the 2800mAh power pack of last year, and with that QHD screen to power we could get a little close to the wire in terms of power drain.

Fingers crossed that Samsung's new components and efforts into its own chip pay off and we don't need that extra power... it's hard to see that being true though.

Verdict

Samsung's back, and it's with a real bang. Most of the criticisms we had in years gone by have been eradicated (more metal, better construction) although TouchWiz could still do with a complete overhaul.

The specs of the Galaxy S6 are out of this world, and the overall package is hugely impressive. Massive question marks hang over the battery life of this new option from Samsung, and the price has yet to be dropped from on high (that could be something that'll make you gasp the second you trot into Carphone Warehouse) but right now there have to be some pretty enthusiastic high fives going on in Seoul.

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge lands in UK on December 12

2015-03-20T17:25:00.002+05:00

You can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge at Carphone Warehouse, where it'll be exclusively sold in white as well as the standard blue version.

If you're looking to get it on contract it's available from £58.50 a month with no extra cost, but you'll need to commit for 24 months.

Alternatively if you want to pick up the handset SIM-free then prepare to fork out £749.95. That's quite a lot for the quirky phablet, although it is one of a kind.

The Galaxy Note Edge boasts a bendable display that can show messages and alerts along the side of the device where the display folds over.

At first it seemed like Sammy was reluctant about its wrap-around touchscreen, when we heard the phablet was going to launch as a limited edition device in select markets, but now Brits can safely add it to their Christmas lists.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge packs a Super AMOLED screen with Squad HD resolution. The handset has a a 16MP camera, a 3.7MP front snapper and a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 processor.

North Korea denies Sony hack, but the US isn’t having it

2014-12-23T23:53:00.000+05:00

The US IS Confident that North Korea is behind the hacking of Sony Pictures, and has dismissed any help from the country in the investigation.

The Sony hacking saga continues, and things are really starting to heat up. North Korea has generally thought to be behind the hack all along, which led to the eventual cancellation of The Interview.

However North Korea vehemently denied all of the accusations on Saturday. The country's foreign ministry said an inquiry would put an end to the "groundless allegations.” North Korea also offered to hold a joint investigation with the US over it.

In a statement, the North Korean foreign ministry said: "As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.

"Without resorting to such tortures as were used by the US CIA, we have means to prove that this incident has nothing to do with us."

The statement added there would be "grave consequences" if the US rejected the proposal.

However, the US has defended its conclusions. US National Security spokesman Mark Stroh said: "We are confident the North Korean government is responsible for this destructive attack.

"If the North Korean government wants to help, they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages this attack caused."

Last week some of the hacked emails revealed Sony and Nintendo talking about a Super Mario movie.

Sony responds to 20th anniversary PS4 sales exploit

2014-12-23T23:51:00.001+05:00

Sony is having trouble with the system being used to flog its retro PS4. Instead of selling in shop to everyone, Sony chose to allow only PlayStation's loyal fans to be in with a chance of buying the £399 package.

The firm set up a website that contains a huge image packed with video game characters. Then at certain times this week, a clue would be tweeted out from Sony's PlayStation UK Twitter account and GAME's Twitter account.

If you want to snap up the next-gen beauty, then you have to solve the clue, go back to Sony's website and click on the appropriate character. This would then make a secret form available. The first 100 people to fill out the form would then be able to buy the console from GAME.

However a simple exploit has messed up the entire system. Software engineer Dean Wild is behind the blog post titled "Hacking that PlayStation competition" that details how to get hold of the URL of Sony's supposedly secret application form before official clues go live.

Sony has now issued a statement confirming that anyone who gained access to the clues early will be disqualified from the process.

"Unfortunately we are now aware of some users attempting to run programmes to reveal the URL early and give themselves an unfair advantage," said the company in a statement to Eurogamer.

Jaguar Land Rover working on "follow-me" Ghost Car navigation

2014-12-23T23:46:00.002+05:00

The new tech builds on JLR's recent research into a transparent bonnet that first appeared on the Discovery Vision Concept, which saw cameras mounted underneath the vehicle that provided a live video feed to a massive head-up display that spanned the entire windshield.

A spokesperson for JLR said that both camera and head-up display technology had improved - and more importantly become cheap enough - to begin experimenting with other applications.

Dr Wolfgang Epple, director of research and technology at JLR, says that tiny screens have been applied to all pillars inside the research vehicles, which take a live video feed from outside, thus rendering them 'invisible' when needed.

This could be particularly useful when navigating a tight parking space, pulling out of a T-junction and contending with the hordes of cyclists that race along busy city streets everyday.

In-car sensors can also detect when a driver moves their head during an overtaking manoeuvre, or switch on the indicators, and automatically renders the appropriate pillar 'invisible'.

The humble windscreen has also come under scrutiny by Jaguar Land Rover's crack team, which has fitted a large head-up display that spans the width of the glass.

This so-called 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen can then take live information from the Cloud, such as fuel prices and available parking spaces, and overlay them in real time.

But better still, the technology could allow drivers to fulfil their innermost Gran Turismo fantasies and follow a "ghost car" to their intended destination rather than take often-unreliable audio cues from a traditional sat-nav system.

“Driving on city streets can be a stressful experience, but imagine being able to drive across town without having to look at road signs, or be distracted trying to locate a parking space as you drive by,” said Dr Epple.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review

2014-12-23T23:44:00.000+05:00

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the fourth generation device of the South Korean's supersized smartphone, taking over from the Galaxy Note 3 and adding a more expensive tier on top of the Galaxy S5.

Talking of price you'll need a small fortune to buy a Note 4 outright with a SIM-free price tag upwards of £560. If that's a bit steep then you can get it free on two year contracts starting at £38 per month.

You've also got to consider the size - the Note 4 is all about offering a big screen experience and if you're not a fan of oversized mobiles then you're not going to like this.

Still with us? Good, because there's a lot going on inside the Galaxy Note 4 to tempt you to part with a large wedge of cash.

Plenty to shout about

First and foremost is the 5.7-inch display Samsung has slapped on its latest phablet. Okay, so it's the same size at its predecessor, but it's been given a mighty boost in the resolution department.

The Super AMOLED panel now boasts a QHD (1440 x 2560) resolution, making it pin sharp, with incredibly vivid images and bright colours. If you love watching movies and gaming on the go the Galaxy Note 4 is a dream to gaze at.

So we're pretty smitten with the screen, but what other treats does the Note 4 hold? Well on the rear, just below the 16MP camera is a heart rate monitor. Fire up the S Health app, stick your finger over the red light and it'll tell you how many beats per minute the old ticker is going at.

It's not the most convenient of locations for a heart rate sensor, they fare much better on wearable devices, but at least it works. Samsung also claims it's able to measure your stress level, although we found it to be pretty hit and miss.

The biometrics don't stop there, as hidden beneath the physical home key on the front of the Note 4 is a fingerprint scanner.

Unfortunately it's not quite as good as Apple's Touch ID on the iPhone, with Samsung's offering requiring you to swipe your print down the key.

The success rate can vary, and while most of the time it'll recognise you in one or two attempts and unlock the handset there are occasions you'll have to have three or four goes. And that gets frustrating.

Check me out

At least when you pick the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 up it feels like a device which is going to set you back several hundred pounds - which can't really be said for its plastic heavy predecessors.

The Note 4 sports a smart, slender aluminium frame which provides a premium look and feel to the handset - a quality sorely lacking from many Samsung devices.

Round the back you still get that familiar, removable plastic rear cover - c'mon, you love it really - providing access to the battery, SIM tray and microSD slot.

It's just 8.5mm thick, meaning you won't have any trouble sliding it into your skinny jeans, but with dimensions of 153.5 x 78.6mm it'll likely poke out the top and really test the fabric's stretchability.

The sheer size of the Galaxy Note 4 also means it's a bit of a beast to manage in the hand, and you'll want to employ both mitts when it comes to tapping out some text.

If style really is important to you then the faux leather backing will probably be a turn off (we don't blame you), and you'll want to sneak a peek at the iPhone 6 Plus or HTC One M8.

S Pen, not Pen S

A Galaxy Note smartphone wouldn't be complete without Samsung's own, more-than-stylus, S-Pen and the Note 4 is no exception.

Samsung has improved its stylus for the Note 4, with improved accuracy and sensitivity translating into a smoother, more natural handwriting and doodling experience on screen.

The handwriting recognition software has also been given a boost, meaning it's better at deciphering your scrawls, although we found that using our thumbs with the on-screen keyboard was a much quicker way of entering text.

You can do more than just draw and write with the S Pen, as it also allows you to cut out sections of screen and save them as images for later. Plus it makes snapping two apps side by side on screen pretty easy. We found it's far more fiddly to manipulate this multi-tasking function with our podgy fingers.

Rarely did we find ourselves reaching for the S Pen though. The majority of tasks on the phone can be done perfectly well - and most of the time more quickly - with your finger, so fumbling for the stylus was more of an inconvenience.

A happy snapper

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has one of the best cameras currently available on a smartphone, with the rear facing 16MP lens capable of some quite stunning shots.

Snaps are kept blur free thanks to OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) and the dual-LED flash will brighten those dingy nightclub shots - although over exposure may make your intoxicated mates look like a pack of rabid zombies.

There's a small selection of camera modes within the app; rear-cam selfie, selective focus and panorama, but there's also the option to download more - although the selection isn't overly awe-inspiring. Sound & Shot? No thanks, Samsung.

Taking pictures is easy thanks to the expansive QHD display, giving you crystal clear detail of your subjects and the super slick shutter speed means you'll be able to capture the moment before it passes.

OIS also helps out in low-light, and while the Note 4 won't magic extra lighting out of thin air it does do a commendable job of improving these shots.

Power up, and down

Samsung has stuffed the Galaxy Note 4 full of power with a punchy 2.7GHz quad-core processor (a step up from the 2.3GHz offering in the Note 3) and sizeable 3GB of RAM - that's a lot of bang for your buck.

This means the Note 4 glides through pretty much any task you throw at it. Graphically intensive games such as Real Racing 3 run without a hitch and coupled with the vibrant QHD display it makes for a great gaming experience.

Another good example of the Note 4's power is shrinking a full HD movie to a floating window, allowing you to access the rest of the handsets, be it sending a quick text, checking your emails or updating social media. And all without a pause for though from the Note.

The Android interface has been subjected to Samsung's TouchWiz interface, and while it's a more refined offering than on previous Note handsets it can take time to get used to when coming from another Android device.

It is fluid, with smooth navigation and rapid app loading times allowing you to whizz around without any hint of slow down.

All that power and the high resolution display does mean the Galaxy Note 4 consumers a lot of a battery - but luckily Samsung has been able to squeeze a large, 3220mAh power pack inside.

That's only 20mAh bigger than the Note 3 which did make us worry at first, but you can quite comfortably get a whole day of use from the Note 4 on just a single charge.

If you fancy watching a movie you'll lose around 19% of battery over 90 minutes, which isn't too shabby. That's with screen brightness at full, so you could improve on that figuring by dimming the display a bit.

When you are running low, Samsung's fast charge technology will get you back 50% of your battery in just 30 minutes - perfect for a quick charge up before heading out for the night.

Verdict

If you're in the market for a supersized smartphone you're not going to do much better than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

It's got a better screen, more power and a stronger camera than the iPhone 6 Plus, OnePlus One andNokia Lumia 1520 making it the standout phablet on the market.

Samsung's design language in both its hardware and software may not be to everyone's taste, but if you can get past this then you'll be laughing.

The screen is fantastic, we can't praise it enough - and your eyes will thank you if you do decide to plump for the Note 4.

We're still not completely convinced that the S Pen is a necessary addition. There will always be a small pocket of users who swear by it, but we expect the vast majority of Note users ignore it for most of its life. Poor S Pen.

Sure it's expensive, but Samsung has packed in a huge amount of features into the Galaxy Note 4 - some more useful than others - to make you feel like you've got a decent amount of bang for you buck.

If you're not quite convinced check out the aforementioned iPhone or the QHD toting pair of the LG G3 and Nexus 6 - but for an all-round powerhouse the Note 4 comes out on top

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date: Out now

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 price: £560+

Jackie Chan Blu-ray disc boosts solar panel efficiency by a massive 22%

2014-11-29T11:09:00.001+05:00

This one’s a bit crazy, but stick with me. Blu-ray discs, like CDs and DVDs before them, consist of a thin layer — or layers — of recording medium sandwiched between two bits of plastic. Data is stored on this medium in a series of pits — small indentations — that are about 75nm long. To read the data, a laser is bounced off the recording medium — where the medium is smooth and untouched (usually referred to as islands), the laser light bounces straight back into a sensor; where the pits are, the laser is reflected differently. Thus, binary data can be stored and read.

The differences between CD, DVD, and Blu-ray recording medium/lasers

In the case of Blu-ray, the binary data isn’t just burnt directly to the disc — compression is applied, and error control codes are added so that data can be recovered in the case of light scratches. Because the error control codes are applied every few bytes, the end result is a disc covered in quasi-random pits and islands that have a recurring pattern every 150 to 525 nanometers. (The iridescence — rainbow effect — of optical discs is caused by this repeating pattern, in case you wondered.)

As it turns out, these two characteristics — a quasi-random pattern, repeating every 150 to 525nm — are almost perfectly tuned for trapping photons in the visible light and near-infrared spectrum. One of the main reasons that current solar cells aren’t that efficient is because many photons simply reflect off the panel, rather than being converted into electrons. You can probably see where this is going.

Nanopatterning a photovoltaic cell, using a Blu-ray’s recording medium as a template

Part of the solar cell has been treated with the Blu-ray nanopattern mold, the other part hasn’t

To increase the efficiency of a solar panel by 22%, the researchers at Northwestern bought a copy of Police Story 3: Supercop on Blu-ray; removed the top plastic layer, exposing the recording medium beneath; cast a mold of the quasi-random pattern; and then used the mold to create a photovoltaic cell with the same pattern. As you can see in the image above, this process actually makes the nanopatterned solar cell have the same iridescence as a Blu-ray disc

Alienware is coming to a store near you

2014-11-15T10:47:00.000+05:00

Buying a high-end gaming PC and accessories could become a lot easier for UK gamers this Christmas.

Dell is close to getting its high-end gaming Alienware brand into stores across the UK.

Speaking on the sidelines of PCR Boot Camp on Wednesday, Dell’s UK general manager Sarah Shield told PCR’s Dominic Sacco that the company was in discussions with its partners to get Alienware products into stores before Christmas.

Coming soon

“Gaming is massive,” Sarah Shields said, in response to the comments made during the business event focused on PC retailers. "We own the Alienware brand, and it was great listening to the PC gaming panel discussion earlier today.

“I’ve just had a little chat with Ingram Micro and Exertis (Dell’s UK distributors), so keep an eye out - you may be able to get some Alienware [products] before Christmas.”

Currently, the only way to buy an Alienware product is via Dell’s website. That can mean an inconvenient wait for deliveries.

Samsung to launch Netflix rival?

2014-11-15T10:43:00.000+05:00

Samsung is reportedly preparing to launch a movie and TV streaming service.

According to reports, Samsung is about to launch a streaming service with a heavy focus on original content. That will put it into direct competition with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Sky.

The service won’t be aimed at stealing market share from Google Play, according to The Information. Instead, it will be focused on winning over customers of Netflix and Amazon.

Dubbed project Volt internally, Samsung is said to have invested millions of dollars so far. It also has some talent behind it, with former Disney executive John Pleasants heading up development of the service.

A few dollars a month

According to an insider, while Samsung is putting a focus on original content, it doesn’t currently have plans to launch a high budget project like Netflix’s House of Cards.

The insider added that Samsung is currently floating around the idea of pricing the service at just a few dollars a month.

Mobile first

It’s likely that Samsung will restrict the service to its mobile devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 10.1. It’s unclear whether or not it will come to Samsung TVs – at least at first

Audi Traffic Light Assist: never stop at a red again

2014-11-15T10:38:00.000+05:00

So,has Audi found a solution to traffic light hell? A way to turn our cities into no-red-light districts? Rory Buckeridge, a man who doesn't like to be kept waiting, scurried over to Berlin to find out.

It’s probably a truism to suggest that there’s something intrinsically less stressful about traffic lights when you’re staring at them from behind the wheel of a factory fresh Audi. But we’re in Berlin, sticking a pristine, white A3 into drive to get hands on with Audi’s attempt to take the sting out of the commuter’s bane, with their Online Traffic Light Information System.  
Currently being trialled in Berlin, Verona and Las Vegas, Audi have hooked 700 of the German capital’s 2,500 traffic lights to the networked system, which combines GPS with on-board wi-fi internet to link car, city and traffic light. Then, an onboard system tells the driver, via a simple graphic on the dash, the phase of the traffic light ahead.

As Audi's Chair of the Board of Management, Rupert Stadler told us, "For us, as car guys, we have to understand the DNA of a city. And if we understand the DNA of a city and decode it, then we are in the driver’s seat to organise our business models – what could be our offer? An intelligent offer for our premium customers, and this is what it’s all about."

Knowing that, the car can actively plan ahead. So if the light is going to be green, it’ll suggest the optimum speed (usually around 30mph) to be able to breeze straight through. If it’s going to be red, it’ll tell you, so there’s no need to approach it like an NCAP crash test, hoping a green’s a millisecond away.
Once you’ve stopped at a red, if it’ll change in under ten seconds, the car keeps the engine running, but if it’s more than ten, it operates the engine stop/start system, restarting it five seconds before the light will phase back to green.

Audi claims that if implemented, this could reduce CO2 emissions by 15 per cent, and save 900 million litres of fuel in Germany alone. But it should also help with congestion, as you can squeeze on average an extra two cars through every light phase.
And you do find that this system genuinely changes the way you drive. Knowing that a light is going to stay red, you don’t hoon up to it in the hopes you’ll get lucky. And similarly, knowing it’ll go green the moment you arrive means there’s no hurry to get there.

But the best bit is the auto start. The engine rumbling back on becomes a physical cue you’re about to ease away, so after a while you simply stop balefully starting at the light and just wait for the blip of the ignition, which melts away some serious red light stress

The best free games on the Xbox One

2014-11-01T15:51:00.002+05:00

The free-to-play business model is a rapidly growing phenomenon in the gaming world. Once quarantined to the PC and mobile, these new pricing structures are proliferating quickly, and altering expectations on even the most rigid of platforms. Consoles were once exclusively home to big-budget full-price games, and now the entire market is being turned on its head. The Xbox One is now home to a number of free-to-play titles, and today I want to give those games their due. Let’s jump in, and explore what the free-to-play model has to offer the Xbox One owner.

Killer Instinct

ULTRA COMBO! This classic fighting franchise has finally returned to the limelight, and this time it’s a free-to-play release exclusive to the Xbox One. Originally developed by Double Helix, its acquisition by Amazon left the dev team unable to offer continued support. Instead, the folks at Iron Galaxy stepped in, and now season two of Killer Instinct has begun.

Without dropping one red cent, you get to play as a rotating cast of free fighters, and you can slowly unlock more content from playing the game. Alternatively, you can buy in-game currency with real money to speed up the unlocking process, or simply buy an entire “season” worth of content for $40. It’s a pretty solid deal — especially compared to the traditional Capcom-style pricing model that fighting games have been burdened with in the past.

Pinball FX2

If you like pinball, Zen Studios has a treat for you. With Pinball FX2, you can play dozens of tables featuring some of your favorite franchises. From South Park to Star Wars to The Walking Dead, Pinball FX2 sports an incredible amount of variety, and rewards skilled play with a superb leaderboard system. And if you know other pinball enthusiasts, you can compete asynchronously against each other for the top spot.

When you download the core client, you automatically get access to the Sorcerer’s Lair table for free. If you only have a passing interest in pinball, this table is more than enough to satiate your desires. If you’re a hardcore pinball fanatic, you can choose to buy single tables or combo packs à la carte. For example, The Walking Dead table is $3, and the Avengers Chronicles four-pack is just $10. Now that everything is delivered digitally, collecting pinball tables is actually an incredibly affordable hobby these days.

Powerstar Golf

Up for a few holes of golf? Take a look at Powerstar Golf from Zoë Mode, and you’ll find a stylish golf game with a lot to offer. As you play, you can unlock new clubs and balls to improve your stats, and turn your character into a real pro. This persistent golfing experience tracks how well you’re doing, and easily allows you to challenge your friends to beat your score at any time. If you’ve got a competitive streak and a penchant for golf,Powerstar Golf is exactly what you’re looking for.

For free, you get access to a hole from every course. You can play as much as you like, earn experience points, and unlock new persistent gear. However, you’re going to need to pony up some cash if you want to do much more than dabble with the mechanics. You can buy any of four courses for $6 a pop, or you can invest $20 for the “full game unlock” combo pack. There has been plenty of criticism aimed at the lackluster free-to-play aspects of this game, but if you enjoy the core gameplay, it’s well worth the investment in the paid content.

Project Spark

If you’ve ever wanted to build your own video game before, you need to check out Project Spark. This free-to-play title from Microsoft Studios gives you the power to create your own gameplay experiences, and download the bizarre and incredible creations of other people. Much like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft, this game is all about creating new things, and sharing them with the world.

Without spending money, your options are pretty limited. You can earn in-game currency by playing and creating, but by all accounts that process is very slow. For $40, you can invest in a starter pack that offers a substantial amount of variety, but you’ll probably still run into paywalls here and there. Microsoft sells “Spark tokens” in chunks ranging from $5 to $100, so don’t be surprised when the game leans on you pretty hard for an influx of cash

Powerstar Golf

Project Spark

Powerstar Golf

Project Spark

Warframe

Looking for something a bit more traditional? This multiplayer third-person shooter from Digital Extremes is worth checking out. Join up with a team of friends, and blast and hack away at the enemies to your heart’s content. This sci-fi shooter has earned acclaim on the PC and PS4 since 2013, and now Xbox One owners can enjoy the game as well.

Warframe does allow you to sink anywhere from $5 to $150 at a time on in-game currency, but don’t feel like any of that is required. You can play the game without spending a dime, and thoroughly enjoy yourself the entire time. Offering $150 chunks of currency definitely feels a little gross, but it comes with the territory. Game devs just can’t stop themselves from catering to the whales among us.

Xbox Fitness

This isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think of free-to-play games, but Xbox Fitness is a neat package on offer from Sumo Digital. With this title, you can get fit in the real world with instruction from well-known exercise trainers like Jillian Michaels, Tony Horton, and Tracy Anderson.

The pricing model for Xbox Fitness is a little wonky, mind you. If you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, you currently have unlimited access until the end of the year. Starting in January, you’ll need to pony up for both a subscription and and Xbox Live Gold membership for continued unlimited access. Individual workout programs can be purchased à la carte with prices ranging between $9 and $60, but the “Gatorade Sports Performance Football Training Camp” routine is available at no cost.

I’d buy that for a dollar

Free-to-play is still a rapidly evolving experience — especially on the new consoles. Consumer expectations, development costs, and platform limitations make the business side of this extremely complicated. Even so, you can’t really argue with a price tag of zero from the consumer end. The extremely low barrier to entry can expose everyone to entirely new genres, and that’s worth the time investment. If you don’t like it, simply delete the game, and forget about it. If you find something you like, you get to choose exactly how much money you’re willing to spend on the entertainment. There’s a lot of potential for the model on the PS4 and Xbox One, and this is just the beginning.

If there’s another free-to-play game for the Xbox One that you’d like to recommend, let us know in the comments!

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo suffers catastrophic failure during flight test

2014-11-01T15:47:00.001+05:00

It’s been a bad week for commercial space flight. Earlier this week, the Antares rocket developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation exploded on takeoff and now Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is confirmed destroyed. Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon or the Antares rocket, SpaceShipTwo was designed to be lifted to launch altitude by the purpose-built transport aircraft, White Knight Two.

It’s currently being reported that one of the two pilots was killed, while the other is being treated for serious injuries, but as with most sudden-event reporting, a great deal of contradictory information is still zinging around the airwaves. Some reports indicate neither pilot has been found, while the BBC is claiming one is still alive.

Virgin’s official Twitter account noted the initial release at 10:07, the ignition of the rocket seconds later (same time stamp) and officially noted the explosion (defined at that point as an “anomaly”) at 10:13 AM. All reports indicate that the explosion happened relatively soon after engine ignition.

Meanwhile, photos of the wreckage have already surfaced online:

As anomalies go, that one is a doozy. Virgin is promising an update and statement, but has only said it will work with authorities to investigate the spacecraft’s destruction and is principally concerned with the fate of the two pilots.

Today’s launch was supposed to be a triumphant return to powered testing for the first time since January. Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic conducted successful unpowered test flights of the suborbital spacecraft and had even joked about taking Richard Branson into space as a Christmas present. The company has drawn the ire of critics who claimed its much-publicized pre-sales events, in which celebrities and the rich and famous paid to reserve seats on hypothetical flights, were little more than fundraising efforts on the backs of credulous enthusiasts.

The original SpaceShipOne won the coveted Ansari X Prize for successfully reaching space twice in two weeks; SpaceShipTwo was based on that design. Virgin Galactic had previously hoped to begin manned flights within 2015, but that effort will likely be halted as all eyes turn to post-launch analysis and disaster response.

An interview with Zoltan Istvan, leader of the Transhumanist Party and 2016 presidential contender

2014-11-01T15:46:00.000+05:00

ExtremeTech has never been particularly interested in politics. That being said, as the focus of politics and politicians inexorably shifts towards technology, we might just jump in the water for a dip.

Many might imagine that concerns of a more socio-political nature — like who is able to accrue what particular powers or possessions, and from whom — would persist independently of technological influence. Others, like the Transhumanist Party founder Zoltan Istvan, might offer that socio-political issues already are, at heart, technological issues. Now seizing the day, and a rapidly expanding number of like-minded transhumanists, Istvan has announced that he will be a contender in the 2016 US presidential race.

If you haven’t heard of transhumanism, or you’re not quite sure what it means, I suggest you readour introductory story about transhumanismbefore diving into the rest of this story. In short, though, transhumanism (sometimes referred to as H+) is about improving or transforming the human condition through technology. Brain implants, genetic engineering, bionic limbs, indefinite life extension — these are all examples of the topics (and elective surgeries) that a transhumanist would be interested in.

The Transhumanist Wager

In his recent book The Tranhumanist Wager Istvan outlines three laws:

A transhumanist must safeguard one’s own existence above all else.
A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible — so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First Law.
A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe — so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.

If energetically adopted, these deceptively simple maxims ultimately compel the individual to pursue a technologically enhanced and extended life. Zoltan and other supporters of transhumanism have come to see the choice to accept or reject these principles as something far more fundamental than the choice between liberal or conservative principles. In other words, it is a more compact predictor, a simpler explanation of your worldview, motivations, and actions than any current party provides.

It is for these reasons that Zoltan has founded the Transhumanist Party and is now taking this first major step to grow it. At this point in the game, the next major step — getting access to all the state ballots — could prove challenging. With these ideas in mind, we present an interview with (possibly) the next US president: Zoltan Istvan.

Zoltan Istvan

Why did you decide to run for the US presidency?

Zoltan Istvan – The most important goal of the Transhumanist Party and my 2016 presidential campaign is to spread awareness of transhumanism and to address the issue that society will be greatly changed by radical science and technology in the next 5-15 years. Most people are unaware how significant these changes could be. For example, we might all be getting brain implants soon, or using driverless cars, or having personal drones follow us around and do our shopping for us. Things like anonymity in the social media age, gender roles, exoskeleton suits for unfit people, ectogenesis, and the promise of immersive virtual reality could significantly change the way society views itself. Transhumanism seeks to address these issues with forward-thinking ideas, safeguards, and policies. It aims to be a bridge to a scientific and tech-dominated future, regardless what the species may eventually become.

While the Transhumanist Party has almost no chance of winning this election, its goal is to get on as many state ballots as possible, so people will see its promise and recognize what it stands for. By doing so, we’ll let citizens know an exciting political movement is afoot that focuses on using technology and science to enhance the human species. And maybe sometime in the future, many people will want to join it. Furthermore, I’m hopeful other political parties will take notice of transhumanism and incorporate its ideas into their own philosophies.

On a final note, it’s my hope that others will start to run for various political offices, both locally and nationally, under the Transhumanist Party banner. This way we can show the country that future politics should be far more science and technology inspired. This would be a great step for the direction of the America.

Xbox One readies shift to 20nm – but can a smaller node help it match the PS4’s performance?

2014-11-01T15:44:00.003+05:00

Ever since the Xbox One and PS4 were unveiled as being based on 28nm technology, it’s been clear that both Microsoft and Sony would transition to smaller nodes as soon as those technologies were ready for prime time. It now looks as though Microsoft may make this jump before its rival. A sharp-eyed member of the Beyond3D forum picked up on the LinkedIn profile of one Daniel McConnell, an SoC designer at AMD, which discusses how he, “Successfully planned and executed the first APU for Microsoft’s Xbox One game console in 28nm and a cost-reduced derivative in 20nm technology.”

So what could it mean for Microsoft’s console to make a quick jump down to 20nm? In theory, such a shift could give Microsoft several advantages. Power consumption and die size both come down modestly at 20nm, which improves yields and price structure. The system chassis could theoretically be redesigned with new features or MS could target a cheaper model with certain capabilities removed. In the past, both Microsoft and Sony have used these periodic revisions to target modest improvements to storage capacity, performance, peripheral hookups, or other similar options.

The current Xbox One SoC – a 28nm APU made by AMD

But I think there’s an interesting question here, that strikes at the concept of what a console actually is and what Microsoft can or can’t get away with doing. For decades, consoles have been presented as fixed units. Sure, the external shell and some of the I/O hookups might change over time, but an Xbox 360 purchased in 2005 should be just as fast as an Xbox 360 bought in 2014. Consoles have been inviolate, even as PC hardware shifts fairly rapidly.

As Microsoft looks at its plans for a 20nm die shrink, it has to be asking if there’s a way to change the Xbox One’s design to better match the PS4. And it probably can — as we’ve previously discussed, there are two unused GPU partitions on the system that would give it a significant GPU performance boost. It might also be able to increase the size of the shared ESRAM cache.

The problem, though, is optics. Early adopters of the Xbox One can’t be particularly pleased that they bought a now-useless doorstop in the form of Kinect 2.0. No one is going to be happy if Microsoft rolls out a new version of the Xbox One (Xbox 1.5?). And the company would risk bifurcating its dev teams between haves and have-nots. For a company whose message has already been badly diluted and confused, the presence of two different types of console would be problematic at best. Furthermore, McConnell’s profile makes it clear that Microsoft chose to drive engagements that would minimize costsover increasing performance in future iterations of the SoC.

Xbox One internals [Image credit: iFixit]

We’ve toyed with the idea of upgradeable consoles in other posts, but after the problems the Xbox One has had with brand and message, I think shifting the system’s design now would only confuse and frustrate users further. 20nm die shrinks are also expected to be relatively modest, with the following 14/16nm technology delivering more raw performance and the bulk of improved thermals.

What about DDR4?

One intriguing option Microsoft might take would be to outfit the console with DDR4. There’s been a great deal of discussion over whether or not the Xbox One’s quad-channel DDR3 memory bus is a problem for most games, with some general consensus that it likely is. Microsoft could close this gap, at least in theory, by upgrading to a faster form of DDR4. 8GB of DDR4-2700 or even DDR4-3200 would improve memory bandwidth by 25-50%. The question, however, is whether games could be programmed to run equally smoothly on both sets of hardware.

Again, that’s problematic. If memory bandwidth is really the issue, Microsoft might wind up having one console that can run 1080p safely, while the other is stuck in 900p territory. Is it possible to build a resolution toggle into games? PCs certainly have done it for years, but it’s not clear if this is possible on the console side.

Microsoft could theoretically swap out the DDR3 on the Xbox One for DDR4 without changing any of the underlying specs, but I suspect this will be difficult. DDR3 and DDR4 have very different latencies and matching the two well enough to make them identical at the design level might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Watch out: If you installed the PS4 2.0 firmware update, don’t use Rest Mode

2014-11-01T15:42:00.003+05:00

Remember the big PS4 2.0 firmware release that shipped earlier this month? Well, it turns out there is a bug in this update that can prevent the PS4 from waking properly from Rest Mode (i.e. hibernation, sleep). Affected users are being required to hard boot their systems, and that could potentially cause major problems. There’s no official word on when we’ll see a bug fix, but thankfully there is a workaround for the time being.

Earlier today, I saw a report on CNET regarding a bug in the latest firmware that prevents the PS4 from coming out of Rest Mode. I’ve been using firmware 2.0 “Masamune” since it was released, and I’ve been using Rest Mode on and off since then without any issue. Incredulous, I grabbed my DualShock 4, and jammed on the PlayStation button. Nothing happened. I touched the power button, and the screen remained blank. I decided to hard boot the machine, and I was finally greeted with a screen scolding me for powering off thePS4 improperly. It did a quick scan of the file system, and everything worked out for me this time. Luckily, nothing was ruined.

Of course, not everyone will be so lucky. Hard booting can cause serious problems, and lead to corrupted data. If you’re currently running the 2.0 firmware, you should refrain from using Rest Mode. When you’re done using your console, turn it off completely. Until Sony issues a patch, consider Rest Mode armed and dangerous. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it’s a lot better than dealing with an unresponsive PS4.

If you’re having problems getting your console to boot properly, Sony recommends using safe mode to fix your issue. If you’ve already been bitten by this bug, I recommend that you wait until Sony releases a patch, and then sideload it onto your PS4 with a USB stick to prevent further headaches.

Combine this firmware faux pas with the Driveclub disaster, and October has proven to be a difficult month for Sony. Of course, this isn’t the first time Sony has pushed out a bad update for its consoles. Just last year, firmware 4.45 caused huge problems for PS3 owners. This just serves as a reminder that blindly installing updates isn’t a good idea. Next time, let’s wait a few days before we install that big, feature-rich firmware update.

Your next smartphone or EV will recharge to 70% in just two minutes, thanks to new lithium-ion battery tech

2014-10-17T22:48:00.001+05:00

Scientists at Nangyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have developed a new lithium-ion battery that can be recharged to 70% capacity in just two minutes. In addition to being able to charge your smartphone or electric car in just a few minutes, this new lithium-ion battery (LIB) can also endure more than 10,000 charge/discharge cycles — or about 20 times more than current LIBs. Perhaps most excitingly, though, NTU’s new Li-ion tech has already been patented, is compatible with existing battery manufacturing processes, and has “attracted interest from the industry.” Unlike many other lithium-ion battery advances, this one might actually hit the market within a couple of years.

As you’re probably aware, modern life (perhaps a little unnervingly or depressingly) is inextricably linked to batteries. How long a device lasts on battery power, and how long it takes to recharge, have a direct impact on most aspects of our work and social lives — and it’s only going to get worse as wearable computing, electric vehicles, and the internet of things take hold. While we do occasionally see incremental changes and improvements to battery technology, we are still mostly beholden to lithium-ion battery tech that was commercialized by Sony way back in 1991. NTU’s new lithium-ion battery design, which allows for ultra-fast recharging and extreme endurance, could be the big breakthrough that we desperately need.

Titanium dioxide — otherwise known as that cheap white powder that’s used in paint, sunscreen, solar panels, and more.

NTU’s new battery, developed by Chen Xiaodong and friends, replaces the LIB’s customary graphite anode with a gel of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes. It’s news to me, but apparently titanium dioxide — a very cheap, plentiful substance that you might know as titania — is very good at storing lithium ions, and thus electrical charge. By using a nanostructured gel, the surface area of the anode — and thus its ability to quickly pick up lots and lots of lithium ions — is dramatically increased. The NTU research paper seems to mostly focus on the process used to create these titanium dioxide nanotubes. In short, though, they just stirred a mixture of titanium dioxide and sodium hydroxide — at at just the right temperature, the stirring encourages the TiO2 to form long nanotubes. Suffice it to say, this simple process is “easy to integrate” into current production processes. [DOI: 10.1002/adma.201470238 - "Nanotubes: Mechanical Force-Driven Growth of Elongated Bending TiO2-based Nanotubular Materials for Ultrafast Rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries"]

Read: Stanford creates ‘Holy Grail’ lithium battery, could triple smartphone and EV battery life

Currently, one of the biggest problems of lithium-ion batteries is that they can’t be charged very quickly. By replacing the graphite anode with NTU’s titanium dioxide gel, the researchers say they’ve created LIBs that can be recharged to 70% capacity in just two minutes. Furthermore, because the new gel is much more resistant to microfracturing and dendrite formation, the new batteries have extreme endurance of over 10,000 charge/discharge cycles — about 20 times more than current LIBs. This second feature is obviously big news for electric vehicles like the Tesla Model S, which will need a costly replacement battery pack every few years. “With our nanotechnology, electric cars would be able to increase their range dramatically with just five minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” says Chen. The first feature — ultra-fast recharging — is awesome news for just about everyone.

NTU Singapore says the new LIB technology has already been patented (presumably the method of making TiO2 nanotubes), and has attracted interest from the industry. Chen says the first generation of fast-charging batteries should hit the market within two years. In the meantime, software-based fast charging solutions and power-saving modes should keep us out of the electro-mobility chasm for a little longer.

Assassin’s Creed Unity locked to 900p @ 30 fps, due to Xbox One and PS4′s weak CPU

2014-10-17T22:45:00.001+05:00

Ready for yet another Assassin’s Creed game? Too bad! Ubisoft is releasing Assassin’s Creed Unity$59.96 at Amazon on the Xbox One and PS4 later this year, but it might not be the next-gen experience you’ve been hoping for. A Ubisoft representative caused an internet uproar earlier this week when he explained that the game is currently limited to 900p at 30 fps on both consoles. Sub-1080p game releases are slightly disappointing in general, but the specific wording around this game lead many to believe that the PS4 edition is being intentionally hobbled for the sake of platform parity.

In an interview at Video Gamer, Ubisoft’s Vincent Pontbriand explains the large amount of AI computation required for Assassin’s Creed Unity is what’s impacting performance the most. The CPU — not the GPU — is the bottleneck here. If that’s true, that certainly explains why both versions of the game are running at a lower resolution and frame rate. While the PS4 does have a superior GPU, both consoles are using very similar AMD Jaguar CPUs.

The crux of the issue comes down to the way Pontbriand explained the limitations. Specifically, he said “We decided to lock [both versions] at the same specs to avoid all the debates and stuff.” To some, that was PR-speak for “The PS4 is being hobbled to make it look on par to the Xbox One version.” However, that doesn’t actually seem to be the case.

Read: Xbox One vs. PS4: How the final hardware specs compare

In a statement made to Kotaku, a Ubisoft representative unambiguously states “We did not lower the specs for Assassin’s Creed Unity to account for any one system over the other.” Considering that Pontbriand claims in the original article that the engine could run at 100 fps on the current hardware if the bottleneck around AI computation wasn’t in the mix, I believe Ubisoft’s denial. This seems like a legitimate limitation of the CPUs in the current crop of consoles — not a back-room business deal.

It is notable that it’s the relatively wimpy Jaguar CPU that’s being scrutinized, and not the usual my-GPU-is-bigger-than-yours argument that has dominated Xbox One/PS4 hardware spec debate so far. If developers are already running into issues with complex CPU-limited tasks, then it doesn’t bode overly well for the rest of the eighth generation.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a recurring issue for this generation of consoles. For many developers, there is a choice that has to be made between next-gen graphics or next-gen gameplay. Ubisoft is obviously willing to sacrifice frame rate and resolution in favor of drastically improved AI, but that seems to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many gamers and members of the enthusiast press. Frankly, it’s just disappointing to see so many games fail to hit 1080p60 in a world where 4K televisions and high frame rate video are proliferating so quickly.

Android 5.0 Lollipop: All the details and features of Google’s sweetest treat yet

2014-10-17T22:40:00.000+05:00

Google revealed many details about the new version of Android a few months ago, but we didn’t get a name — it was simply “Android L.” Now there’s finally a name and a version number to go with it. Android 5.0 Lollipop is a seismic shift for Android in both design and features. With all the details of Android 5.0 now in the wild, it’s time to tell you all about the latest, largest, and greatest Android release yet. Buckle up and sit back: There’s a lot of awesome new features to run through.

Materially different

Google’s last design language was known as Holo, but that has been replaced by Material Design. This was thoroughly previewed when the developer preview was released, and Google went on to update the design guidelines for developers to start making Material apps. However, Google is stressing something new with the unveiling of Lollipop — consistency across devices.

From your phone, to your tablet, to your watch, to your car, to your TV — it’s going to be Android Lollipop all the time. Well, as soon as your device maker gets around to pushing out an update. There will still be manufacturer skins, but Google is trying to create a vibrant new UI that OEMs will have a hard time covering up. The use of “hero” colors in apps is an example of this. The header color will carry over to the status bar (if the developer supports it), and that color is then shown in the header when you open the app switcher. OEMs loveto skin the app switcher, but doing so now will mean taking away useful new UI cues, so why bother?

The preview of Android L came along at a time when there were almost no Material apps to test, but that won’t be a problem when Android 5.0 starts rolling out. It wasn’t clear last spring just how important (and cool) animations were going to be in Android 5.0. Developers have been trying to come up with ways to fake all the subtle button morphing and panel layering of Lollipop on KitKat devices, and these do add something, but Android 5.0′s native support for Material Design is going to make even cookiecutter apps looks amazing. The updated UI samples and upcoming SDK are looking great.

Battery life fixes

Android phones have long suffered from battery life issues caused by the way apps and services can behave in the background. Any app can be granted the power to wake up a device and keep it awake (called a wakelock). This is an important feature of the platform, but sometimes apps are coded poorly or there’s a minor incompatibility that causes a device to stay awake too long. Android 5.0 is supposed to prevent that while also providing you more information about when you’ll have to charge up.

Google is also introducing a power saving mode, which has always been missing from stock Android. It’s not as extensive as what Samsung or HTC are doing with their low-power modes, but it’s a start. You’ll be able to restrict syncing, background data, and screen brightness when you need to eke out a little more battery life. This mode seems to have the same basic options as it did in the preview, but it’s probably tuned better.

The battery use menu has also been revamped with a better graph containing information about which apps and processes are causing drain, rather than just foreground tasks. You also get estimates of remaining battery life based on current and past usage patterns, and a time until charged reading when plugged in. That’s especially cool for devices with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 2.0 feature, like the Nexus 6 (which calls it Turbo Charger).

Notifications

One of the headlining changes available in the preview of 5.0 was the updated Notification system. The entire look and feel of notifications on Android is changing with easy access on the lock screen, a revamped pull-down menu, and a new heads-up style floating notification that pops up at the top of the screen.

The changes to the layout and location of notifications were already known from the preview, but they are no less notable now. Lock screen widgets are gone in Android 5.0, but that’s probably a worthwhile tradeoff. Lock screen widgets never really took off and having easy access to notifications — even on secured devices — is a big deal. One tap on a notification and you can unlock the phone to the corresponding app.

The final announcement of Android Lollipop includes a few new features of notifications. For one, notifications will be intelligently ranked based on the contact they are from or the app that produced them. So a text message from a favorite contact is at the top and that nagging alert from a social game is down at the bottom (you should really turn those off).

Also new is Priority Mode, which sounds fantastic. Basically, the volume slider has a setting for limiting notifications to only important items. So the text message from above would get through, but the other stuff doesn’t bother you. This appears to be an expansion of the Do Not Disturb setting from the preview, but much more refined.

Security

A recent development in Android land is the news that Android 5.0 will include encryption by default, something that has made the intelligence and law enforcement communities none too happy. You can encrypt an Android device right now, but it’s actually quite a pain. You need to plug the phone in and leave it to do its thing for at least 30 minutes. If something goes wrong, your data could be forever lost.

On Android 5.0 this will happen automatically from the start, so you don’t have to worry about anyone harvesting your data if the phone is lost or stolen. Even if you have a lock screen, unencrypted data can be accessed with a variety of workarounds, but there’s no good way to break the kind of strong cryptography utilized by Android.

If you do lose the phone, the new version of Android comes with factory reset protection or a “kill switch.” It’s an opt-in feature, so it won’t happen automatically like with iOS. You’ll be able to set the phone or tablet to require your Google ID and password to trigger a full wipe of the system. That means a stolen or lost Android Lollipop device is a useless brick to anyone but you.

Google is also confirming that Smart Lock will come to stock Android. This was discussed at I/O 2014, but didn’t show up in the preview. Smart Lock is a way to automatically disable your secure lock screen when a trusted Bluetooth device is paired. For example, you could set your Android Wear watch to automatically bypass the lock screen when it’s connected. Lose that connection and the phone will ask for a password again. You can do the same thing with a fitness tracker or even a Bluetooth headset.

Google’s Nexus Player: Fourth time lucky in the living room, or just YASTB?

2014-10-17T22:36:00.003+05:00

Along with the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, Google has also released its umpteenth attempt at taking over your living room: the Nexus Player. The Nexus Player, made by Asus and Google, is technically the first device to run Android TV — a version of Android 5.0 Lollipop that has had its interface specially tailored for use on your TV. Outwardly, it would appear that the $100 Nexus Player is just YASTB (yet another set-top box) like Amazon’s Fire TV or Apple TV that’s months or years behind the competition — but who knows, maybe there’s a method in Google’s incessant living room madness?

Way back in 2010, there was Google TV — a cut-down version of Android that essentially just put the Chrome web browser on your TV. Google never really had a strong strategy in place for Google TV, and it was crippled by a lack of content (all of the major content providers except for Dish have blocked it). Unperturbed, Google, Logitech, and a handful of smart TV makers released a few versions of Google TV, but eventually retired the product in 2013. Next up unto the breach was Chromecast — a simple HDMI dongle that allows you to stream content to your TV from your PC or smartphone. Chromecast has certainly been well received among nerdy, power-user types, but it hasn’t exactly revolutionized the living room for mom-and-pop consumers. At some point, there was also the Nexus Q — but Google doesn’t like us to talk about that particular misstep.

Google is back yet again with Android TV and the Nexus Player. Android TV appears to be a full version of Android 5.0 Lollipop, meaning it can download and install apps from the Play Store, including streaming services like Netflix and Hulu — and you can buy or rent a movie, of course. Google Cast (the tech underpinning Chromecast) is integrated. Android TV can be controlled with a remote control, an app on your phone or tablet, or a gamepad (in the case of the Nexus Player, there’s a $40 gamepad sold separately). Like Google TV, a number of TV makers will integrate Android TV into their smart TVs (expect to see lots at CES 2015), and there’ll be third-party Android TV set-top boxes from OEMs as well.

Curiously, like Google TV, the Nexus Player is actually powered by an Intel Atom processor — a quad-core Valleyview Bay Trail part clocked at 1.8GHz. There’s 8GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM 802.11ac 2×2 WiFi, and as far as I can tell no SD card slot. As I mentioned previously, there’s an optional gamepad that you can buy for $40 (pictured below). I’m sure Android gaming on the Android TV will be at least as good as on the Ouya.

Boy was the Nexus Q beautiful — but it was useless, too

So far, so good. Wait, did I say good? I meant bland. Bear in mind that the Nexus Player costs $100 — $15 more than the Amazon Fire TV, $5 more than the Roku 3, or a full $50 more than the Roku 3500R HDMI dongle/streaming stick. I’m really not sure what Android TV brings to the table, other than tighter integration into Google’s larger ecosystem — a feature that might be beneficial on your smartphone, but is probably detrimental in the living room where Amazon has better content deals in place. Android TV might become interesting at some point — perhaps when you have a full complement of other Nexus/Android Lollipop devices — but for now it feels like Google is just trying to keep a hairy toe past your living room doorjamb.

The Nexus Player will be available exclusively from the Play Store (and only in the US for now) for $100. The optional gamepad will cost $40. The Nexus Player was originally meant to go on sale at the start of November, but it seems Google has pushed the date back; as of right now, there’s no listed release date.

Apple SIM and the death of the SIM card

2014-10-17T22:33:00.000+05:00

Let’s not delude ourselves here: Apple’s iPad event was spectacularly dull. You just know it’s going to be anticlimactic when Craig Federighi forces us to sit through 30-plus minutes of iOS and OS X news before Tim Cook was allowed to unveil the — big surprise — thinner and lighter iPad Air 2, and the sniveling footnote that is the iPad Mini 3. In fact, there is one interesting feature of the new iPads — but it was relegated to a page on the Apple website, rather than shown off on-stage. It’s called the Apple SIM, and it’s the death knell of the humble — if rather annoying — SIM card.

Apple has always had it in for the SIM card. Ever since the first iPhone, which used a fiddly paperclip-actuated SIM holder, Apple has shown that it won’t be beholden to clunky, old, or slow-moving technologies that it has no direct control over. With the original iPad, Apple was the first major device maker to move to the smaller micro-SIM (3FF) standard — and in 2012, Apple forced through a new nano-SIM (4FF) and was again first to market with the iPhone 5. Even now in 2014,

The evolution of the GSM SIM card. It’s hard to believe that the SIM was originally a credit card sized piece of plastic. Shown here, from left to right, are the standard SIM (1FF), mini (2FF), micro (3FF), and nano (4FF).

In each successive case, it has always been about making Apple products smaller, thinner, and lighter than the competitors. SIM cards, with their fixed dimensions and the removable tray, are a straight-up design constraint. There’s no getting around it: As it stands, you simply cannot make a device thinner than a SIM card tray, and a significant amount of design and manufacturing time has to be invested into placing the SIM slot (both on the logic board and externally on the chassis) and ensuring it’s reliable. Moving parts are thebane of industrial design.

There is an alternative to the SIM card, of course: the embedded-SIM. Rather than including a removable SIM card and tray mechanism, the manufacturer can solder a SIM card permanently onto the device. Not only does this remove the need for a SIM card tray, but it also allows for the SIM itself to be reduced to just a tiny chip on the logic board (there isn’t actually much in a SIM card, but because it has to be held by clumsy human hands they can’t be shrunk down much further than the nano form factor). Way back in 2012, when ETSI started working on embedded-SIM, Apple showed a clear interest in the new standard — and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the iPhone 7 or iPad Air 3 debut without a discrete SIM card.

iPad Air 2, showing the new Apple SIM carrier selection screen

For the time being, though, Apple has the next best thing: The Apple SIM. In the US and UK, the LTE versions of the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 will come with a reprogrammable SIM card — the so-called Apple SIM — that can switch to different carriers via the Settings menu in iOS. In theory, this allows you to switch between your AT&T contract and perhaps a pre-paid T-Mobile deal, to get the best of both worlds. In the future, when the Apple SIM inevitably rolls out to the iPhone (presumably the iPhone 7) maybe you’ll be able to open up Settings and select one carrier for cheap international calls, and then switch back to your main carrier for data. And of course, when you travel, rather than having to hunt down a local SIM card, Apple SIM would let you easily use a local carrier for cheap data and calls.

Prior to the iPhone, it was all about removing the battery to insert the SIM card — a constraint that Apple didn’t want to adhere to

The concept of a software-programmable SIM is certainly very cool, and a whole lot more revolutionary than the new gold color option or the inclusion of last year’s Touch ID sensor.

The problem, of course, is that today’s Apple SIM is clearly just a waypoint towards a future where the SIM card is removed from the equation entirely. It might be the iPhone 6S, or maybe the iPhone 7, but eventually Apple will do away with the physical SIM card and tray, replacing it with a tiny chip on the logic board and a SIM/carrier selection screen within iOS. If Apple does it properly and includes every carrier and MVNO you might ever want to use, then we have nothing to worry about — in fact, that actually sounds like a better solution than slotting in new SIM cards.

If Apple exerts some kind of control over Apple SIM, though, or is somehow tardy or restrictive over adding carriers to the selection screen, then you might soon find yourself lamenting the death of the SIM card — for ultimately, that is what this is all about. Apple has forced the adoption of smaller and smaller SIM card standards with the success of the iPhone and iPad, and I see no reason why it would stop with the nano-SIM. If Apple kills off the SIM card, then other device makers will surely follow suit.

New MasterCard combines a fingerprint sensor with NFC

2014-10-17T22:06:00.004+05:00

For awhile now, there's been a number of companies trying to simplify payments for everyone. Google did so with Wallet and, most recently, Apple announced it would be doing something similar with the soon-to-be-launched Apple Pay, among others. Not surprisingly, MasterCard's, synonymous with paying for stuff, is working on a product of its own. In partnership with Zwipe, a company that focuses on biometric tech, MasterCard has built a charge plate with a built-in fingerprint sensor and NFC, albeit for trial purposes. The Zwipe MasterCard, as it is currently known, is said to be extremely secure -- all data is stored directly on the card, rather than an outside database, for example.

Samsung revamps its lower-end Chromebook with faux leather

2014-10-17T22:05:00.000+05:00

It's taken a while, but people finally seem to be embracing Chromebooks as the low-cost laptops that they were designed to be. Samsung's already earned our plaudits for this year's Chromebook 2, but what if you just don't have $400 to spend on a new piece of hardware? Never fear, for the company has also refreshed the lower-end model from 2012 with better specs, but the same $249.99 price-tag. The low cost doesn't mean that this new (old) Chromebook can't be stylish, however, as Samsung has coated the top lid in the same faux-leather backing that we've seen on plenty of the company's other gadgets.

Facebook now actively seeks password leaks to protect its users

2014-10-17T22:02:00.004+05:00

Facebook knows that password leaks endanger its users, even if it's another website that's been hacked, because people tend to reuse their log-in credentials (remember that recent Dropbox issue?). That's why it has developed a process that actively monitors news of huge security breaches and scans "paste" sites like pastebin, which hackers typically use to distribute username and password dumps. Upon finding a collection of email addresses and passwords, the system uses an automated process to check them against the social network's user database. Facebook says that doesn't mean it has copies of people's passwords in plain text, though: it encrypts or hashes stolen passwords first before comparing them to similarly encrypted log-in details. In the event that the system does spot an exact log-in combination that's also used on Facebook, it walks the user through changing his password the next time he logs in.