Technology News - Apple iPad Battle: Mini 4 vs. Mini 3

Apple Inc. launched the iPad mini 4 on September 9 at its “Hey Siri” event. The latest tablet is a refreshed version of the iPad mini 3. The device is said to be better than its predecessor with some key enhancements in certain areas. The tablet has been upgraded as lighter, faster, and thinner.

During the event, the iPad Pro was presented as “the biggest news in iPad since iPad.” So, the iPad mini 4 was not the center of attention on stage, as it was not given any over-the-top design enhancements in comparison to its previous version.

On the other hand, the iPad mini 3 was launched last year. It is a pretty decent tablet that came out with a gold color option and a fingerprint sensor feature to distinguish itself from the iPad mini 2.

The two tablets iPad mini 4 and 3 are similar with some specs, but a few highlighted differences might help consumers decide whether to upgrade to the latest version or not. Here’s a how the two models stack up against each other.

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Design

Apple usually updates displays of its devices, but that does not seem to be the case here. The iPad mini 4 sports a 7.9 inch LCD Retina display along with 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution, similar to the iPad mini 3. The latest iteration has the same Touch ID fingerprint sensor below the home button.

The upgrade in design was with the thickness. The new version is now thinner at 6.1mm from 7.5mm thick iPad mini 3. The resolution is not 4K quality but is still decent for a tablet to watch videos or play games.

The company was also able to make the tablet lighter from 331g to 299g.

Power and Performance

The Verge reported that the iPad mini 4 is very similar to the power and performance of the iPad Air 2. The iPad mini 4 is powered by an A8 chipset processor with 2GB of RAM, which is a huge upgrade from the A7 chip with 1 GB in iPad mini 3.

The new tablet also jumped from iOS 8 to 9. The real difference in performance can be felt through the new iteration being prepackaged with the iOS 9 along with new software updates ensured to provide better user experience. A user will have to download the iOS 9 and install it, if they have the iPad mini 3.

To refine the latest device by making it lighter and thinner, Apple had to move around some built-ins to make the upgrades better. The 7.9 inch latest tablet’s battery has 5,124 mAh, while the iPad mini 3 battery has 6,471 mAh. With that said, both tablets can survive a longer life of up to 10 hours.

Another upgrade to be noted is the 8 megapixel from 5 megapixel rear camera in the refreshed version. However, the 1.2 megapixel front camera is still the same for both devices.

Pricing and Availability

The entry level iPad mini 4 is priced at $399 that includes the Wi-Fi only-version, while the cellular plus Wi-Fi version costs $529. Both devices are available in the 16, 64, 128 GB models. The iPad mini 3 is priced at $400, while the cellular version of the iteration starts at $500.

Apple stopped selling the iPad mini 3, since the latest iteration was announced to become a replacement. If consumers wish to buy the older version, then they will have to contact third-party retailers.

The Verdict

The iPad mini 4 simply wins the match. It is the obvious winner as it is quicker, lighter, and slimmer. Considering the price, the models are almost the same with the entry-level Wi-Fi models, so consumers can make the smart choice and opt for the better version.

Apple

Technology News - Google Hits Pixel Resellers with 'Digital Death Sentence'

Some of Google's unwitting users are learning a harsh lesson: If you violate the company's policies, it can abruptly cut you off from your Gmail account, online photos and other vital digital services.Several people who recently bought Google's new Pixel phone on behalf of a New Hampshire dealer are now suffering that punishment after the company detected their online purchases and judged they violated its terms of service. Those rules, outlined in a document that few people read closely , forbid the purchase of the Pixel for "commercial" resale. "There isn't an hour that doesn't go by that I don't think about the enormity of what Google has done to me," said one of the affected resellers, Shmuel Super of Brooklyn, New York. "This is like a digital death sentence." Sell Your Phone, Lose Your Account Super and his fellow resellers got into trouble for buying up to five Pixel phones from Google's online store and having them delivered to New Hampshire for resale. They received $5 for each phone. As of Sunday, some started finding themselves locked out of their Google accounts. In a Thursday statement, Google described the resale arrangement as a "scheme" devised by a dealer looking to sell the Pixels at marked-up prices in violation of its policies. Google declined to say how many people were affected by the account lockdown. DansDeals , a consumer-focused website that first reported Google's crackdown, concluded that more than 200 people had been blocked from their Google accounts after talking to the New Hampshire dealer behind the Pixel buying spree. The Associated Press was unsuccessful in its efforts to identify and interview the dealer. The crackdown may come as a surprise to the hundreds of millions of people who now routinely rely on Google, Facebook, Apple and other tech companies as the caretakers of their digital lives. Few of the people involved in this situation appear to have backed up their data outside of Google. Google said it plans to restore the accounts of customers who it believes were unaware of the rules, although the company didn't specify how long that might take. Living Without Google Once they figured out why they were being locked out, the exiled consumers realized how dependent they had become on Google as the custodian of their digital communications, records and other mementoes. Some said they couldn't retrieve confirmation numbers for upcoming flights or notices about an upcoming credit-card payment. Others couldn't fetch work documents or medical records. Some started getting phone calls from friends, family and colleagues wondering why they weren't responding to emails. Like two other people interviewed by the AP, Super said he had no idea that he was violating Google's policies when he bought the Pixels for the New Hampshire dealer. He can't believe Google would do something as extreme as locking him out of his account without warning, rather than just banning him from buying its phones in the future. "Google's slogan is 'Don't be evil,' but to me, there is nothing more evil that what Google has done here," Super said. Crime and Punishment Some of the Pixels purchased for resale were delivered before Google recognized the violations and meted out a punishment spelled out in a separate terms-of-service document . "We may suspend or stop providing our services to you if you do not comply with our terms or policies or if we are investigating suspected misconduct," Google warns in one section. Google doesn't give any advance notice before it shuts down an account, and doesn't make distinctions between minor and major violations. Affected users can appeal for reinstatement, though it's unclear how long that might take or what criteria Google uses in such cases. Apple also forbids online purchases of iPhones for resale, although its terms of service say only that the company reserves the right to cancel any order suspected of breaking the rule. Daniel Levy, who has been locked out from his Google account since Monday, said he has learned a hard lesson, though not necessarily the one the company intended. "They confiscated my property and shouldn't be trusted," said Levy, who lives in Lakewood, New Jersey. "I will never use their services again."

Technology News - Lenovo Phab 2 Plus Review

Highlights

• The Phab 2 Plus boasts of a 6.4-inch display and octa-core SoC
• Build and display quality are good but CPU performance is weak
• The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus is priced at Rs. 14,999

Lenovo is steadily expanding its Phab series of smartphones. Rather than spamming the market with a hundred variants, the company has only just launched the successor to last year's Phab Plus (Review). We felt that phone had great potential as a media consumption device but its size made it incredibly awkward to carry, even if you have abnormally large hands. This year, we have the Phab 2 Plus, which was announced as part of a trio including the Phab 2 and Phab 2 Pro. The Plus variant is the only one to make it to India so far, and it serves as a successor to the existing Phab Plus. With more manageable dimensions this time around, the highlight feature here appears to be a dual-camera setup. At Rs. 14,999, the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus locks horns with Huawei Mate 9 review, which is pretty much the only other model in this price segment with similar features. With the Mi Max being perpetually out of stock everywhere, is Lenovo’s offering a viable alternative? Let’s find out. Lenovo Phab 2 Plus design and build The phone gets a metal unibody and curved Gorilla Glass on the front. It feels tough enough to withstand a drop or two. The Phab 2 Plus is a massive phone and despite Lenovo trying its best to minimise the footprint with thin bezels and no excess space above and below the display, it still requires two hands to operate. There is a one-handed mode but that only lets you shift the lockscreen's numeric PIN keypad and the dial pad to one corner for better reach, rather than shrinking the entire screen.
 

 The display measures 6.4 inches diagonally and is an IPS panel with a full-HD resolution, which results in a crisp 344ppi pixel count. Text is sharp and icons lack jaggedness around the edges. Colour reproduction is pretty good too and the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus fares well under direct sunlight. However, the ambient light sensor can be a little slow to react at times. Touch response is also spot-on. The Phab 2 Plus gets backlit capacitive navigation keys at the bottom and a notification LED on the top. There’s a SIM tray on the left that can house either two SIM cards or one SIM and a microSD card (up to 128GB). The volume and power buttons have good tactile feedback and are placed fairly ergonomically on the right. There’s a mono speaker at the bottom along with a Micro-USB port, and a headphones socket up on the top. The back is slightly curved so the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus  sits comfortably in your palm. You’ll find the dual cameras and the fingerprint sensor on the back. The latter works well and authentication is fast and painless. We rarely had any misreads. However, you can only use it to unlock the phone, not secure apps or folders. The Phab 2 Plus ships with a 10W charger, data cable, SIM ejector, instructions, and JBL earphones. The quality of the accessories is good although we didn’t like how short the supplied cable is. 

 The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus scores well in terms of build quality. The design feels a bit generic but the most annoying thing here has got to be its size and weight. 218 grams is a lot for something you’ll be carrying around in your pocket every single day, and it's very noticeable when you’re holding the phone up to talk or do anything for an extended period. The sheer size of the phone makes it cumbersome to carry around. It sticks out everywhere, which might not be an issue if you carry your phone in a handbag or backpack, but it's almost impossible to sit comfortably with the Phab 2 Plus in a trouser pocket. Lenovo Phab 2 Plus specifications and features On paper, the Phab 2 Plus meets the core specifications we’ve come to expect from smartphones in this segment. You get an octa-core MediaTek SoC (MT8783), 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

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It’s interesting to note that this SoC isn't a very popular one. It consists of eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores and is built on a 28nm fabrication process, so it isn't too different from other MediaTek chips. The rest of the specifications include Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac, FM radio, GPS, and USB OTG. The phone also supports 4G on all Indian bands and also VoLTE. This recipe works very well with the near-stock implementation of Android Marshmallow, which is a refreshing change from the custom interfaces we've seen in the past. Apart from a custom icon set, it’s pretty much untouched. The Settings app has a Smart Assist feature that lets you control things like one-handed mode and auto-answering a call when you bring it to your ear. Smart Shortcut gives you a floating menu to which you can add app shortcuts. Lenovo pre-installs apps including McAfee Security, Netflix, and Swiftkey. There’s also SHAREit, SYNCit, which unites multiple cloud services in one place, much like the equivalent programs on Lenovo's laptops.

  


Lenovo Phab 2 Plus performance General performance is relatively smooth thanks to the near-stock Android, but performance begins to throttle once you try juggling between apps, using the AR features of the camera, or basically anything CPU intensive. We noticed intermittent stutter when multitasking and when using the camera. We also noticed that the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus heats up quickly if you’re watching a video, using the camera or even having a long call. Heat can be felt along the edges where the buttons and the headphones socket are placed, and the back. Benchmarks tell the story better. AnTuTu returned 36,629 points; GFXbench gave us just 12fps; and the Jetstrem browser benchmark retuned 17.2 points. Gaming performance seems to be limited as the Mali-T720 GPU appears to be a bit too weak for full-HD gaming. As a whole, this SoC is definitely weaker than the Snapdragon 6xx series chips which we see in many other phones in this price range. The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus deserved better.
 

 One big feature that Lenovo is promoting with this phone is Dolby Atmos audio. An app lets you customise sound profiles based on the type of media you’re listening too. Atmos is all about 360-degree sound, which is obviously not possible with one single speaker. However, it does get fairly loud compared to most other phones with a single speaker, and audio quality is decent for games and other media. The bundled JBL earphones aren’t very good at isolating ambient noise or at audio playback. Videos encoded with Dolby Atmos support have good aural separation. Videos look great on the Phab 2 Plus, which can handle up to 1080p files. The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus  features two 13-megapixel camera sensors, laser auto-focus (AF), and phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF). The secondary camera sensor is used for measuring depth but it didn't seem to do anything to improve the quality of pictures. We tried taking photos with that lens both blocked and clear, and didn’t really see any significant difference. We recommend that you use HDR for landscapes in daylight, as without it, pictures look pretty dull. The Phab 2 Plus struggles to capture good details in distant objects, but macro shots fare much better, with good levels of detail, background blur, and colour saturation.

Focusing is quick, and continuous autofocus works well even with video, although we would have liked a tap-to-focus feature too. Once the phone starts to heat up though, focusing speeds dip, and the app begins to lag. Dual-camera mode offers the ability to manipulate focus after a shot has been taken, and even swap and merge objects from one image into another. Focus manipulation doesn’t work nearly as well as it does on competing phones, or even the Refocus app on old Lumia phones. There’s also an AR mode, which you can use to add cats, dogs, and other virtual elements into a scene. It’s not new as Sony has been doing this on its Xperia phones for years now. Plus, Lenovo’s implementation is a bit clunky - switching to this mode opens another app. Again, the phone heats up while doing this. Video recording maxes out at 1080p, but the Phab 2 Plus also has the option to record in HDR. We tested this out on an HDR TV and the differences, though slight, were noticeable. Video is recorded with Dolby 5.1 audio by default. Thanks to the three microphones, the captured sound is crisp and even small nuances are amplified and can heard clearly. The front 8-megapixel camera manages decent pictures in day/ under natural light, but doesn’t do so well under artificial lighting, though the front flash helps to an extent. The first run of our HD video loop battery test lasted just 6 hours, 19 minutes. Even with regular usage, our review unit refused to run beyond 13 hours. However, we reset the device and ran the tests again, and managed to get better results of 8 hours of video playback and roughly 16-18 hours with actual usage. The 4050mAh battery thus delivered average performance. We observed that the battery holds its capacity very well at night when the phone is not in use, but begins to deplete quickly if we played a game or used the camera. There’s no official fast charging here, but the 10W charger manages to top up the phone within a couple of hours.
 
 Verdict The Phab 2 Plus should have had all the makings of a good, large-screened phone for media consumption, but in our opinion, a couple of poor choices stop it from being a viable alternative to Xiaomi’s Mi Max. It does well enough in terms of build, display, software, and audio quality. The dual-camera setup is a bit unnecessary and the supplementary features feels a bit gimmicky, but image quality isn't too bad, especially for macro shots. We also like the fact that manufactures are incorporating HDR video recording. But a phone like this should have had a better SoC, and the one Lenovo has gone with simply lacks the power needed to handle things like augmented reality apps, heavy games, and even multitasking. The Phab 2 Plus heats up too quickly, which is quite annoying. We also expected great battery life but it turned out to be pretty average in our tests. In our opinion, the only reason one would put up with the bulk and heft of a phone like this would be to consume a lot of content, and as such, the Xiaomi Mi Max would make a better choice thanks to its slimmer profile and much better battery life. If you don't need a huge screen and are just looking for a good all-rounder, you have plenty of options such as the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro(Review) and iPhone 7 Plus, to name a few in this price segment .  

Technology News - Samsung Not Giving Up: Developing S8, New Note

It is no secret that the affair of the flammable Note 7 caused enormous damage to Samsung. Besides the enormous financial damage, it also seriously affected the image of the world’s large smartphone manufacturer in general, and especially its Note brand. It is no surprise that many people believed that Samsung would have to abandon the series, or at least its name, by issuing its phablet under a new name.

A new and reliable report, however, states that Samsung may have completely different plans.

Note Users: You Should (Probably) Wait

Samsung Galaxy S8 models are indeed skipping SM-G94* model numbers, will ship as SM-G950 & SM-G955. Know what else is in the works? SM-N950. -- Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 9, 2016

The report is by well-known leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks), who is known for his accurate leaks. Blass’s leaks usually come from many sources in the supply and production chain of various manufacturers. He wrote in his Twitter account that Samsung was currently developing two models of the Galaxy S8 with the model numbers SM-G950 and SM-G955 (this refers to the ordinary S8 and the larger S8 Edge). At the end of the tweet, however, Blass added, “Do you know what else Samsung is working on? SM-N950.” This model number refers to a Note 8, which Blass says is already in development.

The Note 7 [pictured above] model number was SM-N930. Samsung, however, chose to skip the digit 4 in its Note 8 model number, because this digit is associated with bad luck in South Korea and East Asia, like the number 13 in other cultures. That is called reducing risk.

Another tweet by Blass confirmed that both of the two new Galaxy S8 devices would have curved convex screens. This contrasts with the current situation, in which there is both an ordinary version of the device and a larger Edge version with a curved screen. If this is the case, the devices may receive a slightly different name, perhaps even Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 plus, as is the case with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Pixel.

Both Samsung Galaxy S8 models will reportedly have an edge display https://t.co/o2LZJw6Mzx pic.twitter.com/qsd6YFuYEd -- Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 9, 2016

Global Launch for the S3 Watch

Smartphones, however, are not the only thing being concocted in Samsung’s kitchen. Samsung unveiled the Gear S3, its new smart watch, two months ago. The watch has already been launched in South Korea. Samsung has now announced, however, that the watch will be launched this Friday in a number of markets, including Australia, Dubai, France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, and the US.

The new watch has been upgraded slightly from the successful S2. An array of new features has been added, such as a loudspeaker, LTE connectivity, and payments support. The watch will come in two models with different designs and specs. The Frontier model will have a black matte finish and LTE connectivity. Together with the loudspeaker, you can actually carry your watch around and leave your smartphone at home. The watch can also receive alerts and send messages independently of your cellular device. The other model, the Classic, with a metallic finish, but without LTE, can communicate with the world only through your smartphone. Both models will be based on Tizen OS, Samsung’s operating system, instead of on Google’s Android Wear.

Technology News - Google Pixel XL Review: How Does Phablet Measure Up?

Star Rating: 4 stars

The 5.5in Google Pixel XL is the company’s first own-brand phablet, the bigger brother of the 5in Pixel. It’s Google inside and out, but is it better than Samsung or Apple’s efforts?

The 5in Pixel is a good smartphone, but it’s not the most inspired design. The 5.5in Pixel XL is essentially the Pixel put in the photocopier and magnified.

Right on the Limit

It’s no thicker, though: the wedge-shaped phablet is 7.3mm at the bottom and 8.6mm thick at the top. It weighs another 25g at 168g and it is 6.2mm wider and 10.9mm taller. Compared to the competition, the Pixel XL is about in the middle. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is 7.7mm thick and weighs 157g, while Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus is 7.3mm thick and weighs 188g.

But the biggest difference for all these 5.5in phablets is the width. The Pixel XL is 75.7mm wide, which is a little narrower than the 77.9mm iPhone 7 Plus but much wider than the 72.6mm S7 Edge. Width is the biggest determinator of how easy a phablet will be to use with one hand without special adaptations for one-handed use. Where the iPhone 7 Plus is too wide, the Pixel XL is right on the limit.

Its flat edges and relatively small bezels either side of the 5.5in screen make it manageable with a not abnormal handspan of 23cm. But I suggest if you’re interested in buying one, visit a store to see if it’s comfortable to hold for.

The Pixel XL is well built, has a good balance in the hand, but is a bit bland in terms of design, with the only flourish the glass panel that covers a third of the back. It makes it a little easier to grip, but splits opinion as to whether it’s attractive. It grew on me after a week.

The display is very good. A 5.5in quad HD AMOLED with a pixel density of 534 pixels per inch. It’s crisp, colourful and bright -- bright enough to see in direct sunlight, in fact. It’s not quite as vibrant as Samsung’s Galaxy S displays, however, but it is more punchy than the LCDs on iPhones.

Specifications

* Screen: 5.5in quad HD AMOLED (534ppi)

* Processor: quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

* RAM: 4GB of RAM

* Storage: 32 or 128GB

* Operating system: Android 7.1 Nougat

* Camera: 12.3MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing camera

* Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, USB-C and GPS

* Dimensions: 154.7 x 75.7 x 7.3-8.6 mm

* Weight: 168g

* 26 hours or more between charges

The Pixel XL shares the same processor, RAM and storage as the Pixel, and performs just as well. It’s snappy, launching apps and switching between them without delay; capable of handling anything you might throw at it and is one of the first DayDream-ready smartphones.

The larger screen and increased pixel density do not seem to impact the performance of the device, or how hot it got under load. It ran cooler than most other modern high-end smartphones during general use, heating up slightly only when playing graphically intensive games such as Real Racing 3 and Asphalt 8.

One thing that is different is the Pixel XL’s battery life. Using the Pixel XL as my primary device, it lasted 26 hours between charges, managing three hours of app usage and browsing, hundreds of emails and push notifications, a couple of photos, five hours of music over Bluetooth headphones and quite a lot of Dan the Man during my one hour and 20-minute train commute to and from work. It means you’ll get through a day, a night out and the commute to work the next day, but you’ll have to charge it when you get there.

More conservative use and with the battery saving mode enabled below 20% charge will probably see most people at make it till they get home on the second day before needing a charge.

When it comes to charging the Pixel XL, zero to 100% takes about one hour 45 minutes. A half charge takes about 30 minutes, which makes it one of the faster charging smartphones. Android 7.1 Nougat

The Pixel Xl runs the latest version of Android 7.1 Nougat, just like its smaller sibling. A rundown of the new features introduced with Android 7.0 Nougat is available separately.

Google also added a few new things within 7.1 Nougat, including launcher shortcuts, a new-look launcher, Google Assistant and a built-in night mode.

The Pixel XL’s larger screen, however, makes some features more useful. The ability to have two apps side-by-side on one screen, called multi-window, is one such example. For apps that support it, holding the overview button places one app above the other, or side-by-side in landscape orientation, with a slider in the middle to change the split. It’s particularly useful if you’re having a conversation over text and need to look at a map or similar, and is much more useable on the larger 5.5in screen than the 5in Pixel.

On the whole it is the most polished and together Android experience currently available and will benefit from prompt software updates direct from Google that are not blocked or delayed by network providers for at least two years. Some other Android devices from the likes of Samsung and LG will receive relatively prompt security updates, but Android version updates take months to a year from the point of which Google releases them.

Fingerprint Scanner

The fingerprint scanner on the back of the Pixel XL is the same as the Pixel: fast, accurate and can now be used to bring down the notification shade with a swipe on the pad -- something other manufacturers including Huawei have been doing for a while.

The Pixel Imprint scanner is arguably the best in the business, but if you use your phone on a desk, you can’t activate it without picking it up, or falling back to your passcode or lock pattern.

Camera

On paper, the Pixel XL’s camera, like the Pixel, isn’t that much to write home about. It’s a 12.3-megapixel camera with a f/2.0 lens without optical image stabilization. The iPhone 7’s camera has 12-megapixel camera and an f/1.8 lens, while Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge has a 12-megapixel camera with an f/1.7 lens. The lower the f-number the faster the lens and, in theory, the more light it lets in.

But the Pixel has a software advantage, producing some of the best, most detailed and colorful photos available. Google’s HDR+ feature is particularly good, producing some of the best high dynamic range photos I’ve seen and without the image blur that can creep in with other systems.

It’s low-light performance is also excellent, while the Google Camera app does a great job of balancing features with simplicity at a touch of button. It lacks full manual control, however.

The 8-megapixel selfie camera is also very good, producing images with good depth and color, and a good balance of soft focus and detail.

Observations

* Audio quality through the headphones socket was good but not exceptional

* The Bluetooth broadcast strength to a set of headphones was stronger and less susceptible to interference than most other smartphones I have tested

* It only has one down-firing speaker on the bottom, which is easily blocked by hands when gaming, although slightly less so than the 5in Pixel simply because the Pixel XL is wider

* A notification LED is available, but not enabled by default

* Gif search is built into Google’s Keyboard for apps that support it such as SMS Messenger app

* Google Photos on the Pixel comes with free, unlimited full resolution photo and video backup, not just up to 16MP and 1080p video

Verdict

The Google Pixel XL is a very good phone. It’s camera is great, it’s snappy, has the latest version of Android and will get updates first, it’s powerful and lasts over a day between charges. Despite its size it’s also relatively easy to use one-handed and it’s well made.

The problem is it isn’t exceptional, it isn’t waterproof and it is expensive. It commands top dollar, but unlike competitors such as Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge does not provide much in the way of hardware innovation.

If I had to pick between the Pixel and Pixel XL, I think the XL is a better phone all round. You won’t be disappointed if you buy a Pixel XL, but there are equally good if not better smartphones available for considerably less than £719.

Pros: Android 7.1 Nougat, rapid updates, great camera, great screen, more than a day’s battery life, Google Assistant, great fingerprint scanner Cons: not waterproof, no expandable memory, no front-facing speakers, no wireless charging, expensive, not as easy to handle as some rivals

Technology News - Apple Unveils Design Book With 450 Photos Chronicling 20 Years of Products

Apple has just announced a hardbound book that compiles 450 photographs chronicling all the products that the company has made in the past. This book has been released to commemorate co-founder Steve Jobs, and it represents Apple's journey since its foundation days.

The book is titled 'Designed by Apple in California' and it comes in two sizes - the smaller one with dimensions 10.20x12.75-inch is priced starting at $199 (roughly Rs. 13,500), while the large hardbound book with dimensions 13x16.25-inch is priced starting at $299 (roughly Rs. 20,300). The design of the book is sparse at best, and it contains just Apple product photographs lined up in ascending order one page after the other.

In the book's foreword, Design Chief Jon Ive explains, "While this is a design book, it is not about the design team, the creative process or product development. It is an objective representation of our work that, ironically, describes who we are. It describes how we work, our values, our preoccupations and our goals. We have always hoped to be defined by what we do rather than by what we say. We strive, with varying degrees of success, to define objects that appear effortless. Objects that appear so simple, coherent and inevitable that there could be no rational alternative."

While it's rather odd of a company to boast of its own achievements, Apple is considered as the pinnacle of success when it comes to design and consumer products. Its evolution in design is worth being documented, but monetised? That's another debate altogether. Ive claims that this gathering of product designs in one book, will give a huge understanding and learning of how products evolved over the years, and be a rich resource for design students in the future.

In any case, "Designed by Apple in California" is available on the company website in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US, and in select Apple Stores.

Technology News - The OnePlus 3 is dead, long live the OnePlus 3T

OnePlus hasn’t done a great job keeping a lid on the 3T. For the past week or so, both it and Qualcomm have been seeding social media with glimpses of the upcoming smartphone, finally taking the official wraps off the device today, a mere five months after launching its latest flagship, the OnePlus 3.

Those worried about the company cannibalizing its still fresh handset rest assured – the OnePlus 3T won’t be eating into the 3’s sales because it will be killing the device entirely. As the new handset is unleashed on the world, the hardware startup will be end-of-lifing its predecessor.

And it’s not hard to see why. For starters, there’s the fact that the new phone is, at its name implies, an upgrade to the existing line, bringing an even more impressive set of specs to the already well-received phone. And then there’s the fact that it’s hard to imagine the company’s dropping the 3’s $399 MSRP any lower to make room for the 3T’s $439 asking price.

The short lead time will sure irk those who rushed out to pick up the three, but for hold outs, there are some really solid hardware upgrades on board, starting with the already announced bump from Snapdragon 820 to 821 (at 2.35GHz), bringing it up to speed with the Google Pixel. That increased processing power is coupled with a more than generous 6GB of RAM.

The battery has been bumped up as well, now at 3400mAh, a 13-percent increases over the 3, coupled with the company’s proprietary Dash quick charging technology, which promises a day’s worth of power with a 30 minute charge – same as with the last one.

The 3T will be available with either 64 or 128GB of storage (on the gunmetal version) when it launches November 22 here in the States. It will be launching on the 28 in Europe with a gold colored version arriving soon. While the OnePlus 3 is going away, those who purchased one will still be getting the promised Nougat update according to schedule, along with all future updates, which will happen at the same time for both handsets.

Technology News - Samsung is looking for Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge owners to test Android 7.0 on their phones

It’s not a full on Nougat rollout, but it’s something. For a second year in a row, Samsung will be offering a select group of users early access to the latest version of Android through its Galaxy Beta Program.

Currently limited to Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge owners (no Note 7 for obvious reasons) in the US, UK, and Korea, the deal is first-come, first served, according to the company’s site, aimed at testing the stability of Android 7.0 on its flagship devices. The program will be arriving in China at some point in the near future, as well.

Participants will be asked to report bugs and other issues to help the company bring things up to speed for next year’s public roll out. Sadly, if you got your hands on the limited edition Olympics or Batman version of the phone, you can’t participate. Ditto for users in the UK who have devices locked by their carrier.

There’s a bunch more fine print on Samsung’s page, including the fact that “unexpected errors may occur,” because, well, that’s kind of the whole point of a beta program

Huawei Mate 9 review: A big phone with an bigger battery

Huawei is in a tough position. The company is coming out of China with no strong presence in the U.S. market, and yet it prices its phones similarly to top competitors from Samsung and Apple. To beat the best, Huawei needs to be better than the best, and by a sizable margin. With each new phone, Huawei is a bit closer to that goal, but it never quite reached it.

Enter the Huawei Mate 9. After rumors of crazy-good specs, this was the device that had all the makings of becoming the best phablet in the world, and with the Samsung Galaxy Note7 out of the picture, the task appeared to be even easier. And while the Mate 9 is a very good phone, it will only be the best for some users: those who care deeply about battery life, fast charging and some niche features like black and white photography.

The Huawei Mate 9 is a 5.9-inch phone with the latest octa-core Huawei 960 Kirin chipset (paired with a Mali-G71 graphics chip), it's got 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (expandable via microSD cards), has dual cameras on the back (20- and 12-megapixels), an 8-megapixel selfie shooter, a fingerprint sensor, and runs on Android 7.0, skinned with Huawei's latest EMUI 5.0 user interface.

On paper, that's the best Android phone around, if we disregard two specs: its huge screen only has a full HD resolution (many competitors, including the now-discontinued Note7, have Quad HD resolution), and it's not waterproof. Huawei pointed out that this phone is currently the top dog in Geekbench's multi-core test, and I've confirmed this to be the truth.

 

Huawei Mate 9 scores amazingly well in Geekbench 4's multi-core test; the score is a bit less impressive (but still very good) in the single-core test. For comparison, these scores make it the top Android phone out there; compared to the iPhone 7, it wins in the multi-core test but lags behind in the single-core test.

Synthetic tests like this one don't tell the full story, but the Mate 9 did feel fast and smooth, no matter what I threw at it.

Good but generic design

All the Huawei phones I've reviewed in the past couple of years have had exceptionally good build quality, and the Mate 9 is no exception. It just feels rock-solid.

The design, however, is nearly the same as the design of its predecessor, the Mate 8. Yes, the bezels are thin, the speaker grille is a bit more pronounced, the edges are ever-so-slightly curved, but these days you need to do more to stand out. Place an iPhone 7 or a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge next to it, and both will inspire more lustful sighs.

 

A big part of the smartphone experience these days is the screen, and as I've said many times, I don't mind the 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution. That's the same resolution as the iPhone 7 Plus, and no one is complaining. The screen is also brighter than on any other Huawei phone I've seen. And while earlier Huawei phones have had some problems with visibility in the sunlight, the Mate 9 appears to be better (but not perfect) with that regard.

Great battery life and insanely fast charging

One benefit of having a lower-resolution screen (it feels silly calling full HD resolution on a 5.9-inch screen "low," but that's just where we are these days) is better battery life. The huge, 4,000mAh battery also helps, and so does Huawei's SuperCharge charger that promises a full day's worth of battery life in just 20 minutes of charging.

In my testing, the battery life was not as impressive as on the Huawei Note 8 (which also has a 4,000mAh battery), but it was still great. The phone never lasted less than a day, and often I'd still have more than 30 percent of battery life left when I went to sleep.

The super-fast charging is even better. While writing this review, I started charging the phone at 10 percent, and it took just two hours to bring it to 100 percent. The charger is a bit bulkier than you'll get with most phones, but the tradeoff is worth it. Often, I forget to charge my phone and need a quick charge before going out. With this thing, I easily got 20 or 30 percent worth of battery life by the time I brushed my teeth and put on some clothes.

About that dual camera

This is where Huawei Mate 9 stumbles a bit. Huawei had a big head-start on the iPhone when it comes to dual cameras; the Huawei P9 had a 12-megapixel, Leica-branded, dual camera five months before iPhone 7 Plus did.

 

The Leica-branded dual camera is positioned above the phone's super-fast fingerprint sensor.

On paper, Huawei Mate 9 sounds like it should annihilate every camera out there. It has optical image stabilization, an advanced bokeh mode and a 20-megapixel sensor.

But here's the problem: Only one of the cameras has a 20-megapixel sensor, and it only takes pics in monochrome. The other sensor is 12 megapixels, meaning that color photos on the Mate 9 cannot go beyond 12 megapixels; just like on the Huawei P9. Of course, the iPhone 7 Plus boasts the same resolution, so this is not awful by any means, but it just feels like wasted opportunity.

Before we dive into the details of photo quality (and there's a lot to cover), there are a few more things to mention. The bokeh mode only works well in ideal conditions, with the subject of the portrait near and flat towards the camera, and the background far in the distance. Any other conditions and you'll likely to see strange blurry patches in the photo and imperfections around the object that's in the focus. Check out an example, below.

Notice how the edges of the headphones are blurry and odd, especially on the left earcup? The Mate 9's bokeh mode works well in ideal scenarios, but give it anything a bit tougher and this happens.

Also, the phone boasts some sort of hybrid 2x zoom mode, which is not optical. I fail to see how this is different from digital zoom, so I mostly disregarded it.

The Mate 9 has an 8-megapixel selfie camera, just like its predecessor. But thankfully, the "beauty" mode is no longer the default; gone is the unnaturally smooth skin and bulgy eyes. The selfies are decent if not spectacular, but this little change means more to me than improvements in picture quality.

Finally, the Mate 9 takes 4K video, a first for Huawei.

Photo quality: Stunning in black and white, solid in color, shoddy in low light

Huawei places a lot of emphasis on its partnership with Leica, which yielded the company's dual-camera system. The idea is to combine a monochrome sensor that takes very sharp photos with a color sensor to get very sharp color photos. It worked well on the Huawei P9, but how does it work on the Mate 9, where the monochrome sensor has a higher resolution than the color one?

Since I've already done a detailed analysis of P9's photo-taking capabilities, the easiest way to test the Mate 9 is to test it directly against the P9. I've also thrown in photos taken by a 12-megapixel Canon 450D DSLR for good measure. Given the enormous amount of features all of these cameras offer, I've mostly taken photos on auto settings, which is the way most users will do it anyways.

The short verdict is that the Mate 9 takes very similar photos to the Huawei P9. They're great and sharp in sunny outdoors shots, but lag behind today's top phones in low light conditions. And if you like black and white shots, the Mate 9 will occasionally take a photo that will beat professional-grade cameras.

Huawei Mate 9

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Check out the outdoors shots above. In the park photo (comparison below), the Mate 9 takes a stunningly sharp photo, but it looks a bit too post-processed. The colors are also a bit washed out, while the Canon leans to the blue a bit too much; the P9's photo has the best color accuracy.

In the palm photo, it's the P9 that does too much sharpening. The Huawei Mate 9 gets it just right; both phones produce a far sharper photo than the Canon.

In a monochrome photo, the Mate 9 wins over the P9 due to its 20-megapixel resolution. And while both cameras takes absolutely stunning black and white photos, it's worth noting that pretty much the only thing that separates them is the resolution; in fact, on some occasions the P9 took a better photo.

Go inside a bar or a dark room, however, and the Mate 9 isn't as good. Its f/2.2 aperture lags behind the iPhone 7, Google Pixel XL and the Galaxy S7 Edge, and it shows; the low-light photos it takes are always a tad to dark and grainy. The phone's HDR mode is a must here, but you have to turn it on manually.

The verdict — despite Huawei's partnership with Leica and its experience with dual-camera phones — is that the Mate 9 takes great photos in some cases, but doesn't exactly shine where it counts the most, in those party/beer bar/concert shots most of us love to take.

Details that might change your mind

These days, smartphones are little powerhouses that do a ton of things, and even though people care the most about performance, battery life and camera, it would be very unfair to judge the Huawei Mate 9 on those criteria alone. The phone comes with a plethora of minor but useful features not many competing phones have. Here's a little list of notes I've made while reviewing this phone.

The software has been vastly improved and polished since the Mate 8. It's not just Android 7.0; Huawei has cleaned up its EMUI, making sure you can get to most features with fewer clicks. And if you don't like the cram your apps into folders on the screen, iPhone-style, the Mate 9 now has an optional app drawer as well.

Huawei claims the phone comes with software that learns user habits and improves performance the more you use it, with peak performance coming after 16 months of use. It's tough to test that in only a week, but the phone was definitely very fast.

The company pointed out to me that the software on the device I had for testing is unfinished, and that an update get pushed out before the device hits the market. However, I did not encounter any bugs while testing the phone.

The Mate 9 comes with stereo speakers (a close competitor, the Pixel XL, has a mono speaker) which sound amazing for a smartphone — probably the best I've heard. It also has four directional mics, which make recording interviews much easier; you can listen to sounds that came from a specific direction and mute all other sounds. On the other hand, it does not support Bluetooth aptX, which is a shame.

A single USB-C connector is positioned between the speaker grilles on the bottom. On the top, there's (thankfully) a headphone jack.

The Mate 9 has a headphone jack. This is important to point out now that the iPhone 7, and many new phones, like the HTC Bolt, do not. I have a lot of headphones which I frequently plug in and out of multiple devices, and this is a big deal for me.

The phone has an IR blaster, in case you want to use it as a remote. I rarely do, but hey, a lot of competing phones don't have the feature.

With a 5.9-inch screen, the phone is big but manageable; it's roughly, as Huawei itself highlighted at launch, the size of an iPhone 7 Plus. But the more important implication is that the Mate 9 has a bigger screen than most top phablets out there. The Note7 had a 5.7-inch screen, but that's all gone now, and the S7 Edge, Google Pixel, iPhone 7 Plus all have 5.5-inch screens. If you need a little extra screen estate, the Mate 9 might be a better choice.

Verdict

The Huawei Mate 9 is an ambitious device, polished and powerful. But the Galaxy S7 Edge and the iPhone 7 Plus have a better design and camera. They're also waterproof. And Google's Pixel XL has a better camera and tons of Google-unique software perks.

The Mate 9 more than makes it up in other areas. It has a great battery that charges crazy fast, and is a little bigger than top competitors. It also has top specs and some nifty details, like four microphones and stereo speakers. It takes amazing black-and-white photos.

This leaves us with the question of the price. The Mate 9 will be available in the U.S., but I have not been able to get the exact date and price from Huawei. We know the price in Europe, however: 699 euros ($750). That's a fair price for what you get, but you need to take a good long look at other phones sold at this price and choose which features you care about.

Huawei Mate 9

The Good

Top specs • Takes amazing black and white photos • Premium feel • Great stereo sound • Great battery life and super fast charging

The Bad

Bland design • Camera lags behind top competition • Pricey

The Bottom Line

The Huawei Mate 9 is a polished and powerful phone with great battery life, an innovative camera and — how about that? — a headphone jack.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Tipped to Sport Pressure-Sensitive Display

Samsung may be the next handset manufacturer to go for pressure-sensitive display technology for its next flagship, if a new report citing multiple industry sources is to be believed. Notably, Samsung's pressure-sensitive display technology is expected to work same as Apple's 3D Touch seen on iPhones.

The technology will be able to distinguish between a light tap and deep press, enabling access to more functions just by pressing harder. Notably, Samsung won't be the first Android handset vendor to bring pressure-sensitive display technology to its phones as Huawei was the first to unveil the force touch tech. To recall, Huawei's Mate S was the first Android smartphone featuring Force Touch technology.

The report by The Investor cites an official of a Samsung supplier who said, "Samsung is mulling to adopt the force touch technology partially from the S8 but the full adoption will come in one or two years. It is a matter of time before other major Android smartphone makers deploy the technology that will help enhance user interface." The report also suggests that Samsung may utilise its own force touch tech developed by Samsung Display, which also supplies force touch displays to Huawei.

Additionally, Samsung's Senior Executive at component division on condition of anonymity claimed that the South Korean company was working on the force touch tech "for the adoption in the near future."

A recent report claimed that Samsung's Galaxy S8 may launch in two screen size variants - 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch. Prolific phone tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks) claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S8 models will have model numbers SM-G950 and SM-G955 for 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch screen sizes respectively.

Based on preliminary leaks, Samsung Galaxy S8 will sport a 5.5-inch 4K (2160x3840 pixels) Super AMOLED display with impressive pixel density of 806ppi. It is further expected to pack company's own Exynos 8895 SoC coupled with 6GB of RAM. Rumours so far have claimed that Samsung will launch the alleged Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone on the side-lines of MWC 2017 in Barcelona on February 26.

Self-drive delivery van can be 'built in four hours' in UK

A self-drive electrical delivery truck, that would air UK streets next year, has been disclosed at the Wired 2016 conference in London.

The vehicle's stripped-back style and light-weight materials mean it are often assembled by one person in four hours, the firm behind it claims.

The vehicles are "autonomous-ready", for once car rental legislation is in situ, the firm same.

The government desires to envision car rental cars on the roads by 2020.

"We notice trucks these days completely unacceptable. Loud, polluting and unfriendly," same Denis Sverdlov, chief govt of Charge, the technology firm behind the truck.

"We square measure creating trucks the manner they ought to be - reasonable, elegant, quiet, clean and safe."

He added: "We square measure removing all the barriers to entry for electrical vehicles by evaluation them in line with standard trucks, giving each fleet manager, tradesperson or company, in spite of however huge or tiny, the chance to vary the manner they transport merchandise and create our cities and cities higher places to measure in."

Charge plans to develop trucks in an exceedingly vary of sizes from three.5 to twenty six tonnes and is in talks with the main truck fleet companies.

DHL has antecedently same of the firm: "We see vast potential within the contribution they will create to advancing technology for industrial usages and also the manner we have a tendency to conceive of the longer term of supplying."

The vehicles are designed victimisation ultra-lightweight composite materials that considerably cut back the burden of the vehicle, it said.

The car rental software package has been developed in-house and is prepared to be uploaded to the trucks "at the bit of a button" whenever the govt. permits autonomous vehicles on UK roads, the firm same.

The UK government is keen to steer the manner on the event of driverless automobile technology and is presently consulting on changes to insurance rules and driving rules, with a read to permit car rental cars on the roads by 2020.

Charge plans to open a works in Oxfordshire next year with a team of ten operating over 2 shifts each day to assemble ten,000 trucks within the 1st year.

The firm is an officer partner of Formula E - the electrical racing competition - with its trucks being employed for the drive parade and for supplying on and off the track.

Mr Sverdlov conjointly heads Roborace that creates AI-powered sport cars.

Most of {the huge|the large|the massive} automobile makers square measure creating big strides in developing electrical vehicles - Volkswagen, as an example, is about to launch thirty all-electric models to reposition itself as a frontrunner in inexperienced transport following the supposed "dieselgate" scandal.

Driverless cars are changing into a reality. The UK's Transport Systems Catapult test-drove associate degree autonomous vehicle on a public street in John Milton economic expert this summer, with more trials planned for London before long.

In October, electrical auto manufacturer Tesla proclaimed that every one the cars it currently builds can have the hardware put in to drive on their own.

Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo plans to run driverless-car trials on public roads around London from 2017.