Apple Will Ditch iPhone Home Button in 2017; VW To Make a 2019 Electric Model that Will Charge in 15 Minutes
Posted: August 26, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Edge to edge, Electric Car, Golf, Home Button, iPhone 8, OLED, Quick Charge, Volkswagen Leave a comment
All the rumors have said Apple plans a radical redesign to the 2017 iPhone. Earlier this year, there were stories about this year’s model losing the home button. That didn’t happen, but according to macrumors.com, the redesigned 2017 phone….which we’ll call iPhone 8…will finally lose the venerable home button, to make way for a flexible edge to edge, curved OLED screen.
Volkswagen is working on a 2019 electric car that will go 300 miles after a 15 minute charge. According to techcrunch.com, they will preview an electric Golf sized model at the Paris motor show this year. It is expected to roll out in late 2018 or early 2019 as a 2019 model. 300 miles on just a 15 minute charge could be a real game changer for electric cars if it’s priced for mass appeal.
Photo: macrumors.com
MobileEye & Delphi Partner For Self-Driving System; Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode Goes Beyond Plaid; Playstation Now Cloud Gaming
Posted: August 24, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2019, Delphi, Extended range, Ludicrous mode, Mobileye, Playstation Now, Playstation PS4 Slim, Production-ready, self-driving car, Tesla Leave a commentA big announcement yesterday from Delphi and sensor-maker Mobileye. They plan to partner to build a fully autonomous car system that auto manufacturers can use to make their cars self-driving. The system will be production-ready for car makers by 2019, according to arstechinca.com, and could show up in new cars between late 2019 and 2021. Mobileye recently split the sheets with Tesla, but will apparently continue to work with BMW and Intel on BMW self-driving platforms.
Speaking of Tesla, businessinsider.com reports that they have announced an upgrade to the Model S and Model X. A beefed up battery pack will extend mileage from 289 to 315 miles on a charge, and Ludicrous mode will get the Model S P100D from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds, making it the world’s fastest production car. The upgrade is $20 grand, or an additional $10 grand if you already ordered a P90D Ludicrous but haven’t taken delivery yet.
Pictures of the Playstation PS4 Slim and a new controller have already leaked out prior to Sony’s rollout September 7th. Now, bgr.com says a Sony blog post mentions “PS Now on PC Announce Post”. This may have accidentally spilled the beans on release of their Playstation Now cloud gaming service on PCs. No word on pricing, but it had better be more reasonable if Sony expects it to catch on.
Next Year’s iPhone Anniversary May Bring 3rd Model; Twitter Night Mode Hits iPhone; Facebook Tests Autoroll Video With Sound
Posted: August 23, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ads, Android, Apple, Autoroll video, Curved screen, Facebook, Galaxy S7 Edge, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 8, Night mode, OLED, Samsung, Twitter Leave a commentIn a report out of Japan picked up by macrumors.com, Apple is planning a third iPhone model next year with a 5.5 inch OLED screen that will sport curved edges. Earlier rumors had Apple adapting OLED screens in 2018, but now it appears one model of the iPhone 8, or 10th Anniversary iPhone, or whatever they plan to call it will have it, while the 4.7 inch and other 5.5. inch models will have the same LCD screens as the present models. OLED screens have blacker blacks, and the colors on screen ‘pop’ more. Samsung has been using them on their Galaxy series. Of course, the Galaxy S7 Edge also already has the curved screen Samsung has made for a couple years now.
Last month, Android users got Twitter’s Night Mode, and yesterday it rolled out on iOS, according to cnet.com. I like it. It darkens all the white space and pictures, and the Tweets show up as white text on a black background. It even works on my old iPad that doesn’t support Apple’s Night Mode. Find the little settings cog icon, and it’s one of the selections.
In a move certain to infuriate everyone (except advertisers), Facebook is testing out autoplaying video WITH sound! Thenextweb.com says actually, the social giant is testing two versions in Australia. One just autoplays, and another has an unmute button in the lower right corner. The so-called ‘feature’ can apparently be disabled in settings. Hopefully, Facebook will choose the unmute button version if they decide to roll the feature out to everyone.
Battery Advancement Doubles Capacity; Sony In-Dash Aftermarket Receiver Does Both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
Posted: August 22, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Car audio, Double capacity, Lithium-metal batteries, MIT, Safety, Solid Energy, Sony Leave a comment
A startup company hatched at MIT has cooked up a new ‘anode free’ lithium metal battery that is smaller, and has twice the energy capacity of most lithium ion batteries. This means either batteries could take up half the space, or one the same size could last twice as long. Mashable.com says the key is that the batteries have very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which holds many more ions than the more widely used graphite. More ions means more energy capacity, and the batteries are twice as energy-dense as lithium-ion batteries. In addition to that, they’re also safer. The company, Solid Energy, expects to have the tech available for smartphones by next year and cars by 2018.
There have been aftermarket car audio systems available, but none up to now have offered both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. According to techcrunch.com, Sony just rolled one out for $500 retail. It sports a 6.4 inch touch screen, and supports NFC, Bluetooth, has an aux input, and a dedicated hardware button for triggering voice input. The Pioneer AppRadio 4 has a similar screen, but only does CarPlay, and is $100 bucks more. Alpine’s offering is also more. Of course, you have to factor installation on any of them into the price, but on the other hand, it’s getting CarPlay or Android Auto without buying a whole new car!
Uber Rolls Out Self-Driving Cabs; Facebook To Muscle in on Steam
Posted: August 18, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Facebook, FREE, Gaming, Oculus, self-driving car, Steam, Uber, Unity, Volvo Leave a commentWe may be seeing quite a few car makers and tech companies rolling out self-driving cars by 2020 or 2021, but meanwhile, Uber is rolling out a small fleet of self driving Volvo SUVs later this month in Pittsburgh. Thenextweb.com says they’ll still have a driver supervising from behind the wheel. The cars will be assigned at random, and here’s the cool part….rides in them will be free for the time being! Uber will be staffing them with a co-pilot of sorts, to take note of how everything is working. Uber has had a $300 million dollar deal with Volvo to build fully autonomous cars, and apparently has been working on its own global mapping system, so they won’t have to rely on Google for navigation.
Facebook is looking to go after Steam, or at least claw back some of the revenue it’s lost since casual gaming moved to mobile. According to techcrunch.com, the social media giant announced it was working with game engine Unity to build a dedicated, downloadable desktop gaming platform, in addition to broadening the Facebook.com experience for gamers. It’s thought the desktop app will support both casual games and more hardcore games. Of course, Oculus was a big…and pricey…step back to gaming for Facebook, but the bulk of us still stare at screens, as opposed to strapping on headsets for hours at a time at this point.
Ford Driving for 2021 for Self-Driving Car; Amazon Patents Several Drone Systems
Posted: August 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2021, Amazon, Drones, fixed wing, Ford, Mercedes, ride-sharing, self-driving car, Tesla Leave a commentFord announced yesterday that they expect to have self-driving cars on the road by 2021…the same time frame as Google and Apple’s secretive Project Titan. According to appleinsider.com, the car will be specifically built ‘’for ride sharing and ride hailing.’ The cars will have no steering wheel or pedals, and will only drive a pre-programmed area that’s been 3D mapped. Ford says these will meet SAE Level 4 standards for autonomous operation…Tesla and Mercedes only make Level 2 right now. Ford didn’t say if the cars would be hybrid, electric, or even still take old-fashioned gasoline.
A couple of interesting patents show that Amazon is looking at different kinds of drones for different applications. Geekwire.com reports that one shows 4 rotors in a protective shroud. Another design has shrouded rotors, plus two smaller pusher props, and a fixed wing. It’s thought the shrouds are to protect people and property in the event of a crash. The extended wing would provide extra lift, perhaps giving the small electric motors more range and a better flying time than 20 minutes, like a lot of drones out there now. Amazon has said they have a goal of delivering small packages weighing 5 pounds or less in a half hour or less.
iPhone 7 May Have Fast Charging; New Audis Help With Speed & Green Lights; Ford Teams With Baidu, Buying LIDAR Tech
Posted: August 16, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: A4, Apple, Audi, Baidu, Fast charging, Ford, Galaxy S7, Green lights, iPhone 7, LIDAR, Q7, Samsung, Traffic management, Velodyne Leave a commentAccording to a rumor out of Asia, Apple’s iPhone 7 will have improved, fast charging circuitry supporting at least 5 volt, 2 amp charging. Right now, iPhone chargers put out a measly one amp. According to appleinsider.com, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge already have fast charge tech that gets them from totally drained to half charged in 30 minutes. As a lot of iPhone users have griped for years that their phones don’t even make it through the day, this will be a welcome upgrade if true.
New Audi models have what is really a gimmick, but a pretty cool one at that. Arstechnica.com reports that they’ll have a display that will show the real time time to green light countdown in cities that have city-wide traffic management systems. It will be on 2017 A4s and Q7s. Now, you’ll be able to check that display, and know when to mash the pedal to the metal and beat that light. As Evel Knievel used to say, ‘Speed and Green Lights!’ (Ok, no he didn’t…I made that up.)
Ford and Chinese search giant Baidu have dropped a combined 150 million into LIDAR tech. Theverge.com says the two companies, which are both hard at work on developing self-driving tech, have invested in Velodyne, a Silicon Valley operation that makes LIDAR sensors for autonomous cars. LIDAR works on the same principle as RADAR, except using light waves, which gives you the ability to make more detailed 3D maps of what’s around the vehicle. Baidu already has 100 people in the Valley working on self-driving tech, and Ford plans to triple the size of its test fleet this year.
New iPads Next Year; Bigger, Range-Increasing Battery for Teslas; Pokemon Influence On Upcoming Tech
Posted: August 15, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AMOLED, Apple, AR, Augmented reality, Battery, Increased cruising range, iPad, iPad Pro, Pokemon Go, Tesla Leave a commentAccording to KGI Securities, which has a good track record with accurate Apple rumors, Cupertino will roll out new iPads next year…freshening the 9.7 inch model with a ‘low cost’ version, adding a 10.5 inch iPad Pro, and beefing up the 12.9 inch iPad Pro with a more powerful processor. Macrumors.com also says Apple is planning a so-called ‘revolutionary’ iPad in the fall of 2018, with radical form factor changes and maybe a flexible AMOLED screen.
Tesla is getting ready to release a 100Kw battery for its Model S and Model X cars…giving the Model S a range of 380 miles….more than your bladder can handle without a pit stop. Theverge.com reports that a Dutch regulator that certifies Teslas for sale in the EU published model listings that included designations pointing to the increased battery size…100D and 100X. There’s also a P100D…maybe a higher end version of the Model S…in the listings.
Techcrunch.com is saying the influence of the wildly successful Pokemon Go is already rippling through the tech world, and will for years to come. The relatively simple game has suddenly gotten millions to understand what augmented reality is, and how cool it might be. Even though it’s been used in map software for some time, the game has opened up other avenues. In addition to mobile games, movies and Video games can extend their reach into ‘the real world.’ The Pokemon effect could even be extended to medical apps…helping an elderly person find where they left a medication, and remembering that they ‘captured’ their pill yesterday, and should take another. Look for other applications of AR as offshoots from Pokemon Go in the next months and into next year.
Sony PS4 Neo Event Scheduled; iPhone Outselling Samsung S7 in US again
Posted: August 10, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Galaxy, Huawei, iPhone, PlayStation 4 Neo, PlayStation VR, Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi Leave a commentSeptember 7th is the date…Sony has announced their PlayStation Meeting in New York. Arstechnica.com says we can expect the rollout of the 4K ready Playstation 4 Neo. It’s rumored to have a jump in CPU clock speed, more and faster GPU cores, and more memory bandwidth. On the heels of this updated PlayStation, Sony is thought to be going to show their PlayStation VR headset in October, just a month later.
After taking a dive, Apple’s iOS got another uptick in the second quarter of this year. According to 9to5mac.com, Apple’s share of the smartphone market growing by 1.3% in the USA and 3.1% in the UK. This gave Apple a 31.8% share in the U.S. and 37.2% in the UK. Here in the US, iPhone 6s/6s Plus outsold the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge to make the iPhone the best-selling handset in the quarter at 15.1% against Samsung’s 14.1%, with the iPhone SE taking third place at 5.1%. In Britain, the iPhone SE was the best-selling smartphone for the quarter, at 9.2% of the market, just ahead of the iPhone 6s at 9.1%. Apple didn’t fare so well in China, where Apple’s share dropped 1.8% to 17.9%, putting Apple behind both Huawei and Xiaomi.
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