Android vendors have reportedly discovered just how complicated and difficult it is to reliably mass-manufacture cutting-edge depth sensors that iPhone X's Face ID relies upon, and have now delayed plans to use 3D-sensing camera technology in their own flagship devices.
With less than 24 hours left until Apple's non-spoiler-free September 2017 keynote Tuesday, you may want to make necessary preparations ahead of it in order to ensure you'll be able to stream Apple's most important presentation in years uninterrupted.
Google on Tuesday announced ARCore, a new software framework bringing augmented reality capabilities to existing and future Android phones. It bears lots of similarities to Apple's own ARKit framework, which was introduced back in June at WWDC 2017 as part of iOS 11.
A few days ago, Apple supplier Qualcomm announced a second-generation Spectra image signal processor and a brand new line of high-resolution 3D depth-sensing camera modules that it said were specifically designed for the Android ecosystem.
Released as a developer-only preview at Google's annual conference back in March, the latest version of the Android operating system for smartphones, tablets and watches—officially called Android 8.0 Oreo—is now available through the Android Open Source Project.
iOS has had the same boring numeric passcode interface for what seems like an eternity, but other operating systems like Android let users ‘draw’ patterns to unlock their device instead.
Although most people are using Touch ID to unlock their Apple devices today, jailbreakers can now use a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Musubi by iOS developer c0ldra1n to bring an Android-inspired pattern passcode interface to iPhones and iPads.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported today that Apple and Google have pulled unlicensed trading apps from their respective App Store and Play Store.
Vic Gundotra, Google's former Senior Vice President of Social, wrote in a Facebook post today that, in his personal opinion, Android is years behind iPhone in terms of photography, adding that his iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera prompted him to replace his DSLR camera.
Available on a wide variety of Android handsets is the bottom navigation bar, and with a jailbreak tweak called AlternateControls 2 by iOS developer Ian Burns, you can bring this functionality to your iPhone as well.
Once installed, the button to the far left will act as a back button, letting you move backwards between interfaces you’ve visited previously, while the center button acts as a virtual Home button and the button to the far right acts as an App Switcher shortcut.
Apple will be live-streaming its WWDC 2017 event, just as they have for the last several years, so the world can tune in and see what’s new in the world of iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and more.
No matter what type of device you’re using the day of the event, you can live-stream the keynote. In this piece, we'll go over all the methods on how for every operating system and platform.
Andy Rubin, the guy who came up with Android, today announced his new smartphone post-Google, featuring an edge-to-edge display that one-ups Samsung's Galaxy S8, in addition to an Amazon Echo-like appliance with on-device intelligence.
Both products debuted from Rubin's new company, Essential.
Essential Phone, as it's called, runs Android and has a 5.71-inch QHD edge-to-edge display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The display extends all the way to the the top of the device and wraps around the front-facing camera.
The Echo rival, called Essential Home, features compatibility with Apple's HomeKit framework and other software platforms for the connected home.
Both products can be pre-ordered today.
Essential PhoneEncased in a titanium body with a ceramic back, Essential Phone can survive a drop test “without blemish, unlike the aluminum competitor devices,” says the company. The premium smartphone with a high-resolution 5.71-inch, 2,560-by-1,312 pixel display is powered by Qualcomm's eight-core Snapdragon 835 processor with four gigabytes of RAM.
Essential Phone lacks the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and uses Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C.
Customers will be able to use any Bluetooth or USB-C-based headset with the phone. The Verge has learned that Essential Phone will ship with a headphone dongle in the box.
Other features include a magnetic connector on the back side for connecting accessories like a new 360-degree camera, a 13-megapixel dual-lens camera with a second lens using a monochrome sensor for better low-light shots, an eight-megapixel selfie camera with 4K video capture, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and other perks.
According to the company, the magnetic connector was designed with modularity in mind, to help keep Essential Phone “cord-free, future-proof and always up-to-date".
Essential HomeBuilt on the open-source Ambient OS software which can automatically discover and use new devices on its network, Essential Home has a built-in round display at the top which can be turned on just by glancing at it (or by tapping or using your voice) to quickly see contextual information.
The accessory uses on-device artificial intelligence rather than offload AI features to the cloud. Like with Apple's AI implementation, such an approach helps preserve user privacy. Its proactive assistant will support notifications and reminders with contextual information displayed on the built-in screen.
Essential Home should support Nest and SmartThings devices for the connected home. According to Wired, it will feature hooks for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
AvailabilityEssential Phone will be available in Black, Gray, White and Ocean Depths colors. At the time of this writing, only white models were able for pre-order. The contract-free phone costs $699.
Essential's 360-degree camera currently costs $50, but the price will eventually increase to $199. Pricing for Essential Home is yet to be announced, but we do know that the device will ship later this summer.
Andy Rubin is schedule to give a talk later today at Recode's Code Conference.
Apple on Monday shared a trio of geeky ads that are part of its new campaign aimed at persuading Android users to make the leap to the iconic smartphone. Published on Apple's official YouTube channel, the new mini-ads, running sixteen seconds each, promote the company's ability to roll out important security fixes fast via iOS software updates.
Apple is also praising the smartphone's smooth, stutter-free performance while highlighting easy contact transfer via the Move to iOS app for those who would gladly switch to an iPhone.
Smoothhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQy2heNOhe8
“We design the hardware and the software so your iPhone just works,” says Apple.
Securityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AszkLviSLlg
“Access to the latest updates keeps your iPhone secure,” reads the description.
Contactshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWLszbCBF8
“Switch to iPhone,” reads the video's description. “The Move to iOS app makes it simple to move your contacts, photos, and more to iPhone.”
The new ads use the tagline “Life’s easier when you switch to iPhone” and direct viewers to the recently revamped ”Switch to iPhone” webpage at apple.com/switch.
Apple's mini-website for switchers now includes useful new sections covering topics like in-house designed iPhone chips, powerful cameras, easy of use, customer support and more.
Do you like Apple's new ads? Do they manage to sell folks on the merits of iPhones, do you think? Let us know by leaving a comment below.