Nvidia Announces the Shield Tablet
Nvidia this week released its Shield Tablet, an 8-inch slate that is the first to sport the extremely powerful Tegra K1 processor. Nvidia took the lessons they learned from their Shield portable gaming device and implemented their knowledge to develop the Shield Tablet. The Full HD device is advertised for its gaming prowess along with its front facing speakers which promise to offer an immersive experience. The company also released a wireless controller along with the device in order to maximise gaming satisfaction.
Tesla + Android Wear = Pure Sci-Fi Goodness
Tesla Command is a new free application on the Google play store developed by Tesla that lets you use your Android Wear Smartwatch to do some pretty cool trick with your Tesla vehicle. The application allows you to lock/unlock doors, open/close the sunroof and honk the horn right from your wrist. It may seem meagre but this essentially opens up the path to a more connected future where people can conveniently control their gadgets from one place. The day when you can call your autonomous vehicle to your location is still far off but we can not help but get excited about the prospects.
LG G3 Cat 6 arrives July 25th in South Korea with Snapdragon 805 onboard
If you thought that your LG G3 is the best handset out there then think again. LG recently announced the G3 Cat 6 which is exclusive South Korea. The smartphone offers an upgraded Snapdragon 805 inside along with Cat 6 LTE support which allows for data transfer speeds of 225Mbps and also has the Adreno 420 GPU instead of the Adreno 330. The G3 Cat 6 is not a substantial upgrade over the G3 but nevertheless it has the latest chips inside for those who want the absolute bleeding edge specs.
Google aims to learn everything about the human body with Baseline Study
Google announced it latest project Baseline Study which aims to learn everything about the human body. Like many other wacky moonshot projects which come out of Google, this is a product of the highly secretive Google X division. The project plans to analyse the medical data collected from healthy individuals in order to identify early signs of diseases or illnesses so as to be able to treat them more effectively. The news comes following the announcement of Google’s partnership with Novartis for the smart contact lens which indicates that the world’s most valuable company is seriously taking health into consideration.
Xiaomi joins the wearables bandwagon with the fitness focused Mi Band.
Last week, Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi released the Mi Band, a screen-less fitness band which will retail for around $13.79 to be exact. This fitness band tracks your sleep, and tracks other health metrics and it also features a vibrating alarm to wake you up gradually. Furthermore, the band can also unlock your Android smartphone when in close proximity to the phone. The Xiaomi Mi Band has an IP67 rating and with it also leads the market with an announced battery life of 30 days.
Beats sued by Bose to safeguard noise-canceling headphone technology
Beats currently uses noise-cancelling technology in three of its headphones – the Beats Pro, Beats Studio and Beats Studio Wireless. But last week, Bose filed a lawsuit against Beats for using it’s noise-cancelling technology in its Studio and Studio Wireless headphones. Beats is currently in the process of being acquired by Apple, and although this will not deter Apple, Apple will have to go through some trouble settling the lawsuit.
Sensor manufacturing giant, Sony invests $345m in the industry because you take so many selfies
The first selfie was taken back in 1839, but since then, selfies have come a long way with even being taken on the moon and they have so much influence on the modern-day culture that Sony had decided to invest a further $345m in its sensor business. The plan is to revamp an acquired factory in Japan, and making two more to attract smartphone makers.
unit9.apps claims to have built first Android Wear game with SWIP3
Android wear came out this summer and there are currently a few games you can plan on you Android Wear device, unit9.apps claims to release the first game built for Android Wear with its SWIP3 game which you can get on the Google Play Store for $1.69. Now this is a game built with square screens in mind so what is left to be seen is how the developer will adapt this for the Moto 360 and other round faced watches.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display Updated
Apple pleasantly surprised consumers when they announced the updates to the MacBook Pro with Retina Display lineup. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now comes with a 2.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM which is a leap from the 4GB Apple used to offer at the same $1,299 price. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display also got upgraded to a faster 2.5GHz Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM which again is double the 8GB offered previously without an increase in price.
LG Tab Book: Android Powered Tablet/Laptop Hybrid
Microsoft right now is probably the only manufacturer taking the tablet/laptop hybrid seriously and making something that CAN actually replace a laptop but now LG has decided to bring Android to the mix with its latest 11.6 inch Full HD Tab Book. A fourth-generation Core i5 processor clocked at 2.6GHz drives the device along with 4GB of RAM. 128GB of SSD storage is available including USB 3.0 and HDMI ports. The device weighs 2.3lbs and strangely appears to be running on Android 4.2 Jellybean.The high end hybrid features a slide out keyboard to quickly switch between tablet and laptop mode. Pricing and a release date have not been released yet nor market availability.
Smartphone battery life could triple, thanks to Stanford University’s next-gen lithium batteries.
Battery life is a thorn on smartphones’ side but new research and technological advancements may soon allow devices to last 2-3 times longer. In short, the new design aims targets efficiency problems of current li-ion cells by replacing the barrier on the anode with a nanoscopic carbon shield which is a mere 20 nanometers thick. This allows for a higher battery capacity which translates to longer battery life on a single charge.
