Amazon Updates Alexa Voice Service API

If you're a developer with a product that has a microphone and a speaker, then you can integrate the Amazon Voice Service (AVS) API into your device. Once the updated API has been integrated properly, it will listen for and respond to the Alexa wake word. This API can add hands-free speech recognition, along with cloud-enabled automatic detection of end-of-user speech to the product you're currently developing.

To help out, Amazon has even released a prototype project that can be built for the Raspberry Pi. To make this project happen, Amazon got together with Sensory and KITT.AI so they could leverage their 3rd-party wake word engines. The project should take you less than an hour, in order to create this hands-free Alexa prototype with the Raspberry Pi. So be sure to check out the sample AVS app over on the Alexa GitHub page.

Amazon has been working with a number of 3rd-party developers to get Alexa integrated into their devices and now it's become even easier. To learn more about Amazon's Alexa Voice Service API, and to learn which implementation is best for you, you can head over to the Designing for AVS landing page that Amazon has set up for developers. Three examples they give for typical applications are push-to-talk, tap-to-talk, and voice-initiated (with a wake word).

There won't be a one size fits all solution for every project out there. If you're interested in integrating Alexa into your product, you should get an idea of what your product is capable of first. From there, you can build out the type of Alexa integration you think will be best for your customer. Amazon also offers examples for their automatic speech recognition profiles, hardware and audio algorithms, and they even talk about the specifics of noise reduction, acoustic echo cancellation, as well as beamforming.

Source: Amazon Developer

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Samsung Rumored to Launch the Galaxy Tab S3 in Q1 2017

We haven't seen much activity in the Android tablet market for quite some time. Sure, we get the occasional tablet that pops up here and there, but there hasn't been much in terms of a flagship level Android tablet at all this year. It's fair to say that people don't upgrade their tablets as often as their smartphones, and this is likely the reason why OEMs simply have not focused on this in 2016.

Looking back, the Nexus 9 was released back in November of 2014. The Xperia Z4 Tablet came out in June of 2015, then we saw the Galaxy Tab S2 in September of 2015, followed by the Shield K1 in November of 2015 and lastly there was the Pixel C in December of 2015. Samsung did launch a couple of mid-range tablets this year, but even the Galaxy Tab A with S Pen hasn't been launched outside of South Korea yet.

A new rumor claims that Samsung is looking to change this starting next year. SamMobile says their sources are telling them that Samsung is planning to launch two models of the Galaxy Tab S3 sometime during the first quarter of 2017. We are told the model numbers will be SM-T820 and SM-T825, with the T820 being the WiFi variant and the T825 being the LTE version. This is as much information as they have to go on now though.

These devices were rumored to launch in the second half of this year, but things didn't pan out that way. We aren't told what the hardware specs will be like, but the Galaxy Tab S series has been the company's high-end tablet lineup for a few years now. We also don't know if they will stick with the 9.7″ 4:3 aspect display, or if they will go back to the 16:10 aspect ratio that we saw in the original Galaxy Tab S.

Source: SamMobile

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Google is Rumored to Launch 2 Smartwatches During Q1 2017

Back in July, a rumor surfaced that claimed Google was preparing to launch a couple of Android Wear smartwatches. The image and rumor came from Android Police, but they were unable to cite the source of the information. They said Google is working on launching two different smartwatches (as shown in the photo) with one being bigger than the other. The larger smartwatch is code named Angelfish while the smaller one carriers the code name Swordfish.

Angelfish is said to have LTE connectivity and GPS so it can be a standalone device and show off all the features that Android Wear has to offer. The rumor says Swordfish will not have either of those, and it might not even have a heart rate sensor. The missing features, along with its smaller size, suggest it might be sold as an affordable smartwatch while Angelfish will carry a premium price tag. With the death of the Nexus line now official, we're likely to see these branded as a Pixel device, but this is unknown at this time.

Last month we learned that the official release of Android Wear 2.0 would be delayed until "early 2017". We haven't been told exactly why this delay happened though. It could be due to new features being added, or it could be so their developers can iron out some bugs and polish the mobile operating system. Since the mock-up renders of Google's upcoming smartwatches depicted features Android Wear 2.0 features, many speculated they would be launched alongside of the new update.

A new rumor from Evan Blass now says Google's two unannounced smartwatches will be released right alongside Android Wear 2.0. This doesn't come as any surprise since we are used to seeing Google launch hardware with new versions of their software. Evan also believes they will be launched during the first quarter of 2017, which matches the expected Wear 2.0 release date. We'll likely see more leaks about these devices as we get closer to their launches.

Source: @evleaks

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Google Store Pixel Phones Can be Rooted and Come With an Unlockable Bootloader

There's been a lot of mystery surrounding Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Granted, we did have a ton of leaks leading up to the October 4th launch event, but there were still a number of things that simply were not talked about then. It wasn't until after the launch event that we learned more about the camera sensor, how after sales support would be handled in India, and how updates would be handled by its exclusive US carrier Verizon.

Thanks to developers, we do know that current root methods should not work on Pixel phones without changes. It was also suspected, and then confirmed, that Pixel phones purchased from Verizon would ship with a bootloader that's locked down tight. This isn't a surprise as smartphones purchased from Verizon Wireless always come like this. But with the death of the Nexus program, we didn't know if Google was going to lock these things down on devices that were sold directly on the Google Store. However, Google has officially come out and given a statement regarding the ability to root and unlock the bootloader of the Pixel and Pixel XL sold from the Google Store.

A Google spokesperson has told Dallas of Android Gadget Hacks that customers who purchased the Pixel and Pixel XL from the Google Store "will be able to root their devices." Not only that, but they went on to say that Pixel and Pixel XL devices purchased from the Google Store "will ship with an unlockable bootloader." It's definitely reassuring to see that Google is sticking with this when it comes to devices sold directly from the Google Store.

Source: Android Gadget Hacks

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Google Camera v4.2 from the Pixel System Dump is now Available for Nexus (7.0+) devices

With the Pixel phones soon to be shipped out to users with pre-orders (or if you're with Telstra, you might have already gotten the device), we won't have to wait very long for developers to port the new Pixel features to other phones. Thanks to the work of some crafty users on our forums, we've already gotten a taste of Google's "Pixel exclusive" Assistant on other phones. Many other updated apps that are set to be launched with the new Pixel devices have already been leaked thanks to @LlabTooFer's dump of the Pixel/Pixel XL system image. One app in the dump that has not yet been ported to Nougat devices is the updated Google Camera app, version 4.2. This is because the app requires devices to be running on the latest version of Android Nougat, version 7.1, which the Pixel ships with and other Nexus devices will receive in the near future. But if you don't want to wait to try out the latest version of the Google Camera app, then we've gone ahead and ported the app to work on Android 7.0 devices. We've confirmed that this runs on the Google Nexus 5X and Google Nexus 6P so far.

Download Google Camera v4.2

Keep in mind since this is a modified version of the Google Camera app, this will not install on top of your already existing camera app. In addition, the Google Camera app still won't work on non-Nexus devices, so don't bother trying to install this on your device running unofficial Nougat. Finally, this mod doesn't require you to change your build.prop file in any way, which can cause other apps from the Pixel system dump to break. Besides modifying the APK to force the app to run on 7.0, we have not changed the camera app in any other way. We've uploaded a security scan report for the APK to VirusTotal and NVISO's APKScan to assure you that the app is clean, as we've had to remove a thread on our forums regarding a Google Camera v4.2 port out of users' concerns that the app was malicious. Now that we've got that out of the way, here are a few screenshots of the app:

As you can see, all of the latest enhancements to the Google Camera app seem to be present. Most importantly, you've got the long-press to lock the exposure/focus, manual exposure, and new UI grid options. Give the app a spin and let us know what you think below!

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@OnLeaks Reveals LG’s Next Smartphone: LG LV5

While LG may not have had the best of 2016, at least the second half of the year will end on a better note than the other half did. LG's V20 has received much more positive attention than LG's G5 did, and with many critics slamming the modularity implementation on the G5, there was a good chance LG would drop modularity off its next flagship.

We do not have much information regarding the LG G6, but we do have some information on LG's next smartphone. Serial leaker @OnLeaks took to Twitter to reveal the upcoming LG LV5.

@OnLeaks mentions that the moniker of the device is not confirmed yet, so it could be called something else. The wordings of his post is open to interpretation, but we're inclined to believe that this is a different LG smartphone and not the successor in the G-lineup.

There are a few things to note here. The top front glass curves to a lip, which is similar to what we have seen on the G5. @OnLeaks mentions that the front is slightly curved on all edges, much like the implementation in iPhones. While he did not know if the battery is removable, he did mention that the back was removable. He also thinks this is a mid-ranger from LG, but we would need some more spec leaks to figure that out.

What do you think of LG's next smartphone? Would you like to see this design on a flagship? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Twitter: @OnLeaks

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OnePlus Explains its OxygenOS Beta Program

OnePlus has been doing Community Beta programs for its smartphones for a few months now. The Community Beta program is a good way to increase the scope of Beta builds to incorporate more test cases, while users get the chance to see what the latest feature additions and bug fixes have been done to the OS.

But Community Betas are not the only user-facing Beta testing that OnePlus does. In a post detailing the Beta Program that the company undertakes for OxygenOS, there is an additional Beta level at play. The system is explained by OnePlus as below:

• Closed Beta: ~4 updates per month
• Open Beta: ~2 updates per month
• Official Release: ~1 update every 1 or 2 months

The Closed Beta group consists of ~60 testers, who provide feedback on potentially experimental updates, code and features to OxygenOS. These changes can be considered unstable as they might break important functionality, and so, a lot of these updates are not suitable for an Open Beta. One needs to apply to become a "Certified Closed Beta" tester, though OnePlus has not detailed how one goes about in doing that.

After feedback from the Closed Beta group has been incorporated into OxygenOS, the more stable of the releases move on towards the Open Beta. This is the Community Builds that we regularly see floating around. The Open nature of this beta helps make sure that more and more scenarios are covered to unearth potential bugs. This stage is considered semi-public due to its voluntary and opt-in nature coupled with the possibility of bugs.

After several rounds of these testing phases and after the releases are deemed stable enough, the update moves on to become an Official Release. This is what all users will have pushed onto their phones in the form of OTA updates. Due to the complex nature of code in place, there are still bound to be bugs, which is why OnePlus mentions that they continue on with feature requests and bug reports.

Comparing with the market competition, OnePlus has had a very good 2016. We hope they continue on with their run on the software end as well, and give us some new version number treats to play with.

Source: OnePlus Forums

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