mercredi 14 décembre 2016

LG is Rumored to Unveil New K, X and Stylus Series Phones at CES 2017

LG hasn't had the best year in 2016, but the company is hoping that some new low-end and mid-range devices will boost sales next year. With a new CEO at the helm of the South Korean technology company, a rumor talks about their plans for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show happening in early 2017. Evan Blass from VentureBeat says LG will be revealing at least 7 different devices in Las Vegas next month.

If true, we're looking at four new devcies for LG's K-series of smartphones. The LG K3 2017 is said to have a 4.5″ display, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and a 2,100mAh capacity battery. The LG K4 2017 is said to have a 4.7″ display, an 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and a 2,500mAh capacity battery. The LG K8 2017 is rumored to have a 5″ 720p display, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and a 2,500mAh capacity battery. Lastly, the LG K10 2017 could sport a 5.3″ 720p display, a 5MP wide-angle front camera, a fingerprint scanner and buttons on the back.

Moving onto the company's X-series of smartphones, the LG X Power 2 is rumored to come with a 5.5″ 720p display, a 13MP wide-angle rear camera, a 5MP front camera, and a 4,500mAh capacity battery. Then there's the LG Calibur, which could have military-grade durability, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a 4,100mAh capacity battery. The last device in this big leak is the LG Stylus 3 (LG Stylo 3 Plus).

This device is rumored to be rocking a 5.7″ display, a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera, both front and rear cameras will have an LED flash, a fingerprint scanner, buttons on the back of the phone, 32GB of internal storage, a 3,200mAh capacity battery and a digital pen as a stylus. We normally see these phone leaks sprinkled throughout the month, so it's nice to have them known all at once. We'll just have to wait and see how accurate these sources are.

Source: VentureBeat

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Resurrection Remix on the Honor 8

A Resurrection Remix ROM is in it's alpha stages for the Honor 8. This ROM is a favorite for many flashaholics so this will be exciting for a lot of you. TK has put together a video showing some of the best features that you can expect in this ROM.

If you want to test this out on your device, just know that right now the battery drains really fast and you will experience your phone getting hot because of this. With that in mind, here are the full list of features being implemented into this ROM:

Navigation Bar
Enable/Disable Navbar
Navbar Ring Switch
Navbar Ring Targets
Navbar Button Customization
Navbar Dimensions(Potrait & Landscape)
Statusbar
Brightness Slider
Enable/Disable Show Notification Count
SuperUser Indicator Switch
Carrier Label
Carrier Label Switch
Carrier label Colour
Quick PullDown Switch
Smart Pulldown Switch
Clock Customizations
Time & date
Clock Colour
Day & date Toogle
Center Clock/Right Clock Choice
Battery
Battery % Text
Network Traffic Indicator
Theme Chooser
Animations
Toast Animations
ListView Animations
System Animations
Gestures
Gestures Anywhere Feature
App Circle Bar
Choose apps in App circle
Trigger Width
Trigger Hieght
Trigger Position
Recents Panel
Clear All button Switch
Clear All Tasks Switch
Clear All Button Location(Top right,Top Left,Top Center,Bottom Left,Bottom Right,Bottom Center)
Cclock Widget
CLock And Alarm Customizations
Weather Panel Customizations
Calender Events
LockScreen
Lockscreen Shortcuts
Choose upto 5 Shortcuts
100+ Icons for Shortcuts
Quick Slider Shortcuts
Notification Drawer
Weather Display Switch
Quick Settings
Choice to Add 20+ Tiles
Enable 2/3/4 Tiles per Row
Enable Disable Birghtness Slider in Notification Panel
Advanced Location Settings Switch(Choose Battery saving/Device Only/High Accuracy Directly in Notification Panel)
LongPress Toogles to Enter Settings
Buttons
Backlight Timer
Backlight Strength
Navigation Bar left/Right handed mode Switch
Power Menu
Power Menu End Calls Switch
Home Button(For devices with HW keys Only)
Home Button Wake Up
Home Button answer call
Long Press Actions
Double Tap Actions
Back Button(For devices with HW keys Only)
Wake Up device Switch
Menu Button(For devices with HW keys Only)
Wake Up Device Switch
Short Press Actions
Long Press Actions
Search Button(For devices with HW keys Only)
Wake Up Device
Short Press Action
Long Press Action
Volume Buttons
Wake Up Device
Playback Control
Keyboard Cursor Control
Swap Buttons on Landscape mode
Perfomance Profiles
LCD Density
Expanded Desktop Mode
All New CM Audio FX App
Heads Up Customizations
OverAll Smoothness Improvements
Quick Unlock
Optimizations to Improve Battery
ALL cm13 Features

Follow the development of this ROM in this thread here.

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Synaptics Announces Optical-based Fingerprint Sensor for Smartphones

Synaptics Incorporated has announced what it claims is the "industry-first" Optical-based fingerprint sensor, the FS9100. The main objective of this product is to enable fingerprint sensor technology through Cover Glass as thick as 1mm.

Synaptics has been around for more than two decades in the computer and technology sphere, where they are known for developing, patenting and licensing several technologies concerned with human interfaces and interactions. Synaptic products are usually supplied to an OEM to be incorporated into a product design, which is where the consumer has the chance to make use of the product.

The Synaptics FS9100 optical fingerprint sensor family is the first family of human interface solutions that leverage high performance optical-based fingerprint sensors for use in biometric authentication systems employed in our smartphone and tablets. As Synaptics claims, the FS9100 family is capable of high resolution scanning through 1mm of full cover glass. This enables our smartphones to get rid of the special button for the fingerprint sensor and incorporate the sensor directly under the glass, thus giving us a cleaner "glass-slab" design.

The FS9100 Natural ID optical fingerprint sensor can be placed under cover glass, including 2.5D glass. This "under glass" capability eliminates button cut-outs and glass thinning processes required by the sensors we see on the front of devices these days, which should lead to glass-yield improvements. Further, the sensor is said to work well in wet finger performance, and since it is covered by cover glass like the rest of the display, it remains durable and waterproof. The thin form factor and the "minimal" power consumption are areas which make it ideal for adoption in smartphones.

This fingerprint sensor also comes with Synaptics' SentryPoint tech, which employs several key security-based technologies that examine fingerprint images using AI to distinguish between actual fingers and fake fingers.

The Synaptics Natural IDFS9100 optical fingerprint sensor is scheduled to sample in early Q1 next year, and will enter mass production in Q2. Considering Synaptics' and Samsung's long-term partnership and collaboration, the fingerprint sensor seems an ideal candidate to make an appearance in the upcoming Galaxy S8. But the dates mentioned for sampling and mass production of the fingerprint sensor do not line up perfectly with the release of the Galaxy S8 unless the phone itself is delayed for mass production until Q2 of 2017.

Source: Synaptics

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mardi 13 décembre 2016

Google releases Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview 4 with Seamless Authentication, In-App Billing, and More

Those of us with an Android Wear smartwatch aren't reluctant to share the opinion that the operating system could do better.

Currently, the most commonly used functions of Android Wear smartwatches revolve around notifications, fitness tracking, or weather and time keeping. The more industrious among us would argue that the possible uses of an Android Wear smartwatch is limitless thanks to the power of Tasker plug-ins such as AutoWear. But for the average user, it's difficult to justify the added expense of a smartwatch.

Indeed, smartwatches have been struggling in the market and given the fact that Huawei, Motorola, and LG declined to upgrade their smartwatch line-up during the second half of 2016, it's difficult to see how those numbers will climb. Though Asus bucked the trend and released a compelling upgrade to its ZenWatch program, it appears that Android Wear has a difficult road ahead.

Fortunately, Google itself has yet to give up on the fledgling Android platform. The company has pinned its hopes on a massive upcoming update to Android Wear. Initially announced during Google I/O 2016, the Android Wear 2.0 update promised to introduce support for standalone Wear applications, a full keyboard, and a much more streamlined user interface. Future Developer Previews of Android Wear 2.0 have introduced highly anticipated features such as customizable wrist gestures as well as smart replies and a Wear-based Play Store. Today, Google is continuing to enhance its smartwatch platform with the introduction of Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview 4.

Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview 4

In order to enhance the standalone application experience on Android Wear 2.0, Google is introducing support for a seamless two-factor authentication experience, in-app billing, cross-device promotion, and the return of swipe-to-dismiss.

First off, Google will allow Wear-based apps to tap into existing credentials on the paired smartphone so users signing into apps on their smartwatch will forego the pain of entering their username and password for various services. Developers can utilize the OAuth API for Android Wear to allow watch apps to authenticate with server side APIs directly. Apps requesting Google Account credentials will feature one-click sign-in, bypassing the need to access the smartphone entirely.

Seamless Authentication on Android Wear 2.0. (Source: Google)

Next, Android Wear 2.0 will now allow developers to implement in-app purchases directly into their Wear app. Users will not have to defer to smartphone control to authorize purchases. Instead, the user can enter a 4-digit Google PIN to immediately authorize a purchase.

Developers who were wary of developing separate Wear applications because the user experience on a standalone watch app would be sub par will no longer have to worry. Google is introducing two new APIs, PlayStoreAvailability and RemoteIntent, to help users navigate their device to the Play Store, or any custom URL of their choosing, to install the smartphone component of their Wear app.

Google has been listening to developer feedback during the course of the Developer Previews, and will be bringing back a key Android Wear 1.0 feature that it had scrapped in the last preview build. For some odd reason, Google decided to change the swipe gesture behavior in the third Developer Preview. The company instead opted to make the power button work as a back button, which developers could intercept. However, the previous functionality which allowed swipe gestures to dismiss activities will now return.

Finally, apps built with Android Wear 1.0 in mind can now be installed on devices running Wear 2.0. When installing an app on your smartphone with a Wear 1.0 component, the system will throw a notification asking if you would like to install the Wear component. If declined, the user can opt to install the app at a later time by navigating the Wear-based Play Store for a section called "Apps you've used."

Google has also outlined a few more minute changes to the Wear 2.0 platform, but that covers the most major changes to Wear 2.0. We'll have to wait and see whether or not the final release of Android Wear 2.0 will make Android Wear a compelling platform for smartwatch manufacturers. But introducing new, highly anticipated features and listening to developer feedback is certainly a nice start.

Source: Android Developers Blog

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Google announces updates to its Internet of Things (IoT) Platform

Fascination with technological advancements is a facet that we all likely share here at XDA.

With each new generation of Android devices, most companies push incremental changes to their hardware line-up. Some, however, take a leap of faith and introduce new devices that test our imaginations to their very limits. One innovation that has captured the minds of generations of consumers since the days of The Jetsons is known as the Internet of Things (IoT).

Although the term is rather ill-defined, what most consumers who are familiar with the term think of when they see IoT is the smart, connected home. To the more skeptical among us, IoT represents a potentially terrifying future avenue of privacy violations. Television shows such as USA Network's Mr. Robot play into those fears (Warning: Season 1 spoilers). But for others, the Internet of Things represents a shift towards automating the most mundane aspects of our lives.

Companies such as LG, Samsung, Apple, Huawei, IBM, Qualcomm, and Google are investing billions into IoT research. During Google I/O 2015, the company announced Brillo, the Android-based OS designed specifically to run on home appliances. Furthermore, Google laid the foundation for Weave, the communication layer that would allow smart devices (regardless of whether or not they run on Brillo) to inter-communicate. Many were skeptical that Google would continue supporting Brillo, especially since the company did not mention any updates to the program during Google I/O 2016. However, Google has finally announced their plans for the Internet of Things. It includes a re-branding of the initiative as well as the first preview of the operating system in action.

Meet 'Android Things'

What was previously known as 'Brillo' will now be called 'Android Things'. Google has announced that developers can preview the newly re-branded Android Things on either the Intel Edison, NXP Pico, or Raspberry Pi 3. Android Things will support running on custom designed versions of these single board computers so companies can quickly scale their testing to suit their particular needs. Much like the Developer Previews available for Nexus devices, Google will provide several updates to the Android Things Developer Preview over the coming months.

Furthermore, Google is incorporating several familiar Android development related tools to work with Android Things such as Android Studio, the Android SDK, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform. In conjunction with these updated tools, Google is also updating the Weave communication layer to allow for easier access to cloud content and to even allow for interaction with services like Google Assistant. Eventually, Google will merge its Weave with Nest Weave to take advantage of the existing integrations available through the popular Nest home products, and to ease the development transition of existing products.

Google mentions that several popular smart home devices such as the Philips Hue light bulbs and Samsung's SmartThings already implement Weave, so developing for the platform should be a no-brainer. The Weave Device SDK already supports cloud communication layer code for devices such as the aforementioned light bulbs, switches, and thermostats but will be updated in the future with support for additional appliance types. In addition, the company will provide a mobile application API available for Android and iOS developers – so even smartphones and smartwatches will be able to interact with smart home devices.

Source: Android Developers Blog

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Google Keyboard rebrands as Gboard with integrated Google Search

Back in May of this year, Google launched a new keyboard application called Gboard. At the time, the application was only available on iOS, but we were told that this functionality would eventually be coming to Android in the near future.

The application gave you a quick way to do a Google search without leaving the current application. One example of the keyboard in action that Google loved to tout was searching for the address to a restaurant while in the middle of a messaging conversation. Of course, you can use Gboard for all sorts of searches such as figuring out flight times, finding relevant news articles, and even searching for images to immediately paste into the conversation.

Until Android 7.1 Nougat, the platform did not have an API allowing for keyboards to inject rich media into an application. This Gboard update adds support for what Google calls an images keyboard, and it does not require you to be running Android 7.1. However, it does require the developer to update their application before it can accept media from Gboard. The update also lets you search for the exact emoji that you want (so you don't have to hunt it down in the sea of categories), and it also comes with support for multiple languages as well (with the ability to have up to three active at once). Finally, the application also finally brings the ability to place a dedicated number row on the top of the keyboard.

Interestingly, it seems like Google has decided to rebrand Google Keyboard to Gboard instead of releasing it as an separate application on Android. You can download said application directly from the Play Store here, but if the update is not yet live for you, you can download the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the application from APKMirror.

Source: Ausdroid

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Homescreen Critique 11: Minimalist Edition

Homescreen Critique is back with another special episode. This video will go through some of the awesome submission from the XDA community and find the best homescreens with minimalist designs. Here are the homescreens featured in this video: