Nextbit has been very supportive of the developer community, and this week we can now flash official nightly builds of CM14.1 on the Nextbit Robin. Some are reporting performance issues with this early build though, and another says the fingerprint sensor is having some trouble.
OnLeaks, in collaboration with Slashleaks, has been able to come up with a 3D render of what the successor to Sony's Xperia XA could look like. OnLeaks is known for getting his hands on CAD dimensions of upcoming products. Then, he's able to take this data and come up with reasonable look at what an unreleased product will look like.
As with all rumors though, you'll want to take this information with a grain of salt.
Every now and then we see Sony switch up their design language for a new smartphone, but there doesn't seem to be much changed here. We can see Sony's typical circle power button on the side, along with a volume up and volume down button right above it. Then at the bottom of that same side edge we have the well known dedicated hardware button that most use for taking their photos.
It seems like the speakers are front-facing, but we see what looks like a speaker grill on the right side of the bottom edge. There's a USB Type-C port at the bottom, right in the center, and then a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top. There isn't anything special happening on the back, as the render just shows the camera and flash at the top left corner. It's possible that we'll see some sort of Sony or Xperia logo here when the final product is released.
Some people have not been a fan of this new design language from Sony. Granted, there have been complaints of the boxed/rectangle look of their phones for a while, but we're seeing them refine this as the years go by. This leak makes it seem as if Sony is shifting from a previous design (from the Xperia XZ) over to this new phone, and focusing on a hardware upgrade with the successor the Sony Xperia XA.
You may know of TCL as the company who manufactures Alcatel's smartphones. They've been producing the company's smartphones for a while now and it seems TCL enjoys this type of business relationship. After BlackBerry's popularity declined, it seemed like the company was just going to stop manufacturing smartphones and focus on their enterprise software division instead. Then a new partnership signaled the possibility of new life coming to BlackBerry's smartphone business.
Granted, BlackBerry is not making their own smartphones anymore, but their brand name will live on. We first saw this with the DTEK50, and then again with the DTEK60, as both of these devices were manufactured by TCL. They were rebranded as TCL smartphones and many have been okay with that, since the hardware is nice and BlackBerry excels in software and security, which is what they've been focusing on.
It was unclear exactly how long this relationship would last, but this week it's been announced that the two companies have signed a long-term licensing agreement. This frees up BlackBerry to continue focusing on their enterprise software division, while still maintaining a branding presence in the smartphone market. It will be interesting to see how this relationship develops in the future too, since the DTEK series was the product of a short-term partnership to see how the two companies would work together.
TCL could go the route of simply rebranding their own smartphones with BlackBerry's logo, or they could start to produce unique designs for them. This partnership gives TCL exclusive global manufacturer and distributor rights for all BlackBerry-branded smartphones except in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. So we'll continue to see BlackBerry partner with at least one other manufacturer for products sold within these countries.
What do you think of this long-term licensing agreement? Are you looking forward to seeing what new smartphones BlackBerry and TCL release in the future?
It's been a few months since Google updated their Material Design guidelines, but they were able to sneak one in before the end of the year. This update adds three new sections to the spec, and then makes some significant changes to three other sections. Many were wondering what design was ideal for icons of Android's new App Shortcut feature, and Google has included some tips in this latest update.
We're starting to see a number of applications adopt Nougat's new App Shortcuts feature. This is quite helpful for those times we need to access a specific part of an application. Google tells us that App Shortcut icons are circular, they contain a system icon (or an avatar), and they must remain inside the trim area. Google says the total area of the icon must be 48dp, and that it should include 2dp of padding so that the live area is a 44dp circle.
Google also created a section for cross-platform use of Material Design. The idea behind this section is to talk about when you should stick with Material Design guidelines, and when you should adhere to a specific platform's conventions. It's recommended that you use a platform's default text alignment for toolbars, and the same goes for a platform's preferred iconography too.
The last new section of the Material Design guidelines talks about how to indicate, craft, and place help content. Google provides a handy flowchart for suggesting where and how you can implement your help content. Some can add a shortcut to their help content directly in the Navigation Drawer, others might find it best in the Overflow Menu, and there's even a way to put it inside the App Bar. Google even includes tips for icons, writing the help content, and more.
If you're a developer who is interested in Material Design, be sure to check out the new changes in the link below!
The OnePlus 3 has been a very good value purchase for users looking for an affordable but powerful smartphone. But the OnePlus 3T replaces the OnePlus 3 at a slightly increased price. One could argue that the value proposition remains same as the OnePlus 3T offers more, but at the end of the day, the consumers who have to shell out the extra moolah will have to decide this for themselves.
In India, the OnePlus 3T exists alongside the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 2, for now at least. This wide product lineup allows OnePlus to cover a few different price points, though we are unaware of when OnePlus plans to discontinue the OnePlus 3 in India specifically. The OnePlus 3T (64GB) retails for ₹29,999 (~$443), the OnePlus 3 retails for ₹27,999 (~$413), while the OnePlus 2 retails for ₹19,999 (~$295). All of these prices quoted are from official sellers on Amazon India, which is the exclusive online partner for OnePlus in India.
OnePlus 3 Lineup on Amazon India
However, in a very interesting turn of events, Flipkart started teasing the OnePlus 3 at a very heavy discount price. Flipkart is Amazon India's competition in the online marketplace in India, and both often compete neck-to-neck. The discount offered was being teased as part of Flipkart's upcoming "Big Shopping Days" sale. The price was kept mysterious by not disclosing the thousands-place digit, but even in the worst case scenario, the discount would have priced the OnePlus 3 at an astonishing ₹19,999 ($295) — the same price as the OnePlus 2!
Naturally, customers were miffed with this very heavy price drop of $100+. The move was perceived as an attempt to clear out OnePlus 3 stocks as OnePlus did mention their intentions to not continue production of the OnePlus 3 (though not specifically confirmed for India). Angry customers took to Twitter to mention their displeasure at the same. But as it turns out, even OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei had no information of such a sale!
The news was a surprise to a lot of us as OnePlus does have an exclusivity agreement in place with Amazon India. This means that OnePlus does not officially sell products on other online retailing marketplaces in India. Such a sharp price drop for the OnePlus 3 would also be rubbing salt into figurative wounds of existing OnePlus 3 owners as the resale value of the phone will drop as sharply. After all, the phone would be an absolute steal for a flagship at under $300, especially when OnePlus remains committed to providing update and support for the OnePlus 3 as they had promised.
OnePlus India has denied the existence of any collaboration with Flipkart for the sale. The company reached out with a statement on the matter:
OnePlus is focused on creating premium flagship smartphones. We have an exclusive partnership with Amazon in India. We advice customers to purchase OnePlus products only through official channels as we cannot guarantee the authenticity of the products sold elsewhere.
Flipkart, on the other hand, responded to NDTV Gadgets with an ambiguous reply on the matter:
Flipkart is a marketplace which helps sellers connect with customers across the country. All our sellers are mandated to adhere to stringent guidelines. The prices and discounts for all our sales are decided by the participating sellers and brands.
We advise readers to exercise caution and discretion with the upcoming sale. So far, questions such as authenticity of the product and warranty arrangements seem out of place as the only official channel for purchase remains Amazon India. With OnePlus themselves refuting any collaboration, the means of procurement and the heavy discount seem very questionable.
The National Infrastructure Commission, the British agency in charge of advising the government on matters of infrastructure such as the energy market and transport has released their report on mobile connectivity. In March of 2016 the Commission was tasked with answering the question "What does the UK need to do to become a world leader in 5G deployment and to ensure the UK can take advantage of 5G applications?" their report attempts to answer this but also reveals some shocking truths about the state of mobile connectivity in the country.
"The Commission's central finding is that mobile connectivity has become a necessity. The market has driven great advances since the advent of the mobile phone but government must now play an active role to ensure that basic services are available wherever we live, work and travel, and our roads, railways and city centres must be made 5G ready as quickly as possible."
The report also found that:
The NIC advised that the government must also ensure that the railway network sees improved connectivity, which it advised is provided via a trackside network. Don't get excited about huge jumps in your daily commute's coverage any time soon though, the NIC has stated that the Government should provide a plan by 2017, and the infrastructure be in place on main train routes and motorways by 2025.
"5G is the future – ultra-fast, and ultra-reliable it has the potential to change our lives and our economy in ways we cannot even imagine today. But the UK is currently languishing in the digital slow lane. Britain is 54th in the world for 4G coverage, and the typical user can only access 4G barely half the time. Our 4G network is worse than Romania and Albania, Panama and Peru.
Our roads and railways can feel like digital deserts and even our city centres are plagued by not spots where connectivity is impossible. That isn't just frustrating, it is increasingly holding British business back as more and more of our economy requires a connected workforce. 5G offers us a chance to start again and get ahead. If government acts now we can ensure our major transport networks and urban centres are 5G ready in time to give British industry every chance to lead the world in exploiting its applications.
But none of this will matter unless we bring our mobile network up to speed. The existing system does not provide the level of coverage we will need in our connected future. We need a new universal service obligation which ensures that the mobile essentials – like text, talk and data – are available to us wherever we need them. From connected vehicles to the internet of things, 5G will support a whole new way of communicating and doing business. The UK must not be left behind." – Lord Adonis – Chair of the NIC
Download the full report here (3.4MB .PDF)
With hundreds of millions of global installations on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, Evernote ranks as one of the most popular note taking applications on the market.
Thanks to the myriad of functions available to Evernote users – ranging from powerful note taking tools to searching and annotating all kinds of document formats – the popular service is relied upon by many to handle both routine and professional note keeping. But it's one of Evernote's biggest strengths that has resulted in a firestorm of controversy – synchronization.
Part of Evernote's draw is its ability to synchronize content across devices. While hardly a distinctive feature in today's app landscape given the likes of Google Keep and other competitors, Evernote was able to attract customers during a time when most note taking applications were not offering cross-device compatibility. Of course, because the service offers the ability to synchronize your notes, the company must maintain servers to store your data.
It is in Evernote's best interest to ensure the integrity, safety, and privacy of your data. As the company outlines in their security overview, they take many steps to make sure that your data cannot be leaked to outside parties from their servers or during the transmission of your data to their servers. Furthermore, the company offers strong password security measures – including two-factor authentication – to ensure that your account and its data cannot be compromised. However, the recent controversy surrounding Evernote does not revolve around a security breach. Instead, what some users are concerned about is the ability for some of its employees to read your notes.
Encrypting content within Evernote is indeed possible, but client-side encryption on text content is not enabled by default. After all, most users probably use the service for mundane note keeping tasks – such as shopping lists or reminder notes – so dealing with encryption passphrases would be a nuisance for most. But because of that, any content that you do not explicitly encrypt is accessible to the company on their servers.
This should not come as a surprise to any users familiar with encryption and cloud storage. But the question is not if Evernote can access your data, it's whether or not Evernote will access your data. An update to the company's privacy policy reveals that yes, the company may indeed access your data, but only under limited circumstances.
As uncovered by Droid-Life, Evernote recently updated their privacy policy which will take effect on January 23, 2017, to include the following language:
Screenshots via Droid-Life
Under the new privacy policy, some Evernote employees who are specifically working on updating their machine-learning algorithm may view some users' data. This is in addition to the short list of reasons the company states they may already justify viewing your data:
In other words, Evernote maintains that they may only access your data to enforce their terms of services, to comply with legal requests, or to improve their services. The company is categorizing the machine-learning algorithm updates as "maintain[ing] and improv[ing] the service", but some users are concerned that this means Evernote employees may randomly access your data without your knowledge.
This is indeed true, but the accessing of your data for purposes of upgrading the service does not have to be without your consent. Evernote is allowing users to opt out of this data collection by unchecking "Allow Evernote to use my data to improve my experience" under Account Settings. Furthermore, if you no longer trust Evernote, you will always have the ability to destroy all of your data on its servers while deleting your account.
In a statement from the CEO, Evernote states that their new machine-learning algorithm will be used to automate some of the most common functions of the service, such as creating to-do lists or travel itineraries. I personally do not see a reason to distrust them on this matter, but I can see why some users are concerned due to the vague wording of the privacy policy. However, although their communication on these changes have been poor, Evernote has been fairly transparent about the existence of these changes.
Given the nature of how Evernote, and frankly any company this size and in this industry, does its business, it is not surprising that they may begin mining data from customers to improve their services. Every Google service operates like this. Engineers working on databases of all kinds have this kind of access – and there's no real way for us to know that they aren't viewing your data. They probably are – but that's their job, and access is generally limited to a short list of people. What separates Evernote from the others, if the company is to be believed, is their insistance on avoiding big data collection and sales of said data.
If you wish to continue using Evernote and are concerned with the company potentially accessing your data, then you still have the option to encrypt your text before it reaches their servers. In this case, their database engineers will have no way of reading your content. Or, you can simply continue using Evernote to store unimportant notes and use other services to store more sensitive data. But just know that what Evernote is doing here is not at all uncommon in the industry, and as such there is not yet cause for any concern.
While I believe this interest in Evernote's changing privacy policy is good for transparency, I do not believe that there is reason to condemn Evernote as some are doing. So long as the company does exactly what they say they are doing in their privacy policy, it is up to the individual user whether or not they want to entrust Evernote with their data. I, personally, will continue using Keepass to save my passwords and Veracrypt to store important files on an encrypted volume.
Do you use Evernote? Are you concerned about these privacy changes? Voice your concerns below!
