Will Google Daydream Catch on in 2017?

Last year, we saw Google announcing the Daydream VR platform to standardize the VR experience on Android. The aim was to ensure a consistent level of VR immersion across devices. OEMs would have to design their phones to meet a list of requirements in order to be Daydream VR certified. At first, the Daydream certification process was not really disclosed, but with the release of the Android Nougat Compatibility Definition Document the process became more codified. Plus, Google took to the stage to discuss the Daydream certification process at CES this year. With a constant push from Google, Daydream is likely to be adopted by more OEMs on their flagships this year.

But even then, consumer attention towards VR content needs to rise to make VR a viable content medium. Rich content needs to be made available across genres for people to show interest, and that is one area that we are seeing gradual expansion.

So our question to you,

Will Google Daydream truly catch on in 2017? Will it become the next go-to form of media consumption, or will it be relegated to niche audiences? What should Google do to ensure higher VR interest from consumers?

Let us know in the comments below!

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 to Come With Heat Pipes To Prevent Overheating Issues

After the Galaxy Note 7's battery issues, it was expected that consumer safety will be one of the top priorities for smartphone OEMs in 2017.

As such, LG has already detailed how it has been imposing tougher safety checks for their smartphones to ensure consumer safety. Now, a new report coming in from Digitimes shows potentially how Samsung will be taking steps to prevent battery overheating issues in their upcoming flagships devices.

As per the report, Samsung and LG will incorporate heat pipes in their flagship devices to prevent battery overheating. In case you are not aware, heat pipes are used to absorb heat generated by the SoC so that it doesn't expose heat to other components, namely the battery. Heat pipes are not entirely a new thing for smartphones, as we have seen them in the Xperia Z5 Premium and the Galaxy S7 before.

According to the report, the Galaxy S8 will use heat pipes supplied by Taiwanese manufacturers Auras Technology and Chaun Choung Technology (CCI). Meanwhile, LG will source their heat pipes from Japan-based Furukawa Electric and Taiwan-based Delta Electronics.

The report is in line with the recent announcement made by LG about how the G6 will incorporate copper-based heat pipes to prevent overheating. It was previously rumored that the Galaxy S8 will make use of two heat pipes for increased heat absorption. But as per the report, the Galaxy S8 will incorporate the same single heat pipe setup as the Galaxy S7 once did.

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Source: Digitimes

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Google has Acquired Fabric, Twitter’s Mobile App Developer Platform

Crashlytics was founded in 2011, but was acquired by Twitter at the start of 2013. The team continued to work out of Boston, Massachusetts and had an SDK that was used in over 1 million applications. They developed software that enabled iOS, Android and Unity developers to pinpoint the reasons why their applications were not stable (down to the exact line of code in some cases). By the end of 2016, it was announced that their software had been installed on over 2 billion active devices.

Almost two years after Twitter acquired Crashlytics, they announced Fabric. This was their expansion into mobile application analytics, beta distribution, and also user identity and authentication. We have talked about the project on multiple occasions here at XDA, and Fabric had become quite popular within the mobile developer community. This was Crashlytics' first introduction of a modular SDK platform for the company. The modular functionality allowed developers to pick and choose which features they needed.

It's fair to say that Twitter hasn't had the best revenue stream over the last few years. As the company tries to reorganize their business model so they can become more streamlined, we're seeing them cut back in certain areas. This was a big reason why they chose to turn Vine into a simple camera application recently. Since Twitter doesn't feel Fabric plays a vital role in their social platform, they have been in talks to sell the technology along with the team to Google.

The team behind Fabric will now work under Google's Developer Products Group and they'll be working directly with the Firebase team. Both teams have a goal to help developers build better applications as well as helping them grow and scale their business too. We'll have to wait and see what the end goal of this acquisition is. Whether or not Google will let Fabric continue to function independently, or if they simply want to fold the technology into Firebase.

Source: Fabric

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OxygenOS 4.0.2 and New Open Betas Released for the OnePlus 3 and 3T

Following closely on the heels of their last two updates mere weeks ago, OnePlus has begun rolling out incremental updates to both the OnePlus 3 and 3T. These updates are rolling out to both the official and beta channels for OP3/3T owners. All users should begin to see the update become available over the next few days and can expect to see numerous changes. Oxygen OS 4.0.2 brings some of the fruit of Betas 10 and 1 (N) to their respective 3 and 3T users, as well as improved stability thanks to the early adopters who have been bug testing it since its release in late December.

After OnePlus barely squeaked by their own self-imposed deadline to release a stable Nougat build for the 3 and 3T before 2017, it is reassuring to see that the OnePlus' development team has not slowed down. While OOS 4.0.2 is a very minor update, it still will offer users improved stability and some partial fixes for previous issues such as inconsistent WiFi connectivity, APN improvements for certain carriers, and other miscellaneous bug fixes. A tutorial for updating to OOS 4.0.2 can be found here for the 3T (which should also apply to the 3, after swapping device-specific update files). The process is identical to past updates for those already familiar, although OnePlus 3T users running TWRP will want to update to version 3.0.3-1 of the recovery (and 3 users to version 3.0.3-0), prior to applying the update.

Open Beta 2 (N) for the 3T and 11 (N) for the 3 have also been released to the public, containing the same modifications as 4.0.2 while also adding a few additional features – most notably Extended Screenshots. A mysterious new category in Settings, titled "OnePlus Laboratory", has also been unearthed with no present explanation available for what its purpose might eventually be. I will be awaiting official confirmation from OnePlus with bated breath, given rumblings in the forums that it could be something along the lines of the Xposed framework and its many affiliated modules.

The mysterious OnePlus Laboratory splash screen, discovered by OnePlus forums user smartanish7.

While OnePlus has still failed to release kernel sources for their Nougat-based OxygenOS release, these incremental updates are at least a small consolation for users in the meantime.

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Source: OnePlus Forums (1)
Source: OnePlus Forums (2)

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The Galaxy S8 is Rumored to Come with the Largest 5.7″ Panel

We were essentially in the dark about the Galaxy S8 until a few months ago, and since then we've seen numerous rumors published about their upcoming flagship smartphone. It's believed that they will be called the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus and they will both be equipped with incredibly thin bezels at both the top/bottom and sides of the phone.

We're even seeing reports that they will have bigger screens than any previous Galaxy S device in the past, with the regular one being 5.7″ and the bigger version being 6.2″.

The feature image above (which you can view in its entirety by tapping/clicking on it) has been provided to us by @DforDesign, and is currently being reported as the actual glass that will be covering the screen. These actually seem like tempered glass screen protectors, but either way they give us a look at what the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphones could look like. This thin bezel design actually meshes with the confirmation we received about Samsung investing in edge-to-edge display technology.

These screens won't go all the way up to the top and bottom edges, but they do show us what type of progress Samsung has been making lately. This image also coincides with the rumors about Samsung ditching their physical buttons for the S8 phones, and opting for virtual navigation buttons instead. They're also really close to what GSM Arena published late last week when they revealed a render of what the upcoming phone could look like.

Samsung hasn't made major design changes like this since they debuted the Galaxy S6 back in 2015. As the company faces more intense competition from Apple this year (which marks the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone), and Google as well, it will be interesting to see if this new design pays off for Samsung.

Based on the rumored specs, renders and this tempered glass protector, do you think the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will succeed with the average smartphone customers?

Source: The Korean Herald

Feature Image Credit: @DforDesign

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Huawei’s Security Advisory Announces Fixes for Multiple Vulnerabilities

Similar to the Android security bulletins that Google, LG and Samsung have, Huawei is another company that keeps track of vulnerabilities that are reported to them. The company published three of these this week and they are possible on a combination of three smartphones that Huawei is currently selling. Fixes for these vulnerabilities will be included in an OTA update that Huawei (or carriers) send to the consumer, but they don't give us an ETA as to when that update will go out.

The first vulnerability has been assigned the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID of CVE-2017-2711, and it targets the Huawei P9 Plus with a firmware version before VIE-AL10C00B352. This vulnerability will allow the attacker to crash the system software of the phone. The only way for this to happen is to trick the P9 Plus owner into downloading a malicious application, which then allows the attacker to crash the phone. To fix this vulnerability, the owner will just have to accept the OTA update for the new VIE-AL10C00B352 firmware.

The second vulnerability Huawei announced this week has been given the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID of CVE-2017-2703. This one is currently eligible on both the Huawei P9 as well as the Huawei Mate 9. Exploiting this vulnerability will allow the attacker to bypass the Phone Finder so they can enter the System Setting. All the person has to do is have physical access to the P9 or Mate 9 phone. Huawei has patched this vulnerability as well, so Mate 9 customers will want to look out for the MHA-DL00BC00B156 update, while P9 owners will need to look for the EVA-AL10C00B373 update.

Lastly, we have the vulnerability that has been issued the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID of CVE-2017-2698. This is currently affecting the Huawei P9 and Huawei Mate 8, and it allows the attacker to crash the system or even escalate user privilege. The only way this vulnerability can be exploited is by tricking someone who has root access to their phone into installing a malicious application. The fix for this attack has been patched in the NXT-AL10C00B386 update for the Mate 8 and the EVA-AL10C00B373 update for the P9.

Source 1: Huawei Source 2: Huawei Source 3: Huawei

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Xiaomi Launches the Redmi Note 4 Snapdragon 625 Variant in India

Xiaomi had a fantastic 2016, marked by the success of its "budget" Redmi Note 3 device — shipping 3.6 Million units in India in 2016, making it the best selling online phone in the country of all time. Packing an impressive processor and insane battery life, the Redmi Note 3 rounded it up with an unbelievable price tag that made competing with the device really difficult for others. The bar was set very high, so the question that one inevitably asks: can the Redmi Note 4 raise the bar even higher?

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 that will be available in the Indian market is by all external means the same device that was made official for China. You get an admirable one-piece metallic chassis, with a thin profile and curved side edges on the back. Xiaomi has seemingly gotten rid of the plastic caps on the back (on the top and bottom) that were there on the Redmi Note 3 to aid in signal reception. They have chosen to make use of antenna lines instead on the Redmi Note 3.

The front of the device comes with a 5.5″ FHD IPS LCD display, along with 2.5D curved glass . The back of the device houses the camera setup and flash unit. The speakers have moved from the back to the bottom of the mid-chassis on the Redmi Note 4, with symmetrical holes drilled on either side of the micro-USB port. You still get the 3.5mm headphone jack on the device, and as with all Xiaomi devices, this one too comes with a IR Blaster. On the battery end, the Redmi Note 4 packs in a 4100 mAh batter, a whole 50 mAh increase from the previous Redmi Note device.

The camera setup on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is comprised of a 13MP BSI CMOS sensor with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF and dual-tone flash. The front is a 5MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture.

The SoC on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is one area which has us confused.

The predecessor Redmi Note 3 packed in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC — a processor we ended up absolutely loving. While being built on a 28nm  process, the Snapdragon 650 SoC packed in 4x Cortex-A53 cores for its efficiency needs, and 2x Cortex-A72 cores for performance loads. This combination resulted in a phone package that gave absolutely stunning battery life, and an equally admirable (for its price) real world performance across games and heavy apps.

The Redmi Note 4, on the other hand, seemingly concentrates on improving the battery life from its predecessor. The Redmi Note 4 packs in a 14nm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC with FinFET technology, employing 8x Cortex-A53 clocked at 2GHz for all of its efficiency as well as performance needs. The move to a 14nm based SoC with solely Cortex-A53 cores will theoretically improve upon battery life in a noticeable manner. However, one needs to wonder how well the device will perform under strenuous tasks such as gaming. You know performance of the device could be nothing to boast about when Hugo Barra does not mention it on stage at all, choosing to focus instead on "battery performance". The Adreno 506 complements the SoC in the GPU department, as compared to the Adreno 510 on the Redmi Note 3.

The Redmi Note 4 comes in with MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Mi Explorers do get a chance to try out a MIUI preview on Android 7.0 Nougat, but normal users will have to wait for the update to hit the stable MIUI branch.

In India, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 will come in three variants of RAM + storage combinations. The base variant starts with 2GB+32GB for ₹9,999 ($146). The 3GB+32GB variant comes in at ₹10,999 ($162). The final variant of 4GB+64GB comes in at ₹12,999 ($190) — a memory-storage combination that is not easily found in this price segment. All variants support microSD cards via the hybrid Dual SIM tray. The device goes on flash sales in India starting from January 23rd on Flipkart and Mi.com. Xioami has also introduced a new Black color for the device, which will be made available for sale later.

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We will have to push our review unit of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 to see how well the Snapdragon 625 can perform in gaming as well as non-gaming scenarios. Until then, color us skeptical as the biggest competition to the Redmi Note 4 is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 itself. For ₹9,999 ($146) for 2GB+16GB and ₹11,999 ($176) for 3GB+32GB but on Snapdragon 650, the question remains in the air on which one is the better deal.

What are your thoughts on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4? Let us know in the comments below! Stay tuned for our full review!

>>> Check Out XDA's Xiaomi Redmi 4 Forum!

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