MediaTek unveils the Dimensity 1080 chipset with upgraded camera support

If you’re looking to pick up a mid-range smartphone these days, there’s a decent chance it’ll have a MediaTek chipset. The company has been pumping out some top-tier chipsets across a whole of products (including, even, the high-end), and it’s not slowing down. The MediaTek Dimensity 1080 is now here, and it builds on the company’s Dimensity 920 released last year.

The MediaTek Dimensity 1080 is fabricated on TSMC’s N6 6nm manufacturing node and offers some key improvements over the Dimensity 920. It has an octa-core CPU, with two ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 2.6GHz and six ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 2GHz. The GPU is an Arm Mali G68. It also supports LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage modules. Its Image Signal Processor (ISP) supports 4K HDR video encoding, quad-camera concurrency, and up to 200MP image capture with zero shutter lag.

“Continuing MediaTek’s legacy of optimizing power and performance, the Dimensity 1080 offers a full suite of advanced features that challenge expectations about what a 5G smartphone can do,” said CH Chen, Deputy General Manager of Wireless Communications Business Unit at MediaTek. “This new chipset is designed to further enhance many of the functions that made its predecessor great, including processing power, camera and video quality, and time to market for manufacturers.”

MediaTek says that smartphones powered by the 5G chipset will be available in Q4 of 2022. The company notes that the chipset shares some of the same hardware and software as the Dimensity 920 so that companies can accelerate their time to market with this chip. It seems that the biggest changes are a clock speed bump and some improvements to the ISP, though those are always welcome. No matter what though, this chipset will be a nice little bump in performance for mid-range smartphones that are launching later this year.

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Take a deep breath and relax with Google’s latest digital wellbeing experiment

After releasing a new adventure game that introduces players to the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica last month, Google Arts & Culture is back with another interactive experience. Launched on occasion of World Mental Health Day, In Rhythm with Nature is a digital wellbeing experiment that aims to help you relax with guided breathing exercises.

Inspired by Carl Linneaus’s Flower Clock, In Rhythm with Nature is a collection of animated flower illustrations that guide you through breathing exercises with soothing background music. In a blog post about the experience, Google says that the experience aims to establish a connection between you and nature through a series of breathing exercises timed by the flowers opening and closing.

Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab, which developed the experience in partnership with Google’s Wellbeing Lab and Google Arts & Culture Lab, claims it can help reduce physiological and psychological signs of stress by utilizing the concepts of Biophilic design.

“Biophilic design considers the restorative benefits of nature and incorporates nature experiences into our environment, both physical and virtual. That’s right — even simulations of nature, such as videos featuring natural landscapes or immersive VR experiences, have been shown to reduce physiologic and psychological signs of stress. These virtual options make nature and its benefits more accessible when you can’t easily enjoy the great outdoors,” the post adds.

The experience includes animated illustrations of thirteen flowers, spread across different times throughout the day from 8 AM to 7 PM. These illustrations change automatically according to your time of the day and offer different breathing exercises. But you can also change the experience manually by clicking on the button in the bottom right corner. In addition to the experience, Google Arts & Culture has released a In Rhythm with Nature playlist on YouTube with 13 videos of one hour meditations based on the experiment. Check it out by following the link above.

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Source: The Keyword

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Kotlin Multiplatform enters beta for cross-platform development

If you’ve ever gotten into Android development, you’ve probably heard of Kotlin. It’s a language designed by JetBrains that is fully interoperable with Java. You can build applications for Android, the web, and iOS in it, and Google actually says that it’s the preferred language for app developers to write in. Now Kotlin Multiplatform is entering beta, which will allow developers to build for both Android and iOS from the same codebase.

As for what changes are made, JetBrains hasn’t given us much to work with. “With this Beta release, we’ve updated the memory management approach to provide a consistent experience between Android and iOS targets — now users have the right balance of being able to reuse their existing Kotlin code and being able to access platform-specific features,” says Roman Elizarov, Kotlin Project Lead. “The Beta still has leftovers to be implemented, and delivering them is our key priority.”

There are a number of key benefits to Kotlin Multiplatform, the biggest of which is a unified codebase between both Android and iOS. That includes the same codebase for networking, data storage, analytics, and all other logic from within an app. What’s more, logical elements are retained, but you will still retain the fluidity of native code when it comes to complete access to both Android and iOS SDKs. There’s even tooling for cross-platform development already within Android Studio.

“Where other technologies abstract away or completely replace platform specific app development, Kotlin Multiplatform is complementary to existing platform specific technologies and is geared towards replacing platform agnostic business logic. It’s a new tool in the toolbox as opposed to replacing the toolbox”, said David Henry & Mel Yahya at Netflix.

There are a few sample projects you can take a look at for inspiration on how to integrate Kotlin Multiplatform into your projects, making development easier when creating for both Android and iOS at the same time. It seems that this beta is primarily a stability improvement, but we’re looking forward to any more changes that may arrive throughout the lifecycle of Kotlin Multiplatform.

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Leak suggests that the Galaxy S23 will pack a larger battery

Samsung will likely unveil its Galaxy S23 lineup early next year, but we’ve already started seeing leaks about the upcoming devices. We recently got an early look at the updated camera module design on the Galaxy S23 series courtesy of OnLeaks, and a certification listing of the Galaxy S23 has revealed that the device might still offer 25W wired fast charging support. Although Samsung might not offer any fast charging improvements on the device, a new leak claims the company will pack a bigger battery on the vanilla model.

According to noted leaker Digital Chat Station, Samsung will offer a bigger 3,900mAh battery on the base model in the upcoming Galaxy S23 series. The bigger battery could help the phone last a bit longer, but you shouldn’t expect its battery life to be significantly better than its predecessor.

The leak also suggests that the Galaxy S23 will pack a 6.1-inch FHD+ display like its predecessor, but it doesn’t reveal any other details. Previous leaks claim that the Galaxy S23 will measure roughly 146.3 x 70.8 x 7.6mm, making it slightly taller and wider than its predecessor. However, given that the phone will not pack a larger display, the larger battery will likely take up most of the additional volume.

We expect the Galaxy S23 to feature Qualcomm’s unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, but we don’t have any confirmation from Samsung at the moment. Over the next few months, we’ll likely see several more leaks about the device, sharing details about its camera hardware, SoC, and other features. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as we have more information.

Do you think a 3,900mAh battery would be enough to help the Galaxy S23 last a full day of use on a single charge? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Source: Weibo
Featured image credit: OnLeaks (via Digit)

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Some roller coaster rides are triggering Crash Detection on the iPhone 14

Apple revealed the iPhone 14 series during a press event last month. This year, the Cupertino firm started heavily distinguishing between regular and Pro models. Not only do the lower-end variants miss out on the Pro camera system, but they also have a different design and a dated chip. This keeps the new Always-On Display (AOD) and Dynamic Island exclusive to the Pro iPhones. So why would someone buy an iPhone 14? Well, there’s an all-new 6.7-inch Plus variant, an improved TrueDepth camera with autofocus, and more. Notably, there’s a new Crash Detection feature that alerts emergency services and contacts when your iPhone detects a severe car crash. Though, it seems that this feature is mistaking some roller coaster rides for vehicle crashes. Consequently, some 911 dispatch centers are receiving automated calls about nonexistent car crashes.

False iPhone Crash Detection triggers

Since the iPhone 14 went on sale, the 911 dispatch center near Kings Island amusement park has received at least six phones calls saying:

“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash…”

Except, the owner was just on a roller coaster.

by me: https://t.co/hp1fHZBIf6 pic.twitter.com/i0lZPoWzGz

— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 9, 2022

As the embedded video reflects, some iPhone 14 units are calling 911 when their users ride roller coasters. The feature loops an audio clip mentioning that the user has been in a severe crash. Additionally, it shares the approximate latitude and longitude to help emergency services find you. That’t not to mention that it automatically texts your emergency contacts your coordinates and alerts them about this crash.

In theory, this behavior might seem funny to those reading articles about it. However, it certainly isn’t as fun when you’re on the receiving end of it. Getting a message about a loved one being in a severe car crash can put people through emotional turmoil. We certainly hope Apple finds a way to tweak the algorithm to avoid these false triggers.

Has your Apple device ever helped you in a critical situation? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Do the Apple AirPods Pro 2 support wireless charging?

Apple revealed the AirPods Pro 2 back in September 2022. This model acts as a decent upgrade when compared to its predecessor. It features an all-new Adaptive Transparency mode, Apple’s H2 chip, a Find My case speaker, and more. Fresh AirPods Pro users might not justify upgrading to the second-gen model just yet. However, those who have had the original pair since launch might be facing a terrible battery life at this point — which would justify the upgrade. Similarly, those using the regular AirPods might find jumping to the Pro line a significant change. If you plan to buy the AirPods Pro 2, you must be wondering — do they support wireless charging? Here’s everything you need to know about this particular matter.

Wireless charging support on the AirPods Pro 2: MagSafe, Qi, and Apple Watch charger

Just like the original pair, the second-gen model indeed supports wireless charging. Apple now supports the Qi and MagSafe wireless charging standards on all recently-released editions. So this means you get to place the AirPods Pro 2 case on a MagSafe or Qi wireless charger to fill its battery up. Of course, placing the actual buds individually on a wireless charger doesn’t actually charge them. Only the AirPods Pro 2 case supports charging through the mentioned wireless solutions. Additionally, as an exclusive to the AirPods Pro 2 case, you can also use an Apple Watch charger for the first time in the AirPods department.

Just like the original AirPods Pro, the 2022 iteration supports Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio) and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Notably, the ANC is now twice as powerful — thanks to the H2 chip. Meanwhile, Adaptive Transparency takes the original Transparency mode to the next level. Think of it as the smarter 2.0 version. For the unfamiliar, this mode still allows you to hear your surrounding sounds. However, it blocks out the loud noise you might not want to hear, such as construction work sounds.

Apple AirPods Pro 2

The AirPods Pro 2 support Active Noise Cancellation, Dolby Atmos content, and wireless charging. They pack plenty of offerings, despite their compact build.

Buy from Best Buy

Will you be charging your AirPods Pro 2 through a wireless charger? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Can the Google Pixel Watch monitor blood sugar?

The Google Pixel Watch offers a host of health features to help you stay on top of your fitness goals. Among them are standard features such as continuous heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking, as well as more advanced ones such as monitoring skin temperature. But can the Pixel Watch monitor your blood sugar levels?

No, the Google Pixel Watch can’t measure your blood sugar. This doesn’t come as a surprise as no consumer-grade smartwatch on the market, including the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch 5, currently has blood sugar monitoring capabilities.

While Samsung and Apple are reportedly working on integrating noninvasive blood glucose monitoring on their smartwatches, such a feature is unlikely to be commercially available anytime soon. There are a few potential reasons why no smartwatch on the market currently offers the blood sugar monitoring feature. First, blood sugar monitoring requires a finger prick, which is not something that can be done with a smartwatch. Secondly, the technology is not yet advanced enough to miniaturize the necessary sensors and components to fit into a smartwatch. Finally, the skin on the wrist is not an ideal location for monitoring blood sugar levels, as the readings can be affected by factors such as sweat and temperature.

There is a possibility that smartwatches will offer blood sugar monitoring someday. This would be a valuable feature for people with diabetes, allowing them to more easily monitor their blood sugar levels. It would also be useful for people who are trying to lose weight, as it would help them to better understand how their diet is affecting their blood sugar levels.

Google Pixel Watch

The Google Pixel Watch offers a plethora of health and fitness features except blood sugar.

Buy from Best Buy

To reiterate, the new Pixel Watch doesn’t have blood glucose monitoring. However, you can link an external continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device to your smartwatch to view your blood sugar levels in real-time right from your wrist.

Planning to buy the new Pixel Watch? Check out these amazing Pixel Watch deals for big savings.

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