After Google and Tesla, Apple has shown keenness in joining the electric car segment. For the last one year there were speculation about the company launching its car. It was rumoured that Apple might launch the car by 2020. Now, a Wall Street Journal report has stated that the company is planning to introduce its electric vehicle in 2019.
It has also been reported that the project has been titled Titan and comprises of 600 employees. The numbers will increase in near future when the actual prototyping and testing begin. There are still lots of speculations about the very nature of the car. It’s unclear whether Apple will begin its own production or would partner with an existing car manufacturer.
Apple has limited experience in the automobile industry. Apple’s CarPlay is a car infotainment system capable of connecting to the internet through an iPhone. Building an infotainment system is one thing, but developing a car is something totally different. Apart from CarPlay, Apple has some exposure to developing sensors and batteries. Building an entire car is a giant leap for this industry giant. However, Google is a precedence that Apple can follow.
It is still uncertain whether the Apple’s electric car will be autonomous or would need a driver. Companies like Google and Tesla are already working on technology that will make autonomous cars a possibility. Large car manufacturers including Audi, BMW and Daimler-Chrysler are also working on similar technology. It will be interesting to see what Apple plans to do with its electric car. Apple has hired autonomous car experts and hence it is safe to assume that with the technology already at its disposal, Apple might want to launch a driverless car.
An autonomous car will allow the company to incorporate some of its existing technology in a new way thereby giving it a competitive edge over traditional car manufacturers. Despite this, the autonomous car market seems cluttered. Google already has plans to introduce its autonomous car for commercial sale in 2017 and they also have the early entrant advantage.
However, the demand for autonomous cars powered by clean energy is already being felt and it seems that Apple has gauged it well. The rising pollution levels and controversies such as the recent Volkswagen emission norms scandal will give a fillip to the demand for electric cars.
Whether Apple’s decision will yield positive results for the company cannot be determined at the moment. Autonomous cars still largely remain within the realm of conceptualization and the technical or commercial viability of such cars remains vague. Only time will tell whether Apple becomes a major force to reckon with in the car segment or it ends up as an “also ran”.
We received Mi earphone last week, which allowed us to test it for a reasonable period of time. We know any music device requires a sufficient burn-in period, which is an essential step to tap the full potential of the device. We used Tekfusion Burn-in tool up to ~4 hours for next 3 days. Like any other bang-for-the-buck budget device, it delivered surprisingly good performance but managed to disappoint us in some areas.
Packaging
Xiaomi Mi headphone is shipped in one of the prettier looking gift box packages than other products in similar price range. Opening the outer package to reveal the inner box, felt more like unwrapping a gift. User instructions were intelligently written on the inner side, with a transparent plastic box containing the product at the center. There is a reason it was awarded ‘Red Dot Design Award,’ and it is not some unpopular award as the previous winners include prestigious brands such as BMW, Sony, Apple, Siemens, and Adidas.
Build Quality
Xiaomi has launched 2 different In-ear headphones in India so far, promising more to come in the future. Although, it is obvious that the build quality would naturally suffer for products in budget price segment, but Xiaomi Mi In-ear headphones did manage to surprise us with acceptable performance and build quality.
It is little weird that Xiaomi didn’t codename their earphone, makes it difficult to call it with the unique name, rather we will have to settle with “Xiaomi Mi In-ear headphone”. The fact that their previous earphone had piston design, and this one has been promoted to have an ergonomic design. The earphone has a long tangle-free kevlar fiber cable. Strong, break-resistant kevlar fibers protect wiring and extend its lifespan, while braided sleeving prevents tangling. The end sections are sheathed in TPE to reduce friction with clothing, preventing an annoying “stethoscope effect” or noise interference.
The ergonomic design is great, and it is suitable for most of the cases, especially if you’re looking for a daily driver for morning walk or exercises. The earpiece is specially designed, which is angled at 70 degrees downwards to prevent slipping and ear buds are angled 120 degrees outwards for a comfortable fit. It does provide a great experience while listening to the music, and you’ll notice the difference right away but, it certainly isn’t something new.
There are 3 standard earbud tips inside the box, which can be used to replace the default piece to better fit your ear canal. These are soft and comfortable on ears while we were listing to the music for a long time — No complaint on this section. There are 3 buttons on the controller – volume rocker (+/ -) and action button. This controller also comes with built in Knowles microphones. The buttons can be used to answer / reject calls and control the media, player.
Overall, the earphone does provide better build quality and experience, considering the price.
Beats & Melodies
The new Mi in-ear headphones feature an aerospace-grade metal diaphragm with a patented ‘sandwich’ design. The company states that the headphones have an optimized front cavity for improved treble performance. To optimize mid-range and bass performance, Xiaomi has modified the classic transmission line enclosure design with a patented sound chamber that incorporates spiral airflow channels and extended bass output sound holes. The device will be available in a Space Grey color variant and weighs 14 grams.
I tried the earphone on several smartphones that I had and it worked on all. The next thing I tried was playing the same audio file on different headphones. I used a low-quality headphone, good quality, premium quality and this Mi In-ear headphone.
Mi earphones did perform fairly well and successfully delivered quality performance throughout the testing period. It has high treble, and mid-bass; gets a little shaky if you crank your device to full volume. However, when compared to some other earphones in the same price segment, it did manage to deliver the similar performance if not better.
There was only one issue that was little annoying and led me to use it less often. I usually listen to the songs when I go to bed, and the ergonomic design of the earpiece makes it painful to carry on my habit. It proved to be a nightmare for me because listening to the music is the only way to compel me to sleep. It’s slightly bent earpiece and big bulging back makes it painful to wear it to bed.
What do we think?
If you have been using low budget earphones earlier, you will probably love this product. It has great frequency response and total harmonic distortion. It is made of the finest material for stable and consistent permeability. It won’t disappoint if you’re looking for a daily driver, but bedtime music might be a little difficult. It isn’t the best, but for Rs. 999 ($15), it sure is a bang-for-buck.
3D printing technology has been improving exponentially and it was just a couple of months ago we wrote about its medical applications. In a recent report published in the journal “Advanced Functional Materials”, it has been reported that a research team led by Michael McAlpine a mechanical engineering professor of University of Minnesota has developed 3D printed nerves which can be customised and regenerated on requirement basis.
What makes this nerve generation process special is that these regenerated nerves are capable of motor as well as sensory functions. The nerves have been printed using silicon and a 3D printed guide. Apart from Michael McAlpine from University of Minnesota who led the team; the research team comprised of members from several universities including Princeton University, Virginia Tech, John Hopkins University and University of Maryland.
The research team generated silicon nerves for rates and used the process that is similar to reverse engineering. They severed nerves from rats and further created a guide to regenerate nerves and grafted it to the ends from which these were severed. The regeneration of nerves using this technology is quite complicated and requires a very high level of customisation to ensure that the generated nerve matches the inherent properties of the nerve it is supposed to replace. These properties include the shape, size, anatomy and geometrical structure of the original nerve. It is also very critical that the regenerated nerve must match the edges of the existing nerves to which it will be attached.
After an intense observation of the rats for 10 to 12 weeks, the researchers concluded that the implanted nerves have been functioning efficiently. The 3D printed nerves have tremendous applications. Not only these nerves act as the conduit between natural nerves by allowing blood to flow through them, these nerves also include several of the functions of natural nerves such as sensory functions and motor functions.
Despite the advances in the technology, the 3D printing of nerves still remain a complex procedure. The research lead McApline stated that the nerves regenerated by his team is indeed a breakthrough and although scientists have in the past generated nerves using 3D printing methods, these nerves had very simple linear structures. The nerve generated by McAlpine’s team is a more complex “Y” shaped sciatic nerve that is capable of complex biological functions.
Though the researchers have been successful in animal trials, human trials might take time. However, if this technology can successfully been implemented, it will not be long before we might see 3D printers in hospital for generating artificial organs including nerves. The long term efficiency of these nerves is still to be monitored but it is indeed a giant leap for those suffering from neural disorders and presents a ray of hope for such patients.
Apple unveiled feature rich, successor of its existing products and announced some new services during the annual Apple event — some with new exciting features and others that are just a iteration of predecessor with minor tweaks; while some of them are simply an innovative rip off. For better or worse, that’s what we are going to get this year from the big Apple.
First of all, let me confess that I am not a big fan of Apple products, and none of my work system includes anything that has unfinished ‘Apple’ logo on it — and, I am referring to natural fruit here. My laptop runs Linux Ubuntu 15.04, a notebook has Windows 10, and my PC is powered by Kali 2.0 (which is another Linux distro); Hell even this website is powered by one of the Linux distro. So, before you start calling me a Windows fanboy, I wanted to put myself in the safe zone.
Of all the new gadgets and smartphones unveiled during the event, Apple TV was something that drew attention. The iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and iPad Pro was expected to debut at the event and I was like – Meh!, but when it comes to the Apple TV, we weren’t sure what it is going to serve on the table and when they finally did, I was stumped. If Apple TV powered by the whole new ‘tvOS’ can deliver 50 percent of what they demonstrated during the event, I am sold. For more insight information, I will let Apple brag about it.
Now you must be thinking why I am leaning towards Apple when I hate it so much? — First, I don’t hate it, and second, it is just a troll, shelling the old hardware into a new shiny box. The Apple TV is a bad product at so many levels, and I will let you know about it in my upcoming article. Regardless, of these bold references, I know thousands of people will have this Set-top-box in their living room because one thing that we could figure out so far is that Apple is really good at selling products to people who don’t actually need it.
It isn’t entirely a new concept, but it certainly is a better way to intrude in your living room than any other existing competitors. The streamlined features and ability to integrated benefit of integrated system is welcome addition to other features it offers, but the unique remote that allows you to talk directly to your TV and play native iOS games, is just amazing — this is where the fun part ends.
The tvOS was emphasized for its ability to play native iOS games and being able to interact with Siri; I can vouch for it because they did demonstrated Crossy Road (by Hipster Whale) and Beat Sports (by Harmonix) during the event, which certainly looked fun to play on large screen with your friends and family. This makes it even better when you don’t really have to stick out a controller everytime you want to play these interactive games. Apple says you can use your iPhone to make them work just like the Apple TV remote for multiplayer gameplay.
There’s little doubt that navigation will be much smoother and more intuitive compared to existing Smart TV devices. From a gaming perspect, clearly cues have been taken from the Wiimote in terms of the waggle factor, courtesy of its accelerometer and gyroscope. And what it lacks in terms of useable buttons, it attempts to address with a smooth, glass trackpad. Now, the gamers who are personally attached to the console controller will find it hard to adapt with this new instrument to interact to the game, but again, most of the hardcore gamers will probably refrain themselves from playing the iOS games anyways. So, it basically targets the casual mobile gamers, who can dwell into the time killer device, which makes sense as they would feel much comfortable with the touch navigation offered b the remote.
Fortuantely, Apple is also accepting third-party controller who can qualify their MFi program. The bad news is that it’ll limit your choices. Steelseries controllers are shown twice on Apple’s gaming page for Apple TV, but it’s not clear just how many others are MFi certified. The good news is that you have options — and likely more as time goes on. Apple TV gaming is pretty impressive and has us all interested… but playing a first-person shooter with a TV remote is a bit too weird for me.
What do you think?
Can Apple TV remote replace your standard controller, and become a first successful set-top-box and a micro-console – a jack-of-all-trades product, which other competitors has failed miserably so far? Let’s bring it on in comments.
Early hands-on videos and expert reviews can be good to get an overall feeling about what a new smartphone, such as the LG G4, would be like in your hands, but you can’t quite get to know what it really would be like to own a device without getting an opinion from somebody who has used it as their daily driver.
I have now used the G4 for most of the year as my daily smartphone and I’d like to share my thoughts on it. So is the LG G4 worth it? Let’s find out. I’ll be focusing on more practical, real-life areas instead of the standard, specs, performance and build quality categories that a normal LG G4 review would focus on.
Useful Utilities
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’ve already done a bit of research on LG’s latest flagship. I won’t be focusing on the star attributes that a normal LG G4 review may take a look at. I want to share some of my favorite features that make my daily operating more fluid. My first favorite feature of the LG G4 is the Knock On function. With this, I can quickly double tap to see my notifications, see the time and if I’m connected to the internet, even get a quick glimpse at what the weather’s like outside.
Another useful feature allows me to drag down whilst the screen is off to quickly see the time and date as well as the notification bar. Checking the time becomes much less of a chore with this when the phone is on my desk, but I’ve noticed Knock On works better whilst in my hands.
Having the on/off button and volume controls on the back of the LG G4 is also awesome. Having a big screen smartphone can sometimes be a bit frustrating – juggling between the different buttons whilst listening to music is what I often found myself doing with other large screen devices. With the buttons on the back, I don’t have to move my hand whatsoever.
I opted for the brown leather LG G4 and I really like the sleek design and overall quality of it in my hands. My unit also came with a spare plastic back cover – my views on that were not so positive. It felt a little too hard on the edges, making it less of a treat to hold. Definitely opt for the leather if you can. I’d suggest getting the black leather if you’re worried about wear. (More on that below.)
Little Qualms
LG has copied Samsung in a lot of areas, the biggest one for me being LG Health – after coming from a TouchWiz device before it, I must say that LG’s apps are a little lacking. This is especially the case for LG Health – I can’t see my estimated burned calories and the step counter is sometimes a little temperamental. Besides this, I do like LG’s simple yet colorful overlay.
Like mentioned before, the leather backing is nice but it does take scuffs quite easily. I myself have noticed the material degrading at the corners and some have had it much worse. I’d suggest getting the black leather, which is a lot more rugged and withstands use a lot better.
The LG UX may not be the best in town either. I’ve actually settled for the Smart Launcher found in the Google Play store and have been using that for the past two months.
Audio
I’m a bit of an audio head and I do love my music. Fortunately, the LG G4 comes with a pair of excellent earphones. The LG QuadBeat 3 is the name given to the earphones, and a quick glance will show you that they’re a little more premium than standard smartphone earphones.
If you’re really into music, I’d suggest getting some replacement earbud tips because the ones supplied aren’t great. With that being said, the sound quality supplied by the QuadBeat 3’s is pretty intense. It’s sound range may not be as full as you’d like it to be, but it does have a very punchy sound that is often a lot of fun to listen to, especially when listening to some bigger sounds. EDM is a treat, alongside more electronically produced pop music. A lot of hip-hop also sounds wonderful on the QuadBeat 3. I can’t say too much about other genres, as I haven’t really touched these whilst using the QuadBeat 3’s.
Video
Am I a believer in the 2K display on the LG G4? Honestly, yes I am. I’m not sure if it’s the extra resolution or other aspects put into place, but when I watch high-quality movies or TV series on the LG G4, it looks incredible – I’d say the screen quality is better than my BenQ monitor. I really do believe that.
However, the 2K screen isn’t necessary all of the time and even though everything does look crisp, the same could be said on a 1080p smartphone display. You’re also only going to notice high quality when the video file you’re watching is also of a high resolution. The extra pixels also becomes a problem for the next category…
Battery Life
A big complaint with many reviews is that the LG G4’s 2K screen made the battery life on the device less appealing. The phone does come with a 3,000mAh battery as standard so it’s not like you’re not packing big numbers in the battery department. However, I did go from a large external 5,600mAh battery on my S4 to the LG. The battery life is, of course, a lot less, but the incredibly fast charging time made up for it. I’ve never actually ran out of battery on my LG G4 once, although I have come dangerously close. A quick few minutes of charging here and there are all it takes to keep the smartphone running throughout the week.
My overall experience with the battery life has been quite positive. LG’s UX also shuts down a lot of processes after the battery level reaches a pre-arranged number (chosen in the settings menu) to save battery life.
Performance Over Time
This is something I have a bit of an issue with. I’m not sure if it’s the Snapdragon 808 copping out already or if it’s something exclusively with LG. I can’t really compare it to other smartphones because all other 2015 flagships are using at least the 810.
There are two issues with the performance of the LG that I’ve noticed so far. If these issues aren’t occurring then the performance of the LG G4 is silky smooth.
Whilst charging – There is a lot of issues with performance whilst charging on the LG G4, and it’s slowly become more apparent as I’ve used the device more, especially in recent weeks.
Performance Degradation – Yep, I feel like it’s happening. The smartphone is getting slower already, but with that being said it’s still a lot slicker than 2014’s smartphones and it’s response times are a lot faster.
I’d say that performance issues may arise over time if you stick to this device for a long period. If you plan to keep a smartphone for more than a few years you may want to consider something else. With that being said, I’d prefer the occasional stuttering in the 808 to the fiery hot 810. The Exynos 7420 is the clear cut choice for those who care solely on performance.
Camera
I won’t go into the camera specs as there will be a summary down below, but I would like to talk about my experience with the LG G4’s camera. I’ve taken a few photos whilst outside and my general experience has been very positive. I can’t compare it to other flagships, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for a full comparison if camera quality is important to you.
With that being said, I do really like the results that come out of the LG G4’s snapper. I’ve never personally owned a smartphone for so long that provides such great results. The camera app is super slick too. You can access the camera from the lock screen with one quick swipe and navigating the UI has been made as straight forward as possible. Props to LG on this one.
LG G4 Review Summary: What I Like
Useful functions (Knock On, Buttons on back)
Comfortable leather design
A selection of LG UX features (dual window, SMS windows)
LG G4 Review Summary: What I Don’t Like
Wear and tear (both performance and smartphone build quality)
LG’s copycat apps (LG G Health, etc)
LG UX isn’t worth sticking to over other options
LG G4 Specs:
LG G4
Galaxy S6
HTC One M9
OnePlus Two
SoC
Snapdragon 808
Exynos 7420
Snapdragon 810
Snapdragon 810
RAM
3GB
3GB
3GB
4GB/3GB
AnTuTu
50,330
68,830
56,798
63,719
Display
5.5″ LCD
5.1″ AMOLED
5″ LCD
5.5″ LCD
Resolution
2560×1440
2560×1440
1920×1080
1920 x 1080
Memory
32GB
32/64/128GB
32GB
16/64GB
SD card?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Battery
3,000mAh
2,550mAh
2,840mAh
3,300mAh
Price
$510
$564
$570
$329
So there we have it. Is the LG G4 worth it? If you’re in the market for a new flagship smartphone, there are many, many reasons as to why that’s a big fat yes. You may find yourself leaning towards other brands and manufacturers however. For me though, the LG G4 has been my favorite smartphone I’ve managed to get my hands on this year.
Recently, Sony has announced their brand new Z5 lineup and it’s looking pretty decent from a first glance. However, there is one thing about the new lineup that has got me thinking. In a similar move to other manufacturers, Sony will now offer a range of three different devices, all at varying price points and hardware features.
The most expensive will be the Sony Xperia Z5 premium, which as the name suggests, will be available for a high price at the exchange for some extra premium features. The idea behind Sony’s Premium offering is fairly straight forward – Sony is trying to carve out a niche with their smartphone lineup that stands out from the crowd.
So, as a quick buyer’s guide, the Sony Xperia Z5 premium is pretty much the most impressive device on the market in terms of specs right now, but it’s price is quite high. Here’s a quick overview.
So as you can see the Xperia Z5 Premium is the beefiest smartphone on the block right now, but I’m not so sold on the “premium” idea. Here are a few reasons why.
It’s Not the Best it Could Be
So the idea is that you purchase a premium smartphone, with additional features and some tech that you won’t probably ever need in real life at a very hefty price tag. The trouble is that, even though the Xperia Z5 has a significantly better display, better camera specs, better battery life than any other smartphone, as well as other areas it excels in, it’s not the best. Give it a couple of months and smartphones will be using the Snapdragon 820 as standard, for example, and the SoC used on the smartphone, Snapdragon 810 isn’t known for its performance but the bugs that it was developed with. You also have to take into consideration that this premium price tag won’t give you any more software features than a lesser priced Sony product.
It certainly won’t be the best in a few years
Right now, I can imagine a lot of eyes are looking towards the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. It certainly has enough interesting hardware specifications to stand out from the crowd, that’s for sure.
The issue here is that it won’t be the case for long. Give it a couple of years and the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium will no longer be at the top of its class. Its amazing hardware will look less impressive over time, and standard flagships will outperform it. If Sony were to continue their Premium range, you can also guarantee that it’ll feel outdated within a year just when comparing it to Sony’s smartphones alone.
Not everyone can grasp it
Whilst investing a premium price each year for the very best smartphone may be possible for some, it’s not easy for most consumers. When purchasing a premium car, premium audio or a premium cooking appliance, you’ll know it’ll last you a lot longer than a premium smartphone would, and smartphones are constantly being refreshed at a much higher rate than products in other industries.
As a result, it’s incredibly hard to tell yourself purchasing the most expensive version (like the Z5 Premium) of a new flagship lineup each year. Is it really something that’s worth your money?
So, there we have it. I have my doubts about Sony’s new approach to the market, but I’ll stay wishfully positive for their future because they do have a big footprint in the smartphone industry.
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