OnePlus Releases the Device Trees and Kernel Sources for the OnePlus 3T

After all of the rumors about a new version of the OnePlus 3, the company finally made the official announcement about it yesterday. We learned the OnePlus 3T would be using an upgraded SoC, a bigger battery, an improved front-facing camera, sapphire glass protecting the rear camera, and will be available with 128GB of internal storage. That's a lot different from the rumors we heard about it before launch, and its poised to be the best smartphone of 2016.

Mario published a detailed write-up about the philosophy of the OnePlus 3T, and what it means going forward. While OnePlus believes the OnePlus 3 and the 3T are "two versions of the same phone," this launch has made some people rather upset. There are some OnePlus 3 owners who feel slighted by OnePlus as they no longer have the best smartphone the company offers. Then there are some developers who feel this will only fragment the development scene even more.

OnePlus released the device trees and kernel sources for the 3 at launch. The company has promised a way to improve camera quality on custom ROMs, and developers are still waiting for this, but OnePlus has been very kind to the developer community when compared to some OEMs out there. So to help developers get a jump on their work for the upcoming OnePlus 3T, they have just released device trees and kernel sources before the smartphone has even been launched.

We're expecting the OnePlus 3T to launch on November 22nd with a starting price of $440. So if the community developers feel up to the task, they can have their custom ROM or custom kernel released before it is made available to the public. You can find the GitHub page for OnePlus right here, and be sure to check out the XDA forum we created for the new device a few days ago.

Source: OnePlus

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Google Launches A.I. Experiments to Showcase Machine Learning Projects

Diving into something like coding can be a daunting task at first, but having small projects made for specific tasks can help ease someone into making something of their own. Google recognizes this and they launched a website to showcase Android Experiments just last year. We've watched as Google has integrated their machine learning technology into a number of their services, and now they want to help others do the same.

Yesterday, Google announced a new website called A.I. Experiments that will function very similarly to how the Android Experiments website works. So, if you've ever wanted to tinker with machine learning, but felt intimidated by the process, you can look at individual projects and see how they utilize the technology. They already have a number of projects up right now that show things like visualizing bird sounds, a game that will let the computer guess what you're drawing, an app that takes things it sees and turns them into lyrics of a song, and more.

Each of these projects have an introductory video to give you a demo showing you what it does. Then, at the top right there's a button for launching the experiment (so you can test it out right now) along with a button that takes you to the GitHub page. So you can grab this open source code and start looking through exactly how these developers pulled it off. You can then see what resources they used and start to implement this technology into a project of your own.

It's a very exciting time to be a developer these days and we're seeing this machine learning technology used in all sorts of areas like language, music, nature, and more. Google is finding more ways to use A.I. and neural networks to improve their services, and it's only going to get more impressive as time goes by.

Source: Google Developers Blog

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Volume Scheduler Sets a Schedule for Your Device’s Volume Levels

If you have regular times set for work, meetings and the like, and don't want to constantly fidget with the volumes on your phone, try out Volume Scheduler. As the name says, you can set simple schedules for toggling various volume levels on your device!

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Report – Some Android phones transmit SMS, Call Logs, and Location to a Chinese Server

Heightened concerns over leakage of personally identifiable information has led to many electronics manufacturers to implement tightened security measures in their products. In contrast, the world of digital advertising has became more pervasive over time, in some parts due to better data mining algorithms. These two facts have proven to be a conundrum for many software companies: how can they balance the consumer need for choosing who gets access to what data with the business need to study their user base.

Some companies such as Google opt to provide a compelling, but free, product for users in the hopes that the company can improve their search, advertising, or AI algorithms. While the likes of Google may pull more user data than some would prefer, the products they offer are good enough for most users to not really care about the privacy they're giving up. On the other hand, some companies opt to data mine users without explicit user consent or disclosure – instead assuming that installation or purchasing of a product is implying consent for data mining.

You may remember the controversy surrounding CarrierIQ, a mobile diagnostic software suite that came pre-installed on many smartphones sold by carriers within the United States. CarrierIQ was so ubiquitous, and the backlash so great, that eventually several high-ranking members of the U.S. government became involved, and eventually the widespread use of CarrierIQ was discontinued around early 2012. But CarrierIQ is just one high profile example of data mining software that happened to catch national attention. A report out by security firm KryptoWire indicates that a new, even more intrusive data mining software suite is pre-installed on many Android smartphones including the popular BLU R1 HD sold on Amazon.

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Adups – Carrier IQ v2?

A Chinese technology firm called Shanghai Adups Technology Co. Ltd. is responsible for the creation of a software package that is said to be pre-installed on many Android devices. Adups boasts of reaching over 700 million users and claims a market share of over 70% across 150 countries. The firm claims to have created firmware that is integrated in products from over 400 telecoms, semiconductor manufacturers, and device OEMs of all stripes. This seemingly impressive list of clientele use software from Adups to accomplish a myriad of data collection on users, KryptoWire alleges.

Information that is alleged to be collected and transmitted to a server belonging to Adups in Shanghai include the following: "full-body of text messages, contact lists, call history with full telephone numbers, and unique device identifiers including the IMSI and IMEI." Adups' firmware is said to be able to match keyword patterns in user data and even have the ability to bypass Android's permission model to execute commands with superuser privileges. Furthermore, Adups is alleged to even collect device location information. All of this data is collected periodically in the background without user knowledge or consent, and though the transmitted information is sent encrypted, the amount of information collected is troubling.

Source: KryptoWire

 

 

KryptoWire discovered that this software package came installed with an OTA to affected devices that was managed by Adups. The security firm has already informed Google, Amazon, Adups, and BLU of their findings, and is reaching out to OEMs who believe their devices may be affected. BLU has already responded to the report with a statement that the affected third-party application installed by Adups has already been updated to no longer transmit all of this information. Though we have yet to see disclosure on other affected devices, according to Adups' website, their software is also installed on unspecified ZTE and Huawei products as well.

Source: KryptoWire

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WhatsApp Begins Rolling Out Video Calling to All Users

WhatsApp remains a strong competitor amidst the sea of instant messaging apps on the market. Despite attaining a mind-boggling 1 billion active users earlier this year, the company has not stagnated on rolling out updates and improvements to the core service. Surging popularity from the likes of Telegram have pushed Whatsapp to focus on their strengths as a messaging platform and introduce features to solidify its dominant position in the market. Thanks to its simple, yet beautiful user interface which is easy enough even for the technologically challenged among us, the average user in many parts of the world swears by Whatsapp to the detriment of carriers pushing for SMS plans.

But Whatsapp has evolved past being a basic instant messaging app. At first, there was the introduction of Voice Calls over a data connection. And today, after weeks of availability in the Beta channel, Video Calling has been officially announced to now be available for all users.

The feature is rolling out to Whatsapp users on Android, iOS and even Windows Phone devices in the coming week. Of course, you and the recipient of the video call would need the latest version of Whatsapp with Video Calling support installed for the feature to work. In order to place a call, simply use the call option which would then prompt you to choose between a voice call or a video call.

WhatsApp's enormous marketplace places it in a much better position to leverage video calls as a functionality to keep users hooked to the service. What Google hoped to accomplish with Duo is what WhatsApp will very likely succeed in accomplishing, at least in developing markets like India where the service can be found installed on nearly every smartphone in nearly every household.

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What are your thoughts on the Video Calling feature? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: WhatsApp Blog

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SuperSU Updated to work with TWRP on Pixel and Pixel XL

Last night, the first alpha release of TWRP was announced for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. We delved into much detail about the release, including the changes to the installation procedure as well as what's new and what's broken. One of the caveats we mentioned in the article is that installing TWRP would cause SuperSU to no longer function.

Installing TWRP at this time will remove root if you are currently rooted. A SuperSU update will be required to allow TWRP and SuperSU to co-exist.

As we explained in an addendum to the article, the reason that installing TWRP would remove root is because the method used by Dees_Troy to allow TWRP to decrypt the data partition involves modifying the same init binary which is modified by Chainfire to achieve systemless root. Thus, by installing TWRP the changes made to the init binary by SuperSU would be overwritten. In order to not cause any conflicts, Chainfire himself recommended that if you currently run SuperSU and plan on installing TWRP, you need to first flash the stock boot image from the Factory Image. The two developers have been in contact regarding how to resolve this conflict, and today Chainfire has released SuperSU v.278 SR4 which fixes this issue for the two Google Pixel phones.

In the update, Chainfire mentions that this update will allow for SuperSU to be flashed on top of TWRP (and not the other way around). His boot to root script will now no longer conflict with the init binary changes made by TWRP, but until TWRP is updated the reverse isn't true. So for now, you will need to first install TWRP and then flash SuperSU once you're in the recovery environment. This is assuming you want to have both SuperSU and TWRP, of course. And to reiterate, if you are already rooted with SuperSU installed and want to now have TWRP as well, you will need to first re-flash the stock boot image, then install TWRP, and finally re-install SuperSU within TWRP.

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That's the gist of what's new in the update. Follow the link below for the full installation instructions by Chainfire as well as where to find the download links.

Source: Chainfire (Google+)

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[Exclusive] The Philosophy Behind the OP3T: Why OnePlus Released this Device, and What it Means for The Future of Your OnePlus 3

It is no secret that the OnePlus 3T is a controversial launch: coming only 134 days after the OnePlus 3's announcement, this update to its short-lived predecessor brings a bunch of impressive improvements for an extra 40 to 80 dollars.

After reading discussions on OnePlus communities including our own at XDA, the official forums, and the OnePlus subreddit over the past week, it's clear that many people are unhappy with OnePlus' decision to release a new device so early into the OnePlus 3's lifespan. Most importantly, the OnePlus 3 is no more as the phone has reached the end of its life in terms of official availability (this also means no more Graphite color option). From now on, the OnePlus 3T will be the company's flagship moving forward. While this might sound like a radical move for the company, OnePlus 3 owners do not need to be worried. I've spoken at length with a OnePlus representative who gave me a few important answers to the community's most pressing questions, beginning with the fact that software support for the OnePlus 3 will continue alongside the OnePlus 3T. In fact, OnePlus sees both devices as "two versions of the same phone", with one of the two being slightly more updated.

OnePlus says it is "not forgetting anybody", and OxygenOS will be on the same schedule and treated with near-identical priority.

The software will not be synchronized at launch, and it might take a few weeks for both devices to be running the exact same version of Oxygen OS. After that, however, both will receive updates together for the duration of their respective lives (which should be the same).

According to OnePlus, the 3T was devised after the launch of the OnePlus 3, and it was a decision made in part because of the intricacies of the company's business model of limited supply and also because they had continuously worked on advancing the hardware, and they felt that they could implement these improvements into a new device and optimize their line-up. OnePlus cannot handle the production of multiple SKUs at the same time, though, in great part because of the difficulty with maintaining the different orders (like the different processors) across two sets of demand, but also because of the multitude of shared components, some of which are rarer than others. Readers might recall, for example, that the OnePlus 3 has been either out of stock or on backorder for the past couple of months, and delivery itself has been very slow as of late. OnePlus claims, however, that the development of the OnePlus 3T was not the reason for these annoyances and that there were two production streams. Rather, they say it had to do with the device reaching its end-of-life but only for the past couple of weeks.

Many of the components are the exact same, though, and thus the experience is extremely similar across on both devices. The rear camera, for example, is not only identical in terms of hardware but also the resulting experience is the same as well (no differences in image processing algorithms), except for the inclusion of updated EIS for video — the pictures will be the same on the back camera, so the main shooter on your OnePlus 3 is not any worse than that of the OnePlus 3T and both will be running the same optimizations. Other changes like the increase in battery capacity from 3,000mAh to 3,400mAh are clear advantages, and it's understandable why OnePlus 3 owners might be upset at the fact that their device has a smaller battery when the dimensions and weight are kept equal. OnePlus has stated that a slim profile for a slick design was one of their priorities when building the OnePlus 3, and that was one of the reasons why the battery didn't go past 3,000mAh. However, the OnePlus 3T's battery is not physically bigger, rather it went through a safe voltage change from 4.35 volts to 4.4 volts (which explains the 13% increase in mAh, clever huh?).

Going back to software, the OnePlus 3T is indeed launching with Marshmallow and will likely be getting Nougat before the year is up. OnePlus also confirmed to us that the Nougat Community Build for the OnePlus 3 will be coming in a few weeks — this likely means OnePlus 3 owners will experience OxygenOS Nougat before anyone receives their OnePlus 3T. It also must be noted that the version of OxygenOS that the OnePlus 3T is running is similar to the community builds in terms of user interface and design — that means it is not as close to Stock Android as the main firmware branch currently available for the OnePlus 3. Yes, this essentially means that OnePlus 3 users have been "beta-testing" the firmware that the OnePlus 3T is launching with — but do keep in mind that this is the firmware that both devices will be running synchronously moving forward. There is no Daydream support for the OnePlus 3T either, as the company is weighing its options when it comes to figuring out which VR standard they should be aiming for, and they are waiting to see how that market develops on Android.

…the OnePlus 3T will receive the same developer-friendly treatment as the original OnePlus 3 including timely source releases and no loss of warranty upon rooting/flashing ROMs

Finally, OnePlus told us this is not indicative of a new line-up and that users should not infer that there will be two separate SKUs (one being superior) in 2017 and beyond — they claim that the OnePlus 3T is a situational phenomenon, given it made sense for them to release the phone at this time due to their technological optimizations and the complicated relationship between supply, demand and component availability. Do note that the OnePlus 3T will receive the same developer-friendly treatment as the original OnePlus 3, including timely source releases and no loss of warranty upon rooting/flashing ROMs.

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What the Future Entails

OnePlus was kind enough to answer some of the questions that the community would most likely have asked, about topics that are sensitive given this product is being released not too long after their flagship. We have concerns regarding the possible fracture this will create within the OnePlus 3 enthusiast community at XDA — which, by the way, is one of the fastest-growing the site has seen. The OnePlus 3 has been an extremely dev-friendly device, and a new version does mean split development due to the slight hardware differences, namely the processors. XDA administrators will keep a close eye and help where needed, and we might end up merging the forums as a result.

The OnePlus 3T is an excellent phone with very good value, but so was the OnePlus 3. If you enjoy the OnePlus 3 you own, this new release doesn't make your device any worse. However, we also understand the concerns and frustration that many loyal OnePlus fans and recent OnePlus 3 buyers likely have with this release. XDA won't pick sides here, and many of our staff members are also frustrated at the fact that they would need to buy a new device to stay on OnePlus' bleeding edge, and we don't want to see a fissure in this booming dev scene. While we don't necessarily condone the move, we can't say it was completely unexpected from a company that has made it its goal to continuously improve in 2016, and whose motto is Never Settle. That it did, as the OnePlus 3T looks to be one of the best smartphones of 2016… as much as that might hurt.

Missed the launch announcement? Read it here!

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