LG Reportedly Wants to Leverage AI for its Products in 2017

LG's smartphone division is currently being propped up by profits the company is making selling other products like TVs and home appliances. LG made a major gamble on its modular concept with the LG G5 but then recently confirmed they would be ditching this design with the upcoming LG G6. A lot is riding on their upcoming flagship smartphone being a success and a new rumor claims it will be the first smartphone in South Korea to use the Google Assistant AI platform.

Many are not pleased with Google keeping their new personal assistant tied to the Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Although we can use Assistant via Google's Allo instant messenger, it doesn't allow us to take advantage of the deep integrations that the service offers. It also doesn't help that many certain commands can be executed on the Pixel's version of Google Assistant that cannot be performed on the Allo version. Still, if this new rumor turns out to be accurate, the LG G6 will be the first non-Google smartphone to officially support Google Assistant.

Google's personal assistant isn't the only AI platform that LG is betting on in 2017, though. LG also has a partnership with Amazon and they are using Alexa in a number of their home appliance products already. We've watched the smartphone become the hub of other IoT products and this trend will likely continue this year. Only time will tell which way LG will be swayed towards. The company could go all in on Amazon's Alexa platform, or they could transition to using Google Assistant in their products.

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Source: Business Korea

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Marclay Displays Landscape Videos Behind Your Notifications on Android TV

Android Experiments is Google's way of highlighting applications that have interesting and unique features. We've seen projects like a VR-style camera using just the hardware in your smartphone, a project to lock people out of their phones so you can enjoy a family meal in peace, and even a tic-tac-toe game that used a 3x3x3 cube as the grid. The best part about these projects is that they're all open source and generally have a link directly to the developer's GitHub page so anyone can replicate them.

Today we wanted to talk about a new experiment that was published just a few days ago called Marclay. It's an Android TV application that connects to your smartphone so it can synchronize your notifications directly to the TV set. To prevent the image from just displaying a bland list of notifications, the application also casts a landscape video behind the content. Thus while you're looking at an image of space, a lake, or an ocean, you'll be able to glance at your notifications, check the time, and see what the current outside temperature is all right on the TV.

The landscape videos in the background will even adapt to the time of the day. For instance, if you're watching the waves of an ocean in the background, then you'll notice the video transition to night time as it gets later in the day. You can even choose to not synchronize your phone to the application so you don't have to be bothered with the notifications on the screen. This setup is ideal for those who just want to have the scenic landscape videos displayed on their TV.

Marclay is certainly an innovative application that combines the power of Android TV software to display beautiful and useful content on a television set. It was developed by Eric Gonzalez of Mountain View, California and you can find the GitHub page for this project right here.

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Source: Android Experiments

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Report: Samsung’s Virtual Assistant “Bixby” Will Feature Image and Text Recognition Capabilities

Samsung is reportedly all set to launch their next flagship devices, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, in March. If recent rumors are true, we may already know some of the key hardware specifications of the two devices. For instance, the Galaxy S8 is slated to feature a 5.7″ display while the Galaxy S8 Plus might boast a larger 6.2″ display. It is also believed that the Galaxy S8 may finally ditch the physical home button that is ubiquitous on Samsung Galaxy devices.

Apparently in an effort to counter Google Assistant, Samsung is expected to integrate its own AI-powered virtual assistant in the upcoming Galaxy S8 devices. Earlier, a trademark filed by Samsung in South Korea revealed that Samsung has presumably named its virtual assistant – or is at least internally calling it – "Bixby." Samsung acquired Viv Labs and its AI technologies back in October last year, so it is not unexpected to see the South Korean giant make use of its technological acquisitions in their future smartphones.

A few weeks ago, it was reported that all native Samsung apps will be integrated with the Bixby virtual assistant and that Bixby will likely replace S Voice. Now, a new report from SamMobile states that Bixby will also offer visual search and optical character recognition features.

The report states that the main camera app in the Galaxy S8 will have a dedicated button for Bixby. Using the Bixby button, users will be able to analyze images, identify objects, and recognize text from the native camera app. The feature sounds similar to Google Goggles, an image search app from Google; though, Bixby will probably be much more capable than Google Goggles given its AI component. The report also notes that Bixby is still under development and that all rumored features might not be ready at the time of the official launch.

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Source: SamMobile

Feature Image Credits: Tested.com

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Samsung Announces Android 7.0 Nougat Rollout Schedule for several Galaxy Models

Samsung has officially stated that the Android Nougat 7.0 rollout has begun for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge devices, confirming earlier reports. The press release states that the rollout began 2 days ago and will be making its way to devices via an OTA update and will be available to owners of the devices in the coming weeks.

Samsung has been testing the Android 7.0 Nougat release with users signed on to the Galaxy Beta program since early November 2016 in the U.S., U.K., and South Korea. Samsung also confirms that the Nougat rollout will expand to "additional countries" and other phones sometime in the first half of 2017. The official statement does not mention the timeline in which other countries will begin receiving the update, however.

The following phones are slated to receive the Nougat update sometime in the coming months:

• Galaxy S6
• Galaxy S6 Edge
• Galaxy S6 Edge Plus
• Galaxy Note 5
• Galaxy Tab A with S Pen
• Galaxy Tab S2
• Galaxy A3
• Galaxy A8

Samsung touts a number of new features included in the update such as "faster speeds for downloading apps and system software update and major UX changes". The article makes particular mention of the changes to the Quick Panel and notifications whereby "icons have titles removed for a cleaner aesthetic" and "second level notifications are organised into groups of nine, to make them easier to locate".

Nougat New Features – Notification Shade and Performance Modes

Multi Window is mentioned as receiving an "improved controller" that allows the window size to be adjusted more easily as well as a pop up window function that supports up to 5 separate windows in addition to the two in split-screen. Two other areas Samsung makes special mention of is an enhanced Performance Mode and Samsung Pass. Performance mode is split into 4 different modes: "Optimized Mode", "Game Mode", "Entertainment Mode" and "High Performance." Each of these modes prioritizes performance for different use cases to maximize battery life without sacrificing performance. Lastly, Samsung Pass also gets an update that allows users to use their fingerprints to login to "Samsung Internet" – their proprietary browser application.

Let us know in the comments if your Samsung device has received the update!

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Source: Samsung Global

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OnePlus Releases Android Nougat Kernel Sources for the OnePlus 3/3T

On the heels of the OxygenOS 4.0.2 release for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, OnePlus has released kernel sources for Android Nougat for the devices. This move follows the growing requests of users and developers alike on social media and forums, along with our own request to OnePlus to comply with the GPL V2 license that governs the distribution of the Linux kernel.

OnePlus had released the kernel sources for the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T right around the time the devices went on sale respectively. But these sources were outdated owing to the release of Android Nougat update that the company rolled out in the form of OxygenOS 4.0 for each of the phones. Now that kernel sources for the same have been updated, we can expect to see more development on custom kernels that work in harmony with the latest OxygenOS based on Nougat.

You can find the kernel sources on OnePlus's GitHub.

While a very good move indeed from OnePlus, it is not entirely without faults. XDA Recognized Developer franciscofranco mentioned a few in his statement shared with XDA, and some of them still carry on with this release. The modifications released this time follow along the pattern of one huge commit to push all the changes. This means that developers will need some time to sort through the changes to understand the impact of each of them. So while custom kernels will eventually come around, you may need to wait for your developer to familiarize himself with the newest sources.

Nonetheless, we commend OnePlus on releasing the sources for their devices. It is better late than never, and we do hope they make an active effort in keeping the code regularly updated following along the frequent software updates. Perhaps, pick up on some of Franco's advice too?

What are your thoughts on the kernel source release? Let us know in the comments below!

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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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