New Z3 Budget Smartphone Launched by BlackBerry

Canadian smartphone maker has launched the new budget handset dubbed as BlackBerry Z3 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The new BlackBerry Z3 flaunts a 5.0-inch qHD (960x540p), newly updated OS (v10.2.2), 1.5GB RAM, 8GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 32GB), 1.2GHz snapdragon dual-core processor and non-removable 2500 mAh battery.

The budget phone also boasts a 5.0-megapixel camera with flash, 5x digital zoom, image stabilization, full HD video recording ability and a secondary 1.1-megapixel fixed-focus camera on the front side.

As of now, BlackBerry Z3 has been made available in Indonesia for IDR 2,199,000 (around ₹11,500), but the there is no official word from the company if it has any plans to launch the device in India or any other emerging markets of Asia.

By competitively pricing the phone just under $200, the company is trying its best to make a comeback in the handset business in the emerging markets of Asia, after it failed to elicit good response from the consumers in the high-end segment with launch of Z10 (Touch Screen smartphone) and Q10 (QWERTY device) last year.

It has to be noted that the new smartphone Z3 is the first device to come out of the joint-venture of BlackBerry and Chinese OEM (Original Equipment manufacturer) partner Foxconn, which is popularly known for its relationship with Apple Inc. The Canadian company has plans to launch few more handsets later in the year.

Key specifications of BlackBerry Z3:

Model	BlackBerry Z3
Display	5.0-inch qHD (960x540p) screen
OS	BlackBerry v10.2.2
Processor	1.2GHz Qualcomm Dual-core CPU(chipset: MSM8230)
RAM	1.5GB
Storage capacity	8GB, expandable up to 32GB
Camera	Main: 5.0-megapixel camera with flash, 5 x digital zoom, image stabilization, full HD video recording and more Front: 1.1-megapixel camera fixed-focus camera, HD (720p) video recording ability
Battery	2500 mAh (non-removable);Talk time: up to 15.5 hoursStandby mode: close to 16.2 days
Network	3G
Add-ons	Bluetooth v4.0 LE (Low Energy) with aptX, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n; 2.4GHz), Assisted-GPS, dual-microphone for noise cancellation, on-screen LED indicator, proprietary BlackBerry® Balance™ technology offering dedicated profiles to keep work and personal data separate and secure
Dimensions	140.0 x 72.8 x 9.26 mm
Weight	164 g
Price	IDR 2,199,000 (around ₹11,500)

New Android Wear Device Launched By Samsung, Tizen Phone This Year

Samsung plans to launch an Android Wear device as well as a Tizen smartphone in 2014, Reuters reports.

Samsung is working to introduce at least two smartphones running on its own Tizen operating system, a major step in the market leader's bid to break out of the Android universe, a top executive says.

The company wants to build its own ecosystem around Tizen to reduce its heavy reliance on Google's Android, which powers majority of the South Korean firm's mobile devices, according to Yoon Han-kil, senior vice-president of Samsung's product strategy team.

It also wants to open its own stream of revenue from sales of third-party apps and services on its devices, challenging the mobile software duopoly of Android and Apple's iOS.

But expectations for the platform have sharply weakened after a series of delays in product launches. A global patent cross-licensing agreement between Samsung and Google in January further dampened prospects for a Tizen phone, as the deal was seen by some as locking Samsung deeper into Android.

Yoon said that although Android "still needs to be our main business", Tizen or Windows Phone would be used for markets that Android could not address.

"We had tried to launch [Tizen] with DoCoMo and Orange ... but couldn't because of poor market conditions. We have changed our strategy and will release the phones in a few countries where we can do well," he said, adding that he thought Tizen would have to account for up to 15 per cent of Samsung's total smartphone shipments to become a successful platform.

Samsung's first Tizen phone, which will launch around the end of the second quarter, would be a high-end model and the second would mainly be aimed at the middle of the market to drive volume growth.

Speaking of smartwatches, Yoon had something to say on those, too: first, that Samsung eventually wants its Gear watches to be compatible with all Android smartphones rather than just its own Galaxy devices; and second, that it plans to launch an Android Wear smartwatch later this year.

Seems like Samsung thinks there’s plenty of scope for it to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Apple Could Finally Adopt NFC On iPhone For Mobile Payment Plans And Touch ID

Apple’s 2014 roadmap was laid out in pretty considerable detail by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this week in an investor note, and while ordinarily analyst predictions aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, Kuo has a solid track record of actually getting things right. Among Kuo’s predictions are larger iPhones, a Retina MacBook Air, improved Apple TV, iPad with Touch ID and iWatch launch later this year. But one small detail could have more potential impact than all the rest: NFC inclusion in iWatch and iPhone devices.
Apple has never thought much of NFC, at least when it comes to its own devices, and has avoided building the communication tech into its gadgets for years while the Android competition turned it into a device default. NFC had a lot of early buzz, but for the most part, its usefulness for the average person comes in its ability to act as a handshake tech to ease the process of Bluetooth pairing. It still has some utility as a mobile payments transfer tech, but even with mobile payment options built into Android phones that support it, it hasn’t taken off in that regard.
If Apple starts building NFC into its devices, as Kuo reports it will, that could all change. While Apple now offers iBeacons Bluetooth LE-based tech, which could replicate the payment functions of NFC, support for the other tech would mean broad compatibility with existing hardware that more and more merchants have now been adopting with their in-store point-of-sale systems. Both types of tech are early, but NFC has the virtue of more time to find its feet.
As Finextra notes, the WSJ reported earlier this year that Apple was looking to develop a mobile wallet for iPhone, using the existing iTunes accounts the company already uses for purchases within its own software and retail store ecosystem. That would give Apple an instant network of over 600 million users with credit card information on file, making it likely the largest mobile payments network of any kind without even trying. And with NFC, Touch ID could be used to authenticate those payments, or even to authenticate identify for store loyalty or other purposes, too.
Apple has previously patented tech related to NFC and mobile payments, and Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned that payments was part of what drove the inspiration behind creating Touch ID, the fingerprint-based authentication tech on the iPhone 5s. Touch ID is reportedly coming to iPad Air 2 in 2014, as well, which expands the pool of potential payments applicability even further. Apple may have seemed disdainful of NFC in the past, but it has a habit of waiting on new and emerging tech until it becomes genuinely useful to a large swath of consumers, and NFC could be just about at that point, and a key route to Apple’s domination of the mobile payments space.

The New Samsung Galaxy S5 is a Amazing phone with heart

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is bound to become one of the hottest selling handsets and so it must undergo heavy scrutiny. Battery life is an everyday worry, especially with bigger screens and faster chipsets.

The way Samsung hawked the many features in prior versions of its Galaxy S series smartphones, you'd think the devices belonged in a circus act: Step right up and see all the tricks your phone can do.
However, this wow-the-consumer strategy too often went over the top. Things such as waving your hand to take a call made a neat demonstration, but I don't know many people who actually answered that way.
Not that you could entirely blame Samsung for trying to make its phones stand out against formidable competition. The fact is, along with Apple's iPhones, the Galaxy phones are the most popular premium smartphones around the world.

The Galaxy S5 is the first smartphone to boast a dedicated heart-rate monitor. The phone is dust- and water-resistant, too, to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes (though the evaluation units that Samsung supplied weren't ready for any kind of water-testing). The USB connector is sealed under a protective flap.
Samsung also added a fingerprint scanner that you can use to unlock the phone, log on to your Samsung.com account, or to make payments through PayPal. Alas, I had trouble with the first test unit Samsung supplied — my fingerprint batting average was no better than 30%. To be fair, Samsung suspected I had gotten a wonky phone, and on a replacement device, I did a whole lot better (though the results still weren't perfect.). The fingerprint scanner doesn't work as well as the similar feature Apple has on the iPhone 5s.
A heart-rate monitor, protection against water and a fingerprint scanner may be the Big Top attractions this time around. But it's the basics that should sell this very solid Android handset. I can easily recommend it, even if aside from that heart-rate sensor, it doesn't break a lot of new ground. In other words if you have an S4 and are happy with it, there's no urge to upgrade.
The S5 has an eye-popping 5.1-inch Super Amoled 1080p display that can adapt to its lighting environment. It's thin but a bit longer than the S4. At 5.1-ounces (vs. 4.6 ounces) it adds some heft, but not to the point where I was bothered. Samsung chose a design with a dimpled plastic back. It doesn't come close to measuring up to the premium feel of the HTC One (M8) that was recently introduced and that is crafted from an all-metal uni-body design. It was much the same design story with last year's models. But the S5 is comfortable to hold.

The Galaxy S5 doesn't have all the circus tricks. But water resistance and heart-rate sensor are definitely welcome, and this is a solid device. Sometimes less is more.

Apple in Talks With Comcast for Set-Top Box Video Service.

The never-ending rumors surrounding a possible Apple smart TV are likely to ramp up once again in the wake of a report that Apple is in talks with major U.S. cable provider Comcast to create a streaming TV service
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, the service would include an Apple set-top box that would allow for special access on Comcast's backend equipment, thus bypassing typical Internet congestion.

See also: The Comcast-Netflix Deal: Fact vs. Fiction

The major features of the Apple/Comcast service would reportedly include streaming, on-demand video and video recordings stored in the cloud.
A key component of the reported deal has to do with the delivery of video content. According to the report, Apple would not ask for preferential treatment on Comcast's pipes. The Wall Street Journal report states:

Under the plan Apple proposed to Comcast, Apple's video streams would be treated as a "managed service" traveling in Internet protocol format—similar to cable video-on-demand or phone service.

That particular detail would be key to any potential deal as Comcast has been under the spotlight in recent months over net neutrality concerns.
Fears that Internet access companies will cut lucrative deals with deep-pocketed companies for premium access, thus handicapping smaller companies without the financial heft to pay for premium access, have been the main topic of debate in recent months as streaming content continues to take center stage.
However, according to the report, the two sides aren't close to sealing the deal, and if a deal were to take place, Comcast would need to make major new investments in its networking infrastructure.

The most secure phones on earth

There's no such thing as a fully tamper-proof phone, but two new mobile devices come close.

Boeing is developing a smartphone, dubbed Black, that would make even the likes of James Bond's gadget man, Q, drool. Try to take it apart and it self-destructs. It also has built-in disk encryption, which protects stored data by converting it into garbled code. Boeing's staying mum on how much the device will cost and when and where it will be available, but the phone won't be in your local store -- it's intended for the government contractor's defense and security customers.

Flappy Bird' will fly back to app stores

(CNN) -- Let the flapless among us take heart. "Flappy Bird," the now defunct mobile sensation, will one day rise like a phoenix and fling itself awkwardly into an app store near you.

"Yes," Nguyen replied. "But not soon."Dong Nguyen, the creator of the infuriatingly addictive and deceptively difficult mobile game confirmed as much early Wednesday on Twitter. Responding to a tweet Dong sent last month, a follower directly asked if he plans to ever make the game available again.

That's an about-face from last month, when Nguyen, in a rare interview, told Forbes that "Flappy Bird" was "gone forever."

Originally released last May, "Flappy Bird" had largely languished before a surge in popularity, starting around December, that would see it become the most downloaded app in both Apple's App Store and the Google Play store for Android devices.

At the time of its demise, "Flappy Bird" had an average four-star rating from more than 543,000 reviews in the Apple App Store and 228,000 on Android. Many of the reviews were lengthy, tongue-in-cheek tales of time lost, marriages ended and people going cuckoo after playing the game.

At the time, Nguyen said he was afraid that what he'd intended to be a simple pastime had gotten out of control and become "addictive" to some users. The Vietnamese developer, who has stayed largely out of the spotlight, had also come under intense scrutiny, with some accusing him (without evidence, it should be noted) of using bots to artificially inflate the game's app-store rankings.

People who had already downloaded the app didn't lose it, but those who hadn't were out of luck.

And so, we wait. In the mean time, Dot Gears, Nguyen's studio, has two other games available for download -- "Shuriken Block" and "Super Ball Juggling." And he promises more to come -- probably before we see "Flappy Bird" again.

Or you could just busy yourself with one of the multitude of "Flappy Bird" clones, which continue to flood app stores at insane rates.

Solar-Powered Toilet Turns Poop Into Charcoal-Like Pellets

IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

NIC HALVERSON for Discovery News 1 day ago

 

 

Though typically uttered with more vulgar language, the off-color remark of "defecating a brick" usually signifies a person's shock. Once you see this solar-powered toilet, you may be inspired to do the same, quite literally.

SEE ALSO: Photos of Tasty Tech Eye Candy Of The Week

Led by Karl Linden, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Colorado, a team of engineers built the Sol-Char, a toilet that scorches waste via fiber-optic cables, heated by solar concentrators on the roof. The system produces a useful byproduct called biochar, a sanitary charcoal briquette-like material that can be used for agricultural fertilizer and soil amendment.

"A solar concentrator has all this light focused in on one centimeter. It'd be fine if we could bring everyone's fecal waste up to that one point, like burning it with a magnifying glass," Linden told Motherboard. "But that's not practical, so we were thinking of other ways to concentrate that light.

"Eight parabolic mirrors aim the sun's rays onto a postage stamp-sized collector, which is then beamed into the cables. When heat combines with photons in the "reaction chamber," 700 watts incinerate the waste at up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

Though tweaking the toilet is an ongoing effort, Sol-Char's current design remains a high-powered, poo-torching outhouse. "The transmission efficiency is really high, it's like 90% as you don't have many losses," Linden said.

Researchers built the Sol-Char as part of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet challenge, which seeks to bring radical, sustainable change to sanitary facilities in developing nations. By sanitizing waste without the need of large treatment facilities or massive infrastructure, Sol-Char remains "off the grid," one of the challenge's goals. The project received $777,000 initial funding from the Gates Foundation and additional $1 million in a second round.

SEE ALSO: AirBlade Creates Life-Sized Air Hockey Rink

The team is currently in New Delhi for the second-annual Reinvent the Toilet Fair, where Linden and company will present their working prototype.

"Our system right now is not field ready. It can operate, and all our technology can work in an integrated fashion, but we have to be there," Linden said. "The next phase of the research is to take what we're doing now and make it ready for the field."

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This article originally published at Discovery News here

TOPICS: BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION, COLORADO, DEV & DESIGN, INDIA, SOCIAL GOOD,SOLAR POWER, TECH, TOILET, WORLD

Windowless Jet Will Let You Virtually Ride on Top of Clouds

The Windowless Supersonic Jet

OPEN GALLERY

Cabin Interior Day

IMAGE: SPIKE AEROSPACE

Show As List

BY ADARIO STRANGE

If you've ever wondered what it's like to fly in Wonder Woman's invisible jet, you may soon get a chance to find out.

Spike Aerospace announced plans to launch a windowless supersonic business jet that will feature video displays that take up most of the interior wall space. Outside of the aircraft, an array of cameras will send a live video feed of the exterior to the interior wall screens, giving passengers the experience of riding right on top of clouds.

SEE ALSO: Delta Airlines iPad App Has a 'Glass Bottom Jet' Feature

And while some passengers might be uncomfortable seeing visuals of high-altitude travel from such an immersive perspective, many others will likely jump at the chance to get a never-before-possible window-seat view of the clouds.

Adding to the surreal nature of the experience will be the fact that the flights will travel at supersonic speeds of Mach 1.6 to 1.8. According to Spike Aerospace, this means the company's aircrafts will be able to travel from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just five hours, and New York City to London in just three.

A concept illustration of the view from the Spike S-512 supersonic jet. 

IMAGE: SPIKE AEROSPACE

In the concept illustrations depicting what the aircraft's interior will look like, the company also shows off a PowerPoint-style presentation superimposed on top of the outside scenery. Spike Aerospace hasn't gone into great detail on this point, but the graphic (above) indicates that the displays will be somewhat interactive, possibly allowing activities that range from gaming to working on spreadsheets.

But as amazing as that all sounds, consider the virtual-experience possibilities: Imagine the plane's display panels showing the aircraft gradually ascending into space in concert with the aircraft's real-life movements.

Sure, you wouldn't get to experience the weightlessness that a company such asZero-G offers (and soon, Virgin Galactic, too) with its space-tourism service, but aside from that detail, such a scenario could become a popular way to mix virtual tourism with real-world travel.

According to Wired, the Spike S-512 supersonic jet will cost about $80 million to be ready for its public debut in December 2018.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

TOPICS: AIRCRAFT, AIRPLANES, AVIATION, CONCEPT DESIGNS, DEV & DESIGN, GADGETS, SUPERSONIC,TECH, TRAVEL, TRAVEL & LEISURE, VIRTUALTOURIST

Smart Light Bulb Doubles as Bluetooth Speaker

The range of new products promising to transform your humble abode into a "smart home" has exploded in recent months, but not all so-called "Internet of things" devices are created equal.

Bucking the trend toward everyday items that include obscure embedded features, France-based AwoX has come up with a simple smart-home solution that seamlessly merges utility with entertainment in its StriimLIGHT device.

SEE ALSO: Internet-Connected LED Bulbs Are in Our Near Future

The LED light bulb doubles as a Bluetooth speaker that you can control using the AwoX Smart Control app on your smartphone, or from your desktop on Mac OS X and Windows. The app allows you to brighten or dim the light, apply an alarm timer to its functions and control the speaker's volume.

The Android version of the AwoX Smart CONTROL app.

IMAGE: AWOX 

For those who don't have a smartphone to connect to the StriimLIGHT, each bulb comes with a separate credit card-sized remote control. Delivering 110 to 240 volts of LED illumination, the device pumps out sound via a 10-watt speaker, which is plenty of audio power for most rooms.

There's also a Wi-Fi version of the device called the StriimLIGHT Wi-Fi, announced at this year's CES, which operates in the same way as the Bluetooth version.

The Android version of the AwoX Smart CONTROL app.

IMAGE: AWOX 

So while the StriimLIGHT doesn't measure your energy consumption or produce fancy infographics detailing the ambient lighting metrics of your home, it saves space while intelligently wiring your home for sound.

Both versions of the StriimLIGHT, which have limited availability in the U.S., are priced at $99. The AwoX Smart Control smartphone app is available for iOS andAndroid.

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TOPICS: ANDROID, APPS, AUDIO, BLUETOOTH, GADGETS, INTERNET OF THINGS, IOS, LED , LIGHTING,SMART HOME, SPEAKERS, TECH, THE INTERNET OF THINGS, WI-FI

The First Android Wear Devices Are the Moto 360 and LG G Watch  

Earlier this afternoon, Google officially unveiled Android Wear, its new platform for wearables. Now both Motorola and LG have announced Android Wear smartwatches.

Motorola, Google's former-subsidiary apparently has big plans for Android Wear. It's calling its watch the Moto 360. The device is notable because it has a round face — something we haven't seen before in a smartwatch.

SEE ALSO: 10 Free Android Apps You'll Use Every Day

Like the Moto X, the Moto 360 is also designed to take advantage of gestures. Twisting a wrist will show an alert or your next meeting. On its blog, Motorola is hyping what it calls "premium materials" and says the Moto 360 will be available in a variety of styles.

LG's first Android Wear smartwatch is appropriately dubbed the LG G Watch.

IMAGE: LG

LG is calling its device the LG G Watch and the company says it will be compatible with a variety of Android smartphones. LG says it expects to release the G Watch in the second quarter of 2014 — so we should see it in just a few months.

The company released a mockup image, which looks similar to some other smartwatches we've seen — including Sony's Android-powered SmartWatch 2.

LG says it will release more details on the LG G Watch in the coming months.

The Moto 360 will be available in Summer 2014, first in the United States and then in the rest of the world.

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Moto 360