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ven by its own high standards, Asus outdid expectations with its Computex presser today. Not only did it announce a completely ridiculous home assistant robot and a thinner-than-a-MacBook laptop, but it also laid claim to having the first aluminum unibody phone free of unsightly antenna lines. Study the square-jawed ZenFone 3 Deluxe as closely as you wish; you won't find its matte rear disturbed by the practicalities of obtaining a wireless signal. Asus has somehow worked around the iPhone's most glaring aesthetic shortcoming, beating competitors like HTC, Huawei, and Meizu in producing a "full-metal" phone with completely discreet antennas. LG might dispute that claim with its G5 and its disguised antennas, but the G5 has a detachable bottom that really detracts from the notion of a unibody device. Alongside the 5.7-inch Deluxe, Asus today also unveiled the 6.8-inch ZenFone 3 Ultra, which resides firmly in phablet territory while also matching the invisib...

Asus didn't mention this during their  laptop - and  phone - and  robot -packed Computex Taipei press conference, but in the demo area there's a virtual reality headset on display behind glass; other than the name "Asus VR" emblazoned above it, there's zero explanation of what it actually is. But! It does have stitched leather straps, which look a little too  ZenWatch-like  for my taste but are arguably more fashion forward than the likes of the HTC Vive. Chances are this is little more than another example of what's  increasingly starting to feel like  an obligatory accessory for phone manufacturers. It's a particular curio in Asus' case, however, since the company has  publicly stated  that it finds augmented reality more interesting than VR and plans to release an AR headset in 2016. If that's still the plan, it sure isn't at Computex.

Above: Google app for iOS. Image Credit: Jordan Novet/VentureBeat Google today announced that it’s once again expanding the deployment of its open source Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project for more quickly delivering Web content to mobile devices. Now the AMP pages are showing up inside the Google app for iOS — following their launch in Google News and mobile Google search results . All AMP articles are displayed with a lightning bolt icon. Facebook’s competing but proprietary Instant Articles technology also uses a lightning bolt to indicate when articles are using it. Above: Google AMP articles in the Google app for iOS. Image Credit: Google But that’s not all — the Google app on iOS in general is about 10 percent faster now. “Whether you can notice the difference or not, these small improvements will save app users a combined 6.5 million hours this year,” Google vice president of product management Tamar Yehoshua wrote in a blog post . Beyond th...

While the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit was probably one of the biggest lawsuits in the tech scene in the past few years, there was actually another lawsuit taking place that did not quite get the same publicity, and that was Google vs Oracle, in which the later claimed that Google owed them as much as $9.3 billion for using Java in their Android operating system. According to Oracle, they claimed that Google used Java’s APIs without their permission, while Google claimed that APIs could not gain any kind of protection from the copyright law. Now there has been a bit of back and forth but ultimately it looks like Google prevailed, because according to the jury, they found that Google does not owe Oracle anything . Obviously this is good news for Google who has managed to avoid paying a whopping $9.3 billion in damages to Oracle had they lost. However there is even more good news in the sense that with this case, it has set a precedent and the rules in which what programmers can bo...

A product that can see sailing and location or nearby ship in real time through Smart devices such as Smartphones, notepads and others has been released. Marine SOFT (CEO Lee Jae-in) made an announcement on the 26th that it has developed AIS Monitoring System (AKA Smart Monitoring System) for small ship based on Smart devices. Smart Monitoring System is comprised of PPWC (Pilot Plug to Wi-Fi Converter) that sends current AIS (Automatic Identification System) information to Smart Devices after changing it to Wi-Fi and an application that can monitor this information through a marine chart. If PPWC is attached and application is ran through a Smart device, one can see types, locations and information on movements of nearby ship with his or her ship at the center. Because coastal ocean and ports have huge containers and small ship come in and out frequently and has fishing boats nearby, there is a high chance of dangers. < President Lee Jae-in is explaining a marine map that i...

This year may very well be seen as the dawn of the modular smartphone, with LG  and  Motorola  both offering an array of functionality-enhancing hardware accessories that attach to their flagship handsets and Google’s Project Ara poised to ship its first development kit . But phones are not the only members of the mobile ecosystem to adopt this trend, now that protective case maker OtterBox has introduced its ambitious modular case system, known as Universe. Compatible with the current and previous generation of iPhones (6 / 6s / 6 Plus / 6s Plus), the system is built around a version of the manufacturer’s $50 Symmetry series case, though it features one key design difference: a slotted rail expansion bay around back, at the bottom. But the real story here is the wide array of modules available at launch or soon after. OtterBox has teamed up with a number of other well-known companies that have contributed custom-built add-ons, which give the phone additional stora...

OnePlus 3 basics: 5.5-inch 1080p, Snapdragon 820, 64GB storage, 16MP rear camera, NFC. SS from an N preview build.

Starting  on June 3 through June 30,  customers using older versions of the PayPal mobile app on Android and iOS will be required to upgrade to version 6.0, the  newest version  of the PayPal app. Version 6.0 of the PayPal app is currently supported on the following devices: Android devices running OS 4.03 or greater Apple devices running iOS 8.1 or higher: iPhone 4S or greater, iPad 2 or greater, and iPod Touch 5th gen or greater Version 6.0 of the PayPal mobile app has enhanced features and a new look and feel. We have brought features that our customers use most to the forefront such as send and request money, PayPal balance and transaction history. Customers can get the latest versions of the PayPal app at the  Apple App Store   and  Google Play   store or go to m.paypal.com to access their PayPal account on the mobile web. For Windows Phone users, we will sunset the current version of the PayPal app on June 30. However...

It looks like the worlds of Raspberry Pi and Android are about to collide, as the folks over at  Google  do seem to prime themselves to roll out an official Android Open Source Project port for the  Raspberry Pi  3, now how about that for folks who would like to introduce their little ones to developing their own machines and programs? .A Google employee managed to create the Raspberry Pi 3 repository at the AOSP not too long ago, although no one has yet seen any kind of code published to it. While efforts have been few and far in between to see different Android builds run on Raspberry Pi devices, a formal Google-sanctioned release would be a very big deal when it comes to encouraging experimentation with the platform with such hardware. After all, to see Android on a Raspberry Pi would mean one can now connect powerful software alongside a polished UI, which would make it a very potent combination where affordable custom hardware is concerned, and it should no...

Key Specs Moto G4 Plus Status Released Display Diagonal 5.5" Processor/Soc Name MSM8952 Snapdragon 617, 8-core, quad-core 1.5 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Max. Total Storage Capacity 144 GB Megapixels 16 MP Battery Capacity (mAh) 3000 mAh Complete product data Motorola Moto G4 Plus Full specs and details

It was only a few days ago that  Samsung’s upcoming mid-range devices  were spotted at TENAA, China’s version of the FCC, and once these handsets had received certification it was only a matter of time that the company launched them officially. The Galaxy C is a new series of smartphones from Samsung, comprising of two models, the Galaxy C7, and Galaxy C5. The Galaxy C7 has a 5.7 inch full HD AMOLED display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 4GB RAM, up to 64GB of onboard storage, microSD support, 16 megapixel rear and 8 megapixel front camera,  Android 6.0 .1 Marshmallow and a 3,300mAh battery. Most of the specs are similar, the Galaxy C5 only has a smaller 5.2 inch full HD display, Snapdragon 617 processor, the same amount of RAM, onboard storage, cameras, and software. It does have a smaller battery. Both handsets have a fingerprint sensor. Samsung’s latest mid-range smartphones feature a full metal body and will be offered in gold, silver, grey ...

Last year, ZTE surprised us with the  Axon , an all-metal Android phone with surprisingly high-end specs for just $450. But while it was a noble attempt at an affordable flagship, we had issues with its slightly chunky design and lack of storage. Enter the Axon 7, ZTE's followup which once again aims to take on much more expensive Android phones. It has a luxe-feeling unibody metal case, loads of storage options and a sharp 2K display. And best of all? It's still just $450. As soon as I picked up the Axon 7, it felt familiar. Between the slightly curved edges of its 5.5-inch display and its unibody case, I could have sworn I was holding my iPhone 6S instead. It feels natural in your hand, even more so than  HTC's 10 . Speaking of HTC, the Axon 7 also shares a few design elements from the One series, from its rear antenna bands to its stereo front-facing speakers. At this point, every phone manufacturer takes a bit of inspiration from the competition (even Apple...

Image copyright Image ca Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots. One factory has "reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots", a government official told  the South China Morning Post . Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan region, added: "More companies are likely to follow suit." China is investing heavily in a robot workforce. In a statement to the BBC, Foxconn Technology Group confirmed that it was automating "many of the manufacturing tasks associated with our operations" but denied that it meant long-term job losses. "We are applying robotics engineering and other innovative manufacturing technologies to replace repetitive tasks previously done by employees, and through training, also enable our employees to focus on higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process, such as research and development, process control and q...

LG Electronics is releasing $38,030 (45 million KRW) 77-inch TV, which is supposed to be next OLED TV model for LG Electronics’ ultra-premium brand called ‘LG Signature’, in July. Considering the fact that LG Signature 65-inch OLED TV that was released for the first time in last March costed $9,300 (11 million KRW), price has jumped up by four times. According to an industry on the 25th, LG Electronics is currently producing LG Signature 77-inch OLED TVs and is planning to release them in markets in July. LG Electronics is currently receiving pre-orders for 77-inch OLED TV through department stores and electronic merchandisers. “Store price of LG Signature 77-inch OLED TV is going to be around $38,030 and actual delivery will be possible starting from end of July.” said a representative for a distribution industry. Price of LG Signature OLED TV is little bit higher than a price of normal OLED TV with same size. Although there are huge differences in prices between LG Signature ...

Samsung Electronics has chosen the name of new Galaxy Note as ‘Galaxy Note 7’and has decided to continue popularity of Galaxy S7. It has decided to skip over Galaxy Note 6 to eliminate any inconsistency with an image that can occur as numbers of two products’ brands are different. It is also applying dual-edge on Note series for the first time. This is seen as Samsung Electronics’ strategy to maximize marketability of ‘Galaxy Note7’, which is considered as Samsung Electronics’ biggest anticipated product, and to widen a gap between itself and Apple. According to multiple representative of telecommunication industry, Samsung Electronics has chosen the name of new Galaxy Note, which is to be released in second half of 2016, as Galaxy Note 7. Although it is supposedly be called as Galaxy Note 6 as Galaxy Note 5 was released last year, Samsung Electronics made a bold decision of jumping over one level. “Within Samsung Electronics, a new Galaxy Note is already being called as Galaxy N...

It was at Google I/O two years ago that Samsung announced its Gear Live smartwatch (now discontinued) running the Android Wear OS. Two years later the collaboration is over.  Samsung executives told  Fast Company  today that no more Samsung Android Wear devices are in development or being planned.  The executives said Samsung's own Tizen OS, used in almost all the company's wearables now, is far more battery-efficient than Android Wear. Also, Tizen is becoming the standard OS on other Samsung products from TVs to refrigerators, the executives said. Update:  Samsung responded this way in a statement to  Fast Company  Monday afternoon:  "Samsung has not made any announcement concerning Android Wear and we have not changed our commitment to any of our platforms."  MS

Growth at the Chinese smartphone maker, with a $45 billion valuation, has slowed dramatically. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker and second highest-valued startup in the world at $45 billion, barely grew sales at all last year. Revenue for 2015 reached 78 billion yuan ($12.5 billion), a 5% rise from 2014’s 74.3 billion yuan, a person in the company’s public affairs office said for the first time over the weekend. Taking into account the falling value of the Chinese currency, the yuan, sales rose 3% in U.S. dollar terms. Xiaomi has been mum about the 2015 sales total since founder Lei Jun gave a revenue target of 100 billion yuan ($16 billion at the time) at a government meeting in March last year.  The Xiaomi public affairs official, Ge Liang, announced the 2015 figure in an interview this weekend at a Beijing tech conference. The interview later ran on a few Chinese news sites, including the conference’s  own . (One of the news sites, China News Net, has since ...

Samsung and AT&T are poised to release their ruggedized version of the flagship  Galaxy S7  smartphone, the Galaxy S7 Active. As usual, the specifications for this water- and dust-resistant handset closely match those of its mainstream linemate, according to an official spec sheet shown to VentureBeat. The design of the S7 Active (pictured above, in black and gold) has not changed much from last year’s Active model. However, its measurements are slightly larger across all three dimensions, including an increased thickness of 9.9 millimeters — over a millimeter thicker than the 8.6-millimeter Galaxy S6 Active. There’s also been a 15-gram weight gain, from 170 grams to 185 grams. That increase is likely due to the S7 Active’s significantly larger battery, whose 4000mAh capacity is almost 15 percent greater than the prior model’s 3500mAh pack. However, the bigger dimensions do not house a larger screen, as  has been rumored  previously about this ...