AAWireless is a dongle that promises to enable wireless Android Auto on wired head units

As cars become increasingly connected, millions of drivers are using services like Android Auto to access their favorite apps and services from within their vehicle. Android Auto allows users to project their smartphone’s apps onto a car head unit, a touchscreen display that connects to an Android device via a USB lead or wirelessly.

While wireless Android Auto is certainly more convenient, it only works when you have a specific Android device (until the Android 11 update rolls out) and a supported car head unit and/or a WiFi Direct-enabled aftermarket receiver. Unfortunately, wireless Android Auto head units are somewhat limited and aftermarket wireless AA receivers can be pretty expensive.

But seasoned developer Emil Borconi, who previously developed an app to enable wireless Android Auto on wired-only head units, has teamed up with fellow developer Chiel Prins to create a plug and play dongle that enables users to turn their wired Android Auto head unit into a wireless one via its USB port.

The device has similar aims to the AAGateWay app that was previously developed by Borconi, but it is far easier for people to use. Supporting devices that run on Android 9 or above, the AAWireless dongle connects to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth in order to establish a Wi-Fi connection and is powered entirely by a car’s USB port.

What’s great is that users should be able to connect wirelessly within 30 or 40 seconds; Emil tells us that the board itself boots up in about 8-10 seconds from its SD card (though this will improve once they switch to booting from the internal eMMC), while the phone connecting to the board via Wi-Fi and then launching Android Auto takes anywhere between 10-20 seconds depending on the phone. The dongle should work with any existing Android Auto-compatible head unit, and in terms of pricing, costs just $65 ($55 and postage). Comparable devices enabling wireless Apple CarPlay support are being sold in the region of $130, and no such similar product exists on the Android Auto side of things.

After developing and demonstrating a prototype of AAWireless, Emil and Chiel are looking to raise over $200,000 in seed funding to bring the device to market. At the time of writing, 229 people had backed the device and it’s scheduled to ship globally this fall. “The final product will be much smaller than the prototype shown. It will not include an Ethernet port, USB-A port, pins, etc and the expected size will be somewhere around 5x5x3 cm (roughly 2 x 2 x 1 inch),” wrote the developers on Indiegogo. They added: “We have made it this far with our own resources, investing a huge amount of time, effort and energy to bring this project live; but now we need your help to make it available for the masses. We have already started testing this on as many cars and units as possible. However, it’s not an easy or cheap task due to the amount of hardware needing to be tested. We are actively working to overcome shortcomings and some funds will be used for testing as many cars and head units as possible.”

AAWireless – Indiegogo Campaign ||| XDA forum thread

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Many Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 users are reporting GPS tracking issues

Many Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 owners are reportedly experiencing GPS tracking issues, and these complaints have been bubbling for the past several months.

According to many threads on Reddit and elsewhere from around the web, many Galaxy S8 and Note 8 users are experiencing an issue where navigation apps are unable to keep a consistent GPS lock on. These users are reporting that apps like Google Maps, for example, won’t track their location once they start driving. Users believe the issue started following an update rolled out earlier this year, but it’s difficult to pinpoint the root cause. In any case, the volume of complaints we’re seeing suggests that Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 owners have been dealing with this issue for months now.

Our tipster, XDA member shiftf7, managed to capture a video of their GPS tracking issues in action. As you can see in the video, the user’s navigation app of choice — in this case, Google Maps — is unable to track the phone’s location, even though they’re out and about in a moving vehicle, . You can imagine how frustrating that might be for people trying to use navigation to travel somewhere.

ShiftF7 also compiled an extensive list of Reddit posts with Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 owners complaining about these GPS tracking issues. It doesn’t appear Samsung has acknowledged and rolled out an update to fix the issue yet, as users are still complaining about the issue.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Forums ||| Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Forums

Whatever the case, there are many Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 having GPS tracking issues, and they want a fix. At the very least, hopefully Samsung acknowledges something is going on. Otherwise, there are a lot of unhappy Samsung Galaxy owners out there who can’t use their phone for navigation.

Sources: XDA [1] [2], Reddit [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], …and many more

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The ASUS ZenFone 7 and ROG Phone 3 support passthrough charging for gaming without degrading the battery

The distinction between smartphones and gaming consoles is getting blurred for consumers in certain Asian markets thanks to the rise of the gaming phone. Mobile eSports titles are now bigger than ever, thus it’s not uncommon to see users spend hundreds of hours playing multiplayer games on their phone rather than PC or console. Such long gaming sessions are obviously demanding for the battery, so users end up repeatedly charging their phones to keep playing. Your phone’s long-term battery capacity takes a hit if you constantly charge it to full. To address this issue, the recently launched ASUS ROG Phone 3 and the ASUS ZenFone 7 series come with a charging limit feature that enables passthrough charging once the battery level reaches a certain limit.

Source: ASUS

ASUS ROG Phone 3 Forums ||| ASUS ZenFone 7 Forums ||| ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro Forums

While reviewing the ROG Phone 3, we mentioned how ASUS offers an option to set the charging limit to 80 or 90% in order to extend the battery lifespan. Once enabled, the charging circuitry inside the phone switches to drawing power directly from the charger rather than the battery that’s being trickle charged—effectively bypassing the battery! This is similar to the H.S. Power Control feature that Sony exposes on the Sony Xperia 1 II, which was met with much fanfare. This feature not only eliminates the need to continuously charge the battery during prolonged gaming sessions but also reduces overall heat generation which in turn extends the lifetime of the phone as well as the charger.

Thanks to XDA Senior Member ryu091 for the screenshots!

To set this up, go to Settings -> Battery -> Power Master -> Battery Care on the ROG Phone 3 or Settings > Battery > Battery Care on the ASUS ZenFone 7. We tested this feature on the ZenFone 7 Pro and confirmed using the Ampere app that the phone stopped charging the battery once the limit was reached. The battery limit feature is available on the current crop of ASUS devices with ZenUI 7, which includes the ROG Phone 3 and ZenFone 7, so it could come to other ASUS devices in the future.

Ampere (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Xiaomi, OPPO, and Huawei are recruiting beta testers for their respective Android 11 updates

After a long period of testing, Google is just a few expected days away from rolling out the stable version of Android 11 for its own range of Pixel smartphones. While the next major version of Android will be available for the Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 4 on September 8 as per previous leaks, it’ll likely take longer to reach compatible smartphones from other manufacturers. OEMs have been busy running their own closed betas based on the Developer Previews in preparation for an eventual rollout. Xiaomi, OPPO, and Huawei have this week launched respective beta testing programs for their upcoming Android 11 updates.

Xiaomi is giving owners of the Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro, and POCO F2 Pro handsets until September 9th to apply and take part in its beta testing scheme for the Android 11-based MIUI 12 update. As part of its recruitment process, Xiaomi has released a form that asks users to provide their email address, Mi ID, IMEI number, the name of their device, and a Telegram username in order to participate in the scheme. The company says its beta testers must have a compatible smartphone and be able to “actively participate in the stable version test, feedback, and suggestion.” Curiously, the Mi Note 10/CC9 Pro is missing from this list, even though it has also received its first Android 11 build with MIUI 12.

Meanwhile, Oppo is looking for people to take part in a beta test for a new version of its ColorOS that is powered by Android 11. The update will be available for the Oppo Find X2, Find X2 Pro, Reno3 4G, and Reno3 Pro 4G. Oppo hasn’t released much information about its beta test at this time, but users can apply from September 7th. Expect to hear more information about supported countries and the number of beta testers on this date.

Finally, Huawei is on the lookout for users of the P40, Mate 30, and MatePad Pro series to test out its Android 11-based EMUI 10.1 software update. Between September 1st and September 8th, it’ll be recruiting 2000 users per model.

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Moto G8, Moto G Stylus, and several other Snapdragon 665 Motorola phones receive a unified OmniROM build

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset is slightly over a year old at this point, but OEMs like Motorola still prefer to use this octa-core SoC while designing its latest mid-range offerings. The Lenovo-owned brand has released a handful of Snapdragon 665-powered smartphones so far, including the Moto G8, the Moto G Stylus, and the Moto G Power. The launch strategy for these devices is quite fascinating: the Moto G Fast sold in the U.S. is nothing but the Moto G8 under the hood, while the European Moto G Pro shares the same DNA as the Moto G Stylus.

Despite the internal similarities of these devices, Motorola went ahead and published separate kernel source code packages for these devices. Now, OmniROM contributor Vache Ounet, known on our forums as XDA Recognized Developer vache, is trying to bring harmony amidst the chaos with his unified build of OmniROM. It’s based on Android 10 and is cross-compatible between most of the aforementioned smartphones.

XDA Forums: Moto G Power/G8 Power ||| Moto G8/G Fast ||| Moto G Stylus/G Pro

His efforts all started with an unofficial build of OmniROM for the Moto G8 Power. Later on, vache did a terrific job bringing up the unified device tree for these Snapdragon 665 Moto phones, on which the current builds are being based on. Apart from a minor bug with cellular data on Verizon, the unified custom ROM is considered stable by the developer. SELinux is set to enforcing, and SafetyNet Attestation is expected to pass for all device variants.

The list of phones currently supported by the unified OmniROM build can be found below:

• Moto G Power (code-name “sofia”) and Moto G8 Power (code-name “sofiar”)
• Moto G Stylus (code-name “sofiap”) and Moto G Pro (code-name “sofiap_ao”)
• Moto G8 and Moto G Fast (codename “rav” and “rav_t”)

OmniROM comes with Google apps pre-installed. You don’t need a custom recovery like TWRP for installing it, as the ROM is designed to be flashed through the Fastboot interface. Take a look at the forum threads linked above and follow the instructions in the first post to get the ROM up and running on your device.

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Realme is bringing 10 new smartphones, a smartwatch, a smart TV, 2 earbuds, and a bunch of IoT devices to Europe

Realme got real serious at IFA 2020 this week, revealing just how committed the company is to increasing its presence in the European market. The technology brand, which is one of the newer companies after spinning off from OPPO, has already taken the e-commerce tech scene by storm in India, and they’re hoping to achieve the same success in Europe.

The company at IFA outlined its “One Europe Strategy,” wherein it plans to bring its latest products to Europe as soon as possible; the company, for example, plans to launch 9 smartphones in Europe that were previously launched in India and China. Going forward, the company hopes to speed up new product launches in Europe, focusing on 8 key markets (Germany, the UK, Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, and Italy) and expanding to 7 new markets (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.) Germany will be the company’s new European headquarter, and Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth has been appointed to lead the company’s efforts in the region.

Some of the smart home devices Realme plans to bring to Europe include a new smartwatch, a new smart TV, a new pair of truly wireless earbuds, a new pair of neckband-style earphones, a smart light, and a home security camera. In addition, Realme plans to introduce as many as 10 smartphones to Europe, including the not-yet-released Narzo 20 series.

Smartphones

Realme’s range of smartphones will fill virtually every need and price point. The company is bringing devices under 5 different lines: The C series will fill the budget segment, the Narzo will fill the low-to-mid-range segment, the “Number” series will fill the mid-range segment, the “V” series will make 5G more affordable, and the “X” series will feature upper mid-range and flagship-tier devices.

Realme’s X7 series is of particular interest, because it’s one of the company’s flagship series of devices, featuring higher-end specs such as OLED displays, 5G capabilities, 64MP quad rear cameras, and high-end designs. As you’d expect, the Realme X7 Pro is at the highest end of the flagship spectrum, featuring a 120Hz display, 4500mAh battery, and MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus processor. The V3 and V5 also feature MediaTek Dimensity chipsets with integrated 5G modems, so Europeans will have 4 different options to pick from when it comes to 5G-capable smartphones.

Here’s the full list of Realme smartphones making their way to Europe later this year.

• Realme C Series: C11, C12, and C15
• Realme Narzo Series: Narzo 10, Narzo 10A, Narzo 20 series
• Realme Number Series: 7 and 7 Pro
• Realme X Series: X7 and X7 Pro

Smartwatch

The Realme Watch S Pro is a new smartwatch that features a round design and an AMOLED display. It resembles something like the Galaxy Watch 3, with two crowns on the right and what could potentially be a rotating dial. Details beyond that weren’t shared.

Earbuds

Meanwhile, Realme also introduced the Realme Buds Air Pro, truly wireless earbuds that resemble AirPods. The wireless earbuds will support noise cancellation and are expected to launch in Q4 2020. Unfortunately, no pricing was made available.

Realme also said it’s bringing its new Buds Wireless Pro to Europe, neckband-style earphones that are the successor to the Buds Wireless. The Buds Wireless Pro are also expected to launch soon, though no pricing has been made available.

Smart Home Products

Some of the other products the company plans to bring to Europe include the Realme Smart TV 55″ (launching in Q4 2020), the Realme Smart Bulb, the Realme Smart Cam 360, a Smart Speaker, and more. The company’s “1+4+N” strategy will see it launch “over 50 AIoT products in 2020 and 100 in 2021.”

That’s a lot of products, but it’s a well-rounded portfolio of tech products that should appeal to everyone, from mid-range smartphones to smart home products galore. If Europeans aren’t privy to Realme yet, they’re about to get quite familiar with the brand now.

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Samsung updates the Galaxy S10 Lite with One UI 2.5 and September 2020 patches

Samsung has been slowly rolling out its One UI 2.5 update to its vast library of devices, starting with its older flagship smartphones, and now the company is bringing the software to yet another such device. Galaxy S10 Lite owners can now download the One UI 2.5 update, which introduces a host of new features.

The One UI 2.5 OTA for the Galaxy S10 Lite is currently rolling out to users in Spain. The firmware version is G770FXXU3CTH4. Samsung also merged the September 2020 Android security patches.

We don’t currently have a full changelog of what’s been updated, but if we were to go by what was previously rolled out to the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus, we would say that the update brings a lot of new features to the table, including Wireless DeX and an enhanced Pro Video mode. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to actually be the case, as according to SamMobile, the One UI 2.5 update for the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite does not include Pro Video’s new granular resolution controls and mic selection as well as Wireless DeX. The lack of Wireless DeX makes sense, though, since the phone doesn’t even support wired DeX in the first place. The update does improve the duration of Single Take selection intervals in the camera app, though.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite Forums

The One UI 2.5 update is Samsung’s next stop before it issues an update to One UI 3.0, which will be based on Android 11. Samsung is currently testing that update in closed beta, so hopefully, it won’t be long before an open beta and then stable build is released.

With a rollout beginning in Spain, more Galaxy S10 Lite owners around Europe should see the update soon. Has your device received the update?

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