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mercredi 18 décembre 2019

Google joins Apple and Amazon to develop an open-source smart home standard

The modern “smart home” is a relatively new concept and we’re still trying to figure out how it works best. One of the things that complicated the current landscape is the various standards and systems built by technology companies. Will a smart home device work with Google Assistant or Alexa? Will my TV be able to communicate with my smart speaker? There are so many concerns about compatibility and now Google, Apple, and Amazon are teaming up to address it.

Google, Apple, and Amazon (among others) have joined forces to create “Project Connected Home Over IP.” The group is managed by the Zigbee Alliance, which is probably a name you’ve heard if you’re into smart home gadgets. The goal is to develop a new, open-source smart home connectivity standard based on Internet Protocol. This will hopefully simplify the process of setting up smart home products for consumers and reduce costs and development time for developers of said products.

This new standard will work alongside existing protocols such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There are no concrete plans yet, but the group does say devices will most likely have to support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, or Thread to work with the system. Also, the standard will be based around IP, but not all devices will need to connect to the internet. The standard will allow devices to send messages to each other with “end-to-end security and privacy.”

Beyond the big names of Google, Apple, Amazon, and Zigbee, companies such as IKEA, Samsung SmartThings, and Signify (Philips Lighting) are also part of the group. The goal of the group is great for consumers and developers, but we have no idea what the end product will look like. The group will start with a focus on safety devices such as smoke alarms and door locks. The initial “draft” of the standard is set to be released in late 2020.

Project Connected Home Over IP


 

Source: Google

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Huawei P40 and P40 Pro renders reveal flat display, large camera modules

Earlier today, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Technologies Consumer Business Group, confirmed that the Huawei P40 will be launched in March. Now, just a few hours later, we’re getting our first glimpse of the device thanks to leaked renders. The renders don’t show a ton of detail, but we can glean some information about the devices.

First of all, there are two devices: the Huawei P40 and P40 Pro. The camera modules are large and very similar to the trends we’ve been seeing in late 2019. The P40 may have as many as four cameras, but the number of cameras in the Pro model is unknown at this time. The camera specifications may include a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, 20MP wide-angle, and 12MP zoom. The back of the P40 series is glass and both models feature curved edges.

On the front, the Huawei P40 has a flat display coming in at 6.1 or 6.2-inches. The P40 Pro, on the other hand, has the “premium” curved display edges and is 6.5 or 6.7-inches. One interesting design note is the corners on the metal frame. They come up past the display on the corners, presumably for durability, and it looks pretty cool. The displays are OLED and will feature in-display fingerprint sensors.

Both P40 devices have USB-C, bottom speakers, buttons on the right side, and no headphone jack. Some of the other loose specifications include 5,500 mAh battery in the Pro model, 50W fast charging, Kirin 990 SoC, and Android 10-based EMUI 10. They will likely launch without Google apps and services as well. There’s a lot left to learn about these phones before March.


Source: 91mobiles

The post Huawei P40 and P40 Pro renders reveal flat display, large camera modules appeared first on xda-developers.



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Modded Fossil Smartwatches app extends notification support to many more apps on Fossil Hybrid HR

The Fossil Hybrid HR is one of the most interesting smartwatches around. Rather than opt for a full-blown smartwatch on the Android Wear platform, the Hybrid HR opts for a traditional watch dial and physical watch hands, on top of a low-powered monochromatic always-on display. This allows the watch to stay a watch at all times while offering features such as fitness tracking capabilities, weather information, and app notifications, along with exemplary battery life. However, some features are handled through the official Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches app, which lacks some functionality. If you are looking to realize the hybrid smartwatches full potential, check out this modded Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches app.

This modded Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches app by Reddit user /u/coronafire started off as a way to fix some of the limitations that existed in the official watch. The official app previously supported notifications from only a handful of apps, with no way to display any notifications from other apps. So the modded app fixed this, as well as introduced a way to display the icon of the app which sent the notification. The modded app also allowed the watch to respect the phone’s DND setting, a feature that was curiously missing. The dev was also working on using custom backgrounds for the display, but the official app has just now incorporated the same, along with the ability to display notifications from more apps.

Modded Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches app

The custom background feature as teased by the dev of the mod

The official app still does not display icons properly for these notifications, and also does not have DND incorporated, so the modded app still retains utility.

Modded Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches app 

Since this is a mod of the official application, you need to uninstall the official application to install this one, because of the change in signature with which the app is signed with, because of its unofficial nature. If you are worried about the unofficial nature of the app, you can always check out the source code since the mod is open-sourced.

The post Modded Fossil Smartwatches app extends notification support to many more apps on Fossil Hybrid HR appeared first on xda-developers.



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OnePlus 6/6T Open Beta 3 brings November 2019 security patches and restores notch hiding options

Following the recent Android 10 rollout for the OnePlus 6/6T, OnePlus has now started rolling out OxygenOS Open Beta 3 for the devices. The update brings the Android security patches for November 2019 and it brings back the notch hiding option which was removed in a previous release. Additionally, OnePlus 6/6T users in India get an update for the OnePlus Care app which offers rewards and exclusive offers to those who sign up.

OnePlus 6 XDA Forums || OnePlus 6T XDA Forums

OxygenOS Open Beta 3 for the OnePlus 6/6T changelog:

  • System
    • Added the notch area display options under Settings>Display>Notch display>Hide the notch area
    • Updated the GMS Package
    • Updated Android security patch to 2019.11
    • Improves system stability and general bug fixes
  • OnePlus Care (India only)
    • Sign up to get rewards, premium experience, and exclusive offers

OnePlus has started rolling out the OxygenOS Open Beta 3 update to OnePlus 6/6T users who are already on the beta channel. If you’re running Open Beta 2 on your device, you should receive the update notification soon. In case you’re not on the beta channel, you’ll need to install OxygenOS Open Beta 2 on your device first before installing the latest release. Before you go ahead and install the Open Beta release, do note that the build won’t be as stable as the official OTA and you might encounter some unwanted bugs.

The post OnePlus 6/6T Open Beta 3 brings November 2019 security patches and restores notch hiding options appeared first on xda-developers.



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Picture Manager’s latest updates add duplicate and similar image finder, EXIF editor, and more

Apps like Google Photos have largely taken the pain out of organizing photos for users who do not mind sharing them with Google. But there are users who prefer keeping their memories private and stored locally. This is where apps like Picture Manager come in, allowing users to up their organization game by automatically timestamping and organizing photos in a few different ways. We previously covered the app in April 2018, and since then, the app by XDA Recognized Developer j to the 4n has received updates that have added in more key functionalities.

Changelog for Picture Manager’s last few updates are as below:

  • v2.0.0:
    • Introducing duplicate and similar image finder
      • Find duplicate images with crc32 calculation
      • Find similar images with PHash and AverageHash
      • Option to calculate bluriness of an image
    • Added option to copy instead moving files for organizer
    • Counter now accepts leading zeros to be defined
    • Some UI changes and fixes
  • v3.0.0:
    • Added EXIF Editor:
      • Single and Batch Mode available to edit 149 EXIF attributes
      • Batch Mode with conditions
      • Delete all EXIF Attributes
    • Added option to backup and restore picture manager settings
    • Some UI changes. Trying to make it easier for new users
    • Updated android-gif-drawable library to fix CVE-2019-11932

Key highlights of the recent updates are the ability to find duplicate images and similar images, as well as the Exif Editor which can function in single edit mode and batch edit mode for as many as 149 EXIF attributes. The update also fixes the “double-free bug” as defined in the CVE-2019-11932.

Picture Manager — XDA Discussion Thread
Download Picture Manager from the Google Play Store


Picture Manager: Rename and Organize with EXIF (Free+, Google Play) →

The post Picture Manager’s latest updates add duplicate and similar image finder, EXIF editor, and more appeared first on xda-developers.



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YouTube Music improves music discovery with three personalized playlists

Ever since its launch back in May 2018, YouTube Music has received several updates that introduced key features that were missing in the initial release. The app has received support for Android Auto, the ability to play locally stored media, an Android widget, and gapless playback support in previous updates. These new features make YouTube Music one of the best media players and music streaming services on Android, but it’s still far from being perfect. For instance, discovering music on the platform still isn’t as good as rival apps like Spotify and that isn’t the only problem with the app. Thankfully though, Google is now addressing this issue with the latest update for YouTube Music.

According to a recent blog post from the company, YouTube Music is now getting an update that brings three new personalized playlists for improved music discovery. The new Discover Mix, New Release Mix, and Your Mix playlists aim to keep you up to date on what’s new and introduce you to artists and songs based on your interests. These playlists are automatically updated at regular intervals based on your listening history and each playlist offers a unique experience.

The Discover Mix playlist helps you discover new artists and songs based on your preferences and listening history. It offers 50 completely new tracks each week and is updated every Wednesday. The New Release Mix, as the name suggests, brings all the latest releases by your favorite artists along with new releases from similar artists. The playlist will receive a major update every Friday with a couple of smaller mid-week updates throughout the week. Finally, the Your Mix playlist features your favorite songs and artists, along with a few similar songs that you’ve never heard before. The playlists will receive small updates regularly based on your most recent activity.

The blog post states that all three new playlists are now available in YouTube Music globally, however, at the time of writing, I was only able to see the Your Mix and New Release Mix playlists on my device.

YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →


Source: Google Blog

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[Update: Launched in India] Nokia 2.3 launches with Android One based on Android 9 Pie and a microUSB port

Update 12/18/19 @ 5:45 AM ET: Following its launch in Egypt, the Nokia 2.3 has now been launched in India. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on December 6, 2019, is preserved as below.

Following the launch of the Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 at IFA 2019, HMD Global is back at it again with a new budget-centric device. At a recent event in Egypt, the company announced the new Nokia 2.3 an Android One device running Android 9 Pie out of the box. The device features a 6.2-inch HD+ display, a dual-camera setup on the back and it boasts of some impressive AI features.

Specifications

Specification Nokia 2.3
Dimensions and Weight 157.69x 75.41 x 8.68 mm;
183g
Display 6.2″ HD+ (720 x 1520);
Waterdrop notch
SoC MediaTek Helio A22:
Quad-code (4x A53 @2.0GHz)
RAM and Storage 2GB + 32GB;
Expandable through dedicated microSD card slot
Battery 4,000 mAh
USB microUSB
Rear Camera 13MP, f/2.2 + 2MP depth sensor
Front Camera 5MP, f/2.4
Android Version Android 9 Pie

The new Nokia 2.3 is powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 chip, coupled with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It includes a microSD card slot for expansion with support for up to 400GB cards. While the hardware may not sound all that impressive, Nokia is banking on the device’s AI capabilities to entice buyers. For instance, the company talked about a new ‘Recommended Shot’ feature that will help users take great photos with the device’s 13MP + 2MP dual-camera setup. It also includes features like ‘Portrait mode’ and a night mode for better image capture in a variety of settings. Up on the front, the device has a 5MP selfie-shooter house in the notch at the top.

The device is backed up by a 4,000mAh battery which, the company claims, can easily provide two days of use on a single charge. In order to provide the best battery life, Nokia has included an AI-assisted Adaptive Battery technology in the Nokia 2.3. This technology will learn from your usage and optimize apps to offer longer battery life. On the outside, the phone features a design reminiscent of other budget devices from the company with a durable polymer body that has a 3D nano-textured coating to ensure that the device sits securely in your hands.

Speaking of the launch, HMD Global’s CPO Juho Sarvikas was quoted saying, “Consumers world over have really appreciated the Nokia 2 family of products. The Nokia 2.3 is a step forward in our promise of offering you an experience that stays fresh longer – giving consumers access to two years of OS upgrades and three years of monthly security updates even in the affordable price tier. On top, it offers industry-leading AI for this segment, large screen and our signature promise of two-day battery life – making it the ideal pick for those who rely on their smartphone as their primary screen.”

While the device ships with Android 9 Pie, Nokia has promised regular security updates for three years and OS update for two years. This means that the phone will be upgraded to Android 10 sometime down the line. One really interesting thing about the device, however, is that it features a dedicated Google Assistant button to help users easily activate the voice assistant. In terms of connectivity, the device includes 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/A-GPS, a micro-USB port for charging and data syncing, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Nokia 2.3: Pricing and Availability

The Nokia 2.3 will be made available in Cyan Green, Sand, and Charcoal color variants and it’s priced at a reasonable €109(~$121). The device is expected to go on sale mid-December, but we currently don’t have any information regarding its India release.


Update: Nokia 2.3 launched in India for ₹8,199 (~$115)

HMD Global has announced that the Nokia 2.3 will also be made available in India, starting from December 27, 2019. The phone will come in Cyan Green, Sand, and Charcoal colors, and will cost ₹8,199 (~$115) for the 2GB/32GB variant. You can buy it from Nokia.com as well as offline retail outlets across India.

The post [Update: Launched in India] Nokia 2.3 launches with Android One based on Android 9 Pie and a microUSB port appeared first on xda-developers.



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