The D11 conference has been underway, with Tim Cook discussing all things Apple yesterday, and today with Motorola‘s Dennis Woodside discussing the company and its plans. According to Woodside, Motorola plans to launch amidst a range of smartphones one particular hero handset called the Moto X, which is said to be “contextually aware of what is going on around it.”
Today Gmail will be appearing with an update on several platforms, each of them allowing the mail environment to sort your messages automatically. This update includes several pre-set categories such as Social, Promotions, and Updates, but can be edited and customized according to the users’ preferences.
This week in an interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook had a bit to say about Google’s wearable product: Glass. Having been asked what his take was on wearables by Swisher, Cook responded: “I think wearables [are] incredibly interesting. It could be a profound area.” His reply on Google Glass specifically wasn’t quite so optimistic.
The long-rumored white Nexus 4 has finally been made official, with LG whipping the covers off the paler version of the pure-Android smartphone. Functionally-identical to the existing Nexus 4, which until now has only been available in black, the new color “Nexus 4 White” variant comes with the same Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, and is expected to begin a global roll out at the end of this month.
Lexus has come a long way since the days of the buffed-up Toyota luxo-barge, and the 2014 Lexus IS is arguably the best illustration of that. True, the new 3-Series rival may not have the same wealth of outlandish madness as the LFA sportscar (though it does borrow some of the $375k limited-edition’s cabin features) or the brutish luxury of the LS, but the striking design and eager pricing make for a freshly competitive car. Lexus brought us out to the Rockingham Speedway to see how the 2014 IS ticks.
This week a tip for an enlarged version of everything central to the HTC One has come through, suggesting that Verizon may be waiting for a real replacement for the DROID DNA before they bring in a new device from the manufacturer. News is that the HTC “phablet” will be incoming in more than one version, each of them with “T6″ on the helm for international users.
Nokia‘s push to differentiate its Lumia smartphones with PureView camera technology will see “computational imaging” – where shots can be tweaked and modified thanks to clever lens tech – come to the fore, smart devices chief Jo Harlow has teased. “Being able to capture even more data [is an area of exploration]” Harlow told DNA, “data you cannot even see with the human eye that you can only see by actually going back to the picture and being able to do things with them.” The comments are already being seen as further evidence that array cameras from Nokia-invested Pelican Imaging could show up in Lumia devices sooner rather than later.
Google’s Glass wearable could soon be able to recognize faces of those around the wearer, thanks to a dedicated service for human and object recognition that could be built into third-party apps. The handiwork of Lambda Labs, the special Glass facial recognition API will integrate into software and services using Google’s Mirror API for Glass, crunching shots from the camera and spitting out the identity of people and objects it recognizes. Lambda Labs expects the system to be used for real-world social networking and person-location services, though also warns that it could eventually fall foul of impending privacy regulation.
Hints at the comprehensive interface changes expected in Apple’s iOS 7 have emerged in fresh leaks from the company, tipping a flatter, more monochromatic UI that pulls the software more in line with the minimalistic hardware. Apple is expected to shift away from the “skeuomorphic” style of faux textures and artificial lighting effects favored by Steve Jobs and Scott Forstall, and – with Jony Ive at the helm – pare back apps and interface elements, 9to5Mac reports, across the board.
Used game sales on the Xbox One will use a digital authorization system requiring the console to validate titles against Microsoft’s servers every 24 hours, retailer leaks have suggested, also building in a cut for both Microsoft and publishers with each transaction. Microsoft had confirmed that pre-owned games sales would be permitted on the new console, but declined to detail exactly how the system would operate. Now, according to retailers speaking to MCV, details of the proposed system have been leaked.
Google’s consumer version of Glass will use Samsung OLED displays, reports out of South Korea have claimed, with the possibility of flexible panels being used for the futuristic wearable. The deal follows Google CEO Larry Page recently visiting a Samsung Display OLED production line, The Korea Times reports, and heavy-handed hints by the screen division’s CEO that wearables would figure highly in flexible OLED’s future.
NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience isn’t a baby anymore – several months in and 2.5 million downloads since this system’s introduction and eventual public beta release, this game optimizing control center will replace the company’s “NVIDIA Update” system as the standard. In each driver package included with a GeForce graphics card, the GeForce Experience will be packaged, starting this week with the R320 GeForce GTX 780 launch driver.
