Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe Night Edition announced with added exclusivity

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 16:23

For those who like the stretched-comfort of the Mercedes-Benz S Class coupe but somehow don’t find it all that exclusive, there is now a better option that will give them just that. Mercedes-Benz has now announced a variant of its S-Class Coupe called the Night Edition and as you may have guessed it, it adds some nice black touches and brings along a certain level of exclusivity as well.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe “Night Edition” will see its official premiere at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show, that takes place in January 2017. It will first be available in the European market in April 2017 followed by the US and other countries in August 2017. It will also come in three flavours, a S 400 4MATIC Coupé, S 500 Coupé and S 500 4MATIC Coupé with effect from 9 January 2017.

The speciality of this Coupe begins from the the outside with some very special exterior equipment in the form of a distinctive radiator grille that comes in a high-gloss black finish. Add to this 20-inch AMG multi-spoke light-alloy wheels that are exclusive just to this Night Edition model feature a high-sheen rim flange. You also get side sills that are once again finished in high-gloss black.

As you may have noticed there are some similarities to the Mercedes AMG models. That would be the front and rear aprons with AMG styling that come as a standard. The new matter-finish paint shade selenite grey magno is also available as an option. Inside there’s plenty of nappa leather options in black/black or other options to suit the car’s exterior.

The S 400 4MATIC Coupe packs in a 2996cc V6 engine with 367hp and a peak torque of 500Nm. Next up is the brawnier S 500 Coupe that features a 455hp 4663cc V8 layout deliver 700Nm of torque. Lastly, there’s S 500 4MATIC Coupe with a 4663cc V8 engine that churns out 455hp and 700Nm of peak torque. The top of the line S 500 4MATIC Coupe accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds.

Samsung still has more Galaxy Note 7 units in use than LG V20 and OnePlus 3T combined

The burnt Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in an aircraft

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 18:13

Samsung’s mobile division had a good start this year with the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge. However, their flagship phablet, the Note 7 turned to be a disaster as it faulty batteries that started blowing up. The Note 7 was recalled and killed about two months back. Samsung also took further action by pushing updates to all the Note 7s which restricted the smartphone to a certain amount of battery charge.

While the company had recently confirmed that about 90 percent of the units have been taken off the market, a research firm called Apteligent has reported that as of last week, the number of Galaxy Note 7 units in use were more than the LG V20 and OnePlus 3T combined, which also a few units less than the Moto Z. This means that the 10 percent that Samsung has not managed to pull out, is definitely a large number.

Samsung still has a lot to do if it wants to completely clean up the mess caused by the Note 7.  There is obviously a big difference between how many units were on the market compared to now, but there is also the factor of units sold in the grey markets and through other illegal means. Hopefully Samsung will fully clean up all the Note 7 units by pushing an update that would brick the device.

ZUK Edge with Snapdragon 821 goes official in China

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 18:05

Lenovo has finally announced a new ZUK handset and yes it is the ZUK Edge. The smartphone has been leaked quite a bit in the past and today we finally have official information of the device.

The most attractive feature is its unique display design. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD TDDI display with a curved Gorilla Glass that is said to have 86.4 percent screen-to-body ratio which makes it almost bezel-less.

In terms of specs, it is packed to the brim. You get the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core SoC clocked at 2.35GHz. There are two RAM variants 4GB and 6GB with 64GB of storage along with a microSD expansion slot. At the back there is a 13MP rear camera with a 1.34-micron pixel Samsung ISOCELL sensor, an f/2.2 aperture, PDAF+CAF hybrid autofocus, and a high-brightness flash. There is an 8MP camera on the front with a 1.12-micron pixel sensor, and an f/2.2 aperture. It features a USB Type-C (v3.1) port and a unique under-glass U Touch fingerprint sensor that is said to unlock the phone under 0.09 seconds). It also packs in some unique features like a built-in blood oxygen heart rate sensor, a pneumatic altimeter and a UV light sensor.

The smartphone will run on Android 7.0 Nougat with ZUI 2.5 on top. Connectivity options dual-SIM slots, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS/ A-GPS. On the battery front, you get a 3,100mAH unit with Quick Charge 3.0 support.

It will come in Ceramic White and Titanium Black color options. Pricing starts at 2299 Yuan (Rs. 23,000 approx) for the 4GB RAM version and 2499 Yuan (Rs 25,000 approx) for the 6GB RAM version.  If Lenovo manages to bring the smartphone at a similar pricing to India, then it could give some serious competition to the OnePlus 3T.

Flock OS is the world’s first chat operating system

  20 Dec 2016 , 17:23

Flock, a team messenger for businesses, on Tuesday launched the world’s first chat operating system called “FlockOS”. The new OS allows developers to build customised apps, bots and integrations on Flock.

The developers can either use the customised apps within their organisations or publish it on Flock’s App Store, making them available for all Flock users.

“With FlockOS, we have thrown open our platform to the global developer community. Our User Interface (UI) is a canvas for developers, allowing them to create truly intuitive apps and integrations which seamlessly blend with the core product,” Bhavin Turakhia, CEO, Flock, said in a statement.

“Chat will soon become the next operating system, probably within the next three to five years. FlockOS empowers teams and developers to create custom experiences within Flock that is designed for their unique team needs,” Turakhia added.

With FlockOS, developers can build apps that provide a tightly integrated experience by using widgets. These include the attachment widget, sidebar widget and modal widget.

FlockOS provides setup slash commands, providing an additional option for users to interact with the app and can configure a Bot to send directed messages to users, carry on conversations and completing tasks from within Flock.

IANS

Apple CEO Tim Cook reveals why he attended Trump tech summit

Image: Reuters

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 14:10

It was a shocking revelation when it was known that president-elect Donald Trump had invited a group of tech executives. It was an a bigger shock was when those who were invited attended it, considering the fact that many from the group support presidential candidate Hillary Clinton instead. While it is a mystery as to what actually happened in there, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a memo to his employees explaining why he decided on meeting Trump at the summit in New York.

Everyone expected more from Apple, since the company has been in Trump’s crosshairs during his campaigning. First reported by TechCrunch, Cook simply went for the meeting because it made plenty of sense.

“Personally, I’ve never found being on the sideline a successful place to be,” revealed Cook in a internal memo to employees. Hinting that the only way to bring about change (or some good) would be to participate. “And we engage when we agree and we engage when we disagree. I think it’s very important to do that because you don’t change things by just yelling. You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best. In many ways, it’s a debate of ideas.”

Tim Cook shed some light on the topics discussed during the meeting, which included privacy, security and education. He also commented that “They’re on advocating for human rights for everyone, and expanding the definition of human rights. They’re on the environment and really combating climate change, something we do by running our business on 100 percent renewable energy.”

Trump, on the other hand, was there to give a clear sign that he was not against the tech giants but with them to simply help them do better. Cook’s participation, along with what Silicon Valley head honchos said, seems to indicate something that is crucial to make a change in any political system. One needs to participate to brings about a change or as TechCrunch rightly put it, have a say.

Facebook launches group video chat on Facebook Messenger

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 10:38

Facebook has announced the launch of group video chat to Facebook Messenger. The company claims that this is the most requested feature by the users for the chat platform. The feature is set to roll out worldwide across Android, iOS and desktop starting today.

Facebook says that about 245 million users make video calls per month, ensuring that there is a new way for people to feel closer to each other. The company also announced the launch of 3D masks to be used during conversations on video calls. The feature is currently exclusive to iOS users but the Android version will follow soon.

Image Credit: Facebook

One thing to note is that the users can see six people at any given time in the video chat and the maximum number of people in a group video chat can go up to 50. However, the participants of the video call will only see the dominant speaker. To start a group video call, you need to go to a group conversation and tap on the video icon on the upper right corner of the screen to launch.

After initiating the video call people can join in when they are ready. However, as detailed in this Facebook blog post, you can directly call the whole group or a few people directly. This feature rollout comes right after the introduction of camera update for Facebook Messenger.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe review: Good but just not good enough

• By Sheldon Pinto /  20 Dec 2016 , 08:30

Asus seemed to have turned a new leaf when the company showcased a barrage of new smartphones, at Computex 2016 in Taiwan back in June. Since then we have seen more premium looking devices come from Asus featuring metal construction (instead of plastic bits) and Qualcomm chipsets (from Intel chips). Asus basically moved from the budget segment into the mid-range and the premium smartphone market in India. After smartphones like the Zenfone 3 and the Zenfone 3 Max Asus finally announced the phablet-sized Zenfone 3 Ultra and the Zenfone 3 Deluxe, its first flagship smartphone.

Asus’ hardware and software choices in the past may have not been the best, but in the flagship space things get pretty competitive and even the smallest drawbacks can and will make buyers look at another brand. Things can only get worse when you’re under the radar for being a new entrant in a segment flooded with established brands. So does Asus’ first flagship smartphone cut it? At Rs 49,999 (for the Snapdragon 820 model) how does it compete with premium offerings from LG, Sony, HTC and Samsung? Let’s find out!

Build and Design: 7.5/10

I am impressed by the fit, finish and the precision of the build quality of the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe. I liked how Asus managed to conceal the antenna bands as well resulting in a rather clean layout that makes one wonder whether the rear cover is made of plastic or metal? Well, it’s metal and it surely feels premium when holding it. The company calls this Asus PureMetal technology and for now, no other manufacturer out there offers the anything close to it. However, with the ‘Deluxe’ tag, I expected something more than impressive, and this flagship Zenfone is anything but that.

Look at it from the front and it looks similar to the Zenfone 3, minus the 2.5D glass. Flip it over and the back looks similar to every other new Asus handset including the Zenfone 3 Laser. My problem with the design is that it’s not something that anyone around me in the office tagged as premium or different, something that stands out.

There’s no curved edge display and those bezels aren’t exactly razor thin either when you consider the thick black border that sits between the display and the frame. This flagship smartphone is not water and dust resistant either and this is a concern when you keep the competition in mind.

In fact, I can easily say that the Asus logo on the back is off by 2-3 millimetres and not perfectly straight by just glancing at the smartphone’s back. In short, it’s not exactly what one would expect when you pay Rs 49,999 for a flagship.

Customers expect flagships to look different (if not attractive). In fact, I found the Zenfone 3’s design a lot better looking and pleasing even though the bezels at the top and bottom where thicker.

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Next-gen Volkswagen Tiguan ‘Allspace’ 2017 goes official, to be showcased next year

By tech2 News Staff /  20 Dec 2016 , 08:21

German car maker Volkswagen has confirmed that it will be launching a seven-seat version of the Tiguan SUV wearing the Allspace badge next year. The special badge, according to the company, is to set it apart from the standard wheelbase, five-seater version, and to emphasize its attractive range of equipment features.

The new SUV is expected to go official at the Detroit Motor show in January, however there is design sketch released by the company. As per a source, the car will have a large wheelbase that is 11cm longer than the current generation Tiguan, which also recently won the 2016 Drive Car of the Year award.

The new long version of the Tiguan will come with more room in the interior apart from the longer wheelbase. The production of the car will begin in Europe by mid-2017 and is expected to be launch in certain regions by the end of 2017.  While details are still limited, it is expected to carry over the engine as the regular Tiguan along with a possible hybrid model. There is a slim chance that it will arrive in a diesel variant considering the issues Volkswagen faced in the past.

The price range is expected to be in around the $40,000 (Rs 27 lakh approx) bracket.

Harvard researchers create world’s smallest radio reciever from atomic scale defects in a diamond

Image: SEAS

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Dec 2016 , 17:39

Harvard researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have built the world’s smallest radio receiver, made out of atomic scale defects in pink diamonds. The tiny radio is robust and biocompatible, which means it can be used in all sorts of extreme applications, from a space probe headed to Venus to a pacemaker embedded in a human body.

The radio is based on nitrogen vacancy centres, with one carbon atom placed in a tiny diamond with a nitrogen atom and removing the neighbouring atom. The nitrogen vacancy centres are then powered by a green laser. The electrons in the nitrogen vacancy centre are sensitive to electromagnetic waves, including FM signals. When the electrons in a nitrogen vacancy centre receive radio waves, they convert the radio waves and emit streams of red light. This red light stream can be interpreted with a photodiode, that converts the stream of light into a current, which can be converted to sound and heard on conventional speakers.

An electromagnet placed around the diamond can be used to tune in to a particular radio station. Billions of nitrogen vacancy centers can be used to boost the signal, but the radio works even with a single nitrogen vacancy center, emitting one photon at a time. The nitrogen vacancy centers can convert information into light, which potentially allows such tiny structures to be used in photonics, sensors and quantum computers.