Google addresses Pixel and Pixel XL microphone issue, suggests user to replace their units

By tech2 News Staff /  10 Mar 2017 , 12:45

Google’s in-house smartphones, the Pixel and the Pixel XL have been well received. The handsets not only provide the best Android experience but also come with one of the best smartphone cameras.

However, the smartphones have not been perfect. Back in January we heard about an issue where certain Pixel and Pixel XL owners had complained about bad speaker performance with crackling noise. The issue was thankfully resolved as it was a software issue, rather than a hardware issue, which was fixed via a software update.

Now a new issue has turned up which could be a more serious issue. Certain Google Pixel owners have shown concern on Reddit and Google’s support forums saying that their units are having trouble with the microphone. The unresponsive microphone is a rather serious issue as users are unable to make phone calls.

Following the numerous complaints, Brian Rakowski from Google joined the discussion and confirmed that there is an issue and is probably hardware related. It was likely caused by a crack in the solder connection on the audio codec.

Rakowski further said “It’s possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue, but that’s no longer the case, additional steps to reinforce the connection at time of manufacture on phones built since January.”

So basically a software update is not an option anymore. Google will replace the faulty units and is taking steps to make sure that replacement units don’t have any similar issues.

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro the first Tango capable smartphone will change how we look at AR and here is how

Seeing objects in a room

By tech2 News Staff /  03 Nov 2016 , 12:53

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is the latest smartphone by Lenovo to go on sale for $499.99. In fact, the device is the first one that is powered by Google Tango framework which relies on depth sensing to create seamless Augmented reality figures on the screen. This company has been working on the technology since last few years with constant videos demoing it right from the early stages.Also, Google announced a Project Tango smartphone way back in 2014 along with Project Tango Tablet released in 2014.

Tango was originally known as Project Tango and looked like a simple concept that maybe used for something. We were not sure about what the depth-sensing will actually do but we got a concrete idea about it after Lenovo announced the smartphone in CES 2016 earlier this year. But Lenovo demoed the capabilities of the tango technology in Phab 2 Pro which made it a serious contender for the most innovative smartphone for the year.

The demos during Lenovo Tech World painted a perfect picture of how capable the platform was and that smartphones were powerful enough to sufficiently track the 3D world and project an augmented reality on the screen. These demos included using Tango platform to measure the dimensions of the room accurately and use shopping apps to virtually redecorate your room before buying furniture or new products for your home.

Other demonstrations included live size models of dinosaurs where you can check different species of dinosaurs  with life-size AR renders. The renders can be changes in scale to comparatively study the entire field with an unprecedented level of interactivity. This can result in newer and dedicated applications for students across different fields, right from students of architecture to medical students.

During the launch, there will be more than 20 apps available for Phab 2 Pro users to experience different aspects of what Tango platform has to offer. These apps range from ‘Augmented reality gaming’ and ‘Augmented reality utilities’ with the gaming apps directly aiming at pure gaming like Pokemon GO but without the battery drain while ‘utilities’ hinting at apps like “WayFairView,” “Measure,” and “Magic Plan.”

--breaking news--Samsung Galaxy Note 7 production permanently ended after battery explosions

Tuesday 11 October 201611.53 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 11 October 201612.03 BST

South Korean electronics company to kill off its flagship smartphone after failing to fix problems with batteries catching fire


Samsung has confirmed that it is permanently stopping production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after it was involved in dozens of fires and explosions worldwide.

In a regulatory filing in South Korea late on Tuesday, the firm said it had made the decision to stop production, for the sake of consumer safety.

The move comes the day after Samsung said it was “adjusting production”, an admission that many saw as the first steps towards killing the phone entirely.

It said in a statement: “Putting consumer safety as the top priority, we have reached a final decision to halt production of Galaxy Note 7s.” A spokesperson confirmed that the suspension was “permanent”.

Samsung said customers will still be allowed to apply for a full refund or to swap their Note 7s for other Samsung products. It also advised all customers with an original or replacement Galaxy Note 7 to “power down and stop using the device” immediately.

In discontinuing the phone, Samsung follows the advice of many analysts who saw it as a lost cause, and who argued that the company’s priority should be protecting the rest of its brand.

“If it’s once, it could be taken as a mistake. But for Samsung, the same thing happened twice with the same model so there’s going to be a considerable loss of consumer faith,” said Greg Roh at HMC Investment Securities.

“The reason consumers prefer brands like Samsung and Apple is because of product reliability … so in this case brand damage is inevitable and it will be costly for Samsung to