According to scientists, smartphone batteries emit more than 100 toxic gases

  21 Oct 2016 , 15:12

Not just catching up fire or exploding as you sleep next to them, dozens of dangerous gases are being produced by the batteries found in billions of consumer devices like smartphones and tablets, scientists have warned. The team has identified more than 100 toxic gases released by lithium-ion batteries, including carbon monoxide, which can cause strong irritations to the skin, eyes and nasal passages and harm the wider environment.

According to the researchers from the Institute of NBC Defence and Tsinghua University in China, many people may be unaware of the dangers of overheating, damaging or using a disreputable charger for their rechargeable devices. “Nowadays, lithium-ion batteries are being actively promoted by many governments all over the world. The lithium-ion battery is used by millions of families, so it is imperative that the general public understand the risks behind this energy source,” said Jie Sun, lead author and professor at the Institute of NBC Defence.

The dangers of exploding batteries have led manufacturers to recall millions of devices. Dell recalled four million laptops in 2006 and millions of

Researchers make a portable smartphone lab to detect cancer

Image Credits: Jon Fingas, Flickr

  19 Oct 2016 , 17:48

In a major step towards faster and convenient delivery of medical tests, Washington State University researchers have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a smartphone that can analyse several samples at once to catch a cancer biomarker, producing lab quality results.

At a time when patients and medical professionals expect always faster results, researchers are trying to translate biodetection technologies used in laboratories to the field and clinic, so patients can get nearly instant diagnoses in a physician’s office, an ambulance or the emergency room. The research team created an eight channel smartphone spectrometer that can detect human interleukin-6 (IL-6), a known biomarker for lung, prostate, liver, breast and epithelial cancers.

A spectrometer analyses the amount and type of chemicals in a sample by measuring the light spectrum. “The spectrometer would be especially useful in clinics and hospitals that have a large number of samples without on-site labs, or for doctors who practice abroad or in remote areas,” said lead researcher Lei Li, Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

“They can’t carry a whole lab with them. They need a portable and efficient device,” Li noted. Although smartphone spectrometers exist, they only monitor or measure a single sample at a time, making them inefficient for real world applications. The multichannel spectrometer can measure up to eight different samples at once using a common test called ELISA that identifies antibodies and colour change as disease markers, according to a study published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

“With our eight channel spectrometer, we can put eight different samples to do the same test, or one sample in eight different wells to do eight different tests. This increases our device’s efficiency,” said Li, who has filed a provisional patent for the work. Although the system currently works with an iPhone 5, the researchers said they are creating an adjustable design that will be compatible with any smartphone.

IANS

Huawei announces new Kirin 960 chipset with 180 percent performance jump

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 17:50

Huawei-owned chipmaker HiSilicon has announced a brand new chipset called the Kirin 960 that should begin to appear in future Huawei and Honor-branded smartphones. This is why many would assume that it could arrive in the yet to be announced Huawei Mate 9 smartphone.

HiSilicon has stuck to the 16nm FinFET manufacturing process and goes with an octa-core setup with four Cortex-A73 cores coupled with with four Cortex-A53 cores. As for what’s new, the 960 will be the first chipset to use ARM’s Bifrost GPU, the Mali G71 that delivers reduced power usage compared to the ones available in the Kirin 955, the Exynos 8, Helio X25 and others. And this one is special in more ways than one because it packs 8 GPU cores. Looks like Huawei’s upcoming smartphones will be Daydream capable indeed.

As for what the Kirin 960 supports, you get UFS 2.1 flash storage, LPDDR4 RAM and LTE Cat 12/13 modems. You also get an improved ISP.

Image: ioncannon (Weibo)

Image: ioncannon (Weibo)

Looking through the graphs from the source, the Kirin 960 is indeed the fastest chipset, this side of Apple. It scored way above the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 and was second only to Apple’s A10 Fusion chipset in both GFXBench and GeekBench. Multi core results from GeekBench also showcase better performance than the mighty A10 as well.

Airtel offering 10GB of 4G data at Rs 259 for new mobile purchases

Image: Reuters

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 17:54

Airtel has announced that it will be offering 10GB of 4G/3G data on a recharge of Rs 259. The standard pack offers 1GB data and users who buy a new 4G handset get an extra 9GB through the My Airtel app.

While that sounds vague, Airtel has clarified that the offer is valid on all newly bought 4G mobile phones and will not work on handsets that are already being used.

The offer can be availed within 30 days of purchase of the handset The data will be valid for 28 days and users can avail a maximum of 3 recharges within 90 days.

Ajai Puri, Director-Market Operations, Bharti Airtel, said, “We are proud to have pioneered 4G network for users in India. This invitational offer has been designed for our data savvy customers who can now experience high speed broadband on Airtel’s 4G network with their new devices.”

The offer was introduced in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh last week and now it will be available across India in all 18 circles as well as valid on all brands of 4G handsets.

In non-4G circles, 3G data will be available to customers with their 4G devices.

This sounds like yet another move to counter Reliance Jio’s highly competitive rates.

Xiaomi announces the Wyatt Meter mechanical keyboard in China

Image Credit: home.mi

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 18:03

Xiaomi has announced its latest product, and it is not a smartphone. Instead, the latest product is an all aluminium mechanical keyboard called the Wyatt Meter mechanical keyboad. The company previously teased the launch of the mechanical keyboard last week as reported by GizmoChina.

The keyboard is most likely made by Xiaomi subsidiary as there is no visible Xiaomi branding on it. Just like there was no branding on the Mi Notebook Air.

Image Credit: home.mi

The best part about this keyboard as with all Xiaomi products is the affordability as it does not take a toll on your bank account. The mechanical keyboard is priced at CNY 299, which can be translated to Rs 3,000 at the time of writing. That is a very reasonable for a mechanical keyboard. The keyboard will have six layers of design with 87 keys along with TTC Red Switches which can withstand up to

Plants vs Zombies Heroes is a surprisingly deep game in a comic package

By Aditya Madanapalle /  19 Oct 2016 , 18:10

Plants vs Zombies Heroes just got a worldwide release after a limited soft launches in Brazil, Romania, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Ireland. There are five games in the franchise so far, and the game is very different from the classic tower defense in Plants vs Zombies orPlants vs Zombies 2. Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare and its sequel, Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 were third person shooters in addition to the tower defense base game. Plants vs Zombies Heroes goes in a fresh new direction for the franchise and is a collectible card game, with tower defense mechanics.

The game plays out as a funny comic book. There are our favorite characters from the old games, including the Pea Shooter, Crazy Dave and Z-Mech from Garden Warfare. The game starts when Dr Zomboss in his giant mech Zombot equipped with the Hero-Tron 5000 ray gun starts zapping zombies and transforming them into heroes with superpowers. The Hero-Tron 5000 malfunctions, and converts plants into heroes as well. This event that has worldwide repercussions that gamers will find over the course of the game, sets the stage for another epic confrontation between plants and zombies.

familiar characters from previous titles are in PvZ Heroes, including Crazy Dave!

There are five lanes, and the plant and zombie Heroes stand on either side deploying minions and executing special moves. There are two kinds of cards available. Fighter cards are deployed on a lane and persist till they lose health. Cards can be placed strategically in lanes to be more effective. For example, putting a burning plant in

New Pokémon Go update restricts game features while driving

REUTER/Manuela Hartling

By Kunal Khullar /  19 Oct 2016 , 19:32

Pokémon Go launched as one of the biggest smartphone games of all times. Based on the popular cartoon TV show, the game has also been one of the biggest launches for Nintendo. While the game is still not officially launched in India, it did have a huge following.

Today, while there are many who have given up on the game, there are a few loyal fans that are still playing the game. Niantic had mentioned that it is a small company with limited employees but it is trying hard to bring new features and add new countries.

The last update brought in some new features like changes in medals and Pokémon bonuses as well as the ability to take six Pokémons when battling a friendly gym. The new update however has upset some people. It is reported that a new update stops the spawning of Pokémons if one is travelling at a speed faster than 30mph. This is of course a security measure but then what about players who are in the passenger seat?

The outrage will be short lived though as another update has started rolling which is said to have fixed the issue. Yay!

What do you think about the game. Are you bored? Are you still a loyal player? Tell us about your experience.