Weekly poll: What makes a good smartwatch?

Over the last two weekends, we've reflected upon the highlights that 2018 has brought us so far in wearables and looked forward to the major up'n'coming releases. For some, the tech we wear on our wrists is a series of compromises. For example, those who want a great color display with all week battery life will currently be left wanting, while for those who want to track their sleep are unable to do so when they have to charge their watch every night. Today's wearables have only been improved by their ability to work in conjunction with our smartphones, hence why we have an interest in...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/weekly_poll_what_do_you_want_with_your_wearable-news-32197.php

Counterclockwise: mad scientist ideas for phone keyboards

BlackBerry phones (PDAs first) got their name because of their distinctive keyboards - the keys were arranged in a way that resembled the fruit. But let's not look at a straight up QWERTY keyboards or even how the keyboard slides or rotates out of the way (we did that two weeks ago. Instead let's look at more creative implementations of the keyboard itself. If you haven't seen it, this is a great video that explains how the telephone keypad came to be. Bell Labs ran tests on many, many designs until it settled on the one we know today. With the invention of the SMS, keypads needed to type...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/counterclockwise_mad_scientist_ideas_for_phone_keyboards-news-32067.php

Weekly poll results: wide cameras still beat telephoto ones as monochrome ones fade

It's time to tally the votes from last week's poll results about the ideal secondary cameras on the back. What you prefer to have on your modern smartphones and how the trend has changed over the course of the year since we asked the same question last. We see a close battle between two sensors, but this time around, monochrome has fallen out of fashion. It's clear that OEMs can achieve excellent low-light performance without needing a monochrome sensor so it was understandably lost popularity. This probably also explains why the "advanced sensor" option was so popular. Even the...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/weekly_poll_results_wide_cameras_still_beat_telephoto_ones_as_monochrome_ones_fade-news-32217.php

Wearables - what to expect in 2018

Introduction Last week we covered the wearables to come out already in 2018, but now we'll take a look forward to what we'll be strapping to our wrists later this year. While the first half of the year yielded few surprises, our expectations for the remainder of 2018 are high. The second half - things will be much less predictable The latter part of 2018, on the surface at least, promises a welcome evolution in this space and maybe, just maybe, a few surprises. Let's start with the basics. Earlier this year Qualcomm announced its latest smartwatch SoC, the Snapdragon Wear 3100....

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/wearables_coming_soon_2018-news-32104.php

Google Chrome for desktop receives major redesign in latest nightly build

Google is rolling out a brand new design for Chrome for desktop in the latest Canary (nightly) build. Based on the Google Material Theme, the design is similar to what we have seen on Android P beta and the recent Gmail redesign on desktop. The new version of the UI features a brand new tab bar design, new rounded Omnibox and a new location for the profile button. The tab bar features the most extensive changes. A single tab looks much different now, with a less pronounced tab shape that blends with the tab bar. It's only when you open more than one tab do you get the...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/google_chrome_for_desktop_receives_major_redesign_in_latest_nightly_build-news-32223.php

The vivo NEX S comes out of a torture test looking pretty good

The futuristic vivo NEX S delivers big-time in both the looks and innovation departments. For most of us, smartphone enthusiasts, its nearly bezel-free 6.59-inch, Super AMOLED display, under-display fingerprint reader and periscope selfie camera are an instant object of desire. However, lusting after a handset can be dangerous, especially for something, like the vivo APEX concept, gone mainstream. The potential pitfalls of day-to-day ownership are numerous. We, for one, found its Color OS Android ROM quite frustrating and disappointing, which you can read more about in the in-depth...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/the_vivo_nex_s_comes_out_of_a_torture_test_looking_pretty_good-news-32218.php