IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 04/07/2014

Ubiquiti Networks Launches mFi In-Wall Manageable Devices

With the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution underway, consumers want the ability to control devices in an automated and easy manner. The home automation market has also received a fillip recently, thanks to efforts from some high-profile vendors. Ubiquiti Networks is tackling the IoT market from the enterprise / SMB side. Due to the nature of that market segment, Ubiquiti's building automation product line (mFi) is loaded with features, and is quite flexible too. We had reviewed the mFi mPower and found it to actually present great value for the money despite being targeted towards business users.
Today, Ubiquiti is launching a couple of additions to the mFi family. The mFi-MPW is similar to the mFi mPower in terms of providing electrical outlets with remote switching (over Wi-Fi) and energy monitoring capabilities. The only difference is its in-wall design which allows users to replace the existing wall outlets while gaining automation aspects. The industrial design allows for blending of the device into the current setting (no odd protruding contraptions out of the wall / loose power strip hanging off the outlet). The mFi-MPW comes in black, with a white colored option (mFi-MPW-W) also in the mix.
The second device provides new functionality by acting as a switch / dimmer.  Unlike traditional switches, the mFi-LD and mFi-LD-W come with touch panels. Toggling the lights is achieved by tapping while dimming control is provided by sliding the fingers on it (similar to a mouse pad). Obviously, the device can be controlled via Wi-Fi and energy monitoring is available. More details about the switch / dimmer can be found here.
While basic control and monitoring can be achieved via the web-interface, the usage of the mFi Controller Software allows for setting up scenes and other home automation aspects. SSH access is available (similar to what power users have enjoyed with the other mFi devices), opening up a host of possibilites for developers of home automation integration systems. In terms of hardware installation, many home users might prefer the services of a licensed electrician for installation (but, this is quite similar to what one had to do for the Belkin WeMo Light Switch, a play aimed purely at the residential market). The other issue is that all the Wi-Fi circuitry takes up some space, and the outlet is actually 1.6" deep (which might be too big for some gang boxes).
Retail availability is still a bit of a hit-and-miss, as Ubiquiti tends to operate through a distributor network. However, on the basis of my previous experience, I believe we should be able to grab these on Amazon pretty soon.

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Join Us for a Live Google Hangout with ARM's CTO - Happening Now!

As I hinted at during our interview with Krisztián Flautner, ARM was quite pleased with how things went with our Peter Greenhalgh ATE that it's going to be giving us access to more key folks over the coming weeks/months. I want to thank all of you for your questions for Krisztián in our last Ask the Experts post, and I want to thank Krisztián for taking the time to respond to you all directly. If you haven't read through the Q&A I'd recommend doing so.
Today I'll be doing a live Google Hangout with Mike Muller, ARM's Chief Technology Officer. Mike Muller was one of the original founders of ARM. We originally scheduled this hangout for late June but had some technical issues with the stream and had to reschedule.
The Hangout will happen today, Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at 1PM ET. I'll update this post with an embedded feed when we get started. If you've got any questions you want to ask ARM's CTO, give them some thought - we may be able to get them answered live tomorrow.
Update: Here's the feed, we will be starting in 15 minutes:

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A Closer Look at Android RunTime (ART) in Android L
With the latest I/O conference, Google has finally publicly made public its plans for its new runtime on Android. The Android RunTime, ART, is the successor and replacement for Dalvik, the virtual machine on which Android Java code is executed on. We’ve had traces and previews of it available with KitKat devices since last fall, but there wasn’t much information in terms of technical details and the direction Google was heading with it.
Contrary to other mobile platforms such as iOS, Windows or Tizen, which run software compiled natively to their specific hardware architecture, the majority of Android software is based around a generic code language which is transformed from “byte-code” into native instructions for the hardware on the device itself.
Over the years and from the earliest Android versions, Dalvik started as a simple VM with little complexity. With time, however, Google felt the need to address performance concerns and to be able to keep up with hardware advances of the industry. Google eventually added a JIT-compiler to Dalvik with Android’s 2.2 release, added multi-threading capabilities, and generally tried to improve piece by piece.
Lately over the last few years however, the ecosystem had been outpacing Dalvik development, so Google sought out to build something new to serve as a solid foundation for the future, where it could scale with the performance of today’s and the future’s 8-core devices, large storage capabilities, and large working memories.
Thus ART was born.


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Samsung Announces the Galaxy S5 Mini

Today Samsung announced the Galaxy S5 mini, which continues the Galaxy S mini line the same way that the One mini 2 continued the One mini line. Interestingly enough for the international variant the Galaxy S5 mini uses a Samsung Exynos 3470 SoC for the LTE variant, along with an Intel XMM7160 modem. There are a few areas where the GS5 mini bests other similar mini branded devices, such as the 1.5GB of RAM instead of the 1GB found on the One Mini 2. As with the One mini 2, there’s no 802.11ac support. Fortunately, Samsung has improved the display panel to a 720p SAMOLED with 4.5” diagonal compared to the qHD panel of the GS4 mini. I’ve included a table of the specs released below.

	Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
SoC	Exynos 3470 4x1.4 GHz Cortex A7
RAM/NAND	1.5 GB LPDDR3, 16GB NAND + microSD
Display	4.5” 720p IPS LCD
Network	2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 4 LTE)
Dimensions	131.1 x 64.8 x 9.1mm, 120 grams
Camera	8MP rear camera, 1080p30 max. 2.1MP F/2.0 FFC
Battery	2100 mAh (7.98 Whr)
OS	Android 4.4 with TouchWiz UX
Connectivity	802.11a/b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, NFC
SIM Size	MicroSIM

For those unfamiliar with the Exynos 3470, this is a quad core Cortex A7 solution running at 1.4 GHz, along with a quad core Mali-400MP4 clocked at 450 MHz. Based upon the amount of Broadcom design wins in Samsung devices it’d be reasonable to infer that the WiFi/BT combo chip is a Broadcom design win as well. The Intel modem is something that we’ve seen before on the Galaxy K, so it’s no surprise to see the same on the Galaxy S5 mini. The phone is also IP67 resistant like its larger cousin, although the USB flap is no longer needed for this variant. Overall, this phone seems to be intent on keeping the mini moniker to its roots. It’s definitely designed to target a more midrange audience, although it'll take a review to see whether it does this effectively.


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HP Labs: the Science of Technology
Recently HP invited journalists from a variety of publications down to their Houston location for a tour of the Science Labs – facilities and labs dedicated to designing, testing, debugging, analyzing, and improving HP products. Our tour focused on testing specific to the commercial line of products (i.e. workstations and servers), and there were some cool demonstrations, a lot of interesting information, and a few experiences that were quite awesome.


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Report: Microsoft's Wearable Device Coming in Q4, Works with All Major Smartphone Platforms
Microsoft's wearable device is said to be priced around $200

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Report: NSA Spying Program Effective But Pushes Into "Constitutional Unreasonableness
This is the board's second report on NSA spy programs

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Quick Note: Debug Code in Hangouts Reveals Possible Death of Google Voice
Google Voice could migrate to G+ Hangouts

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition Rumors Heat Up
Pure Android Galaxy S5 might cause some to give Samsung's flagship another look

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FTC Calls Out T-Mobile for Fraudulent Charges on Phone Bills, CEO Lambasts Claims
John Legere says the FTC complaint is without merit

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Report: Tesla’s “Entry Level” Electric Sedan Likely to Use Steel Unibody to Lower Costs
Aluminum is too expensive to use in Tesla's entry-level sedan

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Quick Note: Nokia Lumia 635 Coming to T-Mobile, MetroPCS for Under $170 Off-Contract
It will be available starting in July

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Symantec: Hacking Group "Dragonfly" Targeting Western Energy Companies
The group has the ability to disrupt or damage energy supplies in targeted nations

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Newegg Accepts Bitcoin as Form of Payment Via BitPay
Customers can pay via a local wallet, smartphone wallet, or web hosted wallet for any item on site

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Boston Using Solar-Powered Benches as Phone Charging Stations
They're rolling out over the next week

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Americans Finally Permitted to Use ReWalk Exoskeleton at Home by FDA
Europeans enjoyed use for last two years, have enjoyed marked improvement in standard of living

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CrackBerry Posts Pre-release Review of the "Square" BlackBerry Passport
CrackBerry goes hands on with the Passport

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Quick Note: Samsung Officially Reveals Galaxy S5 mini
Samsung Galaxy S5 gets a little brother

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