IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 23/07/2014

Samsung Begins Tizen Rollout for Original Galaxy Gear in the US

Samsung's original Galaxy Gear was one of the first in an initial wave of Android smartwatches. It ran Android at a time where a smartwatch was not a form factor that Google had anticipated for their operating system. Because of issues with software support and battery life, Samsung began releasing smartwatches that ran on their own Tizen operating system. Samsung also committed to updating the original Galaxy Gear from Android to Tizen. This staged rollout began earlier in May of this year, and it is now rolling out to Galaxy Gear users in United States. Samsung is promising that the update gives users access to a greater catalog of apps, along with software improvements that bring it closer to feature parity with the Gear 2 smartwatch.
The move to Tizen brings new features and additions to existing features. Many of these lie in the fitness and lifestyle capabilities of the Galaxy Gear. On Tizen the Galaxy Gear can keep track of a user's sleeping patterns using Sleep Mode, and it can keep track of workout routines in exercise mode which is an improvement over the original Android firmware which could only go as far as tracking footsteps. Unfortunately due to hardware limitations, features that utilize the heart rate monitor on the Gear 2 have not been brought over to the original Galaxy Gear
Samsung is also including a built in music player with the ability to store tracks right on the smartwatch. This is an interesting feature because it allows the Galaxy Gear to function on its own to some degree, which is a different smartwatch strategy than Google is taking with their Android Wear operating system which acts purely as an extension of your current smartphone. Another new app is the Controls application which acts as a settings app for changing brightness and volume as well as setting custom fonts, wallpapers, and icon sizes.
Beyond new apps and features, Samsung is promising that the move to Tizen brings significant increases in battery life which is great news for Galaxy Gear owners as battery life is one of the biggest concerns with smartwatches and the original Galaxy Gear running Android definitely struggled in this regard.
The update is rolling out in the United States starting today. Users will need to connect their phone to their computer and use Samsung's Kies software to download and install the update. While this isn't likely to be an issue for most users, Samsung makes a point of noting that there is no way to return to Android once the Galaxy Gear has been updated to Tizen.

WD Red Updates

Even though 6 TB drives have been around (HGST introduced the Helium drives last November, while Seagate has been shipping Enterprise Capacity and Desktop HDD 6 TB versions for a few months now), Western Digital is the first to claim a NAS-specific 6 TB drive. The updated firmware (NASware 3.0) puts in some features related to vibration compensation, which allows the Red drives to now be used in 1 - 8 bay desktop NAS systems (earlier versions were officially sanctioned only for 1 - 5 bay units). NASware 3.0 also has some new features to help with data integrity protection in case of power loss. The unfortunate aspect here is that units with NASware 2.0 can't be upgraded to NASware 3.0 (since NASware 3.0 requires some recalibration of internal components that can only be done in the factory).
The 6 TB version of the WD Red has 5 platters, which makes it the first drive we have seen to have an areal density of more than 1 TB/platter (1.2 TB/platter in this case). This areal density increase is achieved using the plain old Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology. Western Digital has not yet found reason to move to any of the new technologies such as SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), HAMR (Heat-assisted Magnetic Recording) or Helium-filling for the WD Red lineup.The 5 TB and 6 TB versions also have WD's StableTrac technology (securing of the motor shaft at both ends in order to minimize vibration). As usual, the drive comes with a 3 year warranty. Other aspects such as the rotation speed, buffer capacity and qualification process remain the same as that of the previous generation units.

WD Red Pro

The Red Pro targets medium and large business NAS systems which require more performance by moving to a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Like the enterprise drives, the Red Pro comes with hardware-assisted vibration compensation, undergoes extended thermal burn-in testing and carries a 5-year warranty. 2, 3 and 4 TB versions are available, with the 4 TB version being a five platter design (800 GB/platter).
The WD Green drives are also getting a capacity boost to 5 TB and 6 TB. WD also specifically mentioned that their in-house NAS and DAS units (My Cloud EX2 / EX4, My Book Duo etc.) are also getting new models with these higher capacity drives pre-installed. The MSRPs for the newly introduced drives are provided below

WD Red Lineup 2014 Updates - Manufacturer Suggested Retail Prices
Model	Model Number	Price (USD)
WD Red - 5 TB	WD50EFRX	$249
WD Red - 6 TB	WD60EFRX	$299
WD Red Pro - 2 TB	WD2001FFSX	$159
WD Red Pro - 3 TB	WD3001FFSX	$199
WD Red Pro - 4 TB	WD4001FFSX	$259

We do have review units of both the 6 TB WD Red and the 4 TB WD Red Pro. Look out for the hands-on coverage in the reviews section over the next couple of weeks.

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Manual Camera Controls and RAW in Android L

For those that have followed the state of camera software in AOSP and Google Camera in general, it’s been quite clear that this portion of the experience has been a major stumbling block for Android. Third party camera applications are almost always worse for options and camera experience than first party ones. Manual controls effectively didn’t exist because the underlying camera API simply didn’t support any of this. Until recently, the official Android camera API has only supported three distinct modes. These modes were preview, still image capture, and video recording. Within these modes, capabilities were similarly limited. It wasn’t possible to do burst image capture in photo mode or take photos while in video mode. Manual controls were effectively nonexistent as well. Even something as simple as tap to focus wasn’t supported through Android’s camera API until ICS (4.0). In response to these issues, Android OEMs and silicon vendors filled the gap in capabilities with custom, undocumented camera APIs. While this opened up the ability to deliver much better camera experiences, these APIs were only usable in the OEM’s camera applications. If there were no manual controls, there was no way for users to get a camera application that had manual controls.
With Android L, this will change. Fundamentally, the key to understanding this new API is understanding that there are no longer distinct modes to work with. Photos, videos, and previews are all processed in the same exact way. This opens up a great deal of possibility, but also means more work on the part of the developer to do things correctly. Now, instead of sending capture requests in a given mode with global settings, individual requests for image capture are sent to a request queue and are processed with specific settings for each request.

This sounds simple enough, but the implications are enormous. First, image capture is much faster. Before, if the settings for an image changed the entire imaging pipeline would have to clear out before another image could be taken. This is because any image that entered the pipeline would have settings changed while processing, which means that the settings would be inconsistent and incorrect. This slowed things down greatly because of this wait period after each change to capture settings. With the new API, you simply request captures with specific settings (device dependent) so there’s no need to wait on the pipeline with settings changes. This dramatically increases the maximum capture rate regardless of the format used. In other words, the old API set changes globally. This slowed down image capture every time image settings changed because all of the images in the pipeline had to be discarded once the settings were changed. In the new API, settings are done on a per-image basis. This means that no discarding has to happen, which means image capture stays fast.

The second implication is that the end user will have much more control over the settings that they can use. These have been discussed before in the context of iOS 8’s manual camera controls, but in effect it’s now possible to control shutter speed, ISO, focus, flash, white balance manually, along with options to control exposure level bias, exposure metering algorithms, and also select the capture format. This means that the images can be output as JPEG, YUV, RAW/DNG, or any other format that is supported.

While not an implication, the elimination of distinction between photo and video is crucial. Because these distinctions are removed, it’s now possible to do burst shots, full resolution photos while capturing lower resolution video, and HDR video. In addition, because the pipeline gives all of the information on the camera state for each image, Lytro-style image refocusing is doable, as are depth maps for post-processing effects. Google specifically cited HDR+ in the Nexus 5 as an example of what’s possible with the new Android camera APIs.

This new camera API will be officially released in Android L, and it’s already usable on the Android L preview for the Nexus 5. While there are currently no third party applications that take advantage of this API, there is a great deal of potential to make camera applications that greatly improve upon OEM camera applications. However, the most critical point to take away is that the new camera API will open up the possibility for applications that no one has thought of yet. While there are still issues with the Android camera ecosystem, with the release of Android L software won’t be one of them.

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ECS LIVA Review: The Nettop Rises Again
Nettops and netbooks, as a class of products, have been on the decline over the last few years. However, the introduction of SoCs based on the new Silvermont Atom cores has given the segment a chance to reinvent itself. ECS is trying to take the lead here with their LIVA mini-PC kits. Read on to find out more about the ECS LIVA and how it performs in our evaluation.

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ASUS ROG Maximus VII Formula Released

One of the major announcements at Computex this year was that of the Maximus VII Formula, ASUS’ ‘gaming-rather-than-overclocking’ focused member of the Republic of Gamers line-up. The additions for the new Formula will centre on the PCIe storage support that Z97 affords, as well as the iterative design of the ROG brand. The main elements that ASUS wants to promote with the new Formula include the power delivery hybrid cooling solution, the SupremeFX audio solution, the ROG Armor, TrueVolt 5V, GameFirst III and Extreme Engine DIGI+ III.

For those not familiar with the Formula, particularly from the last generation, the main visual feature is usually the ROG Armor. This is a fixed shroud on the front and back of the motherboard, with the aim to improve the rigidity of the product but also reduce dust build up on components or shorting due to errant screwdrivers.

The CrossChill hybrid cooling combines air cooling with a water cooling heatsink on the power delivery. The design is based in corrosion-resistant copper, and ASUS claims that temperatures in this area of the motherboard can be reduced by up to 23ºC. The thread fittings are set at G1/4-inch and require users to use their own barbs. The chokes underneath are the 60A Blackwing chokes found on the high-end Maximus VI range, and the NexFET ICs are designed for 90% efficiency. Knowing that gamers will also want to overclock, there are also 10K black metallic caps with a 20% increase in extreme temperature endurance over that standard solution.

The audio solution uses many of the same elements we have come across on an enhanced ALC1150 setup – PCB separation, EM shields, filter caps and headphone amplifiers. ASUS engineer their design to also include a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC for the rear output and ‘Sonic SenseAmp’ technology to detect when low or high impedance headphones are used and adjust accordingly.

For storage, M.2 is supported via the mPCIe combo III card for the rear IO, supporting any type 2260 devices. This looks to be a PCIe 2.0 x2 solution. ASUS also includes two SATA Express ports, one powered by the PCH and the other via an ASMedia controller. Given that three PCIe storage options are present and each requires two PCIe lanes, I would imagine that the M.2 and SATAe from the PCH are shared via a switch and the second SATAe slot is shared with the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot on board or the extra USB 3.0 ports. Alongside the PCIe storage there is also ten SATA ports (four shared with SATAe), eight USB 3.0 ports and six USB 2.0 ports.

At the launch of Z97, ASUS released the Gene, Hero and Ranger, with the Formula, Impact and Extreme expected in due course. Computex saw the announcement of the Impact and the Formula, although I have a feeling that the team that design the Extreme might be focusing on X99 for now.
Initially the Formula will be available as a bundle with Watch Dogs from Newegg and Tiger Direct for $369 from next week, with a standard edition available shortly after for around $319.

Gallery: ASUS ROG Maximus VII Formula Released

Google Maps Updated to Version 8.2 With Voice Actions and Elevation for Bike Routes

It seems that Google wasn't able to ship out all their updates on Wednesday in their typical bundle of application updates. Google Maps for Android has just received an update to version 8.2 and it brings along some significant changes and improvements to the app, especially for cyclists who use Google Maps to plan their routes.

As you can see above, Google now gives an estimate of the elevation along a route when looking for routes that can be done on a bicycle. The app demonstrates it like a timeline of the route you are taking, with the height of the line representing the elevation and the slope of the line representing how quickly a change in elevation occurs. For cyclists trying to find a route that avoids large amounts of uphill travel this is certainly a useful feature. Something Google may want to add in the future to route options is the ability to show and sort routes based on a preference for the route with the least uphill travel rather than for the shortest time possible.
The other major improvement comes in the form of voice controls for vehicle navigation. A microphone button in the navigation interface brings up the voice input card, and the user can say various commands to control the application without having to directly interact with their device. Based on my time with the voice control you are able to ask it to direct you to different locations, to check the traffic along your route, and to show alternate available routes. It's not yet clear what the limitations of the in-app voice controls are and Google is sure to expand the available commands and the flexibility of the user's wording of a statement with further updates.
Google Maps 8.2 for Android is rolling out to Android users now. Like most of Google's update rollouts, it may take some time before your device receives the update. At the moment there is no sign of an update to Google's iOS version of Maps but Google has recently been rolling out updates to both apps in the same timeframe so it is likely that Google Maps for iOS will receive these features in the near future.

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AMD Q2 2014 Quarterly Earnings Analysis

AMD hosted their quarterly earnings conference call this afternoon to announce their financial results for the quarter ending June 2014. In a similar story to last quarter, AMD has inched closer to profitability yet again. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.44 billion, an increase of 3% over Q1 2014 and up 24% year-over-year.

AMD Q2 2014 Financial Results (GAAP in USD)
	Q2'2014	Q1'2014	Q2'2013
Revenue	$1.44B	$1.40B	$1.16B
Operating Income	$63M	$49M	-$29M
Net Income	-$36M	-$20M	-$74M
Earnings per Share	-$0.05	-$0.03	-$0.10

Once again, gross margins were flat over the preceding quarter at 35%. Operating income for the quarter was $63 million, up from $49 million in Q1, however the GAAP results still ended up with a $36 million net loss. The Non-GAAP numbers come in higher due to the exclusion of $49 million in loss from debt redemption.
Non-GAAP operating income was $67 million, with a net income of $17 million or $0.02 per share which missed analyst’s expectations of $0.03 per share.

AMD Q2 2014 Financial Results (Non-GAAP in USD)
	Q2'2014	Q1'2014	Q2'2013
Revenue	$1.44B	$1.40B	$1.16B
Operating Income	$67M	$66M	-$20M
Net Income	$17M	$12M	-$65M
Earnings per Share	$0.02	$0.02	-$0.09

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $948 million at the end of the quarter. AMD has a target for cash on hand of $600 million minimum with $1 billion as an optimum target, and is within that window. Total debt went up from $2.14 billion to $2.21 billion.
Once again, the Computing Solutions segment of AMD performed poorly, with a revenue decrease of 1% from Q1, and 20% from Q2 2013. AMD attributes this to a decrease in microprocessor unit shipments. However higher margins and an increase average selling price (ASP) meant that the increased the operating income to $9 million for the quarter, up from the $3 million loss last quarter, and also up from the $2 million in income at the same time last year.

AMD Q2 2014 Computing Solutions Division Financial Results
	Q2'2014	Q1'2014	Q2'2013
Revenue	$669M	$663M	$841M
Operating Income	$9M	-$3M	$2M

Graphics and Visual Solutions continued its strong performance from last quarter with an increase in revenue of 5% from last quarter, and 141% year-over-year. AMD once again attributes this gain to semi-custom SoC shipments which likely mean Game Console sales. GPU revenue was down both sequentially and year-over-year but slightly offset by an increase in professional graphics and desktop OEM GPUs. Overall operating income for the segment was $82 million, down from $91 million last quarter and up from a breakeven point in Q2 2013. GPU ASP decreased compared to both last quarter and Q2 of last year.

AMD Q2 2014 Graphics and Visual Solutions Division Financial Results
	Q2'2014	Q1'2014	Q2'2013
Revenue	$772M	$734M	$320M
Operating Income	$82M	$91M	$0M

AMD has reorganized its reporting structure for upcoming financial results. As of Q3 2014, the segments will be Computing and Graphics which include desktop and notebook processors, chipsets, and GPUs, and Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom segment which will be servers, embedded systems, and game consoles.
AMD is expecting a 2% revenue increase plus or minus 3% for the 3^rd quarter this year.
AMD still has some work to do in order to get to profitability, but so far 2014 has been a lot easier on them than the last couple of years.

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Microsoft Announces Significant Cuts to Workforce

Recently appointed CEO Satya Nadella announced the largest layoffs in Microsoft’s 39 year history today, with a staggering 18,000 jobs on the chopping block. The goal, according to Nadella is to “simplify the way we work to drive greater accountability, become more agile and move faster” signifying Nadella's goal to bring some focus to Microsoft's portfolio of services while also seemingly looking to play down the job losses.
The last large round of layoffs at Microsoft came in 2009, after the stock market crash. That round of layoffs was the previous largest ever at 5,800 positions, and today’s announcement dwarfs that number substantially. But not all departments will share this burden evenly, with the recently acquired Nokia employees getting the brunt of the cuts. In April, Microsoft closed the acquisition of the Nokia mobile phone business, and in the process added 25,000 employees to its payroll. Nadella announced today that 50% of those employees will be let go. Some will be factory workers from some of the in-house manufacturing Nokia owned, and the remainder will be from the handset business itself.
The remaining 5,500 employees to be laid off will therefore come from within Microsoft itself, as it attempts to concentrate on some of its more successful offerings. Excluding the Nokia losses, which are often expected after a merger of this sort, the total number of Microsoft employees being affected is not significantly different than the 2009 cuts.
Former Nokia CEO, now Microsoft Executive VP of Devices and Services, Stephen Elop laid out some of the upcoming changes in his own letter to his employees. Elop promises a focus on Windows Phone, with a near term goal of driving up Windows Phone volume by focusing on the affordable smartphone segments. With that announcement comes the death of the strange Nokia X series of AOSP phones, which debuted at MWC 2014 and were updated with a new model only a couple of weeks ago. While I would make the argument that there was little need for the X series at all, it is doubly frustrating to anyone who bought into the platform to find it killed off so quickly. The X series would be easy prey for cuts like these, because it didn’t really offer anything new to Android or to Microsoft. While it promised to be low cost, retail pricing for the X line was often more than the low cost Lumia phones. The X series had no place in a Microsoft owned Nokia, and should have been killed a while ago.

Elop also announced that they would continue to work on the high end phone range as well. Historically Windows Phone has suffered selling flagship models for many reasons, but it appears that they are not ready to give up the fight in this market yet. He also specifically called out Surface, Perceptive Pixel, and Xbox as new areas of innovation, which likely means those brands are safe for the time being.
The remainder of the Nokia feature phone lines appear to be immediately canceled. This is a segment that has been rapidly shrinking in recent years, with the consumer push towards smartphones, so this is likely a good strategic move by Microsoft. The work done on Windows Phone to allow it to work well on low cost hardware is also likely another big reason for this.
Another major announcement was the closure of the Xbox Entertainment Studios which had a goal of providing original content for Xbox Live members. Several projects such as “Signal to Noise” and “Halo: Nightfall” that were mid production will be completed, but after that content is delivered the studio will be closed.
The full ramifications of these job cuts won’t be known for some time, but it seems fair to say that Nadella wants to put his own stamp on the company. Removing the Nokia X line, the Asha and S40 lines, and an entertainment studio seem like reasonable things to cut if you want to focus your company. Nadella speaks about flattening the organization out, which should help them be quicker to execute on ideas. These kinds of steps, though painful for the employees, can be better for the company in the long run. For quite some time, the perception is that Microsoft is not agile enough to respond to new markets, and it appears that Satya Nadella is trying to focus his company on its strength and that should have a net positive for the company. Microsoft’s next earnings call comes on July 22^nd, at which point we may get more details about upcoming plans.

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Imagination Posts PowerVR Rogue Specification Summary

Being in the business of licensing out GPUs rather than building them directly, Imagination’s PowerVR group has always walked a fine line in how they communicate with their direct customers (SoC integrators) who build their products, the developers who program for their products, and the end users who use their products. The end result is that most of Imagination’s public-facing information is either geared towards their direct customers or geared towards developers, fulfilling Imagination’s immediate needs but leaving out other details in the process. A quick look at the PowerVR section of Imagination’s website further backs that point, as it contains only a very high level overview of their products that makes it more useful to SoC integrators than end users or even developers.
With that lack of detail in mind and as part of their continuing efforts to reach out to end users this year, Imagination has sent word this afternoon that they are setting up a new Rogue GPU specification summary page for end users and developers alike. With the Rogue architecture spanning over a dozen different GPU designs and being trifurcated over 3 product lines – Series6 (original), Series6XT, and Series6XE – there are subtle but important feature differences between the 3 product lines that Imagination wants to more clearly communicate, along with the more obvious performance implications of larger and smaller GPU designs.

Meanwhile Imagination also notes that this summary page will be kept up to date with information on newer GPUs. This is a not-so-subtle hint about the current in-development Series 7 GPUs, which although haven’t been announced are clearly illustrated in Imagination’s graphics IP roadmaps. And though not specifically announced here, Imagination's specification summary also serves to confirm that all Rogue GPUs will support OpenGL 3.1, so long as the underlying OS and drivers have that functionality enabled.
Finally, while it’s not posted on Imagination’s summary page, in the press announcement Imagination also included a current list of publicly announced SoCs that are utilizing Rogue GPUs. Like the specification summary this isn’t secret information but isn’t normally information that Imagination keeps in one location, so it’s handy to have.

Allwinner UltraOcta A80 (PowerVR G6230) for tablets, set-top boxes, portable game consoles and many more
Intel Atom™ Z3460/Z3480 Merrifield (PowerVR G6400) and Z3560/Z3580 Moorefield (PowerVR G6430) for smartphones and tablets
LG H13 (PowerVR G6200) for smart TVs
MediaTek MT8135 (PowerVR G6200) for tablets and MT6595 (PowerVR G6200) for smartphones
Renesas R-Car H2 (PowerVR G6400) for automotive

MSI GE60 Review: Mainstream Mobile Maxwell
When NVIDIA launched their first Maxwell GPU, the GM107, back in February, they ushered in a new level of performance efficiency for desktop PCs. Given these improvements in efficiency, Maxwell appears to be perfect for modern mainstream gaming notebooks. With MSI's GE60 in hand, we can now provide details on how the GTX 860M Maxwell variant performance when compared to other laptops, but the sum of a notebook is often much more than the raw performance. Read on for our look at GTX 860M as well as MSI's GE60 mainstream gaming notebook.

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WiGig Startup Nitero Launches NT4600 802.11ad Solution for Mobile Platforms

We have looked at multiple 60 GHz 802.11ad solutions from Wilocity over the last couple of years. A couple of weeks back, this market area received a fillip as Wilocity was bought by Qualcomm for around $300 million. Wilocity's chipsets are currently integrated inside a few business laptops from Dell, pointing to WiGig taking off after more than four years of development. With Qualcomm behind the technology now, it is quite likely that Wilocity's latest mobile-usage targeted products will integrate into a future Snapdragon platform. In this market state, we have a new startup that is pitching its first solution for WiGig.
Nitero, a fabless semiconductor company, is launching the NT4600 802.11ad solution today. Instead of starting off with the PC as a target platform, Nitero has designed this in Samsung's 28nm RF process to achieve 10x lower power consumption numbers compared to currently existing WiGig solutions for PCs. The implication is that the NT4600 can be directly used in tablets and smartphones.
The NT4600 supports TX/RX beamforming for operation even in non-line of sight conditions. It supports data rates up to 4.6 Gbps and provides a PCIe host interface for connecting to the app processor. Nitero also has Android drivers ready for their platform. The company is demonstrating the NT4600 to prospective customers now, with mass production expected in early 2015.

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Google Updates Chrome To Version 36

Today Google updated the stable version of its Chrome browser to version 36.0.1985.122 on Windows, OS X, and Linux. The update contains a couple of visual changes as well as some under the hood improvements. Below is the full list of changes provided by Google.

Rich Notifications Improvements
An Updated Incognito / Guest NTP design
The addition of a Browser crash recovery bubble
Chrome App Launcher for Linux
Lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance

The first two listed changes are mainly visual. The changes to the incognito tab landing page update the design of the disclaimer about incognito mode to better fit in with Google's new Material Design principles. Below we have the old landing page text on the top and the new design on the bottom. As you can see, the new design employs a greater use of white backgrounds with a shadow underneath the card.

This release also brings the Chrome App Launcher to Linux, having previously been a feature only included with Chrome for Windows and OS X. The remaining browser changes are mainly under the hood to improve stability and performance. Upon updating my copy of Chrome for Windows to version 36 my Adblock Plus addon was unable to restore my custom website filters and so Adblock Plus users with custom filter lists may want to take note of any customizations they have made prior to updating. In addition to the changes listed in Google's changelog, the update includes fixes for 26 security issues. More information about these and other changes to Chrome can be found on the Google Chrome blog below.
Update: Google is now rolling out the same 36.0.1985.122 update to Chrome for Android. The specific changelog for that update is listed below. In addition to these changes, the update contains some security fixes specific to the Android version of Chrome.

Improved text rendering on non-mobile optimized sites.
Doodles return to the new tab page.
Lots of bug fixes and performance improvements!

Source: Google Chrome Blog

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ASUS Z97-Pro WiFi AC Review
The initial set of Z97 reviews demonstrated that most motherboard manufacturers were implementing at least one the new storage options offered by the chipset: SATA Express and M.2. The motherboard we are testing today, the Z97-Pro, uses both but incorporates a switching system so only one is active at the time. Similarly to the Z97-Deluxe which we have reviewed, ASUS’ new brushed metalling gold design is here on the Z97-Pro as well. Read on for the full review!

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Evaluating Samsung's QHD AMOLED Displays

Recently, a package showed up at my door. While this is normally not worth talking about, the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A happened to be in the box. For those unfamiliar with this phone, it's basically a refresh of the Galaxy S5. This means a Snadragon 805 SoC instead of Snapdragon 801. This also means a minor new revision of Krait (450 vs 400), a new GPU, and a separate MDM9x35 modem on a new process (20nm SoC vs 28nm HPm). This variant also ships with more RAM (3GB vs 2GB) and more internal storage (32GB vs 16GB). The display is also higher resolution (2560x1440 vs 1920x1080).
In terms of the resolution itself, the GS5 Broadband LTE-A doesn't seem to hold a significant advantage over the original Galaxy S5. While it's still possible to see the difference, once again I don't find it to be significant. It may be of value to others, but I think the PPI race needs to stop here, as I find it hard to justify the relatively minor resolution increase over the potential battery life gains and opportunity cost of pursuing higher pixel density over other display characteristics. Going to 4K would make even less sense at this display size, although there may be value to 4K in a tablet display. In the case of this display, I only see around a 10 nit reduction in brightness as the maximum luminance in auto brightness is around 430 nits, while on the older Galaxy S5 it was 440 nits. When set manually, the display has a peak luminance of 368 nits, a minor improvement over the previous model.

Of course, resolution isn't everything. Testing color accuracy is also important, which is the real surprise here. As always, these tests are run using an i1Pro for all measurements but contrast, and done using a custom workflow in SpectraCal's CalMAN 5. All color/grayscale measurements have been done in cinema mode as it is closest to targeting sRGB.

Based on grayscale alone, Samsung sets a new record for color accuracy in this department. It's definitely a healthy leap forward from the original Galaxy S5. In subjective viewing there are still some minor issues with excessive green in the color balance, but it's much better than before. The contrast is still just as dark as before. In a completely dark room, I can't tell whether the screen has turned off when displaying an all-black image.

In saturations, Samsung has done an incredible job of calibrating the display. Just looking at the graph of dE2000 averages, there is clear improvement from generation to generation. Samsung is now tied with Apple for color accuracy in this department.

While the saturation test is important, it's often not as rigorous at the GMB ColorChecker test. It's fully possible for a display to do well in the saturation test but fall flat in this one. Fortunately, this isn't the case here. Samsung has managed to approach the iPhone 5c in calibration accuracy here, easily setting a record amongst Android OEMs. The difference in color is definitely noticeable when compared to a Galaxy S5, and I hope that every Android OEM follows Samsung's lead in this department.
Based upon this initial evaluation of Samsung's first quad HD AMOLED display, things are looking good. There is a small drop in the maximum luminance but nothing significant. The next critical piece of the puzzle is whether power draw is significantly worse on the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A, although those results and the full review aren't quite ready yet. While only one aspect, things are currently looking up for the GS5 Broadband LTE-A, even if the name is a bit long. This may also represent a change in the future of mobile displays, as AMOLED increasingly seems poised to supplant LCD technologies. Unfortunately, as Samsung seems to be the sole supplier of such displays other OEMs are unlikely to adopt AMOLED until other vendors catch up with equivalent technology.

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AT&T Launching HTC Desire 610 On July 25

Today AT&T and HTC announced that the HTC Desire 610 is coming to AT&T. The Desire 610 was announced back in February and so it has taken quite some time to make its way over to the US. It competes in the same price class as devices like the Motorola Moto G and the Huawei Ascend Mate2, and its specifications are laid out below.

HTC Desire 610
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) 4 x Cortex A7 at 1.2GHz Adreno 305
Memory and Storage	8GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 1GB LPDDR3
Display	4.7” 854x480 Super LCD at 199ppi
Cellular Connectivity	2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE)
Dimensions	143.1 x 70.5 x 9.6 mm, 143.5g
Camera	8 MP Rear Facing, 1.3MP Front Facing
Battery	2040 mAh (7.75Whr)
Other Connectivity	802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC
SIM Size	Nano-SIM
Operating System	Android 4.4.2 KitKat with HTC Sense 5.5

The Desire 610 shares many common hardware features with other devices in its price point. The MSM8226 and MSM8926 have become ubiquitous among smartphones in the $200-300 price range. When compared to the Moto G we see that the Desire 610 brings along a higher resolution rear-facing camera but takes a significant step down in resolution. Something to note is that AT&T's press release states that their Desire 610 has an 854x480 display at 199ppi, while the Desire 610 that has shipped in other parts of the world has a 960x540 display for a pixel density of 234ppi. It is unclear if AT&T's model of the Desire 610 is a special variant or if this is simply an error in the specifications AT&T has listed. The inclusion of MicroSD and LTE support is welcomed, as it was not long ago that phones aimed at the low and middle ends of the market would forgo LTE support to reduce costs. Beyond that it is a fairly similar device to others in its price bracket, and for many consumers choosing a smartphone in thise price bracket the choice may be more about size and appearance than what's inside.
The Desire 610 will be available for purchase on July 25 for AT&T customers. It will be available for $199 with no carrier contract, or for $10 or $8.34 a month on AT&T's 12 and 18 month financing plans respectively.
Source: AT&T

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Intel Q2 2014 Quarterly Earnings Analysis

On July 15, Intel released their Q2 2014 Earnings report for the period ending June 28, 2014.
GAAP revenues for the quarter came in at $13.8B which is up almost a billion over Q1 2014, and also up a billion on Q2 2013 for a strong 8% increase.
Earnings Per Share was $0.55, up a substantial 41% year-over-year, and beating analysts’ expectations of 52 cents per share.

Intel Q2 2014 Financial Results (GAAP)
	Q2'2014	Q1'2014	Q2'2013
Revenue	$13.831B	$12.764B	$12.811
Operating Income	$3.844B	$2.533B	$2.719B
Net Income	$2.796B	$1.947B	$2.000B
Gross Margin	64.5%	59.7%	58.3%
PC Group Revenue	$8.7B	+9%	+6%
Data Center Group Revenue	$3.5B	+14%	+19%
Internet of Things Revenue	$539M	+12%	+24%
Mobile Group Revenue	$51M	-67%	-83%
Software and Services Revenue	$548M	-1%	+3%
All Other Revenue	$517M	-5%	+16%

The stagnant PC sector is finally showing some signs of life again after declining over the last several years. Intel’s PC Client Group reported revenue of $8.7 billion, up 9% over last quarter and 6% year-over-year. Unit volumes of PC Client chips were up 12% over last quarter, and 9% from last year. The average selling prices (ASP) were down 3% from Q1 2014 and 4% from Q2 2013. Most of this can be attributed to a 7% drop in ASP for the notebook platform, where as desktop chips actually slightly increased ASP over Q2 2013.
Data Center revenue was up an even more impressive 19% over Q2 2013, and 14% over last quarter. Data Center volumes were up exactly the same as the PC Client volumes – 12% over the previous quarter and 9% over the previous year, but ASP for the Data Center platforms was up 3% over Q1 2014 and 11% over Q2 2014.
The recently formed “Internet of Things” group continued its strong growth, up again another 12% over last quarter and 24% year-over-year. This group includes embedded segments such as retail, transportation, and consumer focused things like home automation.
The one sector at Intel which continues to struggle is the Mobile and Communications group which was down 61% Q1 2014 versus Q1 2013, and once again in Q2 2014 it was down again 67% compared to Q1 and 83% year-over-year. The silver lining on this is the relatively small amount of revenue this is for Intel with this group only having $51 million in revenue, but in a world where the number of mobile devices is skyrocketing, Intel is struggling to capitalize on the new market. Intel is still not price competitive with the Bay Trail SoC business and are working on a low cost platform for Bay Trail. In the meantime, Intel is subsidizing the platform cost for the time being in order to not be shut out of this market. It’s not something that would be sustainable forever, but it seems to be allowing them a toehold in the mobile market while they continue to push towards lower cost silicon for partners. We’ve seen a lot of mobile devices coming with Bay Trail in the last couple of months, including a $110 Toshiba tablet and this contra revenue is driving that, but hurting the short term results for the Mobile group.
The last sector at Intel to report was the Software and Services, coming in at $548 million in revenue which is pretty much flat quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. This segment includes McAfee which was purchased by Intel in the not so distant past.
The forecast for next quarter and the rest of the year has been upgraded, with Q3 2014 being forecast for $14.4 billion plus or minus $500 million. The board has also approved an additional $20 billion in share repurchases, with an expectation of $4 billion in shares to be repurchased in Q3. Looking back historically, Intel is once again getting close to record revenue and incomes, having almost fully recovered to 2012 levels.

Broadwell is now expected during the holiday season 2014, which is certainly much later than hoped. Going back to 130 nm and coming forward until 32 nm, Intel has averaged 8.2 quarters between process nodes. They have been on 22 nm for nine quarters already, meaning the wait between 22 nm and 14 nm will be about 11 quarters which will be the longest time on a single process node since Intel began the tick tock strategy. Clearly there are some heavy engineering hurdles to overcome as we move towards smaller and smaller processes. We’ll have to watch and see if this delays Skylake or if Broadwell has a shorter than expected lifespan. 10 nm is on the roadmap for 2016 which might be an aggressive timeline with the time 14 nm has taken.

This was a great quarter for Intel, which is generally a bellwether for the rest of the PC industry. After several years of decline, things are looking more optimistic for the industry. Revenues from Intel were great, but historically they have always done well. The exciting takeaway from this earnings report is the increased volumes in both notebook and desktop sales. Whether this is a turnaround in the market, or just a small correction is tough to tell yet.

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Synology Expands Evansport Arsenal with 4-bay DS415play

The DS214play 2-bay NAS is turning out to be a popular product for Synology. Sensing a lot of market interest in a version with more number of bays, Synology is launching the DS415play today. It is a 4-bay NAS based on the Intel CE5335 Evansport SoC. With this product, Synology joins Asustor (AS-304T) and Thecus (N4560) as vendors supplying 4-bay NAS units based on the Intel CE5335.

Gallery: Gallery Title

Synology's approach to Evansport is unique, and we have covered it in detail in our DS214play review. The transcoding capabilities are quite useful and work great for a lot of devices. There are still a few rough edges, but, given Synology's commitment to firmware features, we are sure things will continue to get better. In addition to the Chromecast support that was a great feature while using the DS214play, Synology's PR for the 415play also talks about support for Android TV (not surprising, given that they were already working great with Chromecast).
On the hardware side, users not quite satisfied with 2 drives in the DS214play had the option of adding a DX513 to the mix (no option for volumes spanning the two units, though) to get 7 bays in total using the available eSATA port. The DS415play does away with the eSATA port, so there is no possibility of adding in an enclosure to increase the number of drive bays. That said, four bays is probably enough for a large majority of the consumers (considering that 5 TB and higher capacity drives are already in the market).
At $540, it is a bit costlier compared to the Asustor AS-304T. However, the transcoding features and app ecosystem probably warrant the increase in price. QNAP's TS-451 is already quite close to launch, and I think that will be the main competition for Synology's DS415play.

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Microsoft Begins Rollout of Windows Phone 8.1 and Lumia Cyan Update

After a long period as a developer preview, the official release of Windows Phone 8.1 is now rolling out to Nokia Lumia Windows Phones. Windows Phone 8.1 brings many long needed improvements to the platform, some of the most significant being features like the new Action Center which combines notifications and access to settings and shortcuts in a menu that can be pulled down from the top of the device, and improvements to performance and compatibility in Internet Explorer 11. For a full overview of the improvements made in Windows 8.1 you can read Anand's review of the April developer preview here
In addition to the improvements made in Windows 8.1, the update rolling out to Nokia devices also includes Nokia specific improvements in what is being called the Lumia Cyan update. The Lumia Cyan update includes a handful of audio equalizer features like enabling equalizer settings for audio played over the phone's speaker and a "dialog enhancer" to boost the volume of human speech in videos played on the device. On some of the higher end Lumia devices the update enables the option to record Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio in the camera app which does audio processing to emulate multi-channel audio recording.
The Lumia Cyan update also brings a couple of improvements to the display settings. The first is support for brightness profiles which was originally introduced on the Lumia 630. This introduces a slider in the brightness section of the settings application for finer control over the desired brightness than the default fixed settings of low, medium, and high. The other new display related feature is what Nokia calls color profiles. In essence these are just settings that allow the user to shift the display toward a brighter more saturated image or toward a cooler less saturated image. Along with the three presets of standard, vivid, and cool, there is also an advanced mode which allows the user to manually change settings labelled color temperature, tint, and color saturation using three sliders.
While Windows 8.1 is an update that will roll out to the entire range of Windows Phone 8 devices with all features included, the Lumia Cyan update may have certain features tailored only to specific devices. More information about other features included in the Lumia Cyan update can be found in Nokia's announcement post below. Both updates are beginning their rollout today and Nokia has updated their update status page to reflect the beginning of the Lumia Cyan and Windows 8.1 rollout. The update will be rolling out to Nokia Lumia phones as well as Windows Phone devices from other manufacturers like Samsung and HTC in the coming weeks.
Source: Nokia Blog, Nokia Update Status

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Seagate Reboots Network Storage Offerings with Rangeley NAS Pro and ARMADA NAS Lineups

The fruits of Seagate's LaCie acquisition started to appear earlier this year with the Seagate Business Storage Rackmount Series. The NAS OS that was part of the unit was an evolved version of the software that we had expressed approval of in the LaCie 5big NAS Pro. In general, NAS OS has just the right amount of features to create a fully functional SMB NAS without overwhelming the user. On the hardware side, there hasn't been anything new in the desktop form factor from Seagate since LaCie's OS got adopted as the platform of choice for their SMB NAS units. That is changing today.
Seagate is introducing two new network storage lineups today, the Marvell ARMADA-based NAS and the Intel Rangeley-based NAS Pro. The NAS comes in 2-bay and 4-bay varieties, while the NAS Pro comes in 2-bay, 4-bay and 6-bay varieties. While diskless models are available, Seagate expects most customers to take advantage of the bundled offers with NAS HDDs filling the bays. Various NAS HDD capacities from 1 TB to 5 TB are available (the 5 TB versions will ship late August, but other capacities are shipping today). Both lineups target the SMB market, with focus more on data security and ease of use rather than all the bells and whistles that home users tend to want. Within the SMB market, Seagate heavily plays up their remote access / private cloud technology - The SDrive app (for Android & iOS) along with a corresponding desktop program enables remote access to the Seagate NAS seamlessly (no port forwarding to worry about). Keeping up with the needs of this market segment, the SDrive app ensures encryption with the user credentials before data is transmitted either from the NAS to the device or vice-versa.

Seagate NAS Family

The NAS 2-bay and 4-bay solutions target SOHOs with up to 25 employees. It uses a Marvell ARMADA 370 platform (single core ARMv7 CPU at 1.2 GHz) and comes with 512 MB of DRAM. Hot-swapping is supported and the rest of the hardware specs are pretty much the same as the competition in this price range. The warranty and included drive class are the aspects in favour of the lineup. On the 4-bay side, Seagate adopts the same SoC platform as that of the 2-bay version. The competition in this price range is a bit more varied with respect to the hardware platform (ARMADA XP, Marvell 6282 etc. are common), but the advantages held by the 2-bay hold true here also.

Gallery: Seagate NAS Family

We have the NAS 4-bay version in-house for review and should get a better idea of the competitive performance in our testbed towards the end of the week.

Seagate NAS Pro Family

The NAS Pro family is much more interesting, targeting workgroups of up to 50 employees. While the NAS lineup goes head-to-head with last year's models from the competition, the NAS Pro lineup stands unique for now. This is the first announced off-the-shelf NAS that we have heard of to sport the new Intel Atom processors. In the case of the NAS Pro, the particular SoC is the Intel Atom C2338, a dual-core Atom (new Silvermont architecture) CPU running at 1.7 GHz. The awesome aspects of this Rangeley part are obviously the 6 integrated SATA ports and 8 available PCIe 2.0 lanes. Up to 4x 1 GbE ports (or 4x 2.5 GbE) are supported in the Intel Atom C2338. AES-NI is available for accelerated encryption capabilities.
The NAS Pro family consists of 2-bay, 4-bay and 6-bay versions. Current Atom-based units from the competition (the Atom D270x-based ones) run at more than 2 GHz. But, make no mistake about the 'lower-clocked' Intel CPU in the NAS Pro. This is the real deal as compared to the previous generation Atom-based units, as it is based on a much improved microarchitecture and platform structure. We should get better performance and lower power consumption with the NAS Pro as compared to the competition (in addition to whatever can be gathered from the comparison tables).

Gallery: Seagate NAS Pro Family

NAS OS 4

Seagate's NAS OS has been hitting all the right notes in its evolution since LaCie got acquired. I have been using it for the last few days in the NAS 4-bay and I am very happy with the much cleaner interface. The isolation of the device management pages from the the apps section is welcome for the target audience. The companion SDrive app also works without issues. One must remember that the more full-featured NAS operating systems such as Synology's DSM and QNAP's QTS were not built in a day. I am quite sure with the focus that Seagate has on the NAS OS, it will reach those points of perfection eventually. For now, the third-party application support as well as the user experience is more than good enough for the target SMB market.
Coming to the business end of this coverage, the questions on the minds of most readers are probably related to why consumers should choose Seagate for their NAS needs. As I was getting briefed by Seagate on this announcement, I was reminded of my interaction with a few IT administrator friends of mine (they handle IT support for 100 - 500 employee companies in the Silicon Valley, handling NetApp filers and other such high end equipment). As the trend of working remotely catches on, it has apparently become necessary to equip the homes of some employees / individual contributors with a fast NAS to ensure data availability locally, as VPN access becomes too slow for some use-cases. When asked for suggestions, I immediately responded with a few from my experience reviewing NAS units. Unfortunately, none of my first-tier suggestions worked out - the top most requirement in their mind was a one-stop shop for the whole package including the disks. After exploring various options, they finally went with either Seagate or Western Digital Windows Storage Servers. I believe this is exactly the sort of situation where hard drive vendors have a very obvious advantage - particularly for the SMB market. Seagate already has a strong brand name, and, with products like the NAS and NAS Pro, they are creating everything - the drives, the chassis and the hardware/software design - in-house. Given the price point advantages over Windows Storage Server-equipped units, SMBs / SOHOs would do well to consider the NAS / NAS Pro units for their network storage needs.

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Thread Group Moots New IP Wireless Networking Protocol for IoT

The increasing popularity of home automation (HA) equipment as well as the upcoming wearable market opportunities have fueled the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. In the home automation front, we have had a number of protocols / technologies vying to be the communication enabler. From a wireless perspective, Z-Wave has enjoyed lot of success amongst service providers, while ZigBee has had its share of vocal backers in the DIY market. However, it can be said without doubt that most of the high-volume HA devices (read, economical ones) have relied solely on Wi-Fi. That said, the importance of mesh-networking in the HA market can't be overstated. Even popular products like the Nest thermostat and the Philips Hue bulbs integrate ZigBee support (though Nest doesn't currently enable it).
IEEE 802.15.4 is a standard for low bandwidth personal area networks. It defines the PHY and MAC layers, leaving the upper layers open for development. ZigBee is one such specification with a custom upper layer. 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Networks) is yet another specification which defines the upper layers in such a way as to allow IPv6 packet transmission over 802.15.4 networks (creating a wireless embedded Internet).
The recent security vulnerabilities found in the LIFX connected light bulbs (which use the 6LoWPAN mesh network) stress the importance of having a secure IPv6 communication mechanism for connected devices that use the 802.15.4 standard. In order to improve compatibility while also ensuring that the wheel is not reinvented, some companies have come together to form the Thread Group and develop a new networking protocol to sit on top of the 802.15.4 PHY and MAC layers.

It must be stressed that Thread is not an application protocol or connectivity platform for different networks, but a new networking protocol. The advantage is that it is based on 802.15.4 - this means that existing devices which use ZigBee / 6LoWPAN etc. can easily migrate to Thread with the existing radios with just a firmware update. No new hardware is needed. The Nest thermostats are currently shipping with a version of Thread running on them.
The Thread Group claims that their new approach provides advantages (both technical and certification-wise) over all the other approaches / certification programs currently in the market (including ZigBee PRO / Z-Wave / AllSeen / AllJoyn / Open Interconnect Consortium etc.). There is no denying the fact that a more secure protocol for mesh networks is the need of the hour. It is definitely an advantage that it can work on existing 802.15.4 hardware. That said, in our opinion, 802.11ah (which is being pushed heavily by all current Wi-Fi silicon vendors) will be a force to reckon with. Whether it will form a backhaul network for 802.15.4, or completely obviate the need for it in home automation applications remains to be seen.
The Thread Group is backed by ARM, Big Ass Fans, Freescale Semiconductor, Nest Labs, Inc., Samsung, Silicon Labs and Yale Security. It is a not-for-profit group primarily aimed at educating developers and consumers through a product certification program for its mesh network technology. New members (in addition to the seven founding ones) will start to get accepted in Q3 2014 and the first set of specifications are expected to release later this year.

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Report: The Chevy Volt’s European Twin, Opel Ampera, Gets the Axe
Only 332 Amperas were sold through the first five months of 2014

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Motorola Moto G Sucessor Reportedly Uncovered, Moto X Discounted by up to $75
Moto G2 to feature mostly the same innards, but will include an upgraded camera

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JJ Abrams Unveils X-Wing Starfighter for New "Star Wars" Movie
It's not a Z-95 Headhunter

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Edward Snowden Presents Tech to Stop Government Spying
He gave a lecture at the HOPE conference

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UK Government Considering Tesla Model S Purchases
The UK government put together 5 million pounds ($8.6 million USD) for the program

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Airbus Shows Off All-Electric E-Fan 2.0 Airplane, Plans Production in 2017
The two-passenger E-Fan 2.0 will be followed up by the four-passenger E-Fan 4.0

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Report: NVIDIA Shield Tablet Coming July 29 for $299/$399 USD
There's a 16GB wi-fi model and a 32GB LTE model

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Verizon FiOS Network Upgrade Brings Symmetrical Upload/Download Speeds
500 Mbps uploads, 500 Mbps downloads are now a reality on FiOS

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Microsoft Kills Entertainment Unit, May Shelve Flagship Lumia "McLaren"
Neither Halo series will be affected by cuts

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Following Lowered Earnings Guidance, 200 Samsung Managers Return a Portion of Their Bonuses
Total value of returned bonuses is pegged at $2.3 million

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Toyota Scientist: Autonomous Vehicles May Lead to Increased Fuel Consumption, Pollution
“We’ve created an entire culture and economy based on the notion that transportation is cheap."

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Despite Doubling Sales, Xbox One Still Gets Beat in June Sales by PS4
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all had a relatively good month, all things said, though

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"I'll Be Back" -- After Reviving Meego Dreams, Jolla Preps for India Launch
Jolla's Sailfish OS-powered "Jolla Phone" is overpriced though, so its success in India is in jeopardy

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Amazon Launches First Fire Phone TV Spot, Spends 30 Seconds Promoting Prime
Amazon Prime takes center stage in the first Fire Phone commercial

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Google Promises to Fix 4-year-old Chrome Browser Battery Draining Bug
Google didn't take action until Ian Morris' story gained traction

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Amazon Launches $9.99/Month Kindle Unlimited eBooks Service
Unlike Prime Instant Video and Prime Music, you'll have to pay extra for this one

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Update: Lenovo Pulls Plug on Small, Windows-based Tablets for North American Market
Lenovo says that 10.1" Windows tablet sales are strong

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No Power? No Problem, $75 P2P goTenna Lets You Text w/out Cell Network
GoTenna is intended for both recreational use (backpacking, etc.) and emergency use

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Boeing 777 Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Crashes in Ukraine
Large passenger jet was reportedly shot down, no one is believed to have survived

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Quick Note: Xbox One Sales Doubled After Introducing Kinect-less Bundle
Who knew? Lowering the price results in a sales increase

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LG G3 Beat -- King of the Budget Androids?
Mid-tier device packs a rather weak hardware spec, but some nice software features

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Apple’s iPhone 6 to Reportedly Feature 1810 mAh Battery
The current generation iPhone 5S features a 1500 mAh battery

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Microsoft to Cut 18,000 Employees, Phase Out Nokia X Android Smartphones
Nadella's headcount reduction is larger than expected

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Google Signs Controversial Deal With Pharmaceutical Giant Novartis
Diabetes-monitoring contact lens should be sped to market, thanks to licensing deal

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BlackBerry Assistant Aims to Take on Siri, Cortana; Will Launch with BlackBerry 10.3
BlackBerry steps into the virtual digital assistant space

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HTC One M8 Finally Gets Wi-Fi Calling on Sprint
T-Mobile users have enjoyed the flawed, but promising feature for some time now

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FBI Report Suggests That Self-Driving Cars Could Be Used as Rolling Bombs
The report also see self-driving cars as a boon to law enforcement surveillance

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Quick Note: Sling Media Jettisons Slingbox 350, Replaces it with Cheaper Slingbox M1
Slingbox M1 will retail for $149.99

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Tesla Confirms “Model III” EV with 200+ Mile Range, Blames Ford for Missed "SEX"
Ford cockblocked the Model E name

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Apple, IBM Announce Strategic Partnership in Enterprise Mobility
Apple and IBM join forces in mobile

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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 23/07/2014