Knowledge Update

​Tokyo, Nov 15 (IANS) Japanese multinational conglomerate company Hitachi Ltd. on Tuesday said it has developed a camera technology that can capture video images without using a lens, the first of this kind in Japan. "This camera technology makes it possible to make a camera lighter and thinner since a lens is unnecessary," Xinhua news agency cited the Tokyo-based company as saying. The new technology also "allow the camera to be more freely mounted in devices such as mobile devices and robots at arbitrary positions without imposing design restraints", said the company. The technology can adjust focus after image capture by using a film imprinted with a concentric-circle pattern instead of a lens, said Hitachi, aiming to commercialise it around 2018. "Moreover, since it acquires depth information in addition to planar information, it is possible to reproduce an image at an arbitrary point of focus even after the image has been captured," it said. Focus can be adjusted anytime to objects requiring attention, so Hitachi is aiming to utilise this technology in a broad range of applications such as work support, automated driving, and human-behaviour analysis with mobile devices, vehicles and robots. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2015 (April 1, 2015-March 31, 2016) totalled 10,034.3 billion yen ($88.8 billion).

​Seoul, Nov 11 (IANS) Battling with multiple issues like the discontinuation of Galaxy Note 7, recall of 2.8 million exploding washing machines and corruption scandal, South Korean giant Samsung has reportedly filed a patent with the Korean Intellectual Property Office for a smartphone that can be folded in half and is expected to arrive next year. "Called the Galaxy X, the front of the smartphone will sport traditional Samsung home button in between a back button on the right and a menu button on the left," GSMArena reported on Friday. Samsung has been working on foldable displays for years is now ready to officially unveil its first offering in 2017. "The aspect ratio of device display looks 21:9 or close to that, and considering the physical design of the device it will be interesting to see how useful all of that screen real estate will turn out to be," the report added. Representatives of the South Korean prosecutor's office recently raided Samsung offices in Seoul on suspicion that the tech giant might be involved in a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye. Hit by the Note 7 fiasco, Samsung Electronics has also decided to recall about 2.8 million top-loading washing machines due to risk of impact injuries. The affected washers are manufactured between March 2011 and current production dates.

​New York, Nov 10 (IANS) Technology giant is officially selling refurbished unlocked iPhones in its online store at prices discounted by up to 15 per cent off compared to new models. According to a report in technology website The Verge, a listed refurbished rose gold 64GB iPhone 6S Plus is on sale for $589 and a silver 16GB iPhone 6S Plus is $529. Just like the new devices, Apple's refurbished phones come with a one-year warranty and include a new battery and outer shell. Apple has been selling refurbished Macs, iPads, MacBooks and Mac accessories, among other products. Apple has previously sold refurbished phones in 2007.

​Beijing, Nov 10 (IANS) India represents the future and its user value may surpass China in a few years, a top executive from global internet and technology conglomerate LeEco has said. "No matter how hard it is to crack the Indian market, we will try our best to grasp the opportunity there," YT Jia, Co-founder and Chairman, LeEco, said at the company's investor meeting in Beijing on Thursday. "We will focus on India, China and the US and achieve breakthroughs in these three valuable regional markets," Jia added. Since its entry into India in January this year, LeEco has introduced two generations of its phones, one generation of SuperTV and entertainment membership services.

​New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Sony India on Wednesday launched a new model in Cyber-shot RX100 series with the world's fastest auto-focus (AF) speed for Rs 79,990 in India. RX100 V is equipped with a Fast Hybrid auto-focus (AF) system with AF acquisition at 0.05 seconds and comes with world's highest number of AF points on sensor -- with 315 points covering approximately 65 per cent of the frame. With a shooting speed of up to 24 frames per second (fps) at full 20.1MP resolution with auto-focus/automatic exposure tracking for up to 150 continuous shots, RX100 V is claimed to be the world's fastest for a compact camera. The camera features 4K video recording and a high-speed Anti-Distortion Shutter (maximum speed of 1/32000 second) that allows the camera to capture sharp, crystal clear images with a wide open aperture at brightness levels. RX100 V is able to record super-slow motion video at up to 40x slower than the standard rate and can achieve this for about twice as long as its predecessor. RX100 V is available at all Sony Centres, "Alpha" flagship stores and major electronic stores across India.

​New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Expanding its Zenfone 3 series, Taiwanese giant ASUS on Wednesday launched two variants of Zenfone 3 Max smartphone with a massive 4,100 mAh battery in India. The two variants -- 5.5 inch (ZC553KL) and 5.2 inch (ZC520TL) -- are priced at Rs 17,999 and Rs 12,999, respectively. "With Zenfone 3 Max, users can enjoy smartphone experience for longer durations without having to look for a plug point," Peter Chang, Region Head-South Asia and Country Manager for ASUS India, said in a statement. The smartphone features a high capacity 4,100mAh lithium-polymer battery and the device doubles up as a fast-charge power bank for charging other devices. The smartphone sports 2.5D contoured glass touchscreen in a sandblasted full-metal, aluminum alloy body with chamfered edges. Designed for photography enthusiasts, the 5.5-inch device features 16MP primary and 8MP secondary cameras while the 5.2-inch variant sports 13MP primary and 5MP secondary shooters. Zenfone 3 Max has a fingerprint sensor near the top of the rear panel. While, the 5.5-inch Zenfone 3 Max is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 64-bit octa-core processor, the 5.2-inch smartphone is powered by a 64-bit quad-core processor. Both of them have a 3GB RAM. The 5.5-inch Zenfone 3 Max has 32GB onboard memory which can be expanded by a 128GB memory card. The other variant's 32GB onboard memory can be expanded by 32GB. Zenfone 3 Max ZC520TL is available from Wednesday and Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL will be available by November end.

​New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) When Google launched artificial intelligence (AI)-powered premium devices Pixel and Pixel XL earlier this month, the message was clear: The device with the personal Google Assistant built right in sounded the threat bugle for Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The comparison is natural, especially in the absence of another flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which leaves Google and Apple fighting for the premium segment. Google has been synonymous with innovation. This time, with a brand new Android OS Nougat and Google Assistant, Pixel devices are set to counter Apple's iOS 10 and intelligent assistant Siri. Let us see what the 5.5-inch Pixel XL (32GB, black colour) has for Indian consumers who are searching for a premium smartphone. The aluminum and glass-built device looks elegant and fits comfortably in the palm. Unlike Nexus 6P, which had a thin glass strip at the top, Pixel XL's back panel has almost one-third glass covering. Putting an end to Android users' long wait, the Google Assistant in Pixel XL definitely has an edge over Apple's Siri. See for yourself. When asked, :Are you a man or a woman?", Google Assistant responded with answers like "I'm all inclusive :D" and "Does it really matter?" while Siri staidly replied: "I was not assigned a gender." To "Who will win the US presidential election?" Google Assistant displayed poll results by the New York Times, The Telegraph and Independent while Siri returned Wikipedia and Quora with an iOS 10-powered iPhone. While searching restaurants near our office, Google Assistant displayed food joints as close as 300 metres while Siri said that the nearest restaurant is 600 metres away. To further test its intelligence, Google Assistant was asked, "Who is Siri?" It explained, "Siri is Apple's intelligent assistant. She is very witty." Siri, however, was more informative than Google Assistant when asked "Who is the Prime Minister of India?". While Siri threw up results like when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister and how long has he been serving, Google Assistant came back only with his name. Google Assistant can tell jokes, remember your passwords and even set the alarm for you in a clear voice. The "Pixel Imprint" fingerprint scanner is located at the back and is extremely responsive. It not only unlocked the device in a split second but also accepted (authorised) half a fingerprint for unlocking. While lock and volume up/down buttons are on the right of the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protected AMOLED display, a nano-SIM slot sits at the left bumper of the device. Google has retained Type-C charging port that charged the 3,450 mAh battery in a flat 48 minutes. The device with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 821 Quad core processor and 4GB DDR4 RAM will get first updates and free unlimited cloud space is not to be missed. Google has put in a lot of accessories inside the box, including a two-way Type-C port cable ensuring OTG device (also included) support. With this cable, one can charge Pixel XL with another phone having a Type-C port. The smartphone runs like a charm on Android Nougat 7.1 -- the only device till date to have it. The apps explorer icon is replaced by a pull-up App Drawer which is more convenient. A swipe right on the screen brings the notable search results in line with browsing history. When we swiped right, information about the FC Barcelona vs Manchester City football match; updates about the Indian Soccer League tournament; and scores for the India vs New Zealand One-Day cricket match popped up. Pixel's 12.3MP rear camera with f/2.0 has been rated the highest ever 89 DxOMark Mobile score. It is very fast, responsive and has a video stabilising mode. As expected, the photos in broad daylight were stunning. Even in "very low light conditions", the camera did not disappoint. Under natural light at 7 pm, the photos clicked without flash had clarity and little grains while the photo taken with flash were sharper. As compared to shooting video in normal mode, we noticed a remarkable difference when we shot the same video with "Video Stabilisation" on. There were low or no jerks and no picture distortion. The 8MP camera works fine and while using it with Google's video calling app Duo, the receiver gets a sharper image (as compared to the Nexus 6P). One can even try new gestures, relish the audio output and save unlimited data online in original quality for free. What doesn't work? Pixel devices are not waterproof. At a time when Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (and the now discontinued Galaxy Note 7) and Apple are offering IP68 rating (waterproof ratings), Pixel smartphones fall behind in this category. The camera does not have an optical image stabilisation feature and the Type-C to Type-C charging is slow. Conclusion: If you think about shelling out Rs 72,000 for the 32GB variant of iPhone 7 Plus, consider Google Pixel XL for Rs 67,000 as your date with Google Assistant will floor you without any doubt.

​Beijing, Nov 6 (IANS) German automaker Volkswagen has planned to introduce 15 models of new energy vehicles in China that are locally produced, the company said on Sunday. These models will be released in the next three to four years to address the environmental protection needs in Chinese market, an official of the Volkswagen Group China said in Tianjin city, where a joint venture project of the company is under construction, Xinhua news agency reported. China is Volkswagen's largest market worldwide. Volkswagen Group China and its two joint ventures delivered 2.85 million automobiles in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in the first three quarters, up 10.7 per cent year on year.

​Taipei, Nov 5 (IANS) Taiwanese tech giant HTC will open hundreds of virtual reality gaming arcades in Taiwan, China, Europe and the US by end 2017 under its "Viveport Arcade" programme. The company is developing virtual reality games for its VR devices and hopes the gaming arcades will serve to promote its virtual reality Vive headset, the Taipei Times reported Saturday. The programme will begin in Taiwan and China and then be extended to the US and Europe at an unspecified date. HTC is hoping to expand its Viveport programme to internet cafes, movie theatres and virtual reality centres by offering a wide range of games and experiences at affordable prices. Last week, HTC opened a virtual reality centre called Viveland in Taipei, where the public can try its products without having to buy them first for a fee ranging from $5 to $13. This year, HTC also teamed up with internet cafes in China to promote the use of virtual reality in the country. The Taiwanese company, which has so far focused on developing and producing mobile phones, will compete with other manufacturers of virtual reality headsets in a still limited market.

​Cupertino (California), Nov 6 (IANS) Tech giant Apple has enhanced its iOS accessibility features for users with hearing impairments, according to a report by Appleinsider. Features like Bluetooth-based AirPod-style streaming, Live Listen, have been enhanced, focusing on conversations in loud environment for hearing impairments. Apple first introduced MFi support for Bluetooth hearing aids in iOS 7 and iPhone 4s. Its latest software expands support for direct streaming of phone calls, FaceTime conversations, movies and other audio to supported hearing aids, without the need for a middleman device known as a "streamer". New iOS 10 hearing aid also features integrated device battery life and independent base, treble, right and left volume controls, and supports audiologist-designed presets for handling sound from concerts or restaurants, the report said. In addition to supporting audio originating on the phone, the new Live Listen feature also allows users to relay focused audio picked up by the iPhone's mic, enabling clearer conversations when in a loud environment.