Many users prefer using more than one audio mod to get the best music experience possible from their devices. However, this sometimes lead to compatibility issues due to multiple changes to the audio configuration file. Luckily, XDA Senior Member ahrion has whipped up a Magisk module which makes it possible to install multiple audio mods without any conflict.
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2o7SyHC
via IFTTT
If you're not satisfied by the sound output of your smartphone, you might want to check out this Magisk module created by XDA Senior Member androidexpert35 which enables the "High performance mode" of the in-built DAC on Snapdragon-powered devices to give you the best music quality possible.
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2ne13vY
via IFTTT
Last year Android Wear looked to be in a fairly precarious situation. The LG Urbane LTE was finally launched after a lengthy delay and sales pull, Lenovo/Motorola announced they would not be releasing a new wearable device in the next year, and Google delayed the Wear 2.0 update for months.
All of this was occurring at the same time as Apple was releasing the second generation of the Apple Watch, and Samsung was announcing the S3 series; both ended up being excellent devices and they set the benchmark for what a modern wearable should be. However, despite the terrible rollout of Android Wear 2.0, the platform is showing new springs of life this week as numerous watchmakers announced Wear-powered devices hitting throughout the year. Are we seeing the second coming of Android Wear?
This slow downturn many watchmakers are seeing was forecast when the Apple Watch initially launched since many iPhone users are the same that generally fall into $300 – $1,000 watch market, causing the Apple Watch to chip away at these brands. While the uber-premium market may not have much to fear; the more mass-market designer timepieces from companies like Fossil, Michael Kors, Diesel, and TAG Heuer have seen a decline due to the uptick in smartwatch popularity and directly, the Apple Watch. But at Baselworld 2017, those same brands are fighting back, and suddenly Android Wear is exciting… really exciting.
While the ultimate success of Android Wear is yet to be seen, these are promising signs that will likely bring positive press and notoriety to the platform. Google did the right thing with Android Wear by limiting what OEMs were allowed to modify and change for their own whims, if only because such model makes more sense on a watch than on a phone. While it did push away Samsung and potentially other brands who want their own interface, there's no doubt that it made the platform more attractive for companies like these that do not have huge software development teams. Much of the core of Android Wear devices is the same hardware, making development for various devices much easier to handle for small teams. Adding branding, some custom watch faces, and delivering it to the consumer is a much easier risk to take, especially if they don't pan out in the future.
I have a lot of criticisms about Android Wear and how Google is handling the platform, much of which I have written about here, here and here. But the important thing about this new wave of Android Wear devices is that generally they aren't for us as I know I will likely never wear a Guess or Michael Kors branded smartwatch. However, there is a large group that can be drawn in through, a new market that wants something more traditionalist and less tech-focused like an Apple Watch or LG Watch Sport. Brand name and loyalty goes very far in this market and Google has appealed to these traditional timepiece brands with Android Wear by polishing the experience, packaging it for them and further improving iOS compatibility for the basic features these watches bring to the table.
These watches are not meant to push the boundaries of what a smart wearable can do, instead they push the boundaries of what a smart wearable is, blurring the lines between gadget and timepiece. Google and luxury watchmaker brands are hoping that it just might be enough to make a monumental impact in the future of the platform.
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2o2Wf0Q
via IFTTT
The HTC U Ultra has not had the best of starts so far. While the U Ultra is certainly a beautiful device, it does not stand up to the price that HTC is commanding for the device. Mario Serrafero, our editor in chief, commented that the HTC U Ultra is an especially poor HTC flagship representative even though it is not a particularly bad phone in and of itself.
But apparently the U Ultra is not all that HTC has planned for this year. New information on HTC's next device is coming to us from Evan Blass through VentureBeat. HTC's next flagship is rumored to be a technological centerpiece as it takes what was once a concept and turns it into a reality.
The HTC U, codenamed Ocean, will incorporate a novel input method by embedding sensors in the device's metallic frame. Known as Edge Sense, the frame-embedded sensors will enable the user to control numerous customizable actions with gestures such as squeezing or swiping along its left and right sides.
Remember the HTC Ocean? (https://t.co/q5ghm3vQ8Z) http://pic.twitter.com/GtpqowETjM
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 8, 2017
The HTC U will also pack flagship specifications, including a 5.5″ QHD display and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, and will be launched with HTC's Sense 9 skin on top of Android 7.1 Nougat. The HTC U will also be sporting a 12MP Sony IMX362 on the rear and a 16MP Sony IMX351 on the front for selfies. The device will also have an internal storage capacity of 64GB and 128GB, as well as microSD card expandability.
The HTC U is expected to be unveiled in mid to late April. The global retail release is expected in early May. But, with reports mentioning the delay of the production of Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 seemingly affecting the Galaxy S8, the HTC U might also feel some ripple effects along the way to its general availability.
What are your thoughts on the HTC U, the next flagship from HTC? Let us know in the comments below!
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2odqFdR
via IFTTT
We're just a day away from the grand unveiling of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, bringing an end to the long list of leaks and rumors coming in for Samsung's flagship.
While the S8 and S8 Plus will be unveiled tomorrow, it will be another month before consumers will be able to purchase the device. The latest reports coming in from South Korea mention that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus might actually fail to meet its demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 SoC through Samsung's own 10nm fabrication process.
The production of both the Snapdragon 835 and Samsung's own Exynos 8895 are falling behind market expectations. This is after Samsung reassured that the production ramp-up of the 10nm FinFET process technology is on track, with a "steady high yield" to "meet consumer needs on schedule", after rumors suggesting similar conclusions to these new reports sprung up a few months ago. Samsung had claimed to ship 70,000 silicon wafer of its 10nm LPE at the time of their "reassuring" statement, but apparently, this could not be enough.
The demand for the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus is expected to be high considering the lack of a mid-year flagship in the form of the Note series, after the Note 7 was recalled and subsequently discontinued. Customers that ordinarily would have considered a Note in the holidays of 2016 had to either chose a different device, or wait until the S8 and S8 Plus come out. With the new phones once more bringing us impressive technology through bleeding edge hardware, demand surely will not be lacking.
The real question is, can Samsung keep up with itself?
What are your thoughts on the supply shortage on the Galaxy S8? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: The Investor
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2nwNc7g
via IFTTT
The Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL are best known as Google's flagship for the year 2016. With these phones, Google exerted greater control over the hardware and created an experience that found wide acceptance with critics and users alike. Our review of the Google Pixel XL also praised Google's efforts and recognized the camera performance that Google nailed down.
The camera on the Pixels forms one of the better talking points of the device. The 12.3MP rear camera captures a high level of detail under a variety of lighting conditions, including low light and indoor lighting conditions.
As they say, Rome was not built in a day. And so was the case with the camera performance on the Pixels. As detailed in The Graduate series from Alphabet's X facility, the camera performance on the Pixels can be traced as far back as the development cycle of Google Glass. Meet Gcam, the software that has been powering the camera performance on several Google products and has achieved great success.
Gcam began in 2011 as a solution to fitting a decent camera experience within Google Glass. As Glass needed to be light and wearable, Google could not approach the problem from the hardware end. So the team at Gcam looked at applying computational photography techniques on the software end to compensate and even go up on hardware limitations.
Early Google Glass Prototype
Gcam's solution came in the form of image fusion, a method which took rapid sequences of shots and fused them together to create a single, higher quality image. Image fusion debuted in Glass in 2013, and the success of the method prompted Gcam to bring the next iteration of image fusion to smartphones in the form of HDR+ on the Nexus 5.
Gcam's HDR+ mode is now available as the default mode for shooting photos on the Google Pixel and Pixel XL.
In the future, the team at Gcam is exploring the possibilities of what they can do next. One among the several possibilities is merging Google's machine learning resources with photography, allowing us to make better use of the hardware on our smartphones.
Read the full article over at The X Company Blog.
What are your thoughts on Gcam and HDR+? Where does the future of photography lie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2ocZ5O3
via IFTTT
Now is your chance to learn ReactJS from scratch with this killer deal from the XDA Depot. The ReactJS Programming Bootcamp will have you master this popular JavaScript library with 44 hours of training and start building powerful user interfaces. This bundle is marked down from $458 to only $39. Here is everything you'll get in this package:
Learn ReactJS from Scratch
Build Web Apps with ReactJS and Flux
Developers that buy digital goods through the XDA depot are helping support the XDA-developers website and keep the community alive.
Get this deal
from xda-developers http://ift.tt/2o2at1R
via IFTTT
