Meet Robo-Hon, the smartphone robo-companion

CES is all about anything related to technology. Everything about consumer electronics and things that people want to buy. This next product is surely a perfect example of that.

In October, last year, Sharp released a demo video showing the capabilities of a Robo-companion called RoboHon. The video was in Japanese, so, it’s only natural to assume the gadget will never see a US release. But so it happened that it was on display at CES 2016, courtesy of Qualcomm, who are proud that the gadget is powered by a Snapdragon 400.

This friendly looking Robo-companion is actually a fully functioning smartphone, able to make and receive calls, text messages, and connect to a data services. We were very impressed with this new idea of a smartphone companion, great for children, elderly people, or any adult who’s really a kid at heart.

But before we get on with our hands-on, take a look at the promo video for the device, called RoboHon:

RoboHon is manufactured by Sharp and the unit being shown at CES was only a prototype. It had motors in it, but the software must not be finalized for moving around on its own.

At first glance RoboHon seemed to have about 5 motors on either side of its body but it turned I was wrong.

The robot can rotate its ankles out and in, and back and forward, and there is one motor in each leg-hip joint.

There were two motors in each arm: one that moves the arm up and down and the other opens the arm out and back.

RoboHon can also nod, shake his head, and bow hello. This brings the number of motors in the RoboHon to about 14 (assuming: every axis of movement = 1 motor).

There is a camera in the center of its forehead and a projector right above the camera. RoboHon can hang around your neck, and take pictures throughout your day, then you can sit with RoboHon while it plays a slideshow of the highlights of your day.

General shots around RoboHon’s head

RoboHon can show you pictures, maps, and videos via its projector. Directly behind its head is a generously sized speaker that doubles as an earpiece.

Its back houses a ~2-inch touch screen display. Micro USB port, pogo charging pins, the right side of its torso has a SIM slot while its left side has a notification volume switch.

RoboHon’s torso is where the screen, ports, switches and slots are located.

The Japanese are known for liking ‘cute’ things and this is definitely reflective of that idea. RoboHon upon first impression, is undeniably cute.

The girl who was showing me RoboHon was Japanese and this particular unit only responded to Japanese commands. The one she used translated to “Wake up, RoboHon!” Upon hearing this command, RoboHon’s eyes flashed purple.

RoboHon’s concept can be compared to something like the Amazon Echo, it can live on a table or desk for responding to commands and giving information about the weather or news.

But RoboHon is something more than that. To some children and elderly, (or even grown adults) RoboHon can be a companion and a friend. The rep said that she’d been carrying RoboHon around her neck and began feeling attached to it.

Besides what is shown on the promo video, there is not much else we know about the RoboHon. Neither information about RAM, internal memory, availability, nor pricing was available from the representative at the Qualcomm booth. She did, however, say that more information about RoboHon will be announced at Mobile World Congress this year in Barcelona,…

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Just yesterday HTC officially announced the date on which it will finally start taking pre-orders for the Vive, its first ever VR headset. That will be February 29. However, the company has so far remained silent on the matter of the Vive’s pricing.

And while no one was expecting it to be cheap, you might be in for a surprise nevertheless. A report from HTC’s native Taiwan claims the Vive could be priced as high as $1,500. That’s a lot more than even the recently priced Oculus Rift, which goes for $599.

The $1,500 number allegedly comes from “foreign brokerages”, Taiwanese media reports. The Vive will be more expensive than its competitors because of its “advanced spatial recognition features”, as well as its wireless controllers, which will bring a whole new level of immersion to the VR field.

Alternatives for the HTC Vive include the very basic (and practically almost free) Google Cardboard, the new Samsung Gear VR (priced at around $100), the aforementioned Oculus Rift, but also the upcoming PlayStation VR (which will apparently cost $1,125). HTC is expected to sell no more than one million Vives by the end of 2016. The headset will become available in April.

Source |…

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Gionee is currently busy working on a new upper-midrange device, it would seem. The information comes from a benchmark database, where a still unannounced Gionee smartphone has been caught.

Someone put a Gionee W909 prototype through the paces of Geekbench, and this has resulted in the public outing of two of its most important specs.

The phone will sport MediaTek’s Helio P10 chipset, also known as MT6755. This 64-bit SoC features a 2 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU and the Mali-T860 GPU. In the W909 it’s paired with a whopping 4GB of RAM.

The leaked handset is currently running Android 5.1 Lollipop, but that could (hopefully) change between now and its release date. Speaking of which, it’s unclear even when the Chinese company plans to make it official. We also don’t yet have any more details about its specs, nor any pricing information whatsoever. But now that the leaking has started, all of that may just become public soon.

Source |…

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The Galaxy S7 (in whatever flavors it materializes) is getting its fair share of leaks, customary of Samsung flagships this time of the year. Once a critical mass of those accumulates, it’s render-time, and we already saw artist Jermaine Smit go at it a month ago.

It’s an ongoing effort, though, and the designer is now back to revisit the S7, addressing some details revealed in the meantime. For one, the rear of the smartphone has gotten a curvature towards its side edges, a la Galaxy Note5, for improved handling. The front 2.5D glass also seems to have been given a larger radius to reflect recently publicized data from @OnLeaks.

That appears to be all, though judging by the 130 hours Smit says to have spent on the video, there might be even subtler differences a month of leaks has brought. But another month or so will give us the official smartphone, so we gather it will be fewer renders and more blurry live photos from now…

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Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update is already in development for the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and S6 edge+. The update is already reaching to beta testers out there and we can shed some new information on the upcoming firmware.

Apparently Samsung will be limiting the speed of scrolling inside apps and menus for smoother performance. This has been used by Apple for quite some time to avoid lag or visual artefacts, and now it seems Samsung will be doing the same thing to optimize the performance.

As per the video below, the scrolling indeed seems smoother though it now takes more time to scroll to the bottom of a page or app. Hopefully, TouchWiz fans won’t be disappointed, as this will spare them some annoying lag otherwise noticeable on their top dogs.

Keep in mind the update is still in beta, and things may change until it goes…

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Most people wouldn’t think to customize their phone further than choosing a wallpaper and a ringtone, but then there are some tinkerer’s that go over the top just for fun. Take Core Down, aka Marc, from the WindowsArea forums – his Lumia 520 has a big Wi-Fi antenna and a fan.

The antenna had to be connected to the proper pins on the motherboard (after the stock antenna had been removed). And since the 520 was getting hot under the collar when running games (the phone being the gaming powerhouse that it is), Marc added a fan to keep it cool.

He went on to add a Wi-Fi antenna to a Lumia 435 too. No fan though, the dual-core Cortex-A7 processor somehow doesn’t seem like the “active cooling” type.

Modded Lumia 435 and Lumia 520

It’s all just for fun, of course, but apparently the two phones get much better Wi-Fi reception. Also, the antenna can be unscrewed and the phone can be hooked up to the car’s antenna like in the good ol’ times (I’m not sure if this boosts GSM connectivity though, just Wi-Fi).

If you’re interested in trying your hands on hardware modding, Marc promises to post a guide in the WindowsArea forums.

Source (in German) |…

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When last we heard of ZTE’s future plans, the Chinese OEM (well, actually its Nubia sub-brand) was working on a successor to the high-end Nubia Z9, dubbed the Nubia Z11. The handset was said to build upon the success of its predecessor with an even more impressive specs sheet and what initial renders led us to believe would be a steep and quite ambitious display curve.

In contrast, this new set of renders of the alleged smartphone look a lot more conventional and believable in terms of design, but still quite impressive. A few live photos of the device have been unearthed as well and one look at them quickly reveals just how impressive the Z11 is expected to be. On the front, the device closely resembles the Z9, down to the curve in the display and the signature circle design on the home button. However, the Z11 looks amazingly thin. It could be an optical illusion, but from all the provided angles, it seems that the sides of the phone are almost completely covered up by the display, making for a totally new and refined look. The renders also suggest that the Z11 will have an arching glass back, quite similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note5.

ZTE Nubia Z11

The ZTE Nubia Z11 is said to boast an impressive specs sheet as well. Its display is 5.2 inches in diagonal, with a resolution of 1440p. Inside should be Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 820 SoC, along with 4GB of RAM. And there is apparently yet another surprise. On the back of the Z11, we can clearly spot a dual camera setup. The main one is said to be 21MP, while the second, which we are yet to hear more about, should be there to assist in depth sensing. A circular fingerprint reader is also present.

ZTE Nubia X8

Apparently ZTE is also working on another, more conventional device alongside the Nubia Z11. Dubbed the Nubia X8, it is said to be a spacious phablet with a large 6.44-inch display and powered by the same powerful Snapdragon 820 SoC. A few alleged pictures of the Nubia X8 are also available. The only other piece of info we know about the X8 is that it should have a large 4500 mAh battery on board.

The Nubia Z11 and X8 might have skipped the CES 2016 venue, but should be announced in only a matter of days at the next ZTE event, scheduled for January 18.

Source 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese) |…

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Last week, Xiaomi took the wraps off its latest Redmi 3 smartphone in China. For roughly $100, the phone offers excellent value on paper, so it’s understandable if you want to see more of this phone.

Well, not to worry, because Xiaomi uploaded a ton of hands-on images as well as camera samples on its forum. Here are some of them.

Redmi 3 hands-on

Redmi 3 camera…

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The Apple Watch – which launched in April 2015 – constituted more than 50% of the smartwatch shipments last year, according to new data from Juniper Research.

On the other hand, sales of Tizen-powered Samsung Gear S2, which was launched in the month of November, weren’t strong despite the smartwatch being largely well received. It was also revealed that the Android Wear-powered smartwatches had a market share (by shipments) of less than 10% in 2015.

The market is being largely driven by cheaper and simpler products, the research noted, adding that aside from Apple, it’s the smaller players like Martian and Razer whose smartwatches are selling well.

“The smartwatch is now a category waiting for a market,” said research author James Moar. “Newer devices have offered more polished looks and subtly different functions, but no large changes in device capabilities or usage. With smartwatch functions established, it is now up to consumers to decide if they want them, rather than technology companies providing more reasons.”

Titled Smartwatches: Clocking the Trend, the whitepaper can be access here (registration…

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Windows 8 has been around for well over three years now, but it might not be here much longer. The stage on which Metro design made its first debut, but it was also plagued by a lot of serious problems from the very start.

Most who have encountered the OS agree that in an effort to work towards a touch-based future, Microsoft perhaps took things a bit too far – an approach that was detrimental to the classic desktop experience in many ways.

Hence, the US giant was quick to address the issues with a much improved service pack, dubbed Windows 8.1 near the end of 2013 and not long after with the undoubtedly more streamlined Windows 10. Now, it appears, Microsoft is wasting no time in sweeping the original Windows 8 under the rug. A quick look in the online support database reveals that no more updates are planned for the OS after today.

This is actually the first step toward killing off the version entirely, but if you happen to have the misfortune of still being stuck on Windows 8, there is plenty of time to remedy the situation and a lot of available options. Even though the flow of updates has stopped, mainstream support for Windows 8 will be carried out for another two years or so, up until January 2018. And if you bought the OS on some kind of extended support deal, the end date is way off in January 2023.

During this time, you can simply update to Windows 8.1 or even to the latest Windows 10, while the free upgrade offer still stands. Interestingly enough, you can also opt to bump your PC down to Window 7, which due to its vast popularity is still in active support. However, we can’t really imagine this will remain true for too long, nor is the downgrade process streamlined in any way so the older OS is probably the least favorable choice.

Source |…

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