Christopher Evans

My experience watching this video:

Fireworks don't work underwater.

Huh, fireworks might work underwater.

Wait, why isn't that firework going anywhere underwater?

That firework is going to kill that dude from underwater!

Whew, close call.

Wow, a firework detonated underwater.

That firework could have blown that dude's hand off even from underwater.

Poor fish.

Poor underwater fish.

I wonder if there are more videos of fireworks underwater.

*Googles.*

Yes, there are more videos of fireworks underwater.

This is the first underwater launch of the BrahMos, the world's fastest cruise missile in operation capable of flying at Mach 3.0. I just like to see it pausing and changing direction in mid-air, like a scene from Robotech. The BrahMos is one of the reasons why aircraft carriers are obsolete.

Read more...

French programmer Fabrice Bellard has come up with a graphics file format he believes can "replace the JPEG image format." Bellard’s BPG (Better Portable Graphics) format boasts a compelling quality advantage over JPG, particularly when images are heavily compressed. Take a look through the gallery to see a few comparison shots – the left hand side of each image shows the JPEG compressed format, the right side shows BPG at a similar file size... Continue Reading BPG image format offers JPEG quality at half the file size

Section: Computers

Tags: Graphics, Image, Images, Software

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Unlike the disembodied Siri and Cortana, Amazon's personal assistant software has a dedicated speaker box to call home: the Echo. This $199 cylinder came as a big surprise when it was announced early last month, promising to answer questions, play back music, and help you shop at Amazon even more efficiently. Though it has yet to ship out to its first, invite-only purchasers, the Echo has today been torn down by the guys at iFixit, and we can all inspect the way it's been put together. At the top of the speaker, there's an array of seven microphones nestled in under a volume control ring that's encircled by a band of LED light. Sending commands and queries to the Echo will be confirmed by light signals and aural responses.

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As with Apple's Mac Pro, another recently introduced cylindrical device, the component boards inside the Echo are oriented vertically and everything is packed tightly together. Amazon has used a vibration-dampening fabric to minimize distortions and has stacked multiple layers of electronics inside the densely populated space. iFixit provides a handy size comparison by posing the Echo alongside two standard aluminum cans, giving everyone an easy way to determine whether they have space to fit an Echo in their lives.

According to Ilya Grigorik, a developer advocate at Google, when you tap on a Google Search result after performing a mobile search, the page will now load 100-150 milliseconds faster in Chrome for Android. Thanks to a “reactive prefetch,” browsers (currently only Chrome for Android) begin fetching not only the destination pages that are being accessed, but they also are told of other critical resources that need to be fetched in parallel “to speed up rendering.” 

Grigorik noted in an explanation on his Google+ page that Search and Chrome aren’t “speculatively prefetching” resources, they are instead waiting for user clicks, which tell browsers other resources that need to be fetched, hence the “reactive” term being associated.

All you really need to know is speed. We love speed, especially when it involves the loading of web pages.

Here is the full explanation of this speedy new “feature” from Grigorik:

Google mobile search is getting faster – to be exact, 100-150 milliseconds faster!When you click on one of the search results, the browser begins fetching the destination page… and here’s the trick: we also provide a hint to the browser indicating which other critical resources it should fetch in parallel to speed up rendering of the destination page!

This is a powerful pattern and one that you can use to accelerate your site as well. The key insight is that we are not speculatively prefetching resources and do not incur unnecessary downloads. Instead, we wait for the user to click the link and tell us exactly where they are headed, and once we know that, we tell the browser which other resources it should fetch in parallel – aka, reactive prefetch!

As you can infer, implementing the above strategy requires a lot of smarts both in the browser and within the search engine… First, we need to know the list of critical resources that may delay rendering of the destination page for every page on the web! No small feat, but the Search team has us covered – they’re good like that. Next, we need a browser API that allows us to invoke the prefetch logic when the click occurs: the search page listens for the click event, and once invoked, dynamically inserts prefetch hints into the search results page. Finally, this is where Chrome comes in: as the search results page is unloaded, the browser begins fetching the hinted resources in parallel with the request for the destination page. The net result is that the critical resources are fetched much sooner, allowing the browser to render the destination page 100-150 milliseconds earlier.

P.S. Currently, reactive prefetch is only enabled for users of Google Chrome on Android, as it is the only browser that supports (a) dynamically inserted prefetch hints, and (b) reliably allows prefetch requests to persist across navigations. We hope to add support for other browsers once these features become available!

Via:  +Ilya Grigorik

Google Mobile Results Now 100-150 Milliseconds Faster in Chrome for Android is a post from: Droid Life

By Jamal Eason, Product Manager, Android

Today we are excited to introduce Android Studio 1.0. Android Studio is the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from the Android team. It is built on the popular IntelliJ IDEA (Community Edition) Java IDE.

We first released a preview of Android Studio at I/O last year. We value the on-going feedback from you, thanks! We are making Android Studio 1.0 available for download as a stable release on the Android Developer site.

Download Android Studio

If you are currently developing for Android or thinking about getting started, now is the time to download Android Studio 1.0 (or upgrade if you are using an earlier version). Similar to the Chrome release channels, Android Studio will continue to receive updates on four different release channels: Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. Canary builds are at the bleeding edge of development, while the stable release is fully tested. With this range of release channels you can choose how quickly you want to get the latest features for Android Studio.

Android Studio features

With the release of Android Studio, you have access to a new set of features to enable your development workflow. Some of the key features of Android Studio are listed below, but make sure to check out the Android Studio page for a full feature overview.

Startup experience

• First-run setup wizard — The getting started experience now installs the right Android SDK, sets up your development environment settings, and creates an optimized emulator for testing your app. Plus, we include a set of code templates to help you get started.

• Sample Importing & templates — Android Studio includes wizards that enable you to start with new project templates or import Google code samples.

Code and resource editing, user interface design

• Code Editing — Android Studio takes advantage of all the intelligent code editing capabilities of IntelliJ IDEA such as advanced code completion, refactoring, and code analysis.

• Internationalization string editing — Manage string translations of your app in Android Studio.

• User interface design — Edit and preview your Android Layouts across multiple screen sizes, languages, and even API versions.

Performance analysis

• Memory monitor — View the memory usage of your app over time to help find ways to improve the performance of your app.

Unified build system

• Android Studio uses a Gradle-based build system that provides a lot of flexibility and extensibility, as well as the ability to build from within and outside of the IDE. This unified build system decouples the build from Studio itself, meaning that Studio updates never impact the output of your build.
• Some of the key features of the build systems are: build variant support to better handle different build types (debug vs. release), or different versions of the same app (paid vs. free), multi-apks handling through splits, multi-dex support, and dependency management for 3rd party libraries.

Instant access to Google Cloud Services

• Android Studio even enables an easy way to add Google Cloud Backends & Endpoints to your app, as well as Google Cloud Messaging (find out more).

Time to migrate & update

If you are an Eclipse user, check out our migration steps or you can just import your projects right into Android Studio with the import wizard, shown below:

If you were using one of the early versions of Android Studio, you should also upgrade to version 1.0 since we have added a host of new features and have addressed many bugs.

We have also released version 1.0 of the Gradle plugin with a file format that is now stable. The communication between Android Studio and the Gradle plugin is now stable, so updating one will not require updating the other. Check the technical release notes for additional tips for updating your previous Android Studio projects.

Give us your feedback

We are always seeking to bring you the best Android development experience. We already have plans to add features ranging from improved testing and better support for game development, but we want to know how you work and what capabilities you'd like to have for your Android development.

Please take a moment to complete a short survey (less than 5 minutes). Your responses will help shape the next set of features offered in Android Studio.

Questions?

We develop Android Studio and the corresponding tools in open source, so you can also file bugs via the public Android bug tracker and we will do our best to address your issues or questions. If you have specific questions or need help in your migration, feel free to connect with the Android developer tools team on our Google+ community page.

The Nabu smartband from Razer caught the industry’s attention all the way back in January of this year at CES, and finally, we have an official launch day. For those of you who were just about to run out of patience, the Nabu will launch tomorrow (December 2), priced at just $99 through Razer’s online store and in select retailers throughout North America. 

The Nabu is a minimal smartband, allowing for smartphone push notifications to pop up on your wrist, accurate fitness tracking software, and one-of-a-kind band-to-band communication with other Nabu owners. For an example, if two Nabu owners are in the same bar, you can easily exchange contact information with a single tap of your wrists.

As for what took so long to make the device available, Razer’s CEO states within the press release that the device went under a ton of beta testing with actual consumers, confirming that upon launch, there should be little to no hiccups for the device. And following Fitbit’s mishap, the Nabu also features a certified hypoallergenic band now, as well.

The Razer Nabu has undergone extensive consumer and developer testing, all of which is providing feedback toward the final retail-ready device. This has ensured that with all the features polished — discreet notifications, fitness tracking, social capabilities and more — the Razer Nabu is a device that has something cool in-store for everyone.

The Nabu will come in two sizes, small-medium and medium-large. It will also be made available in four colors – Black, White, Green, and Orange. However, only Black will be available initially, with the other colors following sometime later.

Priced at $99, I still can’t help but think this is a cool device. The social aspect of Nabu speaks for itself, but in the breath, you need to hope other people out there decide to pick one up to make it something really special.

Picking a Nabu up, finally?

Via: Razer

Razer Nabu Smartband Alive and Well, Available December 2 for $99 is a post from: Droid Life

When Android 5.0 “Lollipop” went into a final preview build shortly after being announced by Google, we ran through a series of features to make sure you knew all about the awesomeness that was about to grace your phone or tablet. One of those features was Smart Lock, which is Google’s take on Trusted Devices, a feature that uses Bluetooth or NFC (or your face in Lollipop) to allow you to bypass secure lock screens when you are near, but securely lock the device when you need it most. We are happy to report today that Google has added a new and incredibly useful feature to Smart Lock, thanks to the latest Google Play Services 6.5 update that began rolling out yesterday. That’s right, Smart Lock just got better without a system update. 

The new feature adds “trusted places” to your list of options for keeping your phone unlocked. What is a “trusted place?” This could be your work or home or significant other’s apartment or the dog park. A trusted place is a location where you would like to be able to quickly unlock your phone or tablet without needing to enter the PIN, password or pattern that you have active. Of course, the beauty in using a trusted place is that once you leave a trusted location, your phone turns security back on.

For example, let’s say you have both your home and work set as trusted places. When you are at home in the morning or evening, or at work during the day, you could have your phone recognize this and leave your phone open for quick unlocking. But, let’s say you stop off for morning coffee on your way to work, take a cab ride to a meeting across town, or hit the gym in between all of that and forget your phone at any of those locations. Your phone will recognize all of the above as not being “trusted” and will switch your PIN, pattern, or password back on to help secure your phone. Basically, whenever you aren’t in a trusted place, your phone will remain locked and require a secure login. Make sense?

With trusted places through Smart Lock, you can choose between all of the Google accounts attached to your phone through a drop-down menu. These accounts should automatically pull in your Home and Work locations if you have set those up through your accounts, which you likely have in Google Now or Maps at some point. You can also add custom locations though, using the “Add trusted place” button. By tapping that option, you will be taken to Google Maps to either select your current location or search for a new place to add.

In order to get trusted places up and running on your Lollipop device, you will need the new Google Play Services 6.5 (download link) installed. Once you have that installed, you may need to quickly reboot before the option will show up. Once you are done rebooting, head into Settings>Security>Smart Lock and it should be there. Keep in mind that in order to enable Smart Lock, you have to have a PIN, password, or pattern activated.

Enjoy!

Via:  reddit

Android 5.0 Feature: Google Updates Smart Lock on Lollipop to Include Trusted Places is a post from: Droid Life

We've been promised airless, puncture-proof tires for -bloody-ever by this point. But pump-haters, your time is arriving: starting next week, a factory in Piedmont, SC is going to start pumping them out.

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There are many reasons why you might want to switch on the private browsing mode offered up by your browser, especially when you're on a shared computer or borrowing someone else's laptop. If you forget to activate the private mode before you go surfing then the latest version of Firefox has a feature that can help you out.

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Thin smartphones also mean thin batteries, and carrying a charging cable so your phone can last the day is basically a fact of life now. To make the situation a little more convenient there have been countless keychain-friendly solutions for charging your smartphone, but none as perfectly tiny as the inCharge.

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Even when the elderly are being tended to by a caregiver, it's almost impossible to keep an eye on them 100 percent of the time. So a Japanese company has developed a pair of LED light bulbs featuring built-in laser-based radar to track the movements of someone in its vicinity, and automatically send alerts when they have fallen or suddenly stopped moving.

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Folding and electric bikes have proven fertile ground for innovation recently, but what about bikes that are both electric and folding? Three years in the making, the Impossible bike from a team of China-based engineers folds up to fit in a backpack and is capable of reaching 12 mph (20 km/h) on the road courtesy of a brushless electric motor. .. Continue Reading Impossible electric bike folds up to fit in a backpack

Section: Bicycles

Tags: Collapsible, Compact, Electric Bicycle, Folding, Kickstarter, Transport

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A while back, we heard that Hewlett-Packard (or HP as it’s probably better known as) and renowned designer, Michael Bastian, were collaborating to create a smartwatch. Little did we know that it would have the most badass name in the history of smartwatches: the MB Chronowing smartwatch. The device was effectively unveiled to subscribers of online retailer, Gilt, who is the exclusive seller of the device and opened pre-sale of the device today. Two versions of the MB Chronowing were unveiled including the standard MB Chronowing and the slightly more premium MB Chronowing Limited Edition Black smartwatch – make no mistake though, both will set you back a pretty penny with the standard version priced at $434.10 AUD (around $370 USD) and the Limited Edition version coming in at $807.30 (around $690 USD).

That’s a pretty steep price to pay, but the watches are impeccably designed. As expected, the MB Chronowing isn’t running an operating system that we’re familiar with and is only configurable with a companion smartphone app available for both Android and iOS. There looks to be a fair number of customization options which can display music, weather and notification info on the main screen with the smaller, clock screen configurable too. For more info, be sure to visit the Gilt website at the source link below.

What do you think about the MB Chronowing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Gilt

The post What a name: Michael Bastian and Hewlett-Packard unveil the MB Chronowing smartwatch appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

Any 'personal watercraft' is almost certain to be a playboy toy, and this might just be the most playboy-toyish of them all: a $19,000 electric hydrofoiling experience for two.

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Now there’s a face we haven’t seen in awhile. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has fallen somewhat out of the limelight some 19 months after its release, but that doesn’t mean Samsung has forgotten about its highest selling device to date (if the Galaxy S5 has broken any records, Samsung is keeping awfully quiet about it). SamMobile has acquired information that confirms that Android Lollipop for the Samsung Galaxy S4 is definitely coming and will be out sometime early next year, we’d expect around the same time Lollipop drops for the Galaxy S5, once all the carrier bloating has already occured.

The TouchWiz experience on the Galaxy S4 should be quite similar to that which you’ll find on the Galaxy S5, of which we’ve already had multiple sneak peeks at. We’re actually pretty impressed that Samsung is going to update the Galaxy S4, mainly because it’s a bit of a stretch of its 18 month update guarantee and given Samsung’s sometimes spotty reputation with device updates. That said, the Galaxy S4 still ranks pretty high on Samsung’s hierachy of devices despite its age, but Galaxy S4 owners should be expecting Android Lollipop to be their last update unless the smartphone giant changes its policies.

What do you think about Android Lollipop for the Samsung Galaxy S4 being confirmed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: SamMobile

The post Android Lollipop for the Samsung Galaxy S4 confirmed, coming in early 2015 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

 After indoor positioning with Wi-Fi, beacon technology is a massive step forward in ambient context identification, which is why this technology is all the buzz of late. Beacons allow for background positioning and detection, giving new power to a phone that can make it truly “smart.” Read More

 Brickstream has acquired Nomi, a deal that brings together two companies in the in-store analytics market. Nomi co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Wesley Barrow told me that even though this is technically an acquisition, “Everyone on both sides of the business sees it as a merger.” He noted that the entire Nomi team will be staying with the company post-acquisition, and that it… Read More

Google's Inbox is the latest interface for Gmail, both on the web (only through a Chrome browser at the moment) and via mobile apps for iOS and Android. It's a major and almost entirely positive upgrade to the Gmail experience. But if we're honest, the best thing about using it for the past week is finally being freed of that bloated, boring and increasingly clunky Gmail interface that's needed an overhaul for a few years now. .. Continue Reading Inbox for Gmail revolutionized my email in a week

Section: Mobile Technology

Tags: Android, Apps, Gmail, Google, Google Now, iOS, Mobile, Smart

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Sometimes you can buy a toy for yourself and pretend you bought it for a child. That won't be the case with the Crazy Cart XL. It's a new version of Razor's original Crazy Cart that was released last year. It's been made bigger and more powerful, especially for grown-ups who should know better... Continue Reading Razor has announced an adult sized version of its Crazy Cart drifting go-cart

Section: Automotive

Tags: Cart, Drifting

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If you're not convinced that the ocean isn't just one giant sea monster, here is some evidence for your fantasy theory: this video of surfers surfing at 1000 FPS. Come on, the ocean totally looks like a monster here! More reasonable view: it's a really amazing surfing video captured gloriously in beautiful slow motion.

Read more...

It’s not like it was a huge surprise, what with all the not-so-subtle teasers, but the Oppo N3 is now official and puts its unique spin on the selfie revolution that is sweeping the smartphone world. As expected, the Oppo N3 employs the use of a motorized swivel camera, an upgrade over its predecessor’s fragile, manual swiveled one. What Oppo did announce alongside the Oppo N3 was the O-Click Bluetooth remote, which is primarily used to remotely take photos with the phone, but will also let you remotely change the facing of the camera with its nifty buttons. You can briefly see the remote in the launch video below:

Unlike our previous predictions, the Oppo N3 will not employ a monstrous display like the Oppo N1 did, opting instead for a very normal 5.5-inch display which will be powered by a Snapdragon 801, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 3,000mAh battery. If you’re into gimmicks, the rear of the Oppo N3 also features a fingerprint reader, which works similarly to the Apple iPhone version which requires you to tap your finger on it to use. I particularly like the fact that Oppo has kept the thin “Skyline” notification light at the bottom of the device which it first debuted on its Oppo Find 7. The Oppo N3 is going to be available in December for $649.

What do you think about the Oppo N3 now that it has been officially announced? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: engadget, YouTube

The post The Oppo N3 is now official, rocking its motorized swivel camera and Bluetooth remote appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

Google did some talking about the upcoming Google Fit service during Google I/O a few months back. Google Fit is your all-inclusive fitness tracking app from Google that gives you access to your running, walking and  cycling data quickly and easily. All you need is the app on your phone and your phone in your pocket. Of course the Fit app is also compatible with all Android Wear devices and the Fit API has been finding its way into other wearables and apps as well.

The new Google Fit app is free and can be installed across all your Android devices so you can easily view and track your progress everywhere. There is even a web portal to keep tabs on things and adjust your goal, height, weight ect. Once you start getting your tracking in order and get moving, the Fit app will track it all and display it in easy to understand graphs and images.

The post Google Fit makes its way to the Play Store [APK Download] appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

Shortly after Apple announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company opened an official set of instructions through their support site that was focused on helping Android users migrate over to iOS. Apple news outlets (and heavily Apple-influenced general tech sites) thought this was huge news, for whatever reason. It was embarrassing. Forget the fact that Apple probably should have created this years ago as Android began stomping all over its market share, the Apple media shills (some random Android sites as well) decided that Apple had finally created this how-to guide because they were now expecting Android users to flock to the new bigger iPhones. Silly, I know. Anything for a good headline!  

Well, Apple fan sites and soon-to-be-leavers of that painfully closed ecosystem, Google created a guide as well! Yessir, shortly after announcing Android 5.0 “Lollipop,” Google put up an entire guide on how you can easily switch over from iOS to Android. You won’t see this make headlines for two days like Apple’s guide did, but that’s fine by us. And so you know, we purposefully skipped the dirty clickbait headline that was tempting us as this post was being put together.

So what does Google suggest you do as you make your way over to the promised land of smartphone operating systems? It’s all pretty simple, actually.

Google targeted four categories to help make the transition easy enough:  Photos and music, contacts, setting up email and messaging, and finding your favorite apps. There are instructions for uploading photos through the Google+ Photos app and transferring over your iTunes library through Google Play Music. They provide step-by-step instructions for dealing with your contacts in iCloud as well. Google even mentions that you should have no problem finding all of your favorite apps on Google Play, as well as some new ones. Oh, and don’t forget to turn off iMessage!

The full guide can be found at the source link below, sans clickbait.

Via:  Android

Google has a Guide to Help You Move From Your iPhone to Android is a post from: Droid Life

When Google pushes out Gmail 5.0, an update that will for sure include a full Material Design makeover, another accompanying feature may end up being the star of the show for many. How would you like to access your third party email accounts through the Gmail app? According to the Gmail 5.0 app that we just poked around inside, the app is going to support Yahoo, Outlook and “more” email services very soon. 

The new Gmail 5.0 app surfaced through the Nexus 4 ROM we referenced in a post earlier this morning about Google Play Music’s upcoming makeover. After opening the app for the first time, you are greeted with a welcome page and video that was first reported by Android Police. That video walks through the all new Gmail design, but finishes by showing off support for Yahoo and Outlook addresses. In other words, you multi-account users who want to use a single app for email will soon have another option.

It’s tough to tell when the update will arrive, but November 3 is a likely choice, since that is Nexus 9 day.

And again, the new Gmail 5.0 is available through that Nexus 4 ROM, it just may not be the most secure app on the planet. You can install it if you’d like, I just won’t recommend doing so.

Gmail 5.0 Will Add 3rd Party Email Support, Including Yahoo and Outlook is a post from: Droid Life