From better ASMR to live-stream editing, Samsung is using AI for everything at CES

A screenshot from a Samsung video, showing Medeo. Samsung

  • Samsung has revealed eight AI projects that it will be showing off at CES 2019.
  • Four of the projects are related to smartphones in various ways.
  • A smart hearing aid and a live-stream video editor are two of the more impressive projects.

We’re still in the middle of the festive season, but CES is barely two weeks away. Now, Samsung has peeled the curtain back on some AI projects it’ll be revealing at the tech expo.

The Korean company announced that it’ll be showing off eight AI projects from its C-Lab (Creative Lab) initiative. Some of these projects aren’t for mobile, but several are indeed related to smartphones, such as aiMo and MEDEO.

The former application aims to deliver better ASMR sound clips if you’re recording on your smartphone, in conjunction with a cover case (it’s unclear if a special cover is required). Samsung says aiMo delivers better sound directivity, as well as more realistic ASMR sounds, without the need for professional equipment. In fact, the firm says you can get “high quality” results while recording outside too.

Meanwhile, MEDEO is branded as an “instant video making service,” allowing creators to simultaneously shoot and edit live videos. The service uses AI in order to recognize scenes and context, automatically adding video effects, music, and pre-recorded videos to your live stream.

We’ll need to wait and see if this service is a gimmick or genuinely useful, but Samsung says MEDEO is also capable of “one-click video rendering at an expert level that extracts only the core scenes of the saved video.” Hopefully the service isn’t severely limited in terms of the number of video effects and music tracks.

What else is Samsung highlighting?

The third mobile-related project is a hearing assistant called SnailSound. By using an app and earpiece, the service conducts feedback via hearing tests to figure out the user’s desired sounds. From here, it conducts AI-based suppression and amplification in order to boost the desired sounds.

Finally, the last mobile-related AI project by Samsung is a perfume app, called Perfume Blender. It essentially lets users make their own perfume with a “compatible device,” then lets you share the recipe with others via a mobile app. But the app is pretty smart in its own right too.

“When the user takes a photo of their favorite perfumes with the app, it analyzes the common ingredients and recommends fragrance recipes that the user might like,” the Korean company explains. It sounds like you’ll need to buy a potentially expensive machine to actually make your perfume, but it’s an interesting concept anyway.

Editor’s Pick

Another noteworthy project is a virtual advertising service for live-streamers, dubbed Tisplay. This service recognizes a streamer’s clothing, then places ads over them. According to Samsung, the ads look “as if they were actually printed on the clothing.”

Creators can also use the service to add images that are actually relevant to the stream in question. Furthermore, Samsung reckons that this new type of ad is less invasive than mid-video pop-up ads. Then again, who says we won’t see both?

Other noteworthy Samsung AI projects set for CES include an auto-adjusting monitor to help users maintain the correct posture, an “AI desk light,” and an AI-driven news analysis platform. Personally, I’m quite keen to hear results from the ASMR solution, but the SnailSound hearing service has the potential to be a game-changing take on the hearing aid. What would you like to try out? Give us your thoughts in the comments!

NEXT: Honor View 20 hands-on: Are holes better than notches?

Source: Android Zone

The post From better ASMR to live-stream editing, Samsung is using AI for everything at CES appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

Nomu S50 Pro international giveaway!

Welcome to the Sunday giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone each and every Sunday.

A big congratulations to the winner of last week’s OnePlus 6T international giveaway, Rodney B. from the U.S.

This week we are giving away four brand new Nomu S50 Pro smartphones!

Nomu S50 Pro

In need of a rugged phone that won’t break the bank? Look no further than the Nomu S50 Pro!

As you can see, this is a tough phone. But it doesn’t just look tough, it’s also IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810G certified. That means your phone should be protected from water, dust, and drops. The S50 Pro doesn’t skimp on the specs, either. It comes with a big 5.72-inch screen, an octa-core MTK6763 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and — get this — a 5,000mAh battery.

You’d normally have to pay just $229 for one, but you don’t have to worry about that today. We’re giving away a total of four Nomu S50 Pros.

Enter the giveaway here

Nomu S50 Pro international giveaway!

Don’t miss: Best Android phone giveaway | Jaybird Tarah giveaway

Winners gallery

Terms & conditions

  • This is an international giveaway (except when we can not ship to your country).
  • If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
  • We are not responsible for lost shipments.
  • We are not responsible if your giveaway prize malfunctions.
  • You must be age of majority in your country of residence.
  • We are not responsible for any duties or import fees that you may incur.
  • Only one entry per person; please do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
  • We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
  • This giveaway is operated by Android Authority.
  • The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.

More: Android Authority international giveaway FAQs

Source: Android Zone

The post Nomu S50 Pro international giveaway! appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

Next-gen Snapdragon confirmed at 7nm, 5G support in tow

Pictured - Snapdragon 845. Qualcomm's next chip will be a smaller 7nm product.

  • The next-gen Snapdragon will release this year and it’s a 7nm chip.
  • The SoC will pair with Qualcomm’s X50 modem for 5G support.
  • More details will head our way Q4 2018.

In a press release today, Qualcomm confirmed its next-generation flagship Snapdragon SoC for mobile devices, most likely named the Snapdragon 855, will be built on a 7nm process node. Although we don’t yet know for sure if TSMC or Samsung Foundries will end up producing the chips. Rumors currently point to TSMC.

The news comes hot on the heels of Huawei spilling the beans on its upcoming HiSilicon Kirin 980 processor, which it is building on a cutting-edge 7nm process. Getting to 7nm is another important step down to even low power consumption processors, a necessary counterbalance as SoCs push performance limits.

The announcement also details Qualcomm’s plans to support the upcoming 5G market with its next-generation chipset. According to the release, the “7nm SoC can be paired with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem” to support the next gen wireless communication technology.

The company’s X50 modem won’t come inside the next gen Snapdragon SoC, but can be included as an optional extra for specific 5G devices. We already assumed this, as the X50 is not a multi-mode modem anyway — it can already pair up with existing Snapdragon chips anyway. The new SoC will likely include Qualcomm’s X24 LTE modem inside, an upgrade over the current X20 LTE implementation inside the Snapdragon 845.

Editor’s Pick

This was always the most likely option. 5G networks won’t be up and running in most of the world in 2019, which spares phone manufacturers the expense of including a modem package they can’t use. Furthermore, a number of manufacturers have already stated they may release dedicated 5G phones next year, implying the regular release schedule won’t support 5G technology just yet.

The company is clearly pushing for 5G adoption, but it’s going to be a bonus, rather than core technology, in its next SoC. Qualcomm says more details about its next-generation flagship mobile platform will come in Q4 2018, when the company typically launches its flagship chip for next year’s high-end smartphones.

Source: Android Zone

The post Next-gen Snapdragon confirmed at 7nm, 5G support in tow appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

New Galaxy Note 9 teasers are less cringeworthy than Samsung’s other recent ads

YouTube

  • Three new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 teasers hit YouTube today.
  • Each teaser focuses on an aspect of the Note 9: its battery life, storage capacity, and processing speed.
  • The ads are — thankfully — not as cringeworthy as some of the recent Samsung advertisements.

This morning, Samsung posted three new teaser ads on YouTube promoting the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Unpacked event on August 9. Thankfully, this trilogy of teasers is less cringeworthy than other recent Samsung ads.

Unfortunately though, none of the ads show us the Galaxy Note 9. However, we have so much leaked info on the device already that you don’t need much of an imagination to know what it will look like, at least probably.

Editor’s Pick

You can see all three teaser ads below, but they all follow the same format. Each one depicts a person using a phone that has some sort of problem: not enough storage, too slow, and not enough battery. The ads depict the user’s frustration and their attempts to circumvent the problem, and then the tagline “A lot can change in a day” appears on the screen.

No gratuitous knocks on Apple this time around. Thankfully.

Here are the three ads:

Battery Life

Storage Space

Processing Speed

We can only assume from the ads that Samsung is going to tout the large amounts of storage space, the high-speed processing, and the long battery life of the Galaxy Note 9 at the Unpacked event.

Samsung is likely banking on the alleged new features of the S Pen along with the general internal upgrades of the Note 9 to sell the device. But will that be enough? With the lackluster sales of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus (at least compared to previous Galaxy S devices), Samsung needs a bonafide hit with the Note 9.

What do you think? Will you buy a Note 9 just based on some internal upgrades and a new S Pen? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: Galaxy Note 9 official press render leaked

Source: Android Zone

The post New Galaxy Note 9 teasers are less cringeworthy than Samsung’s other recent ads appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

Here are the best phones for gaming

Phones for gaming

In the last several months, companies have released a surge of phones focused on giving the best gaming experience. It makes sense — more and more mobile games are pushing the envelope in graphics, gameplay, and features. But what are the best phones for gaming right now?

Editor’s Pick

In this article, we take a look at these new gaming phones, which have high-end hardware specs and special features made just for gaming. We also take a brief look at more conventional phones that still offer excellent performance and features for gaming.

Razer Phone

gaming phone

Razer has already been highly successful with its wide range of gaming hardware and accessories. Now the company’s decided to make a gaming and entertainment oriented smartphone, simply called the Razer Phone. It’s arguably the device that started this current gaming phone trend.

Its 8GB of RAM shows you Razer wants to make gaming on a phone smoother and better than on a normal device. The Razer Phone includes a big 5.7-inch display with a 120Ghz refresh rate. That feature can be combined with the phone’s other major feature,  Ultra Motion, which syncs up its GPU with the high refresh rate, allowing games made for the phone to have silky smooth framerates with little to no lag or screen tearing.

Editor’s Pick

Besides the display features, the Razer Phone also has a big 4,000mAh battery, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, loud twin front speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and more. While other gaming phones have since been announced or revealed with even more features, the Razer phone is still a highly impressive phone. You can purchase it now from Razer unlocked for $599.99.

Specs

  • 5.7-inch LED display with 1,440 x 2,560 resolution
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 64GB of onboard storage, MicroSD slot available
  • Dual 12MP rear cameras, 8MP front camera
  • Non-removable 4,000mAh battery
  • Android 7.1.1 Nougat (Update to Android 8.0 Oreo)
  • 158.5 x 77.7 x 8 mm, 197 g

Xiaomi Black Shark

Xiaomi Gaming

Chinese phone company Xiaomi launched its own phone for gaming in April 2018 with the Black Shark, though at the moment it’s only available in China. It has a big 6-inch, 2,160 x 1,080 resolution display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Inside, you will find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset and a beefy 4,000mAh battery, which supports Quick Charge 3.0. It includes a 12MP and 20MP dual camera setup, with a 20MP front-facing camera. It’s available with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and either 64GB or 128GB of storage.
 
The design of the Xiaomi Black Shark itself looks like what would happen if you shrunk a gaming laptop design down to a smartphone size. In fact, the phone has a PC-like integrated cooling system to avoid overheating during long gaming sessions. It also has a special “Shark Key” that pushes the Black Shark into a high-performance mode. Xiaomi is also selling an optional one-sided gamepad that attaches to the device and is good for around 30 hours.
 
Editor’s Pick
 
As we said, the Xiaomi Black Shark is only on sale in China, but the price in that part of the world is pretty low for a gaming smartphone with these features. You can snap the 6GB of RAM and 64GB storage version up for just $479, while the version with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will run you $559. Hopefully, the company will expand into other markets around the world.

Specs

  • 6-inch display IPS LED display with 2,160 x 1,080 resolution
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
  • 6 or 8GB of RAM
  • 64 or 128GB of onboard storage, no expansion slot
  • Dual 12MP and 20MP rear cameras, 20 MP front camera
  • Non-removable 4,000mAh battery
  • Android 8.0 Oreo
  • 161.6 x 75.4 x 9.3mm, 190g

Nubia Red Magic

gaming phone @redmagicgaming

Yet another Chinese phone maker, Nubia (a subsidiary of ZTE) introduced its own phone for gaming in April, called the Nubia Red Magic. The first thing you may notice about it is its angled rear design, which definitely gives it a rather slick and unique look. The back also includes a horizonal RGB LED light that can be customized to show up in 16 million color variations. Nubia claims the angled back also helps in cooling the phone, since it has more surface area, along with three rear cooling ports.

Like the Black Shark, the Red Magic has a 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. There’s also a hardware button on the Red Magic, which Nubia calls Gameboost, that is supposed improve performance while gaming. However, the Red Magic packs in a smaller 3,800mAh battery, and the older Snapdragon 835 processor. It also has just a single rear camera, which is still pretty large at 24MP, along with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Nubia decided to sell the Red Magic via Indiegogo, and it recently ended sales of the phone, which it priced at $399. Nubia plans to ship the phone starting in June. A limited number of units were sold to North America for “testing” and those folks are supposed to be able to trade that version in for the real North American version of the Red Magic when it goes on sale later this fall (assuming ZTE is able to get back up and running fully, though signs look good).

Specs

  • 6-inch display Full HD+ 1,080 x 2,160 display
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 128GB of onboard storage
  • 24MP rear cameras, 8MP front camera
  • Non-removable 3,800mAh battery
  • Android 8.1 Oreo
  • 158.1 x74.9 x9.5 mm, 185 g

Asus ROG Phone (Upcoming)

Asus Rog Phone gaming smartphone render against a black background - phone for gaming Asus

After hinting at it for months, Asus announced its entry into the gaming smartphone market in June with the ROG Phone. Asus is wisely using its well known Republic of Gamers (ROG) PC brand and it already looks like the most feature-rich device for this market niche yet.
 
The Asus ROG Phone will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset inside, but with a clock speed boost to 2.96Ghz (the normal speed for the processor is 2.8Ghz). It will have a 6-inch AMOLED 2,160 x 1,080 display with a 90Hz refresh rate. While that’s higher than the normal 60Hz rate on most phones, it doesn’t match the 120Hz rate on the older Razer Phone. It will be sold with 8GB of RAM, either 128GB or 512GB of onboard storage and a 4,000mAh battery. Look for a dual 12MP and 8MP rear camera setup on this gaming phone, along with an 8MP front-facing camera and dual speakers on the front.
 
The phone will also have some interesting hardware features tailored to the hardcore gamer. It will have three AirTrigger ultrasonic touch sensors to serve as shoulder triggers when holding the phone in landscape fashion. In addition to its USB Type-C port on the bottom, the Asus ROG phone will have an extra USB Type-C port on the side, so you can connect the phone up to an optional WiGig gaming dock. Finally, there will be an X Mode, activated by squeezing the sides of the ROG Phone, to increase the hardware performance of the phone.
 
Along with the ROG Phone, Asus plans to sell a number of optional accessories made just for this device. The previously mentioned WiGig dock can connect the phone to an external display, or a mouse and keyboard to play games or do other things like on a PC. Another accesory is an AeroActive Cooler for keeping the phone nice and cool during long gaming sessions. Asus will also sell a third-party controller for the phone made by GameVice that will add analog sticks, shoulder buttons, and other keys on each side of the ROG Phone.
 
Finally, Asus will sell the TwinView handheld dock, adding a secondary display to let you either play a game with more screen real estate or launch a second app to chat with friends while playing a game. The TwinView will also come with its own 6,000mAh battery. The Asus ROG Phone goes on sale in Q3 2018. Pricing for the phone and its many accessories, has yet to be revealed. We would expect to pay a bit more for an overlocked phone for gaming like this.

Specs

  • 6-inch display AMOLED 1,080 x 2,160 display
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 128 or 512GB of onboard storage
  • 12MP and 8MP rear cameras, 8MP front camera
  • Non-removable 4,000mAh battery
  • Android 8.1 Oreo
  • 158.8 x 76.2 x 8.6mm, 200g

Wonder (Upcoming)

wonder gaming smartphone preview The Verge

Mysterious startup Wonder made its public debut a couple of years ago, and recently it began revealing details for its own phone for gaming. It will be an Android phone running a skin called WonderOS. This UI will let the phone’s processor be overclocked so it can output its display to a larger screen, like a TV. The phone will come with a dock and controller for this, but Wonder won’t actually make the device. It is in talks with a number of unnamed Android OEMs to make handsets with the WonderOS in mind.

Who knows if this will work. At the moment, the first phone with WonderOS might not launch until 2019 at the earlier. However, turning a mobile device into a game console has certainly worked for the Nintendo Switch. It’s possible this setup could work for Android as well.

Current mainstream smartphones that are great for gaming

More and more gaming phones are entering the marketplace, but there are still plenty of phones on the market already great for high-end gaming. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have excellent 5.8- and 6.2-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED displays, along with the Snapdragon 845 processor, and will handle just about anything you throw at them. Even the older Galaxy Note 8 is a great option, with its impressive 6.3-inch QuadHD+ Infinity Display.

All of these Samsung phones have what the company calls Game Tools. The feature lets users play games in Full Screen mode, which fills the entire edge-to-edge display, instead of seeing them in letterboxed mode. You can also still quickly take screenshots or record gameplay on the phone along with a way to temporarily disable the phones’ digital home button and cuts off any notifications from showing up on your screen in the middle of gameplay.

The Moto Z family of phones are also great for gaming, with optional Moto Mods that attach to the back of those devices. Motorola launched a gamepad Moto Mod for those phones in mid-2017. Connecting it up places control sticks on either side of the phone. It also has a D-pad and four tactile action buttons, and its own 1,035 mAh battery that is supposed to offer even more gaming time for any Moto Z phone.

Here’s a quick list of our recommendations of mainsteam phones that are also great for gaming:

Best phones for gaming – Conclusion

Those are our picks for the best phones for gaming. We’ll keep an eye out for more hardcore gaming phones in the months ahead and update this post accordingly. In the meantime, are you planning to purchase one of these gaming phones?

Source: Android Zone

The post Here are the best phones for gaming appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

You can finally delete (and recreate) your Google Opinion Rewards account

A set of screenshots of the Google Opinion Rewards application taken in 2017.

  • The latest version of the Google Opinion Rewards app lets you delete your account.
  • This is useful for folks who would like to remove and recreate their account information to get more surveys.
  • You have to be on the latest version of the app to see the account deletion option.

Google Opinion Rewards is an app that periodically asks you survey questions in exchange for credit on the Google Play Store. Each survey can earn you anywhere from $0.10 to a few dollars, depending on how long and personal the survey is.

However, once you sign up your information has been stuck that way, with no way to make changes or delete your account. This is particularly bothersome for people who moved to a new location after signing up, as your location effects the types of surveys you receive.

Editor’s Pick

Now, finally, you can delete and recreate your Google Opinion Rewards account, as spotted by Android Police. There’s still no way to edit your current account, but deleting and then recreating it is an adequate substitute.

You’ll have to be on the latest version of the app to delete your account. You can update to the newest version via the Google Play Store, or sideload the APK from this link at APKMirror.

To delete your account, open the Google Opinion Rewards app and then tap the “hamburger” menu icon in the upper left-hand corner. Tap on Settings, and then you’ll see an option in red that says “Delete Opinion Rewards Account.” Tap that, and you’re on your way.

A screenshot of Google Opinion Rewards taken in 2018.
A screenshot of Google Opinion Rewards taken in 2018.
A screenshot of Google Opinion Rewards taken in 2018.

To sign up again, just re-open the Google Opinion Rewards app and go through the sign-up process once more.

One of the chief complaints of Google Opinion Rewards is that when you first sign up, you tend to get a lot of surveys, and thus earn a lot of Play Store credits. As time goes by, you get fewer surveys or sometimes none at all. Some people haven’t received surveys in years. This new account deletion option may help rectify that, as a fresh sign-up might get the surveys flowing.

Editor’s Pick

However, it could be that you aren’t getting surveys because you have certain settings tweaked for privacy. Google Opinion Rewards uses your GPS location, for example, to ask you questions about places you’ve been. If you have this turned off, you won’t get those surveys. So if you go through the deletion/renewal process and still find you’re not getting any surveys, you might have to play with your settings.

Have you had problems with the Google Opinion Rewards app? Does this solve them? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Android Zone

The post You can finally delete (and recreate) your Google Opinion Rewards account appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.