The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 is a chip for dedicated AR & VR headsets

Qualcomm, just like many other technology companies, believes there is a future in augmented reality and virtual reality technology. The two technologies tend to intersect so often that some are combining the two and referring to them both as "XR." We talked about Qualcomm's work in this area recently with the Snapdragon 3100 SoC but it looks as if the company's first dedicated chipset for augmented reality and virtual reality devices will be called the Snapdragon XR1. The chip will be used for dedicated AR and VR headsets and we're told to expect them in the second half of 2018.

The company has been working on the heterogeneous computing technology that will be shipping with the Snapdragon XR1 chipset. For many, it will look like the typical SoC that we currently see in smartphones and wearables on the market today. However, Qualcomm has been working to improve the Snapdragon XR1 in areas that will help our current AR and VR technologies. This includes UltraHD video playback, 6DoF head tracking, 3DoF and 6DoF controllers, Qualcomm's Aqstic voice UI and support for QuadHD+ (2K) displays.

We have barely scratched the surface of what virtual reality and augmented reality is capable of and Qualcomm knows this. The big areas of interest are naturally going to be virtual reality videos and games for a bit, but some feel that it's augmented reality that will actually be the breakthrough technology here. The IDC has been studying this technology for a while and their current estimates put the market at around 186 million standalone devices in consumer's hands by the end of 2023.

As with most new platforms, Qualcomm isn't expecting things to get too crazy right out of the gate. However, the team has been able to score some partnerships with the likes of Meta, Pico, Vuzix, and Vive. They will continue to market their latest flagship SoC (currently the Snapdragon 845) for high-end smartphones, but they feel the XR1 will be well suited for devices like the Oculus Go and other headsets where component cost is an important factor. As of this time, Qualcomm has chosen to not disclose the specs of the SoC, but they've developed the chip to an extent where they can start marketing it to potential partners.

The companying is positioning the XR1 as a chip that will be able to drive headsets up to 4K resolution, which makes a lot of sense considering its video decoder can also handle up to 4Kp60 video. The initial examples of the headset have highlighted the chips 3DoF tracking but it can actually handle 6DoF tracking as well. The vendor will just need to include the additional sensors in their headset and then have the software setup so that it can handle all of that additional data.

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Source: Qualcomm

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The Google Pixel 3 XL may have a notched OLED display from LG

The Pixel 2 XL was almost universally praised when it launched, but it had one issue that everyone seemed to notice. The LG-made OLED was consistently blasted in reviews. As time went on, Google tightened up quality control and the displays seemed to get better. Hopefully, we won't have a repeat of the situation this year as it looks like LG will be making the displays again.

LG is Back

According to Ice Universe, a well-known Weibo leaker, the Pixel 3 XL will have an OLED display with a notch made by LG. This information was first reported by the Digital Daily, a Korean publication with no track record of Google leaks. However, the Weibo posting adds more weight to the report.

People will probably not be happy to hear that LG is providing the displays again, but Google should have the situation under control this time. We'd be surprised if they make the same mistake twice. Last year's debacle should be a good lesson in the importance of quality control.

The Notch is Real

There have been rumors floating around about the Pixel 3 having a notch, but this Weibo posting is the first reliable source we've seen. With the recent trend in smartphones to minimize bezels and the notch features in Android P, this is really no surprise.

The Korean publication mentions how LCD displays with notches cost almost as much as standard OLED panels, while a notched OLED display can be up to 25% more. This is pure speculation, but the notch could end up increasing the price of the Pixel 3 XL. It would be the first device with a notched OLED panel since the iPhone X.

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We have just a few more months until Google's Fall hardware event. With the rumors of a Pixel smartwatch, updated Pixel Buds, and the Pixel 3 devices, it's looking we'll have a lot of new hardware. What are your thoughts on LG displays and notches?

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Source: Digital Daily Source: Weibo

Via: 9t05Google Via: PhoneArena

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The AT&T LG V35 ThinQ is an LG G7 with an OLED screen but no notch

The LG V35 ThinQ has popped up on our radar a few times in the last couple of months. Today, LG has made the device official. The previous reports were all true: it has an OLED display without a display notch and it's exclusive to AT&T. This is the third V Series phone LG has launched in less than a year, and they all look basically the same.

LG G7 vs LG V35

The LG G7 was announced earlier this very month, so naturally, people are going to compare the two devices. The most noticeable differences are found in the display.

• V35 Display: OLED, 6-inch, 18:9, no notch
• G7 Display: LCD, 6.1-inch, 19.5:9, notch

The V35 has 6GB of RAM, while the G7 has 4GB. LG also put a slightly bigger battery in the V35: 3,500 mAh vs 3,000 mAh. One thing that the G7 still has on the V35 is the "Boom Box" speaker.

Pricing

The LG V35 looks like an excellent phone on paper, but one thing will likely hold it back. AT&T is pricing the phone at a whopping $900. So if you're an LG fan on AT&T you don't get the G7, but you get a similar phone for $150 more. That won't be worth it for a lot of people. Pre-orders will kick off on Friday and it will be available in stores on June 8th.

Specs

	LG V35 ThinQ
Display	6-inch, OLED, 18:9, QuadHD+
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Memory	6GB
Storage	64GB/128GB, microSD slot
Camera	Rear: Dual 16MP, Wide Angle (f1.9 / 107 degrees) Standard Angle (f1.6 / 71 degrees) Front: 8MP (f1.9 / 80 degrees)
OS	Android 8.0 Oreo
Battery	3,300 mAh
Size	151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm, 157 g
Network	LTE-A 4 Band CA
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5.0 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)
Colors	Black, Gray
Misc	Quick Charge 3.0, Wireless Charging, Fingerprint sensor, IP68, 32-bit HiFi Quad DAC, FM Radio

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Source: LG Newsroom

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Intel’s elusive Ice Lake architecture shows up on a new Chrome OS platform

Intel's latest generation micro-architecture, Cannon Lake, has barely even released and yet its successor, Ice Lake, has appeared on the Chromium Gerrit on a new Chrome OS platform codenamed "Dragonegg." Ice Lake will be a 10nm+ refinement on current Cannon Lake's 10nm process and will ostensibly bring the usual efficiency and power improvements over the current generation.

Intel isn't shy about its involvement in the Chromium Project. They have a number of engineers directly contributing to the Chrome OS operating system. One of the many benefits of Intel and Google's open-source relationship is that development on new chipsets can start long before chips hit mass production. Intel seems to be getting trigger happy with the commits, however, as the latest generation architecture available is Kaby Lake on the Pixelbook.

Intel and other chip vendors are vying to get to ever-smaller process nodes (smaller process nodes mean more efficient chips) but, as Cannon Lake was delayed by two years, it is evident that leaps and bounds per Moore's Law are proving difficult. Generations are now obfuscated by refinements on existing nodes.

Micro-architecture	Core generation	Process node	Release
Skylake	6th	14nm	2015
Kaby Lake	7th	14nm+	2016
Coffee Lake	8th	14nm++	2017
Cannon Lake	8th?	10nm	2018
Ice Lake	9th?	10nm+	2019?

Ice Lake's appearance on the Chromium Gerrit comes amid reports that Intel is struggling to get high yields from the 10nm process node.

Availability notwithstanding, Ice Lake is on the cutting edge of Intel's production line and the latest platform development on Chrome OS. We saw Kaby Lake G (Intel chip with AMD Radeon integrated graphics) make its appearance just last week on the Chromium Gerrit. This yet another reminder that development doesn't stall for production issues.

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Unofficial LineageOS 15.1 now available for the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

Earlier this month the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 received an unofficial port of TWRP. Shortly after that, it received a modified version known as the Red Wolf Recovery Project. Since then we've watched as a couple of custom ROM options have become available for the device, with an unofficial port of LineageOS 15.1 being a popular option. This port is available to the community thanks to the work from XDA Senior Member Shivam Kumar Jha. You should remember that this is an unofficial port so there are some bugs to be expected.

For instance, there is talk about a multi-touch bug that has been fixed in Oreo by Google and we will need to wait until the June patch before this gets resolved. We're also seeing talk from the community about the charging rate being low while the phone is in use, and some are experiencing the screen not turning off while in a phone call. So far these seem to be isolated issues so your mileage may vary. Check out the XDA forum thread below and download unofficial LineageOS 15.1 for your Zenfone Max Pro M1.

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Check out this unofficial build in our Zenfone Max Pro M1 forum

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Navigation Gestures updated with pill customization and many bug fixes

Android P's new gesture control interface has a lot of fans, but also a ton of critics. Google's take on gesture navigation is just another implementation on a trend first popularized by webOS way back in the day, but more recently brought into the public view thanks to the Apple iPhone X. OnePlus soon followed suit with the OnePlus 5T and the OnePlus 6, and other OEMs like Xiaomi with the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi Mix 2S also now have gesture controls. We thought we would jump in and offer our own take on gestures with the Navigation Gestures app—a gesture navigation app that was the first on the Play Store to completely hide the stock navigation bar and replace it with our pill bar. Now, we are ready to release a major update to the app that brings a ton of features and bug fixes that you've all been asking for.

When we first announced this app, we had no idea how much feedback and support we were about to get. We've read over 700 emails, 300 YouTube comments, 700 Reddit comments, 27 pages on our XDA support thread, and hundreds of Play Store reviews in the span of 10 days. The app, for which there are only 2 members working on it, clearly had a lot of work to be done on it based on the feedback we've received, so we got to work addressing the most common bug reports and feature requests that we were sent. After a lot of work, we're happy to announce that the next major update for Navigation Gestures by XDA is now available.

We would like to thank all of our supporters who purchased the premium version of the application. Your support helps us continue development on the app. This first update doesn't add any new features for premium users, but rest assured, we will be focusing our attention on adding new gesture actions for premium users once we're sure the base application is stable! Expect many new actions to come!

Navigation Gestures (Free, Google Play) →

Navigation Gestures Premium Add-On ($0.99, Google Play) →

Navigation Gestures v1.10

The changelog is massive, so I'm going to split up the changes into sections to keep things organized.

Bug Fixes and Behavior Changes

• Added foreground service to hopefully prevent the pill from disappearing randomly. (This adds a persistent notification in your notification area, but you can hide it if you want.)
• Fixed pill disappearing when unlocking the screen with fingerprint scanner.
• Added "Hide in Fullscreen Apps" toggle in Settings —> Behavior (enabled by default). This will make the pill enter "hide" mode and become more transparent in fullscreen apps and games.
  

  Can you spot the pill? To unhide, simply tap or swipe up on the pill!

• Added coloring to the navigation bar on many Samsung devices to hopefully hide the "white line" at the bottom of the screen issue.
• Fixed the delay with the single tap gesture (Note: Double tap gesture must be set to "None" to avoid the delay.)
  

  If you're experiencing delay, disable the Double Tap action in Settings –> Gestures

• Added "Don't Move Pill" option in Settings —> Behavior. This will stop the pill going above the keyboard.

Pill hidden below the keyboard. Note: pill was hidden using the "hide" feature, which is by default a swipe down.

• Tapping or swiping up on the pill when in "hide mode" should no longer trigger an action except unhiding it.
• Reduced the minimum width and height of the pill
• Fix crash on Gestures menu for Lollipop devices
• Fix crash when attempting to start Assistant
• Fix exiting Car Mode causing the app to activate even if it was off beforehand
• Fix reboot causing the app to activate even if it was off beforehand

Feature additions

• Added pill transparency (located in Settings –> Appearance as a part of the pill coloring option)
• Added pill coloring/border coloring (Settings –> Appearance)
  

  Select your color and transparency. Don't like the default options? Enter a custom color!

• Added toggle for pill shadow (Settings –> Appearance)
• Added pill corner radius size (Settings –> Appearance)
• Added animation duration customization (Settings –> Behavior)
• Added horizontal (X) position customization (Settings –> Appearance)
• Added swipe left and hold + swipe right and hold gestures (Settings –> Gestures)
• Split-screen action has been moved to the free build (Settings –> Gestures)

Compatibility options (Settings —> Compatibility)

• "Hide original navbar in landscape" option. If the navigation bar is showing on your device when you turn to landscape mode, this will hopefully prevent that from happening.
• "Tablet mode" option. If you use a tablet and notice parts of the screen get cut off, try this out.

List of Features

For those of you who want to get into this app but are only just now hearing about it, here's a feature list that accounts for the most recent update:

Gestures

• Taps
  • Single tap
  • Double tap
  • Tap and hold (long press)
• Swipes
  • Swipe up and hold
  • Swipe left
  • Swipe left and hold
  • Swipe right
  • Swipe right and hold
  • Swipe up
  • Swipe down

Actions

• Free
  • Home
  • Back
  • Recent apps
  • Toggle split-screen (requires Android Nougat+)
  • Open previous app (requires Android Nougat+)
  • Open Assistant
  • Hide pill
• Premium
  • Pull down the notification shade
  • Pull down quick setting tiles
  • Open power menu
  • Skip to previous media track*
  • Skip to next media track*
  • Play/pause current media track*

Appearance (all free)

• Toggle pill shadow
• Customize pill color
• Customize pill transparency
• Customize pill border color
• Customize pill corner radius
• Customize pill width/height
• Customize pill vertical/horizontal position

Behavior (all free)

• Hide in fullscreen apps
• Don't move pill above keyboard
• Customize swipe and hold time
• Customize vibration duration
• Customize animation duration

Compatibility (all free)

• Hide original navigation bar in landscape
• Tablet mode fixes

FAQs

• Help, I uninstalled the app and I can't access my navigation bar anymore!
  • Please connect to your computer and run the following command: adb shell wm overscan reset
• This app isn't hiding the navigation bar at all on my device!
  • Due to changes made in the Android framework by certain device manufacturers (I'm looking at you, LG and Asus), the method we used to detect the presence of a navigation bar wasn't working on devices like the LG G6 and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. In our next release, we will make the navigation bar hiding a separate toggle so users can opt-in to hiding the navigation bar. This will hopefully fix that problem.
• There's a "white line" at the bottom of the screen!
  • This is NOT a bug. This is a side-effect of a change we intentionally made after version 1.0.0 because without it, many Samsung, Motorola, and Xiaomi devices were reporting major bugs (eg. black screen after unlocking which made the phone unusable.) The "white line" is caused by the navigation bar being hidden 99.99% but not 100% (ie. we hiding the navigation bar entirely except for 1 pixel.) So the "white line" is actually just your navigation bar that's colored white. It's noticed mostly by Samsung owners because Samsung aggressively colors the nav bar white. We are coloring in the nav bar to hide this white line.
• This app doesn't work on Android P beta!
  • We are using an API that does not work on Android P unless you use an obscure workaround. We are not sure if this obscure workaround will still work in the final release of Android P. To give us a higher chance of that workaround still working in P, we are choosing not to publicize this workaround. Please bear with us!
• Uninstalling the app doesn't bring back my stock navigation bar!
  • Do not uninstall the app unless you first disable the pill in the app. There is no way for our app to detect when it is being uninstalled, so we can't revert the changes it makes if you uninstall it. Please first disable the pill and then uninstall it like normal.
• Pill doesn't work with screen pinning.
  • We have no way of simulating a long press on the back button without root. A tentative solution we are looking into is detecting when the phone enters a pinned screen state and disabling the pill to bring back the stock nav bar.
• The app hides the dock in Samsung DeX.
  • Apparently, the dock in DeX is seen as a navigation bar. We'll see if we can detect DeX and just disable the app when that happens.
• Can we add a feature where the pill is in its own separate area so it doesn't overlap with certain UI elements?
  • Very likely no, sorry. We are already pushing the screen content down to hide the nav bar. Adding this feature would require us to push the screen content up as well. We can't have it both ways.
• Can we hide the pill when on the launcher?
  • Yes, a future release will allow for hiding the pill when you are on your home screen.
• Can we have the pill open a certain app?
  • Yes, that is planned for a future release.
• Can we have the pill open an app launcher?
  • That is a bit more complicated since we have to consider caching the list, but it's possible. It's not a priority, but we'll consider it!
• Can we lock the screen?
  • There are 4 ways we know of to do this, and none of them are ideal. There isn't a simple "lock screen" API (well, not until Android P) that we can use that doesn't have its own share of problems. Nova Launcher's approach is probably the best solution, though, so we'll likely just do what they do. It's planned, though!
• Can we take a screenshot?
  • Pre-Android P, the only way to do this is with the MediaProjection API (the one that lets you do screen recordings.) It's very performance intensive but possible to do.
• Can we add special root actions?
  • Yes, we planned to have them for this release but had to push them back.

Feedback and Support

Feedback is very important for us. While we are blessed to have access to a large team that owns a wide variety of devices from several different device manufacturers, it's difficult for us to ensure a bug-free experience on every device. If you are having trouble with our app, don't hesitate to email us or post in the official XDA support thread.

We plan on adding additional features in coming releases to give users more options for swipe gestures and actions. We hope to provide an experience that can replace the navigation bar on your device. If you feel that we should add a feature or two to make that happen, then please reach out to us with your ideas!

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All Nokia phones from HMD Global will get Android P

Hot off the heels of their announcement of the Nokia 5.1, 3.1, and 2.1, HMD Global has shared some good news regarding Android P. The company's Global Marketing Manager, Niel Broadley, confirmed that Android P will be coming to the entire Nokia portfolio. This is part of their commitment to fast and pure updates.

All devices from the low-end Nokia 1 to the flagship 8 Sirocco will receive Android P. That, of course, includes the freshly announced devices from earlier today. Most of these devices are still in the 2-year guaranteed update window that Google demands for flagship updates. The Nokia 7 Plus already has Android P as a member of the beta program.

HMD Global has done a great job at keeping their devices updated. Android Oreo rolled out to the Nokia 3 in April. Android 8.1 was sent to the 6 and 5 in March. HMD Global has also supported the Android Enterprise Recommended Program. That's thanks in large part to their commitment to Android One and Android Go, which are essentially stock Android devices. It's amazing how much easier it is to keep phones up to date when there isn't OEM skins or carriers to worry about.

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Source: Android Authority

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