Android 12 Go Edition will bring a speed boost to budget phones in 2022

Google’s Android 12 software brought big changes to the look and feel of Google’s operating system for smartphones and tablets including flagships like the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But Android isn’t just for flagship devices, and now Google is outlining some of the new features coming to budget phones running Android 12 […]

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Google’s Android 12 software brought big changes to the look and feel of Google’s operating system for smartphones and tablets including flagships like the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But Android isn’t just for flagship devices, and now Google is outlining some of the new features coming to budget phones running Android 12 (Go edition) software in 2022.

The company is promising speedier app launch times, smoother animations, and longer battery life, among other things.

Google says apps running Android 12 (Go edition) will be able to launch apps up to 30% faster than the same device running Android 11 (Go edition), while smoother animations and a new SplashScreen API available to developers means that even when you are waiting for an app to load, at least you’ll have something to look at.

Android 12 (Go edition) also automatically hibernates apps that haven’t been used for a while, helping extend battery life by preventing those apps from demanding system resources unnecessarily.

Other changes include support for sharing apps with other users via a direct connection to save data using Android’s Nearby Share feature. You can also share your device with other users quickly thanks to support for switching profiles from the lock screen so you can move between your primary profile and a guest profile. And when you visit the recent apps screen, there will be options to listen to the news and translate on-screen content into your language.

The Privacy Dashboard that debuted with Android 12 for the Pixel 6 is also included in Android 12 (Go edition), giving you a single place to see which apps are accessing sensitive data like your device location or accessing the mic or camera hardware. And you’ll see privacy indicators in the status bar when the mic or camera are active.

Android 12 (Go edition) should roll out to supported devices as an over-the-air updates, and Google says it will also ship on some new devices in 2022.

You can find more details in Google’s blog post announcing the new release.

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Turns out that “HDMI 2.1” ports don’t need to actually support HDMI 2.1 features

HDMI 2.1 is an upgrade to HDMI 2.0, except when it isn’t.

Newer game consoles like the Xbox Series X and S support additional features on HDMI 2.1 displays, but HDMI 2.1 can mean different things depending on what product you're buying.

Enlarge / Newer game consoles like the Xbox Series X and S support additional features on HDMI 2.1 displays, but HDMI 2.1 can mean different things depending on what product you're buying. (credit: Microsoft)

If you dabble in high-end 8K TV equipment or own one of the newest Xbox or PlayStation consoles, you might be familiar with HDMI 2.1. The latest version of the ubiquitous display spec adds variable refresh rate support, reduces latency, and offers a big bandwidth increase that allows for higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, and greater color depth. At least, it can support those things.

It turns out that TV and monitor makers don't actually need to support those marquee HDMI 2.1 features to claim HDMI 2.1 compliance. That's the gist of a report from TFTCentral, which points out that the HDMI 2.1 spec actually fully replaces the HDMI 2.0 spec rather than simply upgrading it. So any manufacturer that supports HDMI 2.0-level features is technically supporting "HDMI 2.1" because the HDMI 2.0 spec doesn't exist anymore. And the features we think of when we talk about HDMI 2.1—including Fixed Rate Link (FRL) signaling, variable refresh rate (VRR) support, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and the enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC)—are technically optional.

"Products can no longer get certified for 2.0 only for 2.1, and also 2.1 features are optional to implement, so popular features like 4k120, ALLM, VRR are not required," Brad Bramy, VP of Marketing and Operations for the HDMI LA, confirmed to Ars. "Manufacturers could only implement eARC, for example, and claim to be a 2.1-enabled device."

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There’s a lot we don’t know about ocean CO₂ removal

There are some intriguing ideas, but big questions remain about all of them.

There’s a lot we don’t know about ocean CO₂ removal

Enlarge (credit: National Academy of Sciences)

It’s clear from climate science that we need to drop greenhouse gas emissions to zero as quickly as possible. But it’s also clear from our slow progress that we could use some help with those emissions. One thing that can help is carbon dioxide removal, as it allows us to reach net-zero emissions even as some difficult-to-solve emissions remain.

Carbon removal on land—including obvious techniques like reforestation—gets a lot of attention. Carbon removal in the ocean, on the other hand, has seemed a bit pie-in-the-sky, even though the ocean already soaks up more CO2 than land ecosystems do. A new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report takes up the challenge of outlining what we would need to learn to make some theoretical techniques for boosting ocean uptake a reality—or to rule them out. The report follows 2015 and 2019 reports that set the stage for carbon dioxide removal science more broadly.

Boosting productivity

The report's goal is to provide some direction, both for scientists designing studies and for funders (like the National Science Foundation) setting priorities. The report is the work of a sizable group of scientists organized by the National Academies, with funding provided by a sponsorship from the ClimateWorks Foundation.

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OSHA probes Amazon warehouse where workers died with no tornado shelter

Workers reportedly told to shelter after second tornado warning was issued.

A first responder walks among the wreckage of a damaged Amazon warehouse on December 11, 2021, in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Enlarge / A first responder walks among the wreckage of a damaged Amazon warehouse on December 11, 2021, in Edwardsville, Illinois. (credit: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced yesterday that it is opening an investigation into the deaths of six workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois that was struck by a massive tornado, one of more than 40 that ripped through the region over the weekend.

Nearly half of the 1.1 million-square-foot building was demolished as winds as high as 150 mph (240 kph) tore through the structure. “The west-facing walls of the warehouse collapsed inward, which was followed by multiple structural failures as the tornado moved through the complex,” the National Weather Service said.

The first warnings came relatively early, at 8:06 pm and again at 8:16 pm, when the NWS issued tornado warnings. A "warning" means that a twister has been sighted or radar data suggests one will form. The NWS says that the tornado formed at 8:28 pm as an EF-0, the lowest on the scale, and quickly intensified to an EF-3 as it moved across Interstate 255. More than 20 minutes elapsed between the first warning and touchdown, over double the average lead time.

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New PS4 homebrew exploit points to similar PS5 hacks to come

WebKit bug allows kernel-level code execution through PS4 firmware 9.00.

Sony's PlayStation 4.

Enlarge / Sony's PlayStation 4. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Hackers have released details of a new exploit that allows homebrew and custom firmware to be installed on PS4 consoles running relatively recent firmware. What's more, the specifics of the exploit suggest similar homebrew capabilities may soon be available on some versions of the PlayStation 5.

The new exploit builds on a known error in the way that the PS4's WebKit implementation utilizes font-faces. That exploit on the PS4 was publicized in October as a proof of concept after a similar error was found in Apple's Safari WebKit implementation in September.

On the PS4, the full exploit can now be triggered by visiting a website with specially formatted JavaScript via the PS4 web browser, allowing the system to run kernel-level code that bypasses the console's usual security protections. From there, the exploit can read files from an inserted USB stick and install homebrew software, including existing custom PS4 firmware.

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YouTube TV warns it may lose all Disney-owned channels amid contract dispute

YouTube TV will temporarily lower price by $15 if it loses Disney-owned channels.

YouTube app icon on a TV screen.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Chris McGrath )

YouTube TV yesterday warned that it could lose all Disney-owned channels after Friday because of a contract dispute and said it will temporarily reduce its price by $15 a month if that happens.

"We're now in negotiations with Disney to continue distributing their content on YouTube TV so you can continue watching everything from your favorite teams on ESPN to The Bachelor to Good Morning America. Our deal expires on Friday, December 17, and we haven't been able to reach an equitable agreement yet, so we wanted to give you an early heads up so that you can understand your choices," the Google-owned YouTube wrote in a blog post.

"[I]f we are unable to reach a deal by Friday, the Disney-owned channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV and we will decrease our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 (while this content remains off our platform)," the blog post said. YouTube noted that users can pause or cancel their YouTube TV subscriptions at any time and subscribe to the Disney Bundle for $13.99 a month.

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Dell’s Concept Luna PC is a repairable, sustainable laptop

Dell has unveiled a new concept PC that the company says would have about a 50% lower carbon footprint than a typical laptop. That’s achieved through a series of design choices that not only bring down the up-front environmental impact, but also the long-term impact by making the computer easy to repair and making parts […]

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Dell has unveiled a new concept PC that the company says would have about a 50% lower carbon footprint than a typical laptop. That’s achieved through a series of design choices that not only bring down the up-front environmental impact, but also the long-term impact by making the computer easy to repair and making parts easy to reuse.

Unfortunately Dell says its Concept Luna is just a proof-of-concept device for now, so you can’t actually go out and buy one just yet. But with the success of other repairable PCs like the Framework Laptop, maybe Dell will go out and build a more sustainable notebook if the company feels there’s enough demand.

Here are a few of the things that make Concept Luna different from other laptops:

  • The motherboard is about 75% smaller than a typical laptop motherboard and uses 20% fewer materials, cutting the carbon footprint in half.
  • The smaller mainboard is located in the cover/display area, where it’s separated from the battery and exposed to a larger surface area for improved cooling.
  • That lets Dell use passive cooling for a fanless design and improved efficiency could also allow the company to use a smaller battery while still offering long battery life.
  • Dell chose a “deep-cycle cell battery” that’s designed to hold a long charge for twice as many years.
  • There are just four screws that need to be removed to access the internal components for repair or replacement.
  • You can easily remove the palm rest and/or keyboard for repair or replacement – there are no adhesives holding them in place.
  • The battery, display, and other components are also easy to remove – Dell says a modular design makes it possible to reuse any of the components in another laptop.

The concept laptop also has an aluminum chassis that’s easy to recycle (and Dell says it was processed with hydro power), and the printed circuit board (PCB) is “made with flax fiber in the base and water-soluble polymer as the glue,” which reduces the use of plastics and makes recycling easier.

Dell says all told, it would take about 1.5 hours to completely disassemble a laptop and harvest its parts for use in other hardware. You know, assuming the innovations Dell developed for Concept Luna ever actually show up in real-world hardware that you can buy.

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Oppo Air Glass is an unobtrusive head-up display

The wearable electronics category has been dominated by smartwatches and earbuds in recent years. But companies keep trying to make smart glasses a thing, and Oppo’s entry in the space actually looks… not bad. Oppo Air Glass looks like a normal set of eyeglasses when you’re not using it for anything fancy. But you can snap […]

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The wearable electronics category has been dominated by smartwatches and earbuds in recent years. But companies keep trying to make smart glasses a thing, and Oppo’s entry in the space actually looks… not bad.

Oppo Air Glass looks like a normal set of eyeglasses when you’re not using it for anything fancy. But you can snap a monocle onto the side and it can project text and images in your field of view, essentially turning your glasses into a head-up display that you can use for navigation, real-time translations, or viewing notifications without looking at your phone or computer.

Basically Oppo Air Glass sounds like Google Glass… but you can simply remove the electric portion when you’re not using it. The monocle is held in place by a magnet, so

The system is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 processor and features a micro LED projector that can display monochrome text and graphics at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, up to 1400 nits of average brightness, and either 16 or 256 levels of grayscale.

There a touch-sensitive controls on the side of the device and users can also control Air Glass with voice commands or hand tracking. It also pairs with a smartphone app (compatible with Oppo phones running ColorOS 11 or later) for controls and configuration.

Weighing just about an ounce, there’s not much room for a large battery, but Oppo says the Air Glass should be able to run for up to 3 hours during active usage and it support sup to 40 hours of standby time.

Oppo plans to offer Air Glass to customers in China in early 2022 as part of a “limited release.” There’s no word on how much it will cost or if Oppo Air Glass will target mainstream consumers or just business customers.

via Oppo, The Verge, Engadget, and GSM Arena

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