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Xiaomi Launches the Mi 4
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Xiaomi Launches the Mi 4

Today, Xiaomi announces the next version of their flagship smartphone, the Mi 4. Much like the OnePlus One, this device is effectively a high end device at a mid-range price. For the most part, this device is very much like the OnePlus One, although there are some crucial differences. The display is smaller, at 5 inches diagonal it makes for a device that is easier to use with one hand. The front facing camera is eight megapixels rather than five, and both cameras have a wider f/1.8 aperture. As always, a full list of specs can be seen below.

  Xiaomi Mi 4
SoC MSM8974AC 2.45 GHz Snapdragon 801
RAM/NAND 3 GB LPDDR3, 16/64GB NAND
Display 5″ 1080p IPS LCD by JDI/Sharp
Network 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE)
Dimensions 139.2 x 67.5 x 8.9mm, 149 grams
Camera 13MP rear camera, 1.12 µm pixels, 1/3.06″ CMOS size Sony IMX 214, F/1.8. 8MP F/1.8 FFC 1/4″
Battery 3080 mAh (11.704 Whr)
OS MIUI v5
Connectivity 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, NFC
SIM Size MicroSIM

While some details are lacking (namely, dimensions) it’s generally clear that this phone is designed to try and be the best phone of the Snapdragon 801 generation. The use of even wider apertures will help with light collection but there is potential for increased aberration as a result, which would be important to evaluate. The display is also said to be 84% NTSC, which would correspond to about 128% of the sRGB colorspace, so it’ll be important to see whether or not there’s an accurate sRGB calibration in this device.

This time around, Xiaomi seems to be trying to improve the in hand feel of their devices, by using a stainless steel band around the phone for improved feel. The back cover is still plastic, but Xiaomi is introducing swappable back covers with different materials and colors to try and alleviate the issue. This definitely seems to be a move inspired by the StyleSwap covers that OnePlus is releasing for the One. The covers can be seen below.

Keeping with tradition, the Mi 4 will be priced extremely competitively. The 16GB version will sell for the equivalent price of 320 USD, and the 64GB variant for 400 USD. There’s no word on availability for other coutnries, but the phone will be available for pre-order in China on July 29th.

Gallery: Xiaomi Mi 4

Samsung Begins Tizen Rollout for Original Galaxy Gear in the US
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Samsung Begins Tizen Rollout for Original Galaxy Gear in the US

Samsung’s original Galaxy Gear was one of the first in an initial wave of Android smartwatches. It ran Android at a time where a smartwatch was not a form factor that Google had anticipated for their operating system. Because of issues with software support and battery life, Samsung began releasing smartwatches that ran on their own Tizen operating system. Samsung also committed to updating the original Galaxy Gear from Android to Tizen. This staged rollout began earlier in May of this year, and it is now rolling out to Galaxy Gear users in United States. Samsung is promising that the update gives users access to a greater catalog of apps, along with software improvements that bring it closer to feature parity with the Gear 2 smartwatch. 

The move to Tizen brings new features and additions to existing features. Many of these lie in the fitness and lifestyle capabilities of the Galaxy Gear. On Tizen the Galaxy Gear can keep track of a user’s sleeping patterns using Sleep Mode, and it can keep track of workout routines in exercise mode which is an improvement over the original Android firmware which could only go as far as tracking footsteps. Unfortunately due to hardware limitations, features that utilize the heart rate monitor on the Gear 2 have not been brought over to the original Galaxy Gear

Samsung is also including a built in music player with the ability to store tracks right on the smartwatch. This is an interesting feature because it allows the Galaxy Gear to function on its own to some degree, which is a different smartwatch strategy than Google is taking with their Android Wear operating system which acts purely as an extension of your current smartphone. Another new app is the Controls application which acts as a settings app for changing brightness and volume as well as setting custom fonts, wallpapers, and icon sizes.

Beyond new apps and features, Samsung is promising that the move to Tizen brings significant increases in battery life which is great news for Galaxy Gear owners as battery life is one of the biggest concerns with smartwatches and the original Galaxy Gear running Android definitely struggled in this regard.

The update is rolling out in the United States starting today. Users will need to connect their phone to their computer and use Samsung’s Kies software to download and install the update. While this isn’t likely to be an issue for most users, Samsung makes a point of noting that there is no way to return to Android once the Galaxy Gear has been updated to Tizen.

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6 TB NAS Drives: WD Red, Seagate Enterprise Capacity and HGST Ultrastar He6 Face-Off

Western Digital launched the first NAS-specific 6 TB drive today. In expanding their Red portfolio, they have brought 6 TB drives suitable for 24×7 operation into the hands of home consumers. Some enterprise-specific 6 TB drives have been around since late last year. Today’s introduction provides us an opportunity to see how the WD Red compares against those offerings. Read on for our evaluation of the currently available 6 TB drives suitable for NAS units.

Western Digital Updates Red NAS Drive Lineup with 6 TB and Pro Versions
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Western Digital Updates Red NAS Drive Lineup with 6 TB and Pro Versions

Back in July 2012, Western Digital began the trend of hard drive manufacturers bringing out dedicated units for the burgeoning NAS market with the 3.5″ Red hard drive lineup. They specifically catered to units having 1-5 bays. The firmware was tuned for 24×7 operation in SOHO and consumer NAS units. 1 TB, 2 TB and 3 TB versions were made available at launch. Later, Seagate also jumped into the fray with a hard drive series carrying similar firmware features. Their differentiating aspect was the availability of a 4 TB version. Western Digital responded in September 2013 with their own 4 TB version (as well as a 2.5″ lineup in capacities up to 1 TB).

Today, Western Digital is making updates to their Red lineup for the third straight year in a row. The Red lineup gets the following updates:

  • New capacities (5 TB and 6 TB versions)
  • New firmware (NASware 3.0)
  • Official sanction for use in 1-8 bay tower form factor NAS units

In addition, a new category is also being introduced, the Red Pro. Available in 2 – 4 TB capacities, this is targeted towards rackmount units with 8 – 16 bays (though nothing precludes it from use in tower form factor units with lower number of bays).

WD Red Updates

Even though 6 TB drives have been around (HGST introduced the Helium drives last November, while Seagate has been shipping Enterprise Capacity and Desktop HDD 6 TB versions for a few months now), Western Digital is the first to claim a NAS-specific 6 TB drive. The updated firmware (NASware 3.0) puts in some features related to vibration compensation, which allows the Red drives to now be used in 1 – 8 bay desktop NAS systems (earlier versions were officially sanctioned only for 1 – 5 bay units). NASware 3.0 also has some new features to help with data integrity protection in case of power loss. The unfortunate aspect here is that units with NASware 2.0 can’t be upgraded to NASware 3.0 (since NASware 3.0 requires some recalibration of internal components that can only be done in the factory).

The 6 TB version of the WD Red has 5 platters, which makes it the first drive we have seen to have an areal density of more than 1 TB/platter (1.2 TB/platter in this case). This areal density increase is achieved using the plain old Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology. Western Digital has not yet found reason to move to any of the new technologies such as SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), HAMR (Heat-assisted Magnetic Recording) or Helium-filling for the WD Red lineup.The 5 TB and 6 TB versions also have WD’s StableTrac technology (securing of the motor shaft at both ends in order to minimize vibration). As usual, the drive comes with a 3 year warranty. Other aspects such as the rotation speed, buffer capacity and qualification process remain the same as that of the previous generation units.

WD Red Pro

The Red Pro targets medium and large business NAS systems which require more performance by moving to a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Like the enterprise drives, the Red Pro comes with hardware-assisted vibration compensation, undergoes extended thermal burn-in testing and carries a 5-year warranty. 2, 3 and 4 TB versions are available, with the 4 TB version being a five platter design (800 GB/platter).

The WD Green drives are also getting a capacity boost to 5 TB and 6 TB. WD also specifically mentioned that their in-house NAS and DAS units (My Cloud EX2 / EX4, My Book Duo etc.) are also getting new models with these higher capacity drives pre-installed. The MSRPs for the newly introduced drives are provided below

WD Red Lineup 2014 Updates – Manufacturer Suggested Retail Prices
Model Model Number Price (USD)
WD Red – 5 TB WD50EFRX $249
WD Red – 6 TB WD60EFRX $299
WD Red Pro – 2 TB WD2001FFSX $159
WD Red Pro – 3 TB WD3001FFSX $199
WD Red Pro – 4 TB WD4001FFSX $259

We do have review units of both the 6 TB WD Red and the 4 TB WD Red Pro. Look out for the hands-on coverage in the reviews section over the next couple of weeks.

 

Manual Camera Controls and RAW in Android L
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Manual Camera Controls and RAW in Android L

For those that have followed the state of camera software in AOSP and Google Camera in general, it’s been quite clear that this portion of the experience has been a major stumbling block for Android. Third party camera applications are almost…