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Alcatel to bring world's fastest octa-core phone to Europe in February
TCL's already jumped the gun by launching its Idol X+ in China last month, but the same flagship device will be heading to Europe this February under the Alcatel brand. For those who missed the news the first time round, this dual-micro-SIM, 7.9mm-thick Android phone packs MediaTek's 2GHz MT6592, which is currently the world's fastest true octa-core chipset. You'll find the usual top-spec components around the Idol X+ as well, including a 5-inch 1080p IPS display, a 13-megapixel main camera (which supports 40-megapixel panorama and digital stabilization for video capture), a 2-megapixel front-facing imager, a 2,500mAh battery and dedicated audio amplifier chips by ESS. Internal storage starts from 16GB (with 12.3GB available to the user), along with microSD expansion of up to 32GB. The phone also comes with a pair of JBL earbuds, but there's no word on whether the China versions' Bluetooth activity tracker will be included as well -- at least it won't be called Boom Band, as it will apparently be a more refined version when it goes global. We were left rather impressed by the Idol X+'s design and build quality. The solid plastic bezel features a brushed-metallic effect, accompanied by a spin finish (achieved by in-mould labelling) on the back of the phone. Like the screen, the backside will also have a nano-coating treatment to minimize fingerprint smudges. Shoppers will be given a color option of either black or white when this 3G phone lands in Europe sometime in February, and it'll likely be sold for around the attractive $300 price point unsubsidized. Brad Molen contributed to this report.
TCL's $330 Idol X+ boasts 2GHz octa-core chip, Bluetooth activity tracker
While some of us are still recovering from holiday, the TCL folks in China -- whose products are better known under the Alcatel brand in many other countries -- have gone ahead and launched a new phone. As the name suggests, the Idol X+ is pretty much an updated version of the already impressive Idol X, with the highlight being it's the first device to carry the 2GHz bin of the octa-core MT6592 SoC (with 2GB RAM). TCL's reps told us that this is courtesy of an exclusive deal it's arranged with MediaTek. Additionally, you'll find a familiar 5-inch 1080p IPS display within a slimmer 1.9mm bezel, plus a 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera on the back. Due to the larger 2,500mAh battery, the body is now slightly thicker at 7.9mm, but it's actually not that much different from when we saw a prototype earlier. For a flagship Android phone that costs just CN¥1,999 or about US$330 unsubsidized, it's pretty bold of TCL to also include a Bluetooth activity plus sleep tracker. This Boom Band is essentially a little nugget that sits inside a plastic wristband (available in several colors), and it can double as a proximity alarm in case you accidentally leave your phone behind. It naturally has a companion app that lets you track your performance, and should you wish to, you can also show off your stats to friends. There's no word on whether non-China markets will get the same package branded by Alcatel, but if you already reside in China, you can head to JD.com and order one on January 15th.
Hands-on with the Fitbit Force activity tracker
When it comes to the "connected self" activity tracker market, Fitbit has been around for what seems to be an eternity -- two years. In 2011, the company unveiled its first tracker, the Fitbit Ultra, and they've been innovating with new and more sophisticated activity trackers ever since. The latest design evolution is the Fitbit Force (US$129.95), a sleek wristband that captures activity and sleep information. The Device While the original Ultra was a tiny clip-on monitor with an OLED display, the Force is a wristband model. That wristband is made of a durable silicone material, and it is so light that the Force is really unobtrusive. Unlike a wristwatch, you can't really feel the Force on your wrist so you'll want to wear it all the time. While it's water-resistant, Fitbit recommends taking it off when you take a shower or go swimming. Like the original Ultra, there's just one button on the Force. With a push it displays the current time in your choice of formats, the number of steps you've taken so far today (along with a thermometer-like line showing your progress to your daily goal), the distance you've walked, how many calories have been burned, how many flights of stairs you've climbed, and the active time you've spent during the day. There's also an indicator for alarms, which I'll talk about later. Back in the old days with the Fitbit Ultra, I was constantly frustrated with the syncing method to move data from the device to the cloud. That old model had a tiny dock that you had to clip the Ultra onto for charging; that dock connected to your computer via USB, and any time you were near the dock the Ultra and dock synced. In reality, it didn't work that well a lot of the time. What's great is that the Fitbit Force really doesn't need that computer connection anymore, as it's perfectly happy connecting directly to your iPhone or iPad over Bluetooth LE. You can set up the device through your computer; all of the setup instructions are found on the Fitbit website and you download software that's appropriate to your device. The Mac app for the Force is also used for the Fitbit Flex, One and Zip devices. So you do need to plug in a small, easily lost USB dongle during setup, but it can be removed from your computer or hub as soon as you're done. Before doing anything, you'll need to charge up the Force. I was unhappy to find that Fitbit chose to use a proprietary charging cable, although I'm sure that there were some design constraints that led to this. Use of a standard -- like the ubiquitous micro-USB cable -- would have been nice. It also turns out that this proprietary plug can be plugged in upside-down, which I found out after unsuccessfully trying to charge the Force for four hours before turning the plug over... On the plus side, battery life seems to be stellar with the Fitbit Force. After wearing the device for eight days, it still has more than half a charge so it appears that one might be able to go for two weeks without charging. Design-wise, I like the understated look of the Force. It's a slender black (or slate) strap, not emblazoned with bright LEDs, and all in all quite futuristic-looking. The band straps onto your wrist securely with two small studs that go into holes on the strap, and it's easy to put on and take off. One feature of the Force that I love is the built-in vibration alert. With other activity trackers it's quite common to have to actually look at the screen to indicate that you're starting an activity or going to sleep. Not so with the Force -- you just push and hold the button until you feel the device vibrate, and you know it's ready to go. The same vibration feature works when stopping the timer as well. As if that's not cool enough, the Force vibrates when you reach your step goal for the day, and you can also use it with the app as a silent alarm. Fitbit notes that with an upcoming firmware update, you'll also be able to get call notifications from an iOS 7 iPhone 4S and higher smartphone. That should be very useful, providing a physical alert if your phone is nearby and you have the ringer shut off. The App The Fitbit team has obviously been quite busy behind the scenes, as the app has been updated to not only provide an iOS 7 flat design, but provide control and monitoring of the features of the Force and other monitors. The app is quite colorful, starting the day with all indicators in a teal color, but then changing the colors to yellow, red or green depending on how close you are to reaching a specific goal. Steps are tracked and converted into miles or kilometers walked. There's an indicator for how many flights of stairs you've clmbed, and a calculation of how many calories you've burned based on your base metabolism and activity. If you're tracking your weight either manually or automatically, your current weight, percent body fat, and pounds to go to reach your weight goal are displayed in the app. Sleep is tracked, and an indication of how many times you awoke or were restless is visible. Should you want to use the Fitbit app to track the number of calories you consume, you can enter each item you eat or drink into the app and get a calculation of just how many calories are still available to you. There's even a way to track the amount of water you drink each day. Fitbit is quite into the social sharing of your goals and steps, so there's a tab in the app that shows you how many steps your friends have taken during the past seven days and just where you stand in the ranking. I'm still trying to figure out how Scott McNulty manages to rack up about three times the number of steps that I do... The account screen in the app allows you to set up a new Fitbit device, set fitness goals, find out when the device last synced (it usually syncs every time you open the app), set those silent alarms I love so much, and set up social network sharing. One other thing: if you happen to be sitting at a computer, you can log into the Fitbit website and get the same information or change settings. As with the app, the website uses the teal color scheme and levels change color as you near or surpass a goal. Conclusion In the increasingly crowded activity tracker market, Fitbit has not only created a range of devices of various prices (US$60 to $130) and capabilities, but has kept pace with the competition by developing the Force. Through its sleek design, Bluetooth LE integration with iOS devices, and well-established ecosystem of data-sharing partners, this is a Force to be reckoned with. Pros Setup is straightforward and fast Firmware update will soon allow incoming call notifications from an iPhone on the device Nice design, very comfortable to wear all the time Water resistant App is iOS 7-friendly and very usable, as well as providing detailed statistics on every aspect of your fitness Built-in vibration alert enables eyes-free setting of sleep or activity modes, provides notification of goal achievement Long battery life Cons Proprietary charger cable Who is it for? Anyone who is interested in keeping track of achieving fitness goals but is tired of clip-on monitors
Polar Loop wristband tracks activity, exercise and sleep alongside an iPhone app for $109
We've tested our fair share of activity trackers and Polar is now adding one more to the fray. That's not a Nike+ FuelBand you see, it's the Polar Loop: a wearable for your wrist that keep tabs on activity, exercise and sleep patterns. Touting the "first waterproof" gadget of this sort, the company says the device can discern between activity levels, with alerts and motivational feedback along the way. The Loop syncs to Apple smartphones via Bluetooth with its companion app, Polar Flow. Similar to Nike's wearable, Polar's offering displays goal info, calories burned, steps taken and the time on an LED display. If you're also after a heart rate monitor, the Loop can be combined with Polar's H6 or H7 heart rate sensors for that purpose when it arrives next month in black with a pink version set for release in 2014.
ROCCAT Power-Grid app, Phobo gaming keyboard shift PC controls to your phone
Razer's switchblade concept may not have made it out of CES 2011, but its dynamic, adaptive keys lived on, both in the outfit's Star Wars: The Old Republic keyboard and Blade laptop. The hardware is slick, to be sure, but what if you could snag similar functionality for free from your local app marketplace? That's what ROCCAT hopes to deliver with its newly announced Power-Grid application. In addition to providing quick-key hungry gamers with a programmable touchscreen grid of applications and in-game macros, the handheld suite will let iOS and Android users monitor their gaming PC's vital statistics (such as CPU status, RAM usage, hard drive space, etc), manage Facebook, TeamSpeak, Skype and Twitter traffic, and even fine tune their audio settings -- all without the need to minimize their game.Of course, delegating all of your text chatter to your smartphone means you'll be tapping up your responses on its itty-bitty touchscreen keyboard -- at least until ROCCAT finishes its companion keyboard, Project Phobo. The modular PC keyboard not only provides a dock for your Power-Grid equipped mobile, but also lets you respond to texts, chats and tweets using its full array of keys. Pairing your phone with the Phobo will even route voice calls to your PC's gaming headset, leaving you free to continue to rack up kills without missing important business calls. The German peripheral outfit will be rolling out the beta to iOS devices after CeBIT, and says an Android version is scheduled for release at Gamescom 2012. Hit the break for the official press release and get a look at the Phobo keyboard in the gallery below.
Researchers develop wireless sensor network to measure physical activity
Wearable sensors that monitor physical activity are hardly anything new, but some researchers from MSU's Department of Kinesiology are taking the idea quite a bit farther with their latest project. They've developed a new system that employs a network of sensors that not only track movement, but can monitor things like tilt, posture and the proximity of limbs to each other. That, the researchers say, allows them to detect different types of activity, and more accurately measure the energy expended on them. Of course, it is still just a prototype, but it'll apparently soon be put to the test by some graduate students, and there's plenty of backing behind it -- the project is being funded two-year, $411,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Hitachi 'Life Microscope' promises to track your every movement
Sure, there's plenty of devices like the Fitbit that can track your movement and report on your general level of activity or laziness, but only Hitachi has what it's dubbed a "Life Microscope." That name apparently comes from the fact that the device is able to track your activity with more detail than other fitness monitors -- including, it seems, the difference between sitting and sleeping, and even the difference between eating or playing video games. That data is then naturally able to be transferred to a PC, and it also sounds like the Life Microscope could be incorporated into actual watches as well -- if it ever moves beyond the concept stage, that is.
Philips introduces DirectLife activity monitor / fitness program
Well, we just finished putting the Fitbit activity monitor through its paces, but it looks like Philips has now come out with a strikingly similar device of its own -- which, like the Fitbit, promises to help you get more active by monitoring you all the time. From the sound of it, however, it seems that Philip's so-called DirectLife monitor has a few more tricks up its sleeve, not the least of which is a full-fledged fitness program complete with its own online personal coaches (who contribute to the $12.50 a month cost). The activity monitor itself also seems to have a few advantages over the Fitbit, including some LED lights that show your progress at a glance, and a built-in USB plug that eschews the need for a dock. Then again, it does still make use of nothing more than a basic accelerometer to monitor your activity, which isn't always the most foolproof option. It also packs the same $99 price tag as the Fitbit, but Philips will knock that down to $79 if you order this month, and even throw in a four-month membership for good measure.
Wable graphically represents web activity, ain't much of a table
Frankly, we're not totally sure we actually long to "create a physical link between our virtual and real identities" -- you know, we like to keep that stuff pushed far, far away from the forefront of our minds -- but if we ever have a change of heart, it seems the Wable will be right there waiting. This unique "table," as it were, sports four bars that raise and lower automatically based on the activity from web applications such as Plazes, Flickr and Last.fm. Beyond that, it doesn't seem to add too much more value to one's life, but if it's the simple things that keep you smiling, check out a remarkably unremarkable video of it after the jump.[Via Core77]
Just What is Wired Memory Anyway?
If you've ever opened up your Activity Monitor and looked at the System Memory tab, you've no doubt seen something similar to the above. But if you're like me, you've often wondered just what the labels mean. Just what is wired memory, anyway? Well Alex at Bits about Bytes has a nice little article explaining just what those labels mean, how different applications (particularly virtualization tools) affect memory usage, and how to figure out if you need to add RAM to your system. Oh yeah, and wired memory turns out to be memory "used by the OS [which] is pretty much untouchable. Another application can't 'borrow' wired memory." Good stuff.[Via FreeMacBlog]
Kill those runaway processes
The Hacks Blog addresses two issues in one today: white hot Macs and runaway processes. As they explain, if your Mac is consumed by a stuck process that's putting the hurt on your processor, the machine will run very hot. So what does a geek do?Find that process and kill it dead. The Hacks Blog explains how to do it, as well as likely culprits: third party drivers or apps that may need an upgrade.
List of Mac OS X's processes and their purpose
Have you ever opened Activity Monitor to check on what processes and apps your Mac is running, only to be greeted with a list that's about as understandable as ancient Greek? (This of course assumes that you don't know how to read ancient Greek). Well, through the beauty of diggdot.us (all the del.icio,us, digg and Slashdot posts with none of the snarky comments), I found this fairly thorough list of Mac OS X's processes that attempts to explain just what is going on under the hood. Scott blogged this a year ago, but I figured this couldn't hurt even if it is review for some of us.The author reminds us that this list is by no means complete, so don't panic if you have a process running that isn't on the list. With that said, this should be a fairly educational resource for most of us, as the list is written in plain English (as opposed to the aforementioned ancient Greek) to help make sense of just what our Mac is doing with all those little processes. Check it out.
