Hidden camera footage shows the exhausted workers in an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus factory

So, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been a smashing success, as Apple is just now able to drop the lead times on orders to 1 day, and it seems that the overwhelming demand is slowly balancing out with the supply. While we do not have accurate numbers, it's been reported time and time again that millions and millions of units have been sold, and that Apple's suppliers are having a hard time keeping up.

Unfortunately, the suppliers' workers seem to be taking some of the heaviest hits from the high demand. Back in September, New York-based China Labor Watch investigated a factory, owned by Catcher Technology, a company mainly tasked with making the bodies for iPads and Macbooks, and found 22 labor violations. Now, BBC sent their own undercover workers in a factory, owned by Taiwan-based Pegatron – one of the main suppliers for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – and things are not looking pretty.

A couple of years ago, Apple promised to keep a strict eyeon how workers in its supply chain are treated, however, BBC's investigator saw breaches not only of Apple's guidelines, but of China's labor laws as soon as he set foot in the factory. His ID was taken, with no word on when (if) he is getting it back; the safety and health exam, which each worker needs to pass in order to be deemed capable of working in the facility, was taken verbally, by the full group of new employees, which makes the exam next to useless; when it comes to filling out the form, where workers have to give their consent to night shifts, they are explicitly told to mark “Yes”, or leave. The reporter said that the work shifts inside the factory often exceeded the 12-hour mark, and there was no overtime pay, nor days off – he reports to have worked 18 days straight, with no rest, despite him having demanded one. The footage shows a lot of workers, grabbing a nap on their workplace – sometimes, entire lines have not a single person awake on them.

Apple's response is that “napping in breaks is not unusual”, and both it and Pegatron have said to be looking into the BBC's claims, with Cupertinians adding that they constantly work with suppliers to make sure there is no excessive overtime for the workers, and that no other company is doing as much as them, in the field of fair and safe working conditions.

Hidden camera footage shows the exhausted workers in an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus factory

11:42 AM #hiddencam, #iphone6, iphone6 factory

Andromium could turn your smartphone into a desktop

Andromium Next Generation Computing

Over the past few years there have been a few projects aimed at letting people use their smartphones as notebook or desktop computers.

Motorola’s Atrix line of Android phones were designed to work with Lapdock keyboard docks, but they’ve been discontinued. Canonical tried to breath new life into the category by crowdfunding the Ubuntu Edge smartphone which could also function as a desktop computer… but the company didn’t meet its ambitious fundraising goals.

Now a startup called Andromium is taking to Kickstarter to raise money for something a bit simpler: it’s an Android app and optional docking station that makes it easy to connect a phone to external hardware and run desktop-style apps.

How Andromium Works?

Here’s the idea: install an app from the Google Play Store, drop your phone into a dock, and you can use a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and maybe even a game controller to interact with your phone.

The Andromium dock includes HDMI output, 3 USB ports, and a power connector for keeping your phone charged. The Andromium app, meanwhile, automatically detects when your phone is docked and switches the user interface to something that looks a bit more like Windows 7.

That means there’s a desktop, taskbar, and support for apps that run in windows that you can resize and move. This lets you run multiple apps side-by-side or on top of one another while using a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Andromium doesn’t change the operating system on your phone, so while there are built-in apps including a web browser, all your Android apps will also still be able to run. But they’ll run in full screen.

Background apps and services will also continue to run, so you’ll be able to take incoming phone calls, hear alarms, or receive other notifications even when your phone is docked.

Andromium’s developers hope to raise $100,000 to enhance the user interface and bring their hardware and software to market. Right now there are plans to support Samsung Galaxy and HTC One phones, as well as the Google Nexus 4, 5, and 6.

Which Smartphone will support Andromium?

Technically any smartphone dock which supports USB input and USB-to-video output should work if you want to bring your own dock, but the team isn’t making any promises of support for hardware from third parties.

Motorola Atrix 4G /Ubuntu Endge And Andromium

Andromium is an interesting concept… although it remains to be seen if it will be any more successful than the Motorola Atrix 4G or Ubuntu Edge. But it probably doesn’t have to be. The developers are seeking to raise a lot less money than the $32 million Canonical wanted for its project, and the hardware and software the team is offering seems pretty affordable. There’s no guarantee it’ll actually be useful, but even if it’s not, you probably won’t break the bank by backing the project.

Kickstarter backers can pledge $10 or more to get just the Andromium app in January, $29 or more to get an early version of the dock as well as the app in February, or $35 or more for the more polished versions the team hopes to ship in May and June. Full retail price is expected to be $40.

Andromium Hardware

The Andromium dock is a sleek, clean design. It’s a combination of the best of Apple and Samsung’s aesthetics: ergonomic, and pleasing to look at. We’ve built the Andromium dock with you in mind. That’s why we’ve included three full-sized USB ports for all the accessories you would need on a desktop computer, including gaming devices. It connects to your screen using an HDMI cable and has an integrated power cord, so your phone is always charged.

Andromium could turn your smartphone into a desktop 

11:48 AM #android, #andromium, phone to desktop

The advanced 3D technology which does not required 3D glasses

Autostereoscopy is any method of displayingstereoscopic images (adding binocularperception of 3D depth) without the use of special headgear or glasses on the part of the viewer. Because headgear is not required, it is also called "glasses-free 3D" or "glassesless 3D". There are two broad approaches currently used to accommodate motion parallax and wider viewing angles: eye-tracking, and multiple views so that the display does not need to sense where the viewers' eyes are located.

Examples of autostereoscopic displays technology include lenticular lens, parallax barrier, volumetric display, holographic andlight field displays.

Technology

Many organizations have developed autostereoscopic 3D displays, ranging from experimental displays in university departments to commercial products, and using a range of different technologies. The method of creating autostereoscopic 3D using lenses was mainly developed in 1985 by Reinhard Boerner at the Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin. The HHI was already presenting prototypes of single-viewer displays in the 1990s. Nowadays, this technology has been developed further mainly by European companies. One of the best-known 3D displays developed by HHI was the Free2C, a display with very high resolution and very good comfort achieved by an eye tracking system and a seamless mechanical adjustment of the lenses. Eye tracking has been used in a variety of systems in order to limit the number of displayed views to just two, or to enlarge the stereoscopic sweet spot. However, as this limits the display to a single viewer, it is not favored for consumer products.

Currently, most flat-panel displays employlenticular lenses or parallax barriers that redirect imagery to several viewing regions; however, this manipulation requires reduced image resolutions. When the viewer's head is in a certain position, a different image is seen with each eye, giving a convincing illusion of 3D. Such displays can have multiple viewing zones, thereby allowing multiple users to view the image at the same time, though they may also exhibit dead zones where only a non-stereoscopic or pseudoscopic image can be seen, if at all.

Parallax barrier

Comparison of parallax-barrier andlenticular autostereoscopic displays. Note: The figure is not to scale.

A parallax barrier is a device placed in front of an image source, such as a liquid crystal display, to allow it to show a stereoscopic image or multiscopic image without the need for the viewer to wear 3D glasses. The principle of the parallax barrier was independently invented by Auguste Berthier, who published first but produced no practical results, and by Frederic E. Ives, who made and exhibited the first known functional autostereoscopic image in 1901.About two years later, Ives began selling specimen images as novelties, the first known commercial use. Nearly a century later, Sharpdeveloped the electronic flat-panel application of this old technology to commercialization, briefly selling two laptops with the world's only 3D LCD screens. These displays are no longer available from Sharp but are still being manufactured and further developed from other companies. Similarly, Hitachi has released the first 3D mobile phone for the Japanese market under distribution by KDDI. In 2009, Fujifilm released theFinePix Real 3D W1 digital camera, which features a built-in autostereoscopic LCD display measuring 2.8" diagonal. Nintendohas also implemented this technology on its latest portable gaming console, the Nintendo 3DS. Micromax released the A115 Canvas 3D smartphone using an autostereoscopic cell-matrix parallax barrier 3D display.

Integral Photography and Lenticular Arrays

The principle of integral photography, which uses a two-dimensional (X-Y) array of many small lenses to capture a 3-D scene, was introduced by Gabriel Lippmann in 1908.Integral photography is capable of creating window-like autostereoscopic displays that reproduce objects and scenes life-size, with full parallax and perspective shift and even the depth cue of accommodation, but the full realization of this potential requires a very large number of very small high-quality optical systems and very high bandwidth. Only relatively crude photographic and video implementations have yet been produced.

One-dimensional arrays of cylindrical lenseswere patented by Walter Hess in 1912. By replacing the line and space pairs in a simple parallax barrier with tiny cylindrical lenses, Hess avoided the light loss that dimmed images viewed by transmitted light and that made prints on paper unacceptably dark.An additional benefit is that the position of the observer is less restricted, as the substitution of lenses is geometrically equivalent to narrowing the spaces in a line-and-space barrier.

Philips solved a significant problem with electronic displays in the mid-1990s by slanting the cylindrical lenses with respect to the underlying pixel grid.Based on this idea, Philips produced its WOWvx line until 2009, running up to 2160p (a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels) with 46 viewing angles.Lenny Lipton's company, StereoGraphics, produced displays based on the same idea, citing a much earlier patent for the slanted lenticulars. Magnetic3d and Zero Creative have also been involved.The hardware overlay for iPhone and iPod touch named3DeeSlide also adopts this technology to convert the standard screen into an auto 3D display.

Compressive Light Field Displays

With rapid advances in optical fabrication, digital processing power, and computational models for human perception, a new generation of display technology is emerging: compressive light field displays. These architectures explore the co-design of optical elements and compressive computation while taking particular characteristics of the human visual system into account. Compressive display designs include dual and multilayer devices that are driven by algorithms such as computed tomographyand Non-negative matrix factorization and non-negative tensor factorization.

Autostereoscopic content creation & conversion

This image is a fully working 1080 autostereoscopic 9-view image interleaved in the RealCel glasses-free monitor format, produced and instantly encoded by the ViewPoint-3D software. Use MS Paint to display it full screen on the RealCel 3D monitor.

Converting or creating digital content, including fully interactive content, for 3D autostereoscopic display is no longer a complex and expensive process due to the introduction in 2014 of instant conversion software tools that leverage the processing power of the modern GPU. Tools are now available not only to convert existing 2D and 3D movies to autostereoscopic formats, but also to create new and interactive content using fully WYSIWYG scene editors. In addition, a range of add-ons for software such as 3D Studio Max, Adobe AfterEffects and other software are available to enable the conversion of content to autostereoscopic formats.

In 2014, the problem of the real-time processing of the massive amounts of sub-pixel data needed to produce 3D autostereoscopic content and interactive presentations with live-data was solved by new algorithms developed by ViewPoint 3D, a London-based start-up.Tools for the instant conversion of existing 3D movies to autostereoscopic were demonstrated by Dolby and Stereolabs.

Direct autostereoscopic content generation

ViewPoint-3D and Taodyne are two companies offering direct autostereoscopic output using differing approaches. ViewPoint3D uses a WYSIWYG drag-and-drop 3D content creation editor that enables rapid creation of FHD and QHD (4K) 3D autostereocopic content, including fully interactive 3D content, that can instantly produce multiview 3D output with live-data from database and RSS feeds. Taodyne's Tao Presentation software allows 3D content to be displayed using a scripting language to describe dynamic documents in a way reminiscent of HTML for web pages, that can be etornal web-based editor.

The early days of 3D entertainment

When 3D films were first shown to cinema audiences, the viewer wore a special pair of blue-and-red-lensed glasses. Cinemagoers were actually seeing two different images being projected at the same time; but once filtered through the 3D goggles they gave the illusion of seeing a single, three-dimensional image.

We still wear 3D glasses at the cinema, but the way they work and how they look has changed. The 3D glasses cinemagoers wear these days use polarised lenses; lenses which let in varying degrees of light.

To see 3D these days, you don't actually need to wear special goggles - 'glasses-free' 3D delivers much sharper results. Instead of relying on glasses to filter the image, a completely different picture is shown to the viewer's left eye than the one projected to the right. As yet this approach to 3D imagery isn't used very often - it's expensive to produce, and would raise the price of 3D cinema tickets.

Despite its cost, this new 3D technology will undoubtedly take over eventually. Until now, if the viewer moved across the room then the 3D effect would begin to stutter. Now, the viewer can watch 3D images from any point in the room, making it much easier for families to watch 3D films together.

How 3D images work

There are several different ways to create a 3D image, but each method uses one of the following to create the illusion of seeing a three-dimensional object:

• Visual weaknesses (what the human eye can see, versus what is actually there),
• The way our brain interprets pictures and movements, and,
• The way we can perceive depth (the placement and location of objects in a scene)

Glasses-free 3D

3D cinema came back with a bang a few years ago, when a new 3D trend - prismatic screens - changed the face of 3D.

• A prismatic screen shows the viewer a three-dimensional image, without the need for 3D goggles. Take a look at these online examples created by amateur enthusiasts.
• Prismatic screens create an optical illusion for the viewer - similar to the way that a 'Magic Eye' picture does, but they can maintain the illusion for longer without exhausting the eyes.
• The word prismatic comes from the way that images are projected and then joined together again - the action mimics the shape of a Prism.
• The new wave of 3D-ready Smart TVs use prismatic screens to bring glasses-free 3D TV to an audience - at an affordable level.

Prismatic screens are covered with a special material known as a parallex barrier.

• This barrier does the same job as a pair of 3D goggles - it takes two different images and combines them, tricking the eye into 'seeing' a 3D object. Holographs work in the same way.
• The material covering the screen creates a layered effect - each of the viewer's eyes sees something different.
• Parallex barriers are a new technology, but they aren't perfect - they do have their downsides:
  • The viewer has to remain in more or less the same spot - moving distorts the 3D effect.
  • The brightness and colour definition is subdued as a result of the material covering it.
  • They are only suitable for small-screened gadgets.
• The Nintendo 3DS uses a parallex layer to generate its glasses-free 3D image. The 3DS is the perfect gadget to make use of parallex lens technology; because the small-scale handheld screen and portable nature of the 3DS mean that the viewer can sit still while using it.

The latest development: 3D for fidgets

• The latest 3D invention uses lenses to create 3D images. It works by projecting a different image to each side of the viewing screen.
• The 3D image created using lenses is more flexible - it changes, depending on the angle it is seen from.
• The audience has more flexibility and freedom of movement -the viewer's location doesn't matter because there isn't an optimal viewing point (as there is with a parallex barrier).
• The screen's brightness isn't affected, but the lenses used are extremely difficult to produce. They involve high productions costs and specialist expertise to manufacture.
• The Toshiba Qosmio laptop is one of the few products currently on the market to use this cutting-edge technology. It can even convert 2D DVDs into 3D; a feature which hasn't been used commercially yet.

The future for 3D glasses

With glasses-free 3D gadgets already in the shops, what's the future for 3D specs? 3D technology is moving so fast - it's difficult to say when the very latest development will be as outdated as the red-and-blue glasses from 3D's early days. This article looks at the future for 3D eyewear, and explores when glasses-free 3D might become a staple of home entertainment.

Don't discard your 3D glasses just yet - 3D has some way to go before we all go glasses-free.

For the moment:

• Glasses-free 3D is only available on small-screened gadgets - handheld games consoles (theNintendo 3DS), and portable laptops (the Toshiba Qosmio range)
• With only one or two exceptions - glasses-free 3D hasn't made the move to our television screensyet
• Those which have made the move are the first generation of glasses-free 3D products. Just like 3D specs, they have their downsides
• The main problem with these cutting edge products is the slightly lower picture quality they offer (a special screen covering lowers image resolution). Another problem is that the viewer has to sit fairly still to maintain the 3D effect
• Because glasses-free 3D hasn't been perfected yet, the first generation of products has had tocompromise perfect picture-quality to achieve glasses-free comfort. The picture is still high-quality, but it has room for improvement
• Glasses-free products are getting better, but the technology is so cutting-edge that manufacturers are still catching up with the latest developments
• Because manufacturers are still getting a handle on the latest innovations, not all glasses-free 3D products are at the same stage. The products on the shelves aren't anywhere near as advanced as those under development
• The next generation of glasses-free gadgets isexpected to have better image quality, but we can't be certain when these will be ready for release. That's why, for the time being, 3D glasses are still in use

What we can expect to see over the next few years:

• Glasses-free 3D will eventually be rolled out to larger electronics
• We can't be sure when exactly, because the technology for this is so new that most upcoming products are still only at the design stage
• The second wave of glasses-free gadgets hasn't even hit the shops yet, and by the time it does 3D advancements will probably have surpassed these. Manufacturers can barely keep abreast of the latest improvements
• We'll see more and more glasses-free 3D products in the future, but at the momentmanufacturers are balancing problems with picture quality against reasonable production costs
• It may be that glasses-free 3D makes the move to cinema screens before it makes the transition to home theatres

If the technology is 'out there', why aren't we all watching glasses-free 3D?

• Glasses-free 3D is still very new, and it's difficult to harness it for the mass market at such an early stage
• As the industry gets to grip with the latest developments, more and more glasses-free products will be released
• The special screen used for the first generation of glasses-free 3D products relies on the viewer watching from a fairly static position (i.e. one where they stay fairly still). This works for small-screened gadgets where the viewer sits within 40" of the screen, but is less effective for larger devices (i.e. TVs)
• 3D glasses will; eventually become obsolete, but this won't happen for several years yet. At the moment, the reduced screen definition is standing in the way of glasses-free 3D from taking hold

The advanced 3D technology which does not required 3D glasses

12:02 PM #3dtv, #3dwithoutglasses

Injectable 3D Vaccines With Programmable Particles Anticipated for Future Epidemics

In recent years, vaccines have meshed with the world of nanobot medicine. Particles the size of nanometers - approximately 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. They are programmable, spontaneously assembling and can permeate every area of the body, including a placenta. Previously, Brandon Turbeville reported on Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation work with developing "on demand" nano vaccines using genetically engineered proteins.

That's one thing - now it's possible to produce the effect of nano medicine with larger objects. That is, a non-surgical, injectable and spontaneously assembling structure.

Enter: a constant 3-D vaccine in the form of a lump of particles injected below the skin. One that would manipulate cells, as well as release biological and chemical drug components. They have already been trialed on mice.

Those at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are in the process of developing just that. Their report, "Injectable, spontaneously assembling, inorganic scaffolds modulate immune cells in vivo and increase vaccine efficacy," appears inNature Biotechnology.

Senior author David Mooney, Ph.D. says:

We can create 3D structures using minimally invasive delivery to enrich and activate a host's immune cells to target and attack harmful cells in vivo.

Co-lead author Jaeyun Kim, Ph.D. said:

Nano-sized mesoporous silica particles have already been established as useful for manipulating individual cells from the inside, but this is the first time that larger particles, in the micron-sized range, are used to create a 3D in vivo scaffold that can recruit and attract tens of millions of immune cells,

A press release explains:

Tiny biodegradable rod-like structures made from silica, known as mesoporous silica rods (MSRs), can be loaded with biological and chemical drug components and then delivered by needle just underneath the skin. The rods spontaneously assemble at the vaccination site to form a three-dimensional scaffold, like pouring a box of matchsticks into a pile on a table. The porous spaces in the stack of MSRs are large enough to recruit and fill up with dendritic cells, which are "surveillance" cells that monitor the body and trigger an immune response when a harmful presence is detected. 

Synthesized in the lab, the MSRs are built with small holes, known as nanopores, inside. The nanopores can be filled with specific cytokines, oligonucleotides, large protein antigens, or any variety of drugs of interest to allow a vast number of possible combinations to treat a range of infections.

Once the 3D scaffold has recruited dendritic cells from the body, the drugs contained in the MSRs are released, which trips their "surveillance" trigger and initiates an immune response. The activated dendritic cells leave the scaffold and travel to the lymph nodes, where they raise alarm and direct the body's immune system to attack specific cells, such as cancerous cells. At the site of the injection, the MSRs biodegrade and dissolve naturally within a few months.

They hope to also manipulate the immune system "by tuning the surface properties and pore size of the MSRs, and therefore controlling the introduction and release of various proteins and drugs." They say that the vaccines are easily and rapidly manufactured so that they could potentially "be widely available very quickly in the face of an emerging infectious disease."

Mooney said, "We anticipate 3D vaccines could be broadly useful for many settings, and their injectable nature would also make them easy to administer both inside and outside a clinic."

Of course, for every new development - for every new medical marvel - there is mention of finally curing "common worldwide killers like HIV and Ebola, as well as cancer," as Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. says. Adding, "These injectable 3D vaccines offer a minimally invasive and scalable way to deliver therapies that work by mimicking the body's own powerful immune-response in diseases that have previously been able to skirt immune detection."

Billions are spent on technology such as the above that bedazzles the hipster scientism techies and flickers flames of hope for those suffering in desperation while they wait for cures. Although future profits are anticipated, solutions like these are presented as "charitable" contributions. Meanwhile, the underlying factors of illness - economic impoverishment, poor nutrition, chemical exposures, and unrest are yet to be explored with meaningful, viable solutions.

Injectable 3D Vaccines With Programmable Particles Anticipated for Future Epidemics

8:34 AM #vaccines, and food freedom, Natural health news, wellness tips

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: is an old Nexus better than a new iPhone?

here may be a new Nexus in town, the rather gargantuan Nexus 6, but the Nexus 5 is still being sold alongside its larger brother by Google, so Google at least consider the Nexus 5 to still be a current device. With the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop, new life has been breathed into last year's Google phone too, so let's see how Apple's benchmark device compares to the similarly-sized Android reference device in our Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6 comparison.

Which phone is better, Nexus 5 or iPhone 6? 

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Design and Build Quality

The Nexus 5 is still my favorite Nexus design yet. It's a clean slab of glass and rubberized plastic with telltale curves on the top and bottom edge. The sides of the Nexus 5 are slightly angled for a better grip and the ceramic volume and power buttons (located on the left and right sides respectively) are nicely clicky. The camera lens on the back protrudes slightly and the SIM tray lives on the right just under the power button. The top edge features a headphone port and pinhole mic and the bottom edge has a central USB 2.0 charging port flanked by twin speaker grills (although only one is a speaker – the other is a mic).

The Nexus 5 and iPhone 6 couldn't be more different in terms of design.

The iPhone 6 is a cold, smooth block of slippery metal. This iPhone takes all the sharp angles off previous iPhone designs, leaving curved corners, rounded edges and strips of plastic for the antennas like we have on the HTC One (M7). The camera lens on the iPhone 6 also protrudes but is much smaller than that on the Nexus 5. The iPhone 6 is also incredibly thin at just 6.9 mm. The volume buttons and silent switch are located on the left hand side and the power button makes its way down the right hand side along with the SIM tray. The bottom hosts the speaker grill, lightning and headphone port and a pinhole mic. The top of the iPhone 6 is completely clean.

The iPhone 6 is a lot thinner than the Nexus 5.

Despite looking incredibly well-machined, the new iPhones have suffered from some bad publicity over their aluminum internal framework, which has caused some rather public iPhone 6 bend tests and widespread assumptions that will all fold clean in half in your pocket. While it is a legitimate concern, it is unlikely the numbers of bent iPhones are ever going to impact more than an unlucky few. Having said that, I’ve never heard of a bent Nexus 5 at all. The main difference here is between the best feeling plastic around and the slipperiest metal around.

View from underneath of the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 6.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Display

The Nexus 5 has a 4.95-inch IPS LCD display with Full HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) with a pixel density of 445 pixels per inch. The Nexus 5 display has relatively small bezels on the side, with a larger bottom bezel and slightly smaller one up top, which also houses some sensors, the front facing camera and the slightly recessed earpiece. All buttons are on-screen. The display itself is not the brightest, but it's bright enough and has stable viewing angles and crisp, clear whites, although my Nexus 5 is a little warm. Contrast is ok, but blacks are nowhere near as deep as you'd find on an OLED display.

IPhone 6 vs Nexus 5 display

The iPhone 6 may not have anywhere near the pixel density of the Nexus 5, with just 326 ppi on a 1,334 x 750 pixel IPS LCD display. It’s technically a Retina display, but that is simply a marketing term invented by Apple to describe any screen around the magical 330 pixels per inch mark outlined by Steve Jobs as theperfect resolution for the human eye. Needless to say, basically every display found on any Android phone these days is a Retina display by Apple’s standards and more and more are now 2Retina (or double the pixel density of iPhones). Still, the brightness of the Apple display is exceptional and while the clarity isn’t there in comparison, it does a very good job in terms of contrast and color. The bezels on the iPhone 6 are small for an iPhone and the upper bezel contains a front-facing camera and earpiece with the TouchID button on the bottom bezel.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Special Features

The iPhone 6 has the excellent TouchID finger sensor located in the physical button and it works a treat. In all the Android variations of the finger scanner, the best I've come across is Huawei's awesome Ascend Mate 7, but the iPhone sensor is still the benchmark against which all other scanners are judged. The button must be pressed once to activate it and the scan happens very quickly, accurately and intuitively.

The iPhone 6 comes with a fingerprint sensor, while the Nexus 5 does not.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Software

I won't get into the many differences between iOS and Android – we've got a nice lengthy iOS 8 vs Android 5.0 Lollipop comparison you can read up on if you want a full break down, but I will mention a few key software features on each operating system. The strength of a Nexus device is stock Android, and the Nexus 5 benefits greatly from running pure Android 5.0 Lollipop. The OS is very stable and snappy, with a flat, card-based UI full of bright bold colors and lots of animations, all contained under the umbrella of Material Design: Google's new design language for Android 5.0 and beyond.

iOS 8 is a different kettle of fish entirely, even if Lollipop has been frequently described as the iOS version of Android. Where Android has an app drawer with all your app icons hidden away, leaving you with clean home screens or widgets as you prefer, iOS 8 keeps all app icons on endless home screens. Both operating systems let you cluster apps into folders and both have a notifications drop down and quick settings area. Take a look at the comparison screenshots to see the major visual difference
iOS 8 vs Android 5.0 Lollipop

As far as software goes, the Nexus 5 is entirely Google-centric, with the core group of redesigned Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google+, Hangouts, Google Camera, Google Photos, Chrome, the full suite of Google Play apps (Play Store, Games, Books, Newsstand, Music, Movies), the new Sheets, Slides and Docs and all the awesome power of Google Now integration and voice commands. Because the Nexus 5 runs stock Android, it receives near-instantaneous updates from Google when new firmware is available, much like the iPhone. Most updates are now handled on a per-app basis through the Play Store, and security patches come every six weeks courtesy of regular Google Play Services updates.

Lollipop introduces a Battery Saver mode, priority interruptions, lock screen notifications, personal unlocking (via Trusted Faces, Trusted Places or Trusted Devices), multiple user accounts, screen pinning and Tap & Pay functionality (which can also be used for Tap & Go during setup to rapidly migrate the contents of one device to a new one. Multitasking is improved through a  new card-based stack of recent apps and Chrome browser tabs and Google-powered searching throughout the device. Lollipop also introduces the new Android Runtime for pre-compilation of apps (ahead of time) to ensure better responsiveness and massive improvements to high-end graphics.

The iPhone 6 running iOS 8 has some software punch of its own too: some great camera features, super stable and smooth operating system, its own App Store and the fantastic iTunes, a full suite of Apple apps to handle anything you could ever wish to do on an iPhone, cloud syncing, family sharing, audio messaging, fitness integration in anticipation of the Apple Watch release in the very near future, cross-device syncing, Spotlight (much like Google’s integrated Search functionality in Android) and big improvements to the keyboard. Oh, and now there’s third party keyboards and widgets too.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Performance

The Nexus 5 has always been blazing fast, from when it appeared running Android 4.4 KitKat to now with the Lollipop update on board. The Nexus 5 specs include a quad-core Snapdragon 800 clocked at 2.3 GHz and 2 GB of RAM with Adreno 330 GPU. The Nexus 5 runs Lollipop almost as fast as the brand new Nexus 9 (which is packing the lightning fast Tegra K1 chip). It's near impossible to slow the Nexus 5 down, and with Lollipop on deck, it's a beautiful showcase of how smooth and fast Android can be.

No one has ever complained that an iPhone is sloppy or unstable and the iPhone 6 is no different. In fact, it’s the fastest, smoothest and most stable iPhone I’ve ever used, although I find the “throttled“ fluidity to be mildly frustrating when I compare it to the balls-to-the-wall speed of a Nexus, although that unbridled speed does produce some glitches and stutters, so it comes at a cost. The iPhone 6’s A8 chipset with dual ARM v8-based Cyclones ticking away at 1.4 GHz may not sound as beefy as the Nexus, but Apple know a thing or two about smoothness, you have to give them that. The iPhone 6 comes with just 1 GB of RAM but there‘s a quad-core PowerVR GX6450 GPU making things happen graphically.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Camera

The 8 MP Nexus 5 camera has come a long way since launch: back then it was almost unusable, then some TLC from Google got it to a point where in good conditions it shoots as well as the iPhone. Sadly, perfect conditions aren't always available and the Nexus 5 falls down a little under poor lighting and with moving subjects. Auto-focus is still too slow for my tastes too. The shift from the old camera app to the excellent Google Camera and the new camera API that was introduced with Lollipop have done wonders for the Nexus 5 camera and it's as good as it has ever been: no one would have ever known it was possible back in 2013.

The Nexus 5 and iPhone 6 camera sensors.

There really is no competition here. While the Nexus 5 is capable of some pretty spectacular shots, it can’t compete with the iPhone 6’s camera, even when it is only shooting at an equivalent 8 MP. Up front the iPhone 6 has a slightly lower resolution 1.2 MP FaceTime camera which only a fool would say is worse than the Nexus 5’s selfie shooter. The iPhone 6 camera may not be perfect, and it isn’t as big an improvement as I would have expected, but the iPhone produces consistently better results than the Nexus 5 across a wider range of settings and conditions. Where the camera has always been the Achilles‘ heel of a Nexus, it has always been the crown of an iPhone.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Battery

The Nexus 5 battery is pretty meagre at just 2,300 mAh. The battery optimizations introduced in Android 5.0 are wonderful though and the life span of a single charge has been extended by roughly 90 minutes by default. Adding the Battery Saver function to the mix lets you dramatically extend the final 5% or 15% of battery by shutting down various background processes and all but the very most important features until you get to a wall socket. I can now easily breeze through a full day or regular usage where I used to struggle a little to make it to bedtime on a single charge. The Nexus 5 also supports native Qi wireless charging.

Android phones with the latest update, Android 5.0 Lollipop, get a Battery Saver function.

Batteries are one point where Apple still doesn’t get it. Sure, a super thin and light phone is great, but the jokes about iPhone owners being wall huggers are well justified. I have lots of friends with iPhones and they are always either looking for an outlet or telling me that their phone is dead, and my experiences have been no better. That 1,810 mAh battery may not have a crazy display to power, and Apple does a good job of optimizing things to not require so much juice, but even with all that the iPhone 6 battery is pretty hopeless. If you manage to get a solid day out of it you should call the papers. And then all of my friends so you can tell them how you did it.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: Release Date and Price

The Nexus 5 release date was October 31st, 2013. The Nexus 5 price came in two flavors: depending on the size of internal storage. The 16 GB Nexus 5 was 349 USD and the 32 GB version cost 399 USD. The iPhone 6 price comes in three storage-dependent options: 126 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB for 199 USD, 299 USD and 399 USD (on a two-year contract). You don't even want to know what an iPhone 6 costs outright - but it's almost double the cost of the equivalent Nexus 5...

Final Verdict

Some parts are impossible to compare: your preference for design and operating system are part of your DNA and my preferences are unlikely to convince you otherwise. Some parts are objectively better in the iPhone 6: camera, TouchID and perhaps performance. Some are about equal on both devices: battery, software and looks. And some are better in the Nexus 5: price, advanced features and display. If these two devices were the same price, I would probably pick the iPhone 6 over the Nexus 5 mostly due to the camera performance, but considering the iPhone 6 costs nearly double the price of the Nexus 5, it's a pretty clear Android victory for me. While the iPhone may be better in some departments, it's nowhere near that much better.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 6: is an old Nexus better than a new iPhone?

6:29 AM #comparephone, #iphone6, #nexus5, #nexusvsiphone

Lollipop 5.0.1update for Nexus is coming to fix the bugs

Nexus 5 Android 5.0 Lollipop update might be boasting some pretty neat features on paper, but several reports on Google product forums have made it clear that the update is infested with several bugs and issues. Google has just started to release Android 5.0.1, a bug fix update, that hopes to resolve the issues that some Nexus 5 users are having.

Nexus 5 Lollipop bugs to be fixed by Android 5.0.1 update

We’ve been talking pretty extensively about bugs, glitches, and issues that Android 5.0 Lollipop has brought to a lot of Nexus 5 users. Multiple people are reporting a significant reduction in the battery life of their smartphone or tablet. Others have experienced a decrease in the performance of their device. Some Nexus 7 users are having issues with video playback, and there are some Nexus 5 users who are unable to connect to a home or work WiFi network.

A lot of the reports about poor battery life and a decrease in performance can be resolved by clearing the cache partition on the device and/or performing a factory reset. Still, we understand that a factory reset isn’t an ideal solution, and if you can wait for the update then you shouldn’t need to resort to that. Android updates are very complicated and a lot of things can get messed up along the way. If you read our comments section after we write about an Android update, there are almost always people reporting various issues that started happening after the update. More often than not, a factory reset will resolve these issues. Especially if they just started happening after an update.

A factory reset can’t solve all the issues with the Nexus 5 Android 5.0 Lollipop update though. Google is aware of the critical bugs, and they hope to be resolving them with the Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update. Factory images have already been posted for the Nexus 9, 2013 Nexus 7 (WiFi), and the Nexus 10. We expect Google to release the rest of these updates (including one for the Nexus 5) in the next week or two.

Have you received the 5.0.1 Lollipop update yet? Please use the comments section below to tell us when you updated your device and whether or not the update resolved any issues you had with the initial 5.0 update.

Lollipop 5.0.1update for Nexus is coming to fix the bugs

6:43 AM #lollipopbugs, #lollipopupdate, #nexus, lollipop 5.0.1 update, lollipop bugs, NEXUS

Android 5.0 Lollipop bugs and problems on Nexus devices: How to fix them

Most common Android 5.0 Lollipop problems on Nexus devices: How to fix them

Google recently rolled out its highly-anticipated Android 5.0 Lollipop update to a slew of Nexus devices including Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, while also confirming the availability of stock Lollipop update for Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 out of the box.

The Android maker has also confirmed Android 5.0 release for its line-up of Google Play Edition (GPE) devices and according to the latest reports, Android 5.0.1 OTA update is already out for these Nexus devices.

Android 5.0.1 OTA Fix

Interested users can download the new Android 5.0.1 OTA updates manually using the links below:

Nexus 7 2013, Wifi-only (razor) LRX21P to LRX22C

Nexus 9 (volantis) LRX21R to LRX22C

Nexus 10 (mantaray) LRX21P to LRX22C

Though the new Lollipop OTA update aims at fixing most of the bugs including the factory reset bug (a flaw in the system wherein random taps on the lock screen of an Android-Lollipop powered device could cause the device to factory reset), video playback and flashlight bug issue on the Nexus 6, there are still dozens of other issues which may require a manual fix or workaround.

IBTimes UK explores a handful of workarounds and manual fixes for a bunch of issues including Bluetooth problems, unexpected battery drains, Wi-Fi problems, 3G data issues and a range of performance issues including video playback and startup bugs.

How to Fix Lollipop Battery Life Problems

Quite unexpectedly, Nexus devices have been plagued with a bunch of battery-life issues leading to abnormal battery drain under normal usage conditions.

It is ascertained that several third-party apps could be the root cause of unexpected battery drain on Nexus devices running the latest Android software. So, it would be a wise decision to disable all power-hungry apps running in the background unless you use them frequently.

You may also try updating your apps with the latest version or try uninstalling the third-party apps one by one to isolate the problem, as some apps are known to drain the battery more than the others.

As a quick fix, you may also try rebooting your phone on minimal settings with all third-party apps uninstalled, as this will clear the cache and kill background services associated with unused apps.

As a final step, you could try performing a factory reset on your device. However, please make sure you backup important data and settings on the phone as a factory reset will wipe out all custom and user data on the device.

How to Fix Performance Problems in Android Lollipop

Older Nexus devices such as the Nexus 7 2012 and Nexus 4 seem to be widely affected with poor performance issues after updating with Android 5.0 Lollipop update.

Some of the widespread issues noted with the affected Nexus devices include sluggishness, abnormal slowdown and random app crashes.

Here is how to use a potential performance fix on the Nexus 7 2012, manually:

Press and holdPower and Volume Down buttons simultaneously until the device logo or Android logo appears on the screen.You should now see a large arrow at the top of the screen.Tap Volume Down repeatedly until you see Recovery in the arrow. Then tap thePower buttonThen you will see an android on his back, chest open with a red triangle and exclamation mark.Now hold Power button and tap Volume Up once before releasing the Power.A list of items should now appear at top of screen.Tap Volume Down until the item to erase orwipe the cache partition gets highlighted. Then tapPower button to initiate the wipe process.Status messages will appear at the bottom of the screen. Be patient as it can take about 10-15 minutes to complete. When done restart the Nexus device.

How to Fix Cellular/3G Data Issues on Android Lollipop

Cellular/3G data issues seem to be redundant on most Nexus devices that are updated to Android 5.0, but there are simple fixes to get you started.

Try switching off the cellular or 3G or LTE data via Settings > More > Cellular networks.Turn it back on after 30 seconds to check if the connection is working.If issue persists, try rebooting the device.Alternatively, try updating the Access Point Name (APN) settings: Go to Settings > More > Cellular networks > Access Point Names. You may contact your network carrier for assistance in case you messed up with the settings or don't know how to proceed.As a quick fix, you may try running your phone in Airplane mode. Try switching on Airplane mode and then turn it off, which may help in restoring Cellular/3G/LTE data on the device.

How to Fix Wi-Fi Problems on Android 5.0

The Wi-Fi problems being reported on Nexus devices running Lollipop update range from slow connections to inability in connecting to Wi-Fi network by any means.

Try rebooting your phone or tablet and alternatively, you can also try rebooting the Wi-Fi router to which your device is trying to establish connection.To perform a router reboot: switch off the router's power switch for 30 seconds and then turn it back on, and the same procedure can be repeated on your internet modem as well.If the issue persists, try forgetting your Wi-Fi network as follows:Select the desired network and press down on it until a white menu pops up.Then an option reading"Forget network" should appear on top.Choose this option and then reenter your password to reconnect to the Wi-Fi network.Alternatively, try changing the network frequency: click the vertical dots at the top right corner to activate Advanced menu, and then try tweaking the Wi-Fi frequency band.Try updating your router software or try replicating the issue on another router. If all else fails, a factory reset is recommended on the misbehaving router.

How to Fix Bluetooth Problems in Android 5.0

Numerous Nexus devices have been afflicted with untested bugs in Bluetooth connectivity, ever since these devices received the Lollipop update.

Step 1: As a simple fix you could try switching off the Bluetooth feature and then turning it back on.

Step 2: If the issue still persists, try clearing the cache files for Bluetooth Share. To do so, go toSettings > Apps > Scroll over to All > Choose Bluetooth Share and tap on Clear Cache.

Step 3: In addition, you can also perform Clear Data wipe via Bluetooth Share option.

Step 4: Once you have cleared both the cache and data, just restart the phone by switching it off and then turning it back on.

Step 5: Finally, if none of the above steps worked for you then try booting the device into Safe Mode as follows:

Press and hold thePower button, after ensuring the device's screen is on.Now tap and hold thePower off option in the ensuing dialog box.Then hit OK in the following dialog box to initiate safe mode.

Note: Booting into safe mode will allow you to disable and isolate the problematic third-party apps.

How to Fix Video Playback Issues in Android 5.0

Video playback issues are pre-dominantly found on Nexus 7 devices running Android 5.0.

To fix this issue you can try clearing the cache files via Settings > Apps > Choose appropriate app > Clear Cache.

How to Fix Start-up Issues in Android Lollipop

Several Nexus 4 users and a few owners of other Nexus devices are reportedly facing freeze issues on the start-up screen, following the installation of Android 5.0 update.

Among the probable solutions, you could try rebooting the device or perform a factory reset to resolve the start-up issues.

Additionally, disabling unwanted start up services could help resolve the issue.

How to Fix Lollipop App Issues

Most of the app issues can be resolved by simply updating the app or by uninstalling the problematic app.

As a final resort, try reinstalling the app as this helps in restoring the corrupted files with fresh working system files.

You may try contacting the app developer for further assistance, if the issue persists after trying the above steps.

Android 5.0 Lollipop bugs and problems on Nexus devices: How to fix them

3:44 PM lollipop bugs

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9: How do the Android tablets compare?

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9: How do the Android tablets compare?

Nokia  on Google’s flagship tablet

Nokia - that’s Nokia Nokia, not Microsoft Nokia - has just surprised everyone by announcing an Android tablet, the Nokia N1.

With high-end components, a premium design, and stock Android 5.0 Lollipop, it’s clearly looking to take on Google’s own Nexus 9 as the most desirable Android tablet out there.

So how do these two tablets compare? Here's the tale of the tape.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - Design

Nokia N1: Aluminium body with surface anodisation, one-piece design, 6.9mm thick, 318g
Nexus 9: Soft, matte plastic back, brushed metal sides, 7.95mm thick, 425g

The Nexus 9 is a pretty decent-looking tablet, but at initial glance it’s not in the Nokia N1’s league.

Google’s flagship tablet looks rather like a largeNexus 5, which means it’s solid rather than spectacular, with a familiar soft-touch plastic back. Meanwhile it’s a millimetre thicker than the N1 and more than 100 grams heavier, despite the N1 being the one with an all-metal body.

The Nokia N1 looks to be a lot sleeker, but then, it would do - it’s a blatant copy of one of the best designed tablets around, the iPad mini. As such, we need to temper our praise of the N1’s design at this early stage, as it appears to have been lifted wholesale.

Also, while there’s no denying that the Nokia N1 is shaping up to be the nicer design of these two, it’s worthy remembering that the Nexus 9 was designed and built by quality outfit HTC, while the Nokia N1 is essentially a licensed product built to spec by Foxconn.

We will reserve final design judgement until we’ve actually handled the N1.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - Display

Nokia N1: 7.9-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio, 2048 x 1536 resolution, laminated IPS LCD
Nexus 9: 8.9-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio, 2048 x 1536 resolution, IPS LCD

Of course, one reason the N1 is sleeker than the Nexus 9 is that its display is significantly smaller. It’s just 7.9-inches, whereas the Nexus 9’s display is an 8.9-incher.

Other than that, there are a lot of similarities here. Both have a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is still pretty unusual for Android tablets. In fact, this is another common iPad feature, and it suggests that both Google and Nexus have come around to Apple’s way of thinking here.

Both tablets have a 2048 x 1536 resolution, but that means that the Nokia N1’s display, being smaller, should be sharper. As far as pixel density goes, it's 324ppi versus 287ppi.

While both displays are IPS LCD examples, which typically makes for great viewing angles, the N1 component has another edge in being laminated. This means that there’s no air gap in between the display panel and its glass, making for a slightly clearer and more vibrant picture than the Nexus 9 display, which isn’t laminated.

Finally, we should point out that the Nexus 9 display tends to suffer from backlight leakage, which isn’t ideal for such a premium tablet.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - CPU and RAM

Nokia N1: 64-bit quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 CPU, 2.3 GHz, 2GB RAM
Nexus 9: 64-bit dual-core Nvidia Tegra K1 CPU, 2.3GHz, 2GB RAM

Both tablets include 64-bit processors, which positions them well to make the most out of Android 5.0’s 64-bit compatibility. Also, both processors are clocked at 2.3GHz, and both are backed by 2GB of RAM.

However, that’s where the similarities end. You might think that the quad-core Atom Z3580 of the Nokia N1 holds an advantage over the dual-core Tegra K1 of the Nexus 9 simply through the core count alone, but the Tegra K1 has an absolutely monstrous desktop-class GPU backing it up.

Ultimately, these two chips appear to be fairly well matched for general tasks, but for anything graphically intensive such as games, the Nexus 9 and its Tegra K1 should have the edge.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - Software

Nokia N1: Android 5.0 Lollipop, Nokia Z Launcher
Nexus 9: Android 5.0 Lollipop

Both the Nokia N1 and the Google Nexus 9 run on stock Android 5.0, also known as Lollipop. That means that both have one of the freshest and most powerful mobile operating systems around.

The only slight deviation here is with the Nokia N1, which will also ship with the Nokia Z Launcher. This lightweight piece of software presents a new contextual app list and an innovative search system whereby you draw letters on the display.

However this piece of software turns out, the Z Launcher can be readily deactivated to leave stock Android running in its full glory. This isn’t the same thing as other third party manufacturers laying on their heavy UIs modifications by any stretch.

The Nexus 9 has the edge because it will get updates faster than the Nokia N1, but otherwise it looks like a draw.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - Cameras

Nokia N1: 8MP rear, 5MP front-facing cameras
Nexus 9: 8MP rear, 1.6MP front-facing cameras

Both tablets contain 8-megapixel rear cameras, while the N1 appears to have the edge in the selfie/video calling stakes with its 5-megapixel unit. The Nexus 9’s front camera is a 1.6-megapixel example.

Then there’s the fact that Nexus devices don’t typically contain the best cameras, and that HTC isn’t exactly renowned for its quality cameras either. Sure enough, we found the Nexus 9’s snapper to be pretty ordinary.

Add in Nokia’s reputation for trailblazing mobile camera tech, and the N1 seems nailed on for success, right?

Well, not necessarily. Remember - this isn’t the Nokia of PureView cameras and ZEISS optics fame. That Nokia has been swallowed up by Microsoft. This Nokia is essentially starting from scratch, which means we have no idea how well its first tablet camera will turn out - let alone how well it will compare to its rivals.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 - Storage

Nokia N1: 32GB
Nexus 9: 16GB/32GB

Pretty simple one this. The Nokia N1 only comes with a 32GB option, while the Nexus 9 comes with the choice of 16GB or 32GB.

However, we don’t think that 16GB should even be on the cards in a modern tablet at this stage - it’s way too meagre an amount for a mediacentric device at the close of 2014. We’re disappointed there’s no 64GB and 128GB options with both of these tablets.

With neither of these tablets sporting a microSD slot for expansion purposes, storage is not their strong suit.

Early Verdict

The Nokia N1 has been a total surprise, but that hints at a reason for caution. To a large extent, our preconceptions about Nokia design and build quality have to be jettisoned - or at least redirected towards Microsoft’s new internal mobile hardware arm.

This is effectively an all-new, relatively small outfit, having its designs built to spec by a massive Chinese manufacturer. Sure, the Nokia N1 looks pretty good, but we have no idea whether it will be.

Conversely, we know what we’re getting with the Nexus 9, having reviewed it recently. It’s a decent Android tablet with some strong specs running one of the best mobile operating systems around.

However, it has a number of flaws, and there’s ample opportunity for another player to step forward and take the Android tablet crown.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9: How do the Android tablets compare?

9:26 PM compare nokia n1 nexus 9, nexus 9, nokia N1

Android Lollipop update: Nexus 5 owners face Wi-Fi issues, battery woes

Android Lollipop update: Nexus 5 owners face Wi-Fi issues, battery woes.

Recent reports suggest that Nexus 5 owners are facing some problems after updating their phone to the Android 5.0 Lollipop. A few bugs encountered include connectivity issues with Wi-Fi. Some developers are complaining Nexus 5 saves passwords but would fail to actually connect to it, states Business Insider. Some Nexus 7 and Nexus 9 users are also facing the same problem. Earlier, users were facing problems as their phone’s battery would drain down too quickly but Google has fixed the issue. A few owners are also saying that their device could not complete the installation due to a ‘missing system.img’ error message. The bug would cancel the installation for Android Lollipop. There s no word from Google yet.

 

Google’s latest Android Lollipop update has begun rolling out for the older Nexus 5. The OTA update should reach users in couple of days. Those using a Nexus 5 can go to “Settings > About device > System updates > Check now” to check for the update.

Google has announced via its official Twitter handle that it will begin rolling out Android Lollipop for all Nexus devices soon.

While OTA updates are the safest way to upgrade your devices, Google has released factory images as well. The company has released factory images for Nexus devices including Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. The new devices – Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 – will run Android Lollipop out of the box. Now, you will also find a factory image for the rather older Nexus 4.

Motorola has also commenced its soak test for the Android 5.0 Lollipop in India. Motorola has posted the release notes for both the Moto X andMoto G devices on its website and some lucky owners have already got the update.

New Moto X and Moto G devices can enjoy thenew Android 5.0 features, such as the Material Design interface, updated camera and improved security, while still being able to use Motorola’s own services such as Motorola Alert, Migrate and Connect.

While the Moto X and the Moto G will be some of the first devices to get the latest Android OS, other manufactures have also announced the same for their devices. To find out if your phone is eligible, check out the list of devices that are confirmed to get the update.

Android Lollipop update: Nexus 5 owners face Wi-Fi issues, battery woes

8:46 AM #androidlolipop, lollipop, nexus 5 update, ota

Cells act like old tape recorders to monitor health

They're the world's smallest documentary makers. E. coli bacteria have had their DNA hacked so they can store memories of their cellular environment. And they do it in much the same way as an analogue tape recorder. Other more complicated cells should be capable of the feat too, which could pave the way for cellular biographers that can be inserted into our bodies for the inside scoop on our health.

E. coli may be one of the most widely used microbes in scientific research, but there are still aspects of its biology that are mysterious. "There are these DNA sequences called retrons that were discovered 30 years ago – but there's still a lot of controversy over what they actually do," says Timothy Lu at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

What we do know is that the retrons carry the genetic code for enzymes that generate new strands of DNA. These strands can then insert themselves into the cell's genome. Lu and his MIT colleague Fahim Farzadfard realised that they could manipulate these retrons so that, when the E. coli is exposed to a particular chemical – or some other input like bright light – it inserts a new chunk of DNA into a specific site in the genome. That DNA chunk is then effectively a "memory" of the experience.

Crowdsourced memories

Each of the E. coli cells records a personal account of its experiences. That could be useful, but it's when whole populations of cells record their experiences that the system becomes really powerful.

Lu and Farzadfard engineered the retrons to be only partially efficient, so that when a population of E. coli is exposed to an input, like a light signal, only a few cells will instantly record a memory of the event.

As time goes by, more of the cells will respond to the input and record the memory. By calculating at a certain point how many of the cells carry the memory, it's possible to work out either the input's strength, or the length of exposure.

"Imagine having 1000 humans all exposed to sunlight," says Lu. "Some proportion will develop a mole on skin from over-exposure. With more exposure, an increasing number of people will develop the mole. So by counting the number of people with moles you can back-calculate how intense or how long the exposure was."

Play back memories

"That's the crux of it," says Cameron Myhrvold at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, who was not involved in the research. "You can encode extra information because it's a signal that accumulates over time rather than an all-or-nothing switch." In other words, its analogue rather than digital.

"We think this is going to be very useful in monitoring applications," says Lu. The retrons are known to function in animal cells, he says, so if some of our cells were engineered to record the conditions they are exposed to, they could later be extracted and their DNA sequenced to play back the memories.

That kind of cellular monitoring is already possible with some microscopy techniques, but Lu says that these techniques require researchers to keep a constant eye on the cells. With his method, cellular environments could be seeded with cells to remotely record events in much the same way that forests are wired up with camera traps to remotely track wildlife.

Monitoring disease

For example, modified gut cells could be used to track the progress of conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, or modified brain cells could help establish the nature of individual cellular connections within neural networks, says Lu.

In principle, the cellular system could be used to monitor the spread of disease, such as the growth and spread of cancers, perhaps by responding to the cellular signals generated by cancer cells, although Lu says additional development will be needed before that can be demonstrated.

Although an analogue system allows you to record more nuanced information, Myhrvold says that this is also a potential weakness. It means it works best when there is a large population of cellular recorders, so might not work so well for monitoring environments that contain relatively small numbers of cells to begin with, he says. That's an important point, agrees Lu, and one he's working on.

Myhrvold also says that retrons might mutate and malfunction in some more challenging cellular environments, which could compromise their ability to record cellular events. This is a problem that his Harvard colleague, Pamela Silver, addressed earlier this year by inserting a responsive genetic switch into E. coli that is so resistant to mutation that it is stable even in the hostile environment of the mammalian gut.

Cells act like old tape recorders to monitor health

8:30 AM cell memory, disease monitoring