Author: Clinton

ASUS has announced an update version of their Chromebox will be coming later this year.  The new ASUS Chromebox 3 will be powered by 8th generation Intel Core processors, have DDR4-2400 energy efficient and fast memory, and have HDMI connectivity for 4K UHD playback.

ASUS has indicated that the Chromebox 3 will be available in the second half of 2018, meaning that we have to wait until at least July before this gets to market.  For that reason, the exact processors that will be available as well as the amount of RAM that is standard in the new Chromebox were not disclosed.

After six years of fighting the ever increasing tide against them, Powermat has joined the Qi-centric Wireless Power Consortium, effectively ending the battle between the two wireless charging solutions  Qi Wireless has been dominant for a long time outside of the US but Powermat had significant backing here in the States, most notably with Starbucks.

The proverbial nail in the coffin it would seem was the decision by Apple to go with Qi (pronounced “Chee”) wireless charging on the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X.

“Qi has become the dominant wireless charging standard on the market and the recently launched Apple iPhone lineup is evidence of this success”, said Elad Dubzinski, Powermat CEO. “Powermat will share technology innovation to further unlock wireless charging potential, and will expedite the growth of the wireless charging infrastructure, bringing wireless charging to wherever users need it”.

Essentially, the company felt they had no more road left to explore with Apple picking horses in the race.  Apple, more or less, ended that race.

Long time accessories manufacture iHome has announced a new smart speaker powered by Google Assistant at CES 2018.  The new iGV1 looks similar in design to Google Home, albeit a bit shorter, with controls on the top of the device as well as a LED clock display on the side.

The iGV1 is equipped with WiFi connectivity as well as Bluetooth.  It also has a USB-A port for charging devices.  Unfortunately very little else was released about this new Google Assistant powered smart speaker.  It is unclear when it will be available or the pricing.

As part of their efforts to get the EMUI 8, Android Oreo based update out, Huawei has opened up a limited beta for owners of the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus.  The program will allow a limited number of P10 users to sign up for the beta and download the Oreo based build to their devices.  The beta follows the release of the Oreo update for the Mate 9, last year’s flagship phablet from the company.

Huawei has already released the Oreo update for the P10 in China so this beta for the international versions of the phone will likely go quickly given the company has some experience with the build and the device together.

Home deadbolt and locking manufacture Schlage has announced that Google Assistant support will be coming to their range of Sense Smart deadbolts in the coming months.  It will allow owners of the locks to use Assistant via their phone or Google Home devices to lock or unlock the deadbolt on their homes.

The integration with the Schlage locks and Google Assistant will also allow users to check if they locked the deadbolt.  Using voice commands, they can ask Assistant if the deadbolt is locked and, if it is not, will be prompted on if they want to lock it.  This can be done both inside the house as well as outside.  The idea being, if you were in a rush to get to the office in the morning and can’t remember if you locked the front door, you will be able to ask Assistant if you did and lock it remotely.

Sony’s mid-range of Android phones are getting a refresh.  At CES 2018, the company announced that the Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra and they are expected to be available in February.  These two phones are fundamentally the same when it comes to their internals with the XA2 Ultra sporting a 6″ display over the XA2’s 5.2″ display.  Both will render at 1920 x 1080 FHD and both are powered by the Snapdragon 630 SoC and 4GB of RAM.  Storage wise, you will have the option of 32GB or 64GB and there is a MicroSD expansion slot.

Camera wise, both have the same 23MP rear camera and both have 8MP, 120° wide angle selfie camera.  The XA2 Ultra adds a second front facing camera that has OIS despite the fact that the rear camera on either phone doesn’t have image stabilization.  Powering the Utra is a 3580mAh battery while the standard XA2 will have a 3300mAh battery.