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Friday, October 14, 2016
BMW’s New Motorcycle Concept Is So Smart You Won’t Need a Helmet
On Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., BMW Group debuted a motorcycle concept so artificially intelligent that it eliminates the need for the rider to wear protective gear, including a helmet.
According to BMW, the “flexframe” extends from the front to the rear wheel of the BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100. It allows the bike to be steered without the various joints found on today’s motorcycles. Turning the handlebar adjusts the entire frame, changing the direction of the bike.
Source: BMW Group
The BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 motorcycle is the latest incarnation of BMW’s Vision Next series, whichcelebrates 100 years of the German brand with forward-looking concept vehicles from Rolls-Royce, Mini, and BMW. The group has been hosting events around the world this year to debut each new concept in a different city. California’s event, held in an old airplane hangar, displayed the motorcycle along each of the group's other previously shown concepts. This is the fourth and final of its concepts to be shown.
When the bike is resting, the unit that powers it stays small; when the bike moves forward, the unit lengthens to enhance aerodynamics and protect the rider while at speed.
Source: BMW Group
So what does the future of motorcycles hold?
At least according to BMW, it's a bike that has self-balancing systems to keep it upright both when standing (a boon for novice riders, on par with training wheels for bicycles) and in motion (beneficial for experienced riders who want erudite handling at high speed). Several systems—one BMW calls a “Digital Companion,” which offers riding advice and adjustment ideas to optimize the experience, and one called “The Visor,” which is a pair of glasses that span the entire field of vision and are controlled by eye movements—correlate to return active feedback about road conditions to the rider while adjusting the ride of the bike continuously depending on the rider’s driving style. (Sure beats today's motorcycle touchscreen technology.)
It’s meant to equal the driverless systems automakers also expect to be producing in cars by 2040 and beyond.
“The bike has the full range of connected data from its surroundings and a set of intelligent systems working in the background, so it knows exactly what lies ahead,” said Holger Hampf, BMW's head of user experience.
It also purports to use a novel matte black “flexframe” that's nimble enough to allow the bike to turn without the joints found on today’s motorcycles. The idea is that when a rider turns the handlebar, it adjusts the entire frame to change the direction of the bike; at low speeds only a slight input is required, while at high speeds it needs strong input to change course. This should increase the safety factor of riding a bike so a small twitch at 100 mph isn't going to shoot you in an unexpected new direction.
But not everything about this concept bike is forward-looking: The black triangle shape of the frame combined with the white trim lines and classic boxer engine form are meant to evoke the 1923 R32, the first motorcycle BMW ever made. The seat, upper frame cover, and wings are made of carbon, and the bike will run on a futuristic "non-gasoline power source." (Naturally; this is a concept, after all.)
Another uber-modern touch: The area at the front will have virtually no buttons except a red rocker switch on the end of the right handlebar.
The BMW concept motorcycle seems extremely far-fetched, and the group has released only rail-thin details about what to expect in terms of bringing it to production, if it ever does. But like all its Vision Next concepts, BMW execs said that they intended it that way. After all, they wouldn’t want to tip off competitors.
“Normally when we develop a motorcycle, we tend to think five to 10 years in advance,” Edgar Heinrich, head of design at BMW Motorrad, said in a press statement. “On this occasion, we looked much further ahead and found … some very attractive prospects.”
Thursday, September 29, 2016
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This is how surgical strikes are conducted at mid night by Indian Army
Indian army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control against terrorists prepping for attacks in India were conducted after midnight on Wednesday and went on till 4.30 am
The strikes were conducted upto 3 km in Pakistani territory, army sources have said.
Eight terrorist launch pads were targeted across different sectors. These camps had been under surveillance for about a week.
The army said there were "massive casualties of terrorists, their guides and handlers." Sources say India has evidence of damage inflicted, which will be released when appropriate.
"Our forces have gone deep in and come back before sunrise," government sources said.
A combination of ground forces and helicopter-borne troops were involved in the strikes.
According to the army, the terrorists were planning major attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and in metros.
All forces along the Line of Control including the Indian Air Force have been kept on high alert.
Villages near the border in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab are being vacated as a precaution.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Ministers and senior political leaders and briefed them on the strikes.
The government has informed the President, Vice President and former prime minister Manmohan Singh about the surgical strikes.
Google Pixel and Pixel XL: Specs, price, screen size, news and rumours about Google's new Android smartphones
The search giant has nixed the Nexus brand for its 2016 smartphone - here's everything we know about the upcoming iPhone 7 rivals
Google is set to reveal two new phones next week that will offer an alternative to Apple's popular iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The search giant has been producing its own Android-based phones for the last few years under the "Nexus" brand - but that looks set to change.
According to the latest rumours, Google is planning to ditch the Nexus brand in favour of the Pixel moniker. In the past, the company has used the Pixel name on its tablet and laptop products.
Early rumours suggest the Pixel and Pixel XL phones could be revealed in early October.
Google
Nexus 6P
Although they won't be manufactured directly by Google the company will oversee the entire design process to help it integrate with Android's latest software as closely as possible.
Now the iPhone 7 launch has been and gone, the internet rumour mill is churning out plenty of information on Google's next gadget. Here's what we know about it so far.
Latest news
A leaked image supposedly showing a finished render of the Google Pixel has given us our clearest look yet at the new phone.
It was posted on Twitter and tech site VentureBeat before being swiftly picked up and circulated around the rest of the tech industry press.
Release date
The unveiling for Google's new phones seems pretty clear cut - the company itself has just revealed a teaser video for an event on October 4th.
The video (see above) is a simple one: A standard horizontal search box slowly morphs inwards and upwards until it resembles the outline of a typical smartphone. Finally the date October 4 appears alongside Google's logo.
The caption to the video, posted on YouTube, simply reads "Something new to love on Oct 4."
As for the release date, things are a little murkier. Google will want to have the phones in store as soon as possible to compete with Apple's iPhone 7. Therefore it's reasonable to expect the new Pixel phones to land towards the end of October. If not, expect to see them around the first week of November.
Like the unveiling date, the name of the two new phones seem certain to be the Pixel and the Pixel XL. The Pixel will have 5-inch display, and the Pixel XL will come in at 5.5 inches.
“Speaking to two independent sources, we now strongly believe that Google's formerly-maybe-Nexus-phones, Marlin and Sailfish, will be marketed as the Pixel and the Pixel XL,” wrote David Ruddock fromAndroid Police .
While it's not yet confirmed who will be making the handsets, Android Police have suggested that HTC will behind both of the handsets, while other rumours have suggested it will be split between HTC and LG.
The only things to distinguish the Pixel from the Pixel XL will be screen and battery size, with both models boasting quad-core Qualcomm processors, 4GB of RAM, and 12-megapixel cameras.
By ditching the Nexus name, Google is no doubt trying to put more of its own stamp onto its smartphones.
There have even been suggestions that Google follow Apple's lead and take manufacturing completely in-house - so that it has complete control over the over the design and engineering of its devices, as well as the software.
Design
So far it seems unlikely that Google will follow Apple's lead and ditch the headphone jack on the bottom of its new phones.
In fact, leaked images supposedly showing the upcoming Pixel phones give us an idea of what to expect.
Both have a similar design to last year's well-received Nexus 6P albeit with a thinner bezel that means a near edge-to-edge display.
The images appeared on German site WinFuture and are believed to have come from a Hong Kong-based parts dealer.
Interestingly, some tech commentators are saying the phones will have a dual-lens camera similar to the iPhone 7 Plus.
Price
There are two schools of thought when it comes to the pricing for Google's next fleet of phones.
Firstly, it may follow Apple's model of simply swapping the new phones in to the existing prices. That would mean the Pixel would launch at £299 for the 16GB version and £339 for the 32GB model.
The Pixel XL meanwhile would take the place of the Nexus 6P at £449 for 16GB, £499 for 64GB and £579 for 128GB.
The second school of thought is that Google will up the premium-ness of its phones (as it did with the Pixel brand of Chromebook) and therefore raise prices. We're not sure what kind of prices that means, but it probably won't be cheap.
Specifications
One thing we do know about the new Pixel phones is they will ship with Google's latest version of Android. That means improved efficiency and (hopefully) better battery life.
Our friends at Alphr have an idea of what kind of power the new blowers will be packing.
"The Pixel XL will have a 5.5in 2,560 x 1,440 AMOLED display with a quad-core Qualcomm processor, 4GB of RAM, USB Type-C, rear-facing fingerprint reader, 12-megapixel rear camera and a 8-megapixel front-facing one. It will also have a beefy 3,450mAh battery and standard 32GB of storage, with the option to upgrade to a 128GB if needed," the site claims.
"The Pixel has similar specs, but it’s clearly the lower-end of the two flagships. It will sport a 5in Full HD AMOLED display, quad-core 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, the same cameras as the XL and a smaller 2,770mAh battery. As expected, it will also come with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader and a USB Type-C port."
Should you buy it?
If you don't like the idea of an iPhone 7 there's a lot to suggest Google's phones will offer a decent alternative. These phones will be developed to Google's spec so should have the best integration with Android on the market.
What's more, they're going to be entirely free of the third-party bloatware commonly loaded onto Android phones by other manufacturers.
We'll have to wait until October 4 to really find out what Google has planned.
Moto Z series and G4 Plus getting Android 7.0 Nougat update in Q4
Android 7.0 Nougat is official and LG has already announced the first smartphone running the latest Google-branded OS. While Android Nougat is available only on Nexus devices, Motorola could become the first OEM to roll out an update.
According to Droid Life, Motorola plans to roll out Android 7.0 Nougat at the beginning of Q4. The update will be pushed to Moto Z family and Moto G4 beginning in Q4. Readers must note Q4 starts in just couple of days and lasts through the end of the year. It is unclear when exactly Motorola plans to bring the new OS to its latest smartphones.
Motorola is currently planning to bring Android Nougat to Moto Z, Moto Z Force, Moto Z Play, Moto G4 and G4 Plus. If you have any other Moto smartphone then you are probably out of luck.
Google is hosting its ‘Made by Google’ event on October 4, where it is likely to announce Android 7.1 Nougat. The new version is coming at a time when the older version is yet to reach all the devices already available in the market.
Google is yet to update its dashboard with numbers indicating Nougat marketshare. The dashboard indicates Android Marshmallow being available on 18.7 per cent devices while KitKat and Lollipop are running on 27.7 per cent and 35 per cent Android smartphones.
Motorola has been one of the consistent OEMs when it comes to Android updates. The company has been significantly ahead of other OEMs with software updates. However, this time the details have been unclear. Now, Motorola is coming clean on its plans for Android Nougat updates.
