Yesterday a video was making the rounds that allegedly showed what Motorola’s upcoming Moto Razr phone with a foldable display would look like. It was said to have been shown off my Lenovo/Motorola executives at an event in China.
Today WinFuture and Engadget reported that not only was this video not new… it wasn’t even made by Lenovo. It’s an excerpt from a fan-made video posted to YouTube by Waqar Khan in February… except that Lenovo appears to have slapped the Motorola logo on the end and shared it as its own. In fact, you can still see the words “concept by @WaqarKhanHD” on the video shared by Lenovo.
I mean, Khan says his video was based on leaked schematics, so maybe Lenovo figured it was cheaper to repurpose a video that’s already a fairly accurate depiction of its phone than to create one from scratch. But they don’t seem to have given Khan credit… and it does raise the question of whether a real phone actually exists.
Another question I’m left with? WTF?
Here’s a roundup of recent (and updated) news from around the web.
- Update: About that Moto Razr folding phone video… [Liliputing]
That video that allegedly shows the upcoming Moto Razr foldable phone that was making the rounds yesterday? Apparently it’s an excerpt from a fan-made video produced earlier this year, and shared off by Lenovo/Motorola execs for some reason. - HP Enterprise buys Cray, maker of supercomputers, for $1.3 billion [Anandtech]
This probably won’t have any impact at all on the HP desktop and notebook computers you can buy for home or small business use. But it does give HP a big presence in the high-end supercomputer space. - Translatotron: An End-to-End Speech-to-Speech Translation Model [Google]
Google’s Translatotron offers speech-to-speech translation without first converting to text. It can also “retain the voice of the original speaker after translation.” Make sure to follow the links to listen to some rather astonishing examples of Trnslatotron in action. - Google preparing to block call recording apps altogether [reddit]
Android P already blocked apps from recording sound directly from a phone call. Android Q DP3 blocks a workaround that used a phone’s microphone to do it. - Update: More details about Amazon’s new Fire 7 tablet and its spec bumps [Liliputing]
The new Amazon Fire 7 tablet has the same processor as the Fire HD 8 (but it’s running in 32-bit mode for some reason), as well as an ambient light sensor, higher-res front camera, and other improvements. - Google discloses security bug in its Bluetooth Titan Security Keys, offers free replacement [TechCrunch]
It’s like rain on your wedding day. - Arm Mali-D77 display processor [ARM]
ARM’S new Mali-D77 display processor is designed to bring smooth VR experiences to headsets with up to a 3K, 120Hz display. - Walmart launches free NextDay Delivery [Walmart]
Walmart launches free 1-day shipping across much of the US, no membership fee required. This would totally be an Amazon Prime killer if Prime hadn’t added streaming video, music, eBook borrowing, and a bunch of other value-added services ages ago.
Too bad Lenovo’s video is stolen and fake. Although, I’d prefer this folding form factor than the other ones that are out. That is, I’d prefer current size smartphones that fold to make them smaller instead of tablets that fold into smartphones that’s still larger and chunkier than existing ones.
A Chinese company stealing someone else’s work and claiming it’s their own? I’m shocked!
/s
Personally I LIKE having call recording capabilities built in (Sharp aquos s2). Whenever I call customer service they record the call which means legally I am entitled to have a copy myself to throw back in their faces when something goes wrong later (it has actually come in handy). Honestly, I love the fact that the wording of “This call may be decided for xxxxxxx purposes” can be interpreted as giving me permission 😁
I think it would be best if they integrated the ability and had an automatic message play as soon as you pressed to record. The phone could use location data to use the local language for the announcement and that way you wouldn’t have privacy concerns, you’d be informed IF someone was recording the call (and the person could then give or refuse their consent if so required by law.
They probably never actually record you though. Nobody wants to talk to the customers in the first place, so it’s pretty unlikely they want to relive that moment.
They do record, and it’s surprising how much they get listened to, or passed on when a customer says something funny. Often times they are still recording when you’re on hold. Source: first hand experience setting up phone systems, second hand talking with clients.
They also record you because any agreement reached is technically binding and they need proof to cover their behinds. I had a situation like that where they offered me one discount and gave me another, and I refused to pay the difference. They tried to collect several times and every time I explained the situation and they said it would be fixed. Eventually one of them said I must have been mistaken and blah blah blah and I had to pay. I said “you record these calls, right?”, she said “yes” and I told her to go back and to listen to the call where the agreement had been reached. She said okay but that when it turned out I was mistaken that I would have to pay. I told her that if the tapes proved me wrong I would. After waiting for like forty-five minutes on hold she came back, very bitter and petulant and reluctantly admitted that I was right (I’m guessing she lost out on a commission for collecting the balance “owed”). They finally adjusted my balance to what it should have been.
Having to rely on their recordings is not as convenient as having my own (they can claim that they didn’t record that particular call or that they are only kept for so long or whatever.
If I have my own I have proof. Same reason I prefer food apps to ordering take out by phone. There’s a written record of what I wanted and what ingredients I asked to be kept off (I have an uncommon allergy to one ingredient) so if anything is seriously wrong with the order it is easier to assign blame where it is due (before calling to complain I check the confirmation e-mail/message to make sure the mistake wasn’t mine, if it was I don’t bother the restaurant since it’s not their fault).
Well, it’s a very convincing video. Can I still have hopes?