Google’s parent company Alphabet is working on a line of audio-enhancing products that could turn out to be next-gen hearing aids, or possibly something much more.
Meanwhile Google has announced plans to speed up the release schedule for its Chrome web browser by 50-percent, with new stable builds now rolling out every four weeks. Samsung has introduced new technology for better photography with next-gen smartphone camera sensors. And it turns out the AYA Neo handheld gaming PC will go up for pre-order through a crowdfunding campaign within the next few days after a short delay.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- Inside Google’s top-secret project to give you superhuman hearing. Code name: ‘Wolverine’ [Insider]
Google parent company Alphabet is working on a “moonshot” project code-named Wolverine that’s “exploring the future of hearing. One use case would be hearing aids that help isolate the sound of one voice from a crowd, but there could be others. - Speeding up Chrome’s release cycle [Google]
Google is changing its Chrome browser release schedule. Starting with Chrome 94, due out in Q3, 2021, there will be new milestone releases every four weeks and “Extended Stable” releases every 8 weeks. - ISOCELL 2.0: Let there be light [Samsung]
Samsung introduces ISOCELL 2.0 for next-gen smartphone cameras, with improved light sensitivity, even with smaller pixel sizes. - Samsung Announces Galaxy XCover 5, the Newest Durable and Advanced Smartphone Built for Tough Environments [Samsung]
As expected, Samsung’s new Galaxy XCover 5 is a rugged phone with a 5.3 inch display, Exynos 850 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, a 3K mAh battery, and MIL-STD810H certified case with IP68 water protection. Coming to Asia, Europe, Latin America this month. - This is the Sonos Roam, coming in April for $169 [The Verge]
Sonos Roam 6.5″ x 2.5″ x 2.5″ portable speaker leaked. Likely coming in April for $169, it’s a waterproof, battery-powered speaker with support for WiFi and Bluetooth audio. - AYA reveals grip attachment for the Neo handheld gaming PC (coming to Crowdfunding within days) [@AYA_device]
Another optional accessory for the AYA Neo handheld gaming PC: this time it’s a grip attachment. @AYA_device also now says crowdfunding will begin in a few days, the hardware’s been improved, and… only 42 units will be sold at the $699 early bird price.Â
Grip Attachment#AYANEO pic.twitter.com/pbOr7PYJrB
— AYA NEO (@AYA_device) March 4, 2021
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From a gaming handheld first point of view, I think the AYA Neo is better than the Win 3 assuming they can get to mass production.
Since GPD still has a bad QC/reliability issue perception with mostly non-existent support, I think there’s no clear winner there even if AYA never had previous products.
Good luck to the AYA folks. I guess they got lucky GPD made so many bad decisions on the Win 3.
Really?
What are the so many bad decisions GPD made on the Win 3? I can only think of two-and-half improvements they needed.
1- To use a proper tactile hardware keyboard buttons
2- Have the dock to use the TB4 port to allow eGPU
3- Have slightly better Action Buttons
I think their SoC choice was competitive fine, especially if they utilised the TB4 port. Their form-factor is great, when you think about how compact it is. And the controls are mostly good. Sure, the material quality and build quality could be improved but unfortunately that goes for pretty much all these niche electronics and we don’t have much say in it until a larger OEM (like ASUS, Sony, Razer, Apple, etc) makes an attempt at this niche.