Gadgetory

the 359 is sponsored by USB technology the USB implementers forum reminds consumers that USB if' logos are displayed on certified USB products so the next time you're shopping for a reliable USB charger cable or device look for the logos get the whole story at enabling USB org welcome a good morning to the 359 podcast it's episode 446 on Tuesday August 21st on dbg and in the house you've got a packed one you got Ben you got Roger you got rich Nieva and this time we're late because not Ben's fault because Roger's fault sure I did I was on time the truth my bad rich thanks for being here by the way we've got rich for only a few more days our Microsoft B reporter bridge Nieva my best friend need to get that one in there since Alfred's not around to try to steal you away very flattering we have great John to talk about two stories one a new google fit announcement I wasn't even aware what Google fit was so we shall explain what that is for me we'll talk about Microsoft identifying a new wave of Russian hacking this time against conservative groups and lastly we want to talk about the Oppo find X a phone that our colleague Aloysius Lowe calls more beautiful than the Galaxy S nine which itself is a pretty handsome Android phone as always if you have any questions leave them in the comment section I'm gonna pick up the best and we'll get them in three minutes in 59 seconds shout out to everybody tuning in from Texas today we'll see you guys back in the chat in three minutes and 59 seconds from 3:00 to welcome to the 359 I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox ribbon and with us is special guest rich Nieva rich you're here to talk about some announcements google has a as an announcement too an addition to Google fit basically this this program to help motivate you to move more and be more active yeah tell me about that it's a little bit of an overhaul of google fit and it's their their platform to basically try to get you to exercise more and it's an app that you can find on like an Android phone or an Android smart watch I'm so lazy I didn't actually know google fit was a thing yeah yeah I just don't like to move so I think Google fit would be kind of worthless well then you're really gonna hate this new thing that they tell me not today because it's literally called it's called move minutes and there's another thing that they they know it's called heart points and those basically like oh that's like an RPG thing right are points are points it's so it's it's a gamification thing you know it's like it it's meant to encourage you to like instead of taking like an elevator then then take the stairs okay or instead of like meeting up with a friend for coffee they like meet up with a friend and take a walk around the block kind of thing this is this stuff work like for instance you've got the Apple why'd ya the Apple rings yeah yeah well it also turns on like a certain notification the like you actually do that actually I mean I kid about being completely like I will get up and walk around for a bit when I get the reminder it does kind of work I don't know I don't know how much it helps the timing is interesting because we've got Aoife next year oh yeah sorry my watch told me to stand we've got you for next week Ben will be going there we're expecting at least a couple of smaller watching ounces right and imagine google fit plays well into our watches yeah yeah Scotland Skagen is having an announcement that's one of the fossil companies so we are expecting quite a bit of SmartWatch news along with smart appliances stuff so definitely look out for the ephah news as it starts rolling out I guess mid next week and excited to be in Berlin it looks like Russian influence over our elections hasn't stopped Microsoft has discovered a new wave hacking attempts on sites belonging to - yes u.s. conservative groups rich yeah what's going on yeah I mean I think the thing here is that you know it looks like Russia's not not done yeah right not done yet that's interesting I mean initially that a lot of the targets were with the Democratic Party this looks like they're they're going out to the other side right right so I mean I guess the takeaway here is that it's it's broader than then than we thought and they're these sites are posing as legitimate sites they're they're stealing passwords and and credentials reportedly the idea there I guess is like when you look at it from a democratic or conservative side it's more like the idea to sow chaos as opposed to and that was the same thing in 2016 as opposed to really specifically targeting just one side which granted that was also happening yeah we definitely saw that with the internet research agency it was definitely both sides it wasn't I didn't take they didn't pick a party lastly one little-known Chinese filmmaker may have an Android phone that's more beautiful than galaxy s 9 that's according to our colleague Aloysius Lowe says the Oppo find X is probably the most gorgeous phone he's seen all year yeah no bezel no not full screen it's gonna pop up camera so it's not selling in the US unfortunately but it does look really nice it's interesting and in in Jessica adult courts video about this she said even though it's not going to arrive in the US hopefully some of those innovative designs do find their way into different phones it is kind of cool but I think it might get a little annoying after a while that the entire back opens like lifts up to allow you to take a selfie you know you've got like a spontaneous selfie that doesn't really work too well it's it's from hash tag team anti notch I celebrate this innovation keep in mind a PO is owned by bkk which also owns oneplus so given that we know that the oneplus is coming t-mobile maybe we'll see if phones with pop-up cameras and all bezel or no bezel no notch phones in the future all bezel alright for more of the story shakes down Cena I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox ribbon I'm rich neova it's listening that's pretty good all right thanks everybody for joining us for the recording of the 359 audio podcast now as always it's time for you to question what we just reported on so we can keep the comedy what it's everything we should everything we say should be cool I want all the time I went up against to the chat so obviously we talked a lot about notches and how notches have taken over and it's basically if you have a premium phone these days it's an I don't have a notch so for customers that are watching this would you prefer no not but have this pop up camera thing because it's not like that is a perfect solution either I'd be worried that like if you break it back to the bezel like Samsung still has that frame above me on the screen right you know the sides are are bezel this but they they decide to go no notch and like ya have an actual you know strip across the the top of the phone that has the camera right which is which is that's the that's how everybody used to do it so yeah I guess the question is would you prefer a knotch or a pop-up camera which one would you go with so yeah we'll see what people come back with you looking at me no no we're oh sure yeah let's let's do that well Barry says I'm guessing the rumored pixel watch might have something to do with google fit ooh that's a really good guess what do you think really rich knows something spill the beans I mean yeah do you know that's gonna be called a pixel watch or we don't know anything I mean anything that Google can do to expand the kind of the kinds of data that it can collect is a good business move for Google so sure and going back to all this this this fit stuff I mean it is it is another reminder of just how granular the data that they can collect on you oh yeah well that's the idea with move minutes for instance like instead of just tracking something pretty rudimentary like steps it can track a handful of different things I know the Apple watch like I met with the Apple folks a couple months ago and the Apple watch tries to do some of that as well we're like it's that one was for accessibility reasons where if you're in a wheelchair it also tracks your activity so it seems like these smartwatches are getting better at tracking different types of activity and not just steps yeah like one one of the examples Google gave is like if you're doing yoga or if you're gardening like it knows that your garden you know it's know if I'm walking and holding my kid I don't think my Apple watch knows that I feel like I should get more credit should get more points for that you're holding like wait wait yeah maybe they should give the kid an Apple watch and then it gets tracked on the kids Apple watch right so you really want track your kid get him an Apple ID yeah yeah definitely Danny Green says my move reminders are turned off and sitting if I'm sitting that long I'm likely doing something I can't walk away from at the time like when I'm directing video for an hour or 45 minutes hour and 45 minutes on a Sunday morning same Danny same from a Michael Brown I'm curious how many of you have a where OS Smart Watch tell us if you do and what brand you own or if you've owned one in the past let's go ahead and expand it to that I don't have one I I've tried one yeah I've tried them because I cover right obligated but I don't wear any Smart Watch actually I actually really like like regular watches oh wow that's weird yeah wait you call yourself a tech reporter I know yeah I mean I have an Apple watch and I had a I mean I was regularly using a gear Garrus three the sampling garish but that's also not where is right they uses their own Tizen operating system so I actually haven't I mean I've handled and played with where OS my watches but I've never really been drawn to them yeah it might be fun to get Scott Steiner on because he does a ton on wearables like after Aoife gods on a boat though Scott's on a boat when he's no longer on a boat we'll we'll try to get him back on here and like maybe do a show specifically about wearables we can do that I don't know that anybody would watch that show probably not Michael Brown will be on we will you will enjoy having you yes you Michael yeah that doesn't sound right it's only a matter of time before Scott just looks like a comic book character would like utility belts in the Chewbacca Bell and just like all the wearables I want to see him just completely like right down to the Nintendo Power glove just Bilbao this like autonomous Terminator looking you would be right at home in a power glove yeah it's so bad Jacob Lombardo it's obvious Google is trying to look like the nice guy with the experimentation of increased development in digital well-being and Google fit do you think that the regular customer is looking at this and taking it as a good look towards Google motives or is it really looking that they're saying that all of these all the time are just trying to farm more data on us yeah yeah I mean I think both can be true yeah I mean I think there's an overall trend with tech companies I mean you're seen with Apple to write to kind of push wellness as a way to get you to buy these devices right this isn't just a watch it's supposed to save your life it's supposed to get you motivated I mean Tim Cook is actually your right heart heart monitor yeah but but also in their advertising they specifically mentioned the Apple watch was like save people's lives or something like some guy was having a heart attack in the Apple watch like we're just like alerted I don't know a robot or something so I made up the last but yeah it's it's yes if you're into that kind of stuff I guess it's something useful where it's more granular information but at the same time totally absolutely good analysis that these giant tech companies are not gonna have more in different kinds of information about you which is what's so great about this year is that we're talking so much more about these data privacy issues and you know how much information an apple or a Google stores about you yeah and it's interesting to juxtapose like this announcement against the news that came out last week or Google was in hot water for for its location services yeah and and how it how it kind of attracts you even though even when you turn off location history yeah coming in from Nalini what do you mean this time Apple will collaborate with Garmin I'm not sure who said that I don't recall I don't think we said that didn't say I never said that that might have been in the chat that might have been in the chat apologies I'm doing too many things at once all good let's move on to the Oppo it's a cool phone is it a practical phone oh Wilbury says I don't see a problem with keeping a chin and forehead especially if that means keeping dual front-facing speakers there's a good priority there's a good point you must be a fan those old HTC boomsound speakers that those were known for their large chin and forehead I don't know that I feel like the trend has moved beyond that like the idea of having a bezel s phone like basically all screen that's kind of where the industry is going so if you if you miss those days where there are like large foreheads and Chin's like you're out of luck or or I guess you can buy a cheaper phone because I think those are still something but like the trend is like the rumors for the next iPhones they're all gonna have this bezel as' notch design so that's kind of where things are going yeah and that design might change in a couple years but in in the interim like in the short term that's what we've got I I totally agree and yes I if I should like every black like black mirror or whatever like although all those phones are like almost all glass or the I think the industry is shooting towards that kind of fictional feature of like basically just glass right and one of the cool things and this goes to Westworld is one of the cool things that's expected to come from Samsung what next year or something or the moldable phone so if you are kind of getting sick of how phones look like or you don't really like the the bezel free design then there's an opportunity to get like like a billfold phone would could be really interesting I mean like I'm certainly we've talked about that for years and like MIT hasn't hit the market yet well remember a couple years ago when like scroll things like rollable happen to that it's done that to me is like kind of like a bridge or it was like a step in their design process to try to get to like a foldable phone I don't think anybody really wants like like a rolled-up burrito phone and their burrito pho would be kind of cool if you can so that you can say the phrase burrito foam yeah part of the issue was the they were able to get the display to bend and fold but the problem is the getting components to do that right you know Apple's charging like three times that joke was a good one yeah that was solid you should file that one thank you ouch I'm not sure if you're serious never James Colin why not embrace the notch that's another good question just because we tease it we make fun of it all the time but honestly let's let's get objective it's all hell right now what's worse bezel or not ch I mean the bezels worse and then I go back to I have a 7 plus an a-10 I go back to my 7 plus I'm like oh this looks kind of and it looks old-fashioned I guess the fact that it's got this chunky part of the phone that doesn't really have utilitarian purpose I don't know so this is an s8 and it has like that terrible bezel on the top yeah it's just kind of like the little little yeah you think on the top Moorehead on the top oh whatever fine it's got a little forehead on top and I don't really care that much I think it's totally fine I feel like how much would be distracting but I don't have an iPhone I've already said I'm okay with I would like the notch to be a little bit smaller I know the one plus six and a couple other phones have the option where like it'll black out that part of the screen so they're using a notch so if you're annoyed by it there's sort of a digital solution I think they kind of split the difference since they still put the time up there in like a different color so it's like no not CH it's kind of bezel but the time is up there so we were also jogging around before the show about the idea of having like an in screen camera so you wouldn't need I wasn't talking about that I think that that's gonna happen in like a few years like a camera embedded underneath the display how is technology that allows like this screen to like but that part of the screen for the camera like blank out or go blank and be able to shoot out well that's pretty awesome there are patents filed for a ready just has it's been in development for years I'm sure Apple has like a ton of people working on that now yeah so we're gonna have the in display fingerprint sensor that's already hitting the market and then maybe in display camera at some point at some point you're just gonna have a clean sheet of glass and then maybe fold black mirror that's what I'm saying it's it's coming it's coming I mean it might take a while but we'll say by and large the chat is against the knotch I myself thank you I would prefer a bezel because the way I like to hold my phone and I can't tell you how many times now that I have a galaxy si active which I like like a lot but the edge to edge and it's not even as edge to edge as some of them out there but it's closer than I'm used to I can't tell you how many times I'm just trying to watch a video or something like that and I accidentally scrub backwards or something stupid like oh yeah and I don't want to get one of those stupid little capper things you put on the back of the case that's the whole reason I got this phone so I wouldn't have to put a case on it and for the record I got so angry the other day I threw the phone put a hole in the wall phone survived Wow wait so there's a chat case or non or anti case we haven't brought up case yet we're just still talking notch bezel and I haven't seen a single one anti bezel so the s8 active by the way Brian is that like the one party or hardened yeah yeah it's not quite milspec but it's like pretty it's a brick it's pretty heavy is the only real downside to it I mean for you it's purple it's perfect sorry how often you throw your phone the bullet points on it specifically mentioned like Brian you can throw this it's totally totally fine I want to see my testimony on the next box like the next act of Rage throws another question from Jacob Lombardo as we move on after a few months of normal wear and tear the battery of my wear OS watch the battery wouldn't even last a day how our company is going to change this you can't really make it larger it would kind of defeat the purpose of the watch all right go ahead answer this question battery tag huh I think this is a dilemma that all filmmakers are dealing with or ice makers ice makers is that how do you get a watch that lasts longer but keep the the size really small I mean you saw the Apple watch the last type of watch where the embedded LTE like the watch got thicker like they kind of like made it they kind of hid the bulk underneath but it is thicker and so I mean I think that's right now that without like a huge jump in battery technology like wholesale change away from like lithium-ion we're just kind of stuck basically just with a bigger battery if you want to last longer I mean there are little things you can do with this on with the software fixes we're like you can optimize and maybe have them not you know have apps not do things in the background right right or have your phone just shut down on you which Apple did was that thing sure please remind me it was these four older phones right mm-hmm where they would just slow them down right so I think things like Qualcomm got fast chuckle quick charging so there are ways that kind of mitigated like well I think wireless charging will eventually help once you see charging stations all around in public spaces so it's not as much of a worry but yeah it's that's just gonna continue be a problem Maximilian Matthews is a change in the pace on us wants to know when do you think the Apple is going to send out the September event invites ooh great question and with that with the event bring to us the mesmeric air Matt oh that thing maybe I don't know they keep pushing that thing back so I think part of me is suspecting that it's an issue with like the standards and working with with the Chi and consortium to kind of get all of that stuff settled but in terms of the invitations I think we're all like targeting September 11th for the actual date but we don't actually know but if you kind of work backwards it's probably a week before that so you can sort of see the invites coming out either next week or the week after but fairly shortly we should see something or hear something soon there's also a rumor that there's gonna be is that there was a story yesterday that there's gonna be an October event yeah where the MacBook Air might actually finally get wrapping on that idea and like tell me some ways sorry oh really I'm the last year has the chat been just jonesing like where's the new MacBook Air and it's free we take it with a grain of salt though we just have literally talked about MacBook Air refresh like a real refresh we're getting rid of the bezel and adding a Retina display for at least three or four years now yeah and the the idea is is that the lowest tier MacBook Pro is it was supposed to be a MacBook just the MacBook or the MacBook either one of those were supposed to be the refresh but there were like 20 to 30 percent more money so people are obviously looking for you know just a slightly better MacBook Air at the same price and like Apple has so far refused to do it so I'll believe it when I see it although yeah here's gonna have a notch it's gonna be the best how that's gonna work like fitting that lineup since like the MacBook is already kind of stripped down with high resolution display like how are they gonna justify how that fits in with the product when it's like basically the same deal right it's got Retina display and it's got you know the thinner bezel like how is that gonna lightly it's a good question I always saw the MacBook like the straight-up MacBook as more of like experimental because they just got rid of all the ports it was like that's a thing like that was like there that was sort of their new take on the MacBook Air until people ya know they don't work no that's the thing it's too expensive yeah so maybe this is very I don't see them doing it even though as we're talking about it that does make sense to me I'm just wondering there gonna be other things they throw out to keep it at $1,000 mm-hmm like yeah there's a Retina display and smaller bezel but like there's no more keyboard no trackpad is $500 yes exactly the $200 accessories newest innovative revolution no more screens all right we are out of time unfortunately thanks everybody for joining us thank at USB for sponsoring the show we're gonna have to close up shop and we'll be back again tomorrow I guess in closing thoughts Josh Boyer says it best to bring back the banana phone I love it here in the u.s. No so all right hope you enjoy today our podcast and elbows on on iTunes tune in stitcher feedburner google play music and the Amazon Alexa of course we're on Sina comm see y'all tomorrow see you tomorrow thanks folks