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- PS4 owners: set your messages to private to avoid malicious system crash
- Review: Amazon Fire HD 8 (2018)
- Which Pixel 3 features are coming to older Pixel phones (and which will remain exclusive)
| PS4 owners: set your messages to private to avoid malicious system crash Posted: 14 Oct 2018 06:06 AM PDT  In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a number of instances where mobile platforms, both iOS and Android, are hit with bugs where receiving a text message containing unique code or a specific character causes the app or even the whole device to crash. Now it’s the PlayStation 4’s turn. A growing number of owner are reporting this same problem, where a message is received and it forces the console to crash, in some cases even requiring a factory reset to fix. Just like previous examples of this bug, the problematic messages just need to contain certain characters to cause trouble. PS4 owners have gathered on Reddit to document the issue, noting that the console can crash just from receiving the message, even if it’s not opened. As a result, this is being used as an exploit in multiplayer games, where players use a dummy account to send the message to opponents, in turn crashing their console and getting them kicked from the match. Sony has yet to comment on the bug, but it’s likely a system software update will soon be on the way to address the issue. Fortunately there are a few things PS4 owners can do prevent being hit with the message, plus how they can get the console back to working order if they do receive it: 1. The easiest way to avoid this problem is to set messages to private, so messages from unknown users won’t be received at all. 2. Most users who’ve received the message say deleting it after it’s already been received on the console doesn’t help, but it can be deleted via the PS Messages mobile app before the PS4 has been turned on and connected to the internet. The app is free on both iOS and Android, and it’s an easy way to both delete messages and block users. 3. In the event the PS4 does crash because of the bug, the best thing to do is delete the message — the above method is probably best — then reboot the console in safe mode and choose to “Rebuild Database.” Sony’s instructions make this easy to do, and this doesn’t affect saved games/data, so there’s no risk of anything being deleted. SOURCE Reddit | ||
| Review: Amazon Fire HD 8 (2018) Posted: 14 Oct 2018 04:00 AM PDT [unable to retrieve full-text content] | ||
| Which Pixel 3 features are coming to older Pixel phones (and which will remain exclusive) Posted: 13 Oct 2018 08:07 AM PDT Google's Pixel 3 and 3 XL didn't pack a whole lot of hardware surprises, considering the unceasing deluge of leaks over recent months, but the software was another story. There were plenty of new camera features shown off at the Made by Google 2018 event, with oodles of machine learning magic to go around. Unfortunately for owners of older Pixel phones, not all of these new features will be coming to older handsets. For your convenience, we put together a list of all the major software features that will (and won't) be coming to previous models. As a disclaimer, this list is subject to change. We spoke to both a camera engineer at the event and a Google representative later, and both times we were told that it's possible more features could come to older Pixels, depending on the circumstances. In many cases, though, these new features are tied to understandable changes in hardware that preclude any backporting to the Pixel 2s or 2016 Pixels. Features coming to older Pixels
Sometimes, software is just software, and old Adjustable portrait blur
Like Apple and Samsung before them, you can change both the degree of blur and the focus of that blur on photos taken in the fake-bokeh Portrait mode with the Pixel 3. With the right combo of recent APKs, the same functionality works on the Pixel 2, and we're explicitly told by Google that the feature will be coming to other Pixels in an official capacity. Night Sight
At Google's event, it was revealed that a new low-light augmented Night Shot mode would be coming to Pixel 3 phones in November, and the examples provided by Google were stunning. Other Pixel phones were also explicitly scheduled to get the new mode, but there's no date provided (yet). We've also separately confirmed with Google that the feature will be coming to older phones. Gmail Smart Compose
Smart Compose came to Gmail earlier this year as an experimental feature, and the press-tab-to-complete suggestions while typing should bring a smile to anyone that's used to mucking about in Bash or CMD. Smart Compose saves time while typing emails by offering suggestions while you're typing, reducing how much time you spend composing messages. But, up until now, it's been a desktop-only feature. In the Made by Google 2018 keynote, it was said that Gmail's Smart Compose feature was "Coming first to Pixel," without any apparent distinction between the old and new devices. We've been explicitly told that it will hit all of them. PlaygroundPlayground is the new name for Google's AR Stickers app, which lets you add a bunch of augmented reality models into your viewfinder. Although it's coming first to Pixel 3, Google claims it will be rolling out to the 2016 Pixel and Pixel 2 "soon." Duplex
Duplex is an introvert's dream, allowing you to make calls via the Google Assistant in a fully automated fashion. Scheduling an appointment or verifying store hours can be handled entirely by the Assistant at your request. Pixel phones will get the new feature first next month on a city-by-city basis during rollout, but based on the particular phrasing of the announcement, it sounds like it won't only just hit all the Pixels, but it should eventually make its way to other devices, too. Call ScreenIn a similar vein to Duplex, Google showed off some new call screening functionality at the Pixel 3 event, hopefully giving us better tools to individually fight the ongoing telemarketer scourge — since US regulators can't (or won't). It allows you to have the Assistant answer on your behalf, ask who is calling, show you a transcription of the response, and offer ways to respond to the call. Call Screen launched with the Pixel 3 — at least, in the US — but "the entire Pixel family" will be getting it in November. Exclusive Pixel 3 features
Google's latest pair of flagships pack quite a lot of new hardware, and that means that not every one of the software features we saw mentioned at Made by Google 2018 will make their way to older phones. Although we're told by Google that it will try to bring features as possible to existing phones, that's only possible "where there is no hardware dependency." Like it or not, that means some of these new features require improved hardware to work, and the older Pixels don't have it. Pixel Stand stuffThis should be obvious, but I felt the need to point it out in any case: Since the older Pixels lack wireless charging, they won't be getting the Pixel Stand's Assistant experience. The Pixel 3, when set into its wireless charging stand, can mimic some of the features that the Google Home Hub and Assistant-powered speakers have. But, since none of the other Pixels have wireless charging, we're told that functionality won't be coming to older Pixels. Wide-angle selfiesFor what I hope are pretty obvious hardware reasons, older Pixels won't be able to enjoy the wide-angle selfies available on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. The wide-angle selfies are courtesy of — you guessed it — that secondary wide-angle camera assembly on the front of both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 2, 2XL, and 2016 Pixels literally lack the physical hardware to do it. Top ShotTop Shot looks pretty cool, allowing you to select the best photo from a series taken at the time of capture — just in case your timing was off. There are three catches that we know of so far: you need "Motion Photos" to be enabled (since this is an extension of that same system), quality is reduced for the alternative photos compared to the originals, and the feature is exclusive to the new Pixel 3 and 3 XL. That could be because the feature relies on the Pixel Visual Core in the Pixel 3 to work, or it may require some difference in the physical camera sensor. Whatever the reason, we're told that older Pixel phones won't be getting Top Shot, according to current plans. Photobooth ModeThe Pixel 3 harnesses the power of machine learning for the ultimate goal: funny face recognition. In Photobooth mode, Google's latest flagship is able to detect when to snap a selfie based on your facial expression. But like many of the other AI-powered photo features, this one is Pixel 3 only — at least, for the time being. Motion Auto Focus
We should all be used to tapping around a viewfinder to select focus and exposure, but Motion Auto Focus takes that functionality and makes it even more useful, by using that selection as a cue to lock onto that object even as you move around. Energetic pets or kids that can't hold still won't fall out of focus, and if you want to track a moving object, the Pixel 3 will do its best. Motion Auto Focus' sole disadvantage is its position on this list. We're told by Google that this feature is exclusive to the Pixel 3. Super Res ZoomAgain, Google skipped out on the dual-camera trend favored by most other OEMs, but that doesn't mean you can't get some good zoom out of the Pixels 3. A new feature called Super Res Zoom combines multiple short exposures to create a sharper, zoomed-in photo. It sounds a bit like speckle or lucky imaging, which is used in astrophotography to resolve fine details through atmospheric interference. Think of it as a sort of HDR in that it combines multiple exposures for a final image, but instead of looking for enhanced dynamic range, it's trying to resolve fine details for improved sub-pixel interpolation. Given the steps involved, Super Res Zoom could be quite a computationally expensive procedure so older hardware may not be up to snuff to take advantage of it. Google tells us Super Res Zoom is a Pixel 3-only feature for now. Lens SuggestionsGoogle Lens is a familiar tool for most of us — providing information about what we see via our phone's camera. But the Pixel 3 includes a bit of extra Lens functionality built right into the camera's viewfinder called Lens Suggestions. It's a bit more limited in scope compared to the full version, recognizing things like phone number and QR codes, but it also works entirely on-device. And, we're told that it's a Pixel 3-exclusive. Flip to |
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