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Smart displays cover all angles to rise above the chatter
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Smart displays cover all angles to rise above the chatter

Posted: 22 Oct 2018 07:31 AM PDT

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The Amazon Echo cracked a longstanding challenge for tech companies striving for maximum engagement: How do you embed stationary tech access points around the home in a relatively non-disruptive way? The smart speaker resonated because it provided an ambient attention-free alternative to dragging the illuminated slab from your pocket and twiddling with it long enough to get the weather or music you wanted.

Not content with leaving the home to purely auditory exchanges though, tech giants are seeking to expand the success of smart speakers into smart displays. These devices use a screen to augment or confirm information relayed through requests as well as act as tablet-sized TVs for smaller rooms, because how can people be expected to carve pumpkins without having Stranger Things playing inches away?

Also: Amazon Echo Show Review: A smart speaker that shows up

More seriously, smart displays certainly seem like a win for providing more of the benefits of smart speakers to the hearing impaired. They also offer significantly more utility than the digital picture frames that rose and fell a decade ago, only to mount a recent comeback from companies such as Nixplay and PhotoSpring. But, as is often the case in new categories, we are seeing companies approach the market with diverse value propositions. even when the core designs of the products have similar dimensions.

Visual Echos, Take Two

The Echo Show pioneered the modern smart display. As was typical of Amazon's Echo product rollouts, the company wasn't afraid to push the envelope in terms of functionality and price. The second-generation Echo, with its streamlined design and larger screen, matches the original's price of $229. However, Amazon has helped to justify the premium by establishing an effective model for use of the display in an audio-first device. The result is a well-rounded experience that works as well for basic information as it does for home automation

Also: Google to device makers: You do you, and I'll do me

Speaking of well-rounded products, and in light of the Echo Show's screen spread, the spherical Echo Spot may best represent the future of the smart display categories. Now that Alexa is taking root in devices with far better audio quality, the more transactional nature of its usage can be effectively augmented in a device that fits better on a nightstand and other cramped spaces.

A Portal into Facebook

It's no surprise that smart speakers, which include powerful microphone arrays and can potentially unlock doors, raise privacy and security concerns. That makes for dangerous terrain for a company that has endured much scrutiny in the past year around these topics. The result cast a cloud over the launch of Facebook's smart display, which is not only optimized for video chat, but uses computer vision to track one's presence around a room. To allay concerns, Facebook took pains to note that the Portal never stores details of audio or conversations, and the company even includes a removable cover for its camera that seems to have a high likelihood of getting lost.

Also: Facebook Portal alternatives you can buy right now

However, the bigger question surrounding Portal is how appealing its core features are when the camera is being used as intended given that the Echo Show -- as well as any modern tablet or laptop -- can also host video chats. And in a category where both Amazon and Google are carefully minding the footprints of their devices to conserve table space, Facebook is rolling out a version of the Portal that includes a 15-inch display.

Google Nests in Your Home

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You might expect the stewards of the most widely licensed operating system in the world to take a platform approach to new device. Google did this when it coined (or repurposed) "smart displays" to represent devices adding a visual layer to speakers like Google Home -- with Lenovo signing up. That effort encompassed a broad array of tasks not coincidentally answering the focus of the Echo Show.

Also: Google Fuchsia: Here's what the NSA knows about it

However, at its Made by Google event this month, Google unwrapped its own flavor of the tabletop screen, the Google Home Hub. Developed by the Nest and adopted by Google proper, it emphasizes home control and access to YouTube and Google Photos, with a focus on being unobtrusive in a range of lighting conditions. The latter is a slap of Amazon, which has been banned from showing content from the massive video repository on its Echo Show. Google is also competing against its rivals with a lower price ($149 versus $229 for the Echo) aided buy a smaller display (7-inch vs. 10-inch) and lack of a camera, which also helps allay privacy concerns.

While that makes for a more specific take on functionality than the Smart Display, Google considers the Home Hub simply a more Google-optimized variant on the device category. Indeed, it has advertised it on television as such. It is also considered part of the broader Google Home speaker family, much as the Echo Show is considered part of the Echo smart speaker line.

Smart speakers face a paradox at present. On one hand, developers have imbued Alexa-based products with thousands of skills despite virtually no ways to directly monetize them. On the other hand, discovery remains a major challenge. Even the morass of the smartphone app stores look like a well-lit holiday display window at Macy's by comparison. Smart displays could make it easier to expose these capabilities.

Also: Google's Pixel Slate problem: The Android apps are awful

However, while they typically provide touch screens, third parties are just beginning to support them and there have been renewed shenanigans when it comes to crossing ecosystem borders. The Echo Show has shown that a display can be a useful augmentation to the functionality of these devices, while Google is hoping to prove that these displays can be optimized for enjoyment when they are active (as a Google Photos digital frame) and unobtrusive when are inactive. That's one of the lines that these products will have to straddle to prove their value over generally less expensive smart speakers.

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Amazon now has an entire army of Echo devices. Some listen to you. Some also watch you. Which should you choose? We help you decide.

My first smartphone was an iPhone 4s. It was tough piece of technology that survived seven years of use and abuse in my hands and my dad's. We retired it earlier this year after it became too slow for daily use, but I'm sure that if I restored it to factory settings and got its battery replaced, it could serve another owner for a few more years. It's the reason why I bought an iPhone 6 Plus in 2015, and why I felt betrayed when my newer, larger smartphone was suddenly taken by the dreaded Touch Disease recently.

Okay, maybe the word "betrayed" is too strong — I'm not that much of a drama queen. Unlike back in 2015, when I knew I was getting another iPhone, though, losing my device to that touchscreen issue made me consider other options. Yes, the iPhone X was still one of them, but its price tag gave me pause: It cost over $400 more than the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus earlier this year. The 64GB iPhone's price tag here in the Philippines was also around $300 more than in the US. I chose to get the Galaxy S8 Plus instead.

I wasn't exclusively an iOS user before the Galaxy S8 Plus. However, my previous experience with Android was limited to the very first Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and to the more affordable devices tech giants release in developing markets. While I loved my Galaxy Tab, it was slow and janky out of the box. The affordable Android phones I've handled were decent, but their performance reflected their typically older and cheaper components.

The Galaxy S8 Plus, however, feels smooth and seamless. Yes, its software still isn't vanilla Android, but it's a far cry from the Galaxy Tab's stuttery TouchWiz-flavored OS of yesteryear. Plus, it's much faster than my parents' mid-range Samsung phones.

After almost a decade of using an iOS device as my everyday phone, I'd be lying if I said that the Galaxy S8+ didn't confuse me at first. I kept looking for apps likes Notes, which is tied to my MacBook's iteration. I kept forgetting that I had to swipe down to access the app drawer, and my thumb kept wandering to the bottom of the screen and searching for that home button. (I would've had the same issue if I'd gotten the iPhone X instead, though.)

It didn't take me too long to become familiar with my new phone, but the one thing I'm realizing is how customizable Android is compared to iOS. One feature I truly appreciate and regularly use, is Samsung's Edge panel. I can launch apps without having to leave the one I'm in, simply by swiping from the margin of my phone. Now up to speed, I barely ever visit my App Drawer, because I make sure the Edge panel is always updated with shortcuts to my favorite apps.

Another thing I also had to get used to is the structure of the hardware. While I did lose my iPhone 6+ to the Touch Disease, which (according to Apple) is caused by dropping the device on hard surfaces, I never really had to worry about accidentally bumping the iPhone's edges. A few weeks into owning an S8 Plus, however, I noticed a growing black blob on its margin: Its internal screen was broken, and I had to bring it in for repair. Thankfully, Samsung quickly replaced its display panel, and I got my phone back within a few days.

I bought a case that can adequately protect the Galaxy S8 Plus's margins after that. It's not such a huge inconvenience that I'd regret getting an Android flagship instead of an iPhone, though. In fact, I'd probably go for another Android flagship after my S8 Plus conks out, seeing as their equivalent Apple rivals are only getting more expensive.

"IRL" is a recurring column in which the Engadget staff run down what they're buying, using, playing and streaming.

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Pixel 3 XL vs. iPhone XS Max speed test results are pretty embarrassing

Posted: 22 Oct 2018 05:35 AM PDT

The Pixel 3 phones started shipping to buyers last week, which means YouTubers have already started putting the phone through various tests, including the anticipated speed comparisons against Apple’s iPhone XS series. Sadly, things aren’t looking good for Google’s new phone if speed is what you’re looking for in an Android handset. It’s not just that the Pixel 3 can’t beat Apple’s 2018 iPhones, but also that the new Pixel already seems dated when it comes to hardware.

Google isn’t doing itself any favors by launching new phones in late October, as long as these phones are still running on off-the-shelf processors like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series. The 10nm 845 chip inside the Pixel 3 is already “old” considering 7nm chips are available, powering all three 2018 iPhones as well as four new Huawei Mate 20 versions. Moreover, the Snapdragon 855 (8150) is just around the corner, and it’s also a 7nm chip.

But hardware doesn’t seem to be the Pixel 3’s main problem right now. As one of the following speed tests shows, the phone isn’t doing a great job at keeping apps in memory, which means you’ll waste time waiting for apps to be reloaded again. Even if it’s running the purest form of Android available, the Pixel 3 isn’t the fastest phone out there, as the software doesn’t seem to be optimized. As many of you will recall, Apple’s iPhones also had serious problems with RAM management in iOS 11.

YouTube channel EverythingApplePro compared the Pixel 3 XL against the iPhone XS Max in a bunch of speed tests and Apple came out the winner in most of them. The real-life speed test that we’re used to seeing for every new phone that comes out is also included. Each phone opens the same series of apps in the same order in two laps. The first lap measures the speed of the device, and the second round looks at memory management since the same apps are opened again from memory.

[embedded content]

The Pixel 3 XL may boot up faster than the iPhone XS Max and some apps definitely open up quicker. But overall, it’s the Max that’s the clear winner. The XL can’t beat other 2018 flagships either, including the Galaxy S9 or the OnePlus 6, which is the fastest Android in town.

The video also contains a bunch of benchmarks, but it’s Apple Insider that offers us an even better benchmark comparison video. The following clip shows scores for the Pixel 3 XL and iPhone XS Max in plenty of tests, including Geekbench 4, AnTuTu, Octane 2.0, and GFXBench.

[embedded content]

The iPhone XS Max comes out on top in all of them and the results aren’t surprising. After all, the iPhone XS Max is powered by the 7nm A12 Bionic chip, a processor that has no rivals right now, while the Pixel 3 XL’s chip can’t even outperform last year’s iPhone X and iPhone 8 series.

Image Source: Zach Epstein, BGR

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