Technology - Google News |
- Google TV needs a ‘flagship’ Chromecast to set an example, even if a cheaper one will sell well - 9to5Google
- Samsung built a fingerprint security chip for payment cards, employee IDs and more - Engadget
- How to sell your old, unwanted tech: Talking Tech podcast - USA TODAY
| Posted: 24 Jan 2022 02:30 PM PST The $50 Chromecast with Google TV was a great launch vehicle for Google's latest attempt at offering a streaming platform, but as it enters 2022, the affordable device's flaws are being felt by more people. As we reported last week, Google is working on another Chromecast device, but one that's even more on the low end — here's why we'd rather see a "flagship."
Quickly recapping the past few days, we reported on Friday that Google is working on a new Chromecast device that carries the codename "Boreal." The device, which we have said is set to launch this year, would be in the same family as the current Chromecast, "Sabrina" running Google TV. Today, the folks over at Protocol added to the picture, reporting that "Boreal" will be a cheaper Chromecast model that removes 4K support to lower its cost of entry. Google TV needs an example to turn to……And the current Chromecast isn't itGoogle TV is a platform that's expanding quickly – the Android TV OS that it's based on grew by over 30 million devices in under a year, and TCL says it sold over 10 million units last year alone. The Chromecast is what kicked off that trend, and it really did kick things off on a high note. The affordable, but not overly cheap hardware was enough to sufficiently show what Google TV was capable of and be a solid content vehicle for most people. But it's not the ideal showcase for an example other manufacturers should aspire to match or even beat. The Chromecast has its limitations, and they're not ones that can be fixed by an even cheaper product. The biggest issue, which we've been pretty vocal about, is the horribly limited storage that can't be easily expanded. 8GB of storage just isn't enough for a home streamer that's literally designed to consolidate streaming apps as more and more keep coming to market. And this is a problem that a cheaper product simply will not solve. It simply isn't feasible to think that a device running on lower-end hardware and set to sell for a lower price will have more storage, and it'd be unlike Google to include something like a microSD card slot to easily expand that storage.
The other big hiccup that the current Chromecast with Google TV has faced is with performance, in a variety of areas. The onboard chip and 2GB of RAM run smoothly enough for streaming videos, but the homescreen often lags, and slowdowns elsewhere are far from uncommon. This is, again, something a lower-end device can't solve. According to the latest report, "Boreal" will have an Amlogic S805X2, as opposed to the Amlogic S905X3 in the current model. These chips aren't really all that different, but going from a 1.9GHz clock speed down to 1.2GHz with a less powerful GPU doesn't really sound like a recipe for success, even if 4K output is being removed from the picture. Elsewhere in performance, there have been so many hiccups with how the Chromecast handles HDR, Dolby Atmos, and other standards. You don't have to go far to find people having problems with the Chromecast in their specific setups, even if many others are happy with the product overall.  What does a 'flagship' Chromecast look like?Let's say Google did make a flagship Chromecast, what might that bring to the table? Imagining that it's not a prohibitively expensive product – $100 – there's a lot of room for Google to improve the product overall. First and foremost, there's the storage issue. Doubling the price tag would leave Google with no excuse for including anything less than 16-32GB of storage. Should Google go for more of a streaming box form factor, like the Shield TV or Apple TV, a spare USB port for easy expansion probably wouldn't be out of the question either. On the note of additional ports, I'd love to see a device with two to four full-size USB ports to enable this device to act as a "console" for cloud gaming. While most folks use Bluetooth controllers anyway, having a few built-in ports opens the door to services such as Stadia and Xbox Game Pass (if Microsoft ever gets around to releasing proper Android TV support) to use super-affordable controllers for local multiplayer. Something else that would be great to see, and expected in a "flagship" Chromecast, would be more horsepower. This would help with general UI performance and that of apps, as well as provide a bit more leeway for the standards that the current device struggles with. Those, however, really come down to Google's software and the work of app developers. At our imaginary $100 price, it would not be feasible for Google to throw a Tensor chip in this device, but Google can do far better than it currently does. Amlogic's widely used S905X04 chip would offer better performance and support for AV1 that the current Chromecast lacks. Alternatively, MediaTek offers many different chips that are used on Android TV, and they'd also be up to the task. Google needs to strike a balance on this device. Having something that directly competes with the Nvidia Shield TV or Apple TV 4K would be great, but it would also be prohibitively expensive for a lot of people. Lastly, I'd love to see Google go for a more premium remote. The current Chromecast's remote is comfortable to use and simple with its layout, but a "flagship" version could adopt better build materials, perhaps a metal remote, or at least something closer to the reference design we looked at last year and, frankly, preferred over Google's. This improved remote could also offer a few more buttons that could be mapped to smart home controls, something that Google said was a focus for the platform in 2022.  But at the same time, a cheaper Chromecast will do wellI could go on and on about why I'd rather see a truly high-end Google TV streamer from Google, but the truth is, a cheap model will probably be a smash hit on the whole for Google. If the company can land on a price point of around $25-30, it'll make a killer impulse-buy product and probably kill off the old, remote-less Chromecast lineup for good — it's finally time to say goodbye to that product. A Google TV device that cheap could also really give Amazon's Fire TV Sticks and the various super-cheap Roku streamers a run for their money, if executed well. Plus, it's important to look at the market for these super cheap streamers. Nearly every new TV sold is a smart TV, with access to apps already built-in. Most people buying a streaming dongle are buying it for an older smart TV that's no longer being updated, a much older TV that doesn't have smart features at all, or to replace the OS they already have. Outside of the US is where this product will probably do even better, as Android TV OS products are very popular in some international markets, especially in Asia and India, but there aren't very many Google TV devices, just one from Realme comes to mind. "Boreal" may not be the new Chromecast we want, or the flagship Google TV needs, but it's one that will certainly sell a whole lot of units. Still, one can hope for a high-end Chromecast… eventually. More on Google TV: |
| Samsung built a fingerprint security chip for payment cards, employee IDs and more - Engadget Posted: 25 Jan 2022 01:26 AM PST Samsung has revealed what it calls the "industry's first" all-in-one fingerprint security chip (IC) for payment cards. The S3B512C chip reads biometric information via a fingerprint sensor, stores and authenticates data with a tamper-proof secure element (SE) and analyzes it with a secure processor. While primarily designed for payment cards, it could also be used for "student or employee identification, membership or building access," the company said.  Samsung Mainly, though, the new chip could make it easier for banks and others to make biometric payment cards. The solution performs in line with Mastercard's latest security specifications for payment cards, while also conforming to international security standards (CC EAL 6+) for "protecting high-value assets against significant risks," according to Samsung. Last year, Samsung announced that it was collaborating with Mastercard on a biometric scanning payment card with a built-in fingerprint reader. It said at the time that the tech would "adopt a new security chipset from Samsung's LSI business" rather than using Mastercard's tech, so the new S3B512C chipset appears to be what it was referring to. The chip could also allow for "faster and safer interactions when making purchases," Samsung notes. It removes the need for a PIN code and even uses anti-spoofing technology to block fraudulent methods like artificial fingerprints. It seems absurd that in 2022, people are still swiping cards and signing for purchases. Given Samsung's manufacturing chops and influence, however, the chip has the potential to make biometric payment cards more mainstream. Samsung didn't mention any launch customers or other details. All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. |
| How to sell your old, unwanted tech: Talking Tech podcast - USA TODAY Posted: 24 Jan 2022 05:42 AM PST  Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. More: Daily news, true crime, and more USA TODAY podcasts Hey there, listeners. It's Brett Molina. Welcome back to Talking Tech. We all have old tech sitting around our house that were thinking, "What do we do with this?" You can recycle it. If, say, you're getting a new phone, maybe you want to trade in. It's just a question that always pops up from time to time. What do you do with your old device, especially if you get something brand new? My colleague and Talking Tech's favorite Canadian, Marc Saltzman, talks about this in a column that you can read on Tech.USAToday.com. It's titled How and Where to Sell Your Old or Unwanted Tech Gear. He goes through a lot of different options and several different places you can go to. We'll break them down bit by bit. One of the first ones, obviously, is online classifieds. So, you're thinking about sites like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, what have you. It's very local. So, the idea is you post them wherever it may be, someone gets in touch with you, and then you complete the transaction. So, say you're giving away an old phone, old TV, you connect, and then you make the transaction, and everything's good. One thing Marc suggests, though, only accept cash. Don't accept a check. According to him, the buyer will want to check out what you're selling, as well. So, make sure everything's up-to-date. Make sure you have everything that you said would in your advertisement. If you said, "It comes with a charging cable and a charging block," make sure you can include all that, and just make sure everything is exactly the way it should be. That way, it's a very smooth process and nothing you really have to worry about. He also has some great tips on how to get the most out of your online classified if you want to make sure a lot of people see it and you want to get the best deal that you can for what you're selling. Another option of course is the online marketplace. eBay is the one that obviously jumps right out, really easy to sell and buy stuff, works out great, too, especially if you have a device. This happened to be with video games, where when you're trying to trade in video games, you usually get a much lower price. What's nice about somewhere like eBay is the buyer and seller win because the buyer is going to get that game at a much cheaper price than they would, say, going to a store where they might have used games, but they're still pretty pricey. Then, for the seller, they're going to get a lot more money back than they would if they try to trade it in at a bigger store. So, there's a lot of benefit there. There are also some other apps and services that offer a lot of opportunities, trade-in and sell your stuff. Decluttr, Decluttr, excuse me, and Gazelle, they work great for mobile phones. It's an example of another place you can go to if you're dealing with your smartphone and you want to trade it in for money. There's also a site called MPB, where sellers will fill out a form and you can get a quote on things, like photography gear, videography gear, and then it just gives you a better sense of that. Also, for those sites like Decluttr, you can use other devices, as well. So, if you have an older computer, if you have an older game console, you can sell them that way, as well. You can check out more of Marc's tips in his column on Tech.USAToday.com. Listeners, let's hear from you. Do you have any comments, questions, or show ideas, any tech problems you want us to try to address? You can find me on Twitter, @BrettMolina23. Please, don't forget to subscribe and rate us or leave for review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, anywhere you get your podcast. You've been listening to Talking Tech. We'll be back tomorrow with another quick hit from the world of tech. |
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