DT Daily: Google upgrades Android texting with RCS Chat

By Caleb Denison April 20, 2018

Google’s effort to come to grips with Android’s messaging problem has arrived. Google’s Chat is getting a rebuild based on the Rich Communication Services or RCS standard. RCS is an evolution of SMS which introduces many features that apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Apple’s iMessage have had for years. So android users will now have better group messaging, read receipts, typing indicators, animated stickers, and more.

Chat isn’t a new app from Google. Instead it’s a feature provided by cellular carriers that essentially gives Text messaging a facelift.

Google expects the Chat standard to be switched on for most Android users some time this year, though the precise timing will be decided by each carrier and region.

In the spirit of this Sunday’s earth day, Apple is unveiling a new robot which can disassemble and harvest all the valuable parts of an iPhone. Daisy can handle nine different versions of the iPhone. The robot can take apart a handset every 20 seconds, removing and sorting the materials without damaging them in the process.

Smartphones hold lots of valuable materials — gold, copper, platinum, lithium, aluminum, and steel among them — that can be recycled and used to create new electronic devices.

This remarkable machine is a more advanced version of Liam, a robot unveiled by the tech company two years ago to perform the same task.

Staying cool this summer may require putting on an extra layer – provided the extra layer is the InstantCool vest. It uses technology developed by NASA that involves a network of microtubes containing chilled water. The result? According to the vest’s developers, you’ll be more comfortable and less overheated in just 10 seconds.

The vest is being branded as an invisible personal air conditioning unit for your body. By pumping cold water across your chest, the vest claims to reduce your body temperature quickly and efficiently. And while there are other cooling vests on the market that promise a similar result, the InstantCool claims to be considerably cheaper than the alternatives.

This is an indegogo campaign, so take that for what it is. Backers pledging one hundred twenty bucks are being promised a vest in June of this year.

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DT Daily: Microsoft plans budget Surface tablet to compete with iPad

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Apple’s iconic iPad will soon have some new competition. Rumors are surfacing this morning that Microsoft is planning on launching a new 10-inch tablet later this year, priced to compete with the iPad. This won’t be a scaled down version of the Surface Pro. Instead, the new design will borrow all the best elements from the pro. Powered by Intel chips, the tablet will run a full version of Windows 10 Pro, feature USB-C connectivity, and be 20 percent lighter than the current Surface Pro. Expect to see the signature kickstand and keyboard cover as well.

Microsoft has tried budget Surface tablets before, with little success. The Surface RT, Surface 2 and 3 all failed to find a niche. We’ll have to wait until the second half of 2018 to see if this new $400 Surface tablet takes off.
OnePlus 6 Unveiling
Most smartphone makers come out with a single flagship phone each year. OnePlus does it every few months, and typically delivers devices with all the latest features. Unveiled this morning, the new OnePlus 6 is no exception to this rule. Packed inside it’s shiny and sleek all glass body is a Snapdragon 845 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a dual lens camera which measures up well against other top Android phones. Slim bezels also make the 6.3 inch device seen deceivingly small.

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DT Daily: NES Classic Edition set to return this summer

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Mark your calendars people. The limited edition NES Classic Edition is making a return this summer. If you missed out on the opportunity to pick up the retro console during its first limited offering, you’re in luck. Nintendo announced the Classic will be on sale once again, starting June 29th. It appears to be identical to the first console Nintendo released in 2016… and then abruptly stopped selling in April 2017. You get a palm sized console, loaded with 30 old school Nintendo games, and a single controller.

Nintendo says it will be selling the NES Classic, and the currently available SNES Classic, through the end of this year.
Facebook Bans Apps
As part of its efforts to regain some level of control over user data, Facebook has suspended about 200 third party apps. The social network is currently reviewing quote, “thousands” of third party apps which it suspects misused user data on the platform. And this is one of the steps Facebook announced back in March to shore up data security in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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DT Daily: Next-gen version of Android OS a hot topic at Google I/O

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Is there an Android rest stop up ahead?

Microsoft’s big “Build” event continues today, but Google is also kicking off their own tech event, known as I-O, and the next version of Android may be at the center of the show. The next version of the Android OS is “Android P” if they stick to the alphabet theme (which is likely), so let’s get those Android-needs-a-diaper jokes out of the way now and take a closer look at the changes on the way for the popular mobile operating system.