Software
Smartphone geolocation data will allow 3D buildings to be displayed in Google Maps
Android Developers decided to improve location using API, in particular, Fused Location Provider API (FLP). The problem is especially relevant for densely populated urban areas. Positioning error usually occurs due to reflected GPS signals.
To address this issue, the developers implemented adjustments using 3D maps, which include 3D building models, GPS measurements, and machine learning. Thanks to a system API that provides feedback to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G mobile platform, location accuracy in cities will improve significantly, the developers promise.
The 3D map fix module in Google Play services includes 3D models of buildings from over 3,850 cities around the world. These are all major cities in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, except for Ukraine and Russia, Japan and Taiwan, as well as large settlements in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
So far, 3D map adjustments are only supported for walking routes. If the user turns on GPS on the device while walking, then the Android Activity Recognition API understands that he is a pedestrian, and if there are 3D models of buildings available nearby, then they will be downloaded and cached on the smartphone. The cache size is approximately 20 MB.
As a result, the probability of inaccurate positioning is reduced by 75%.
The December Pixel Feature Drop has already added new adjustments for the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). The new version of the API will be available to the entire Android ecosystem, in particular Android 8 and newer, in early 2021. A version for motorists will appear later.
Walking route test with Pixel 5 phone on different sides of the street. The yellow line shows the distance traveled, the red line – the built route without corrections using 3D mapping, blue – the route with corrections using 3D maps
In parallel, the map of available cities will expand. In addition, 3D maps will be complemented by sidewalks, pedestrian crossings and safety islands.
Android 3D map correction works also with other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS): GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS.
“Broadcom has integrated Google’s 3D mapping corrections into the navigation engine of the BCM47765 dual-frequency GNSS chip. The combination of L1 and L5 dual-frequency signals plus 3D map corrections provide unprecedented accuracy in cities and revolutionize the way GNSS is used, ”said Charles Abraham, senior technical director, Broadcom Inc.
Software
Elon Musk already has 100 million followers on Twitter. A little more, and he will move Cristiano Ronaldo into the top 5 most massive accounts of this social network
Despite the fact that Elon Musk has not posted anything on Twitter for a week, his account on this social network is becoming more popular day by day. He recently passed the milestone of 100 million subscribers. To Cristiano Ronaldo, who is in last place in the top 5 most massive Twitter accounts, Musk is only 1.3 million subscribers.
Just over four years ago, at the beginning of 2018, Musk had only 18 million followers on Twitter, and at the time of signing the recent deal to buy Twitter, Musk had 83.6 million followers on the social network. In other words, Ronaldo will not stay in fifth place for long.
It must be said that Musk is used by Twitter not only as a platform for communication, but also for manipulation – very often his messages influenced the quotes of stocks and cryptocurrencies. And you can also remember his tweet about Coca-Cola and cocaine – he became the second most popular in the history of the platform, having collected more than 4.5 million likes.
Phones
If you want to buy a smart watch for the iPhone, but not an Apple Watch. Wear OS 3 supports iOS even though the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 doesn’t
iPhone users who for some reason don’t like Apple smartwatches will be able to use new models based on Wear OS.
The first and so far the only watch on Wear OS 3 is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. And it doesn’t work with iOS. But apparently this is an artificial limitation on Samsung’s part, as it has now become known that Wear OS 3 itself can work with iOS.
Qualcomm confirmed this by saying that the upcoming Montblanc Summit 3 watch will be compatible with the iPhone. This watch will be the first with Wear OS 3 after Samsung devices. True, it will be an expensive $1,290 watch, but there should be many more Wear OS 3 models on the market this year, so iPhone owners will have a choice.
Gaming
The first ultra-slim handheld Windows game console with an OLED screen. Ayaneo Air launched on Indiegogo
Ayaneo has entered Indiegogo with its Air handheld game console.
The company calls the novelty the first ultra-thin set-top box with Windows and an OLED screen. The dimensions here are 224 x 89.5 x 26.7 mm with a mass of 395 g. For comparison, the dimensions of the Steam Deck are 298 x 117 x 49 mm with a mass of 669 g, but the Nintendo Switch OLED has dimensions of 175 x 104 x 50.7 mm with a mass of 315 g.
True, there is also a version of Air Pro, the thickness of which is increased to 29.6 mm, and the weight is 450 g.
The novelty is available in many different configurations. The base version, which can be ordered for $500 through a crowdfunding campaign, is equipped with a Ryzen 5 5560U APU, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. There are versions with the same APU, but 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB SSD. There is also a modification based on the Ryzen 7 5825U with 32 GB of RAM and an SSD from 512 GB to 2 TB. The top console can be purchased for $1,000.
In any case, the performance of any version will be significantly lower than that of the Steam Deck, as well as consoles based on the Ryzen 6000U.
It is also important that retail prices will differ very little from the prices of the fundraising campaign.
The rest of the parameters include a 5.5-inch OLED screen with Full HD resolution, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, a battery with a capacity of 28 or 38 Wh (second for Air Pro versions), a fingerprint scanner (except for the most basic version).
The Indiegogo campaign has already raised around $255,000, nearly four times the amount the manufacturer is asking for.
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