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Weekly Tech Recap - № 191 - Infinity Flex Display, Nighthawk AX8-AX12, HRP-5P robot, fake news presenter, etc.

November 9, 2018.

Samsung’s Foldable Phone

Infinity Flex Display.

Infinity Flex Display.

© Samsung.

In 2017, Samsung said it would launch a foldable Galaxy Note in 2018, while cautioning that there were still “challenges to overcome”. The challenges must be stubborn, since no folding phone looks to be launched this year. However, on Wednesday, at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco, Justin Denison, Senior Vice-President of Mobile Product Marketing, unveiled a prototype of the future device. Called Infinity Flex Display, the device is both a smartphone and a tablet: the flexible, OLED 7-inch display (1536 x 2152 pixels) folds over itself like a book with no central hinge or crease and, when closed, sports a second, smartphone-like, 4.6-inch cover display (840 x 1960) on the outside. The screens work together seamlessly: an application opened on the cover display displays on the large screen when the Infinity Flex Display is folded out. That’s all we know for the time being; the price and the launch date haven’t been announced.

Oh, and did we mention that Google announced that Samsung’s folding devices would run on Android.

Android support for foldables.

Android Developers Blog, “Unfolding right now at #AndroidDevSummit!

Ars Technica, “Samsung’s foldable phone is real, and it launches next year.”

 

Spaceship Routers

Netgear Nighthawk AX8.

Netgear Nighthawk AX8.

Nighthawk AX8. © Netgear.

Netgear unveiled its first 802.11ax-compatible routers, the new standard recently renamed Wi-Fi 6. Though the Nighthawk AX8 and Nighthawk AX12 are very high-end routers, we’re not impressed so much with their function as with their form: with their sleek “wings”, they look like they’ve come straight out of a science-fiction film. But the angled wings actually do serve a function, hiding and protecting the antennas, turning an eyesore into an objet d’art. The AX8 will be available in November for US$400, and the more powerful AX12, in Spring 2019.

Circuit Breaker, “Netgear’s first Wi-Fi 6 routers look like sci-fi spaceships.”

 

Mirrorless Android Camera

Yongnuo YN450.

YN450. © Yongnuo.

Yongnuo, a Hong Kong photographic equipment manufacturer, unveiled a mirrorless camera that runs on Android 7.1 and is EF-compatible, which means you can use it with any high-end Canon lense. Temporarily called “YN450”, the device offers a 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensor that can shoot 4K video at 30 fps. The back of the device is nearly entirely covered with a 5-inch touchscreen display. Yongnuo has launched a naming contest for the YN450, which looks like a big lens bolted onto a smartphone. The date of availability and price have not been announced.

Digital Photography Review, “Yongnuo teases YN450 mirrorless camera with Android, 4G connectivity.”

Circuit Breaker, “This mirrorless camera runs Android and works with Canon lenses.”

 

Construction Robots

HRP-5P Robot.

HRP-5P robot. © Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Institute.

Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Institute (AIST) has developed a humanoid robot able to take on a variety of tasks typically performed on construction and renovation sites. Called HRP-5P, it can be seen putting up drywall in a video (link below). The work, though slow, seems satisfactory. The robot isn’t being presented by its development team as a marketable product, but rather as a development platform that could eventually lead to the use of robots on construction sites – for buildings, but also ships and aircraft. Given Japan’s ageing population and its disdain for manual labour, this type of robot is seen as a solution to its labour shortages.

Engadget, “Humanoid construction robot installs drywall by itself.”

 

Fake News Anchors

AI anchor.

© Xinhua News Agency.

In a worrying development, Chinese state-run press agency Xinhua will now deliver news using hyper-realistic AI anchors made of digital composites that use synthesized voices to read the news, in Chinese and in English. The anchors premiered on Wednesday at the World Internet Conference in China. The AI anchors remind us of the “deep fakes” videos that emerged in the West, in which “face-swapping” can depict virtually anyone doing or saying anything, including spreading fake news, for starters. The U.S. Defense Department is concerned enough about it that it has already started working on tools to combat it.

Mashable, “China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency debuts ‘AI anchor’ to read the news.”