Category: smartphones

PAL forbids bringing Li-Ion batteries on cargo carriage

Kevin Bruce Francisco Leave a comment

Philippine Airlines Inc (PAL) has put a halt on passengers bringing lithium-ion batteries inside cargo carriage for check-in as a way of preventing a possible source of fire while airborne.

Honor4C_battery

The popular Li-Ion type of batteries are usually seen on smartphones and laptops. While bringing these kinds of batteries are no longer allowed for checking-in on their own, they will be accommodated only if they are inside their respective devices and as long as they comply with the regulatory requirements on packaging and labeling. Otherwise, spare batteries should be hand-carried and only in a limited number.

The move was in response to other international airlines implementing the same procedure to assure its passengers of the added safety onboard the aircraft.

“Safety is the cornerstone of our operations. We mitigate risks as we assure our passengers of our commitment to safety,” PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime Bautista said.

{Via}

The post PAL forbids bringing Li-Ion batteries on cargo carriage appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students?

Bob Freking Leave a comment

I think it’s safe to say smartphones aren’t a need before college, most definitely because phones aren’t even allowed in most schools. I got through the academic side of high school without much use for my phone, which was usually just tucked away since I was scared of the teachers confiscating it.

college smartphone

But how about college? Well, I don’t remember my first day of college as much, but I remember that I was rocking a Sony Xperia Play that time, which I later gave up eventually and got an HTC ChaCha, then a Nexus 4, and finally, my current Nexus 5 – because, yes, I’m still in college. But did I end up using it more than I did back in high school? The short answer is, absolutely.

College is different from high school in a lot of ways (but it does vary from university to university). For one, I have never seen a smartphone confiscated by the professor. The worst that I saw was a threat to confiscate, and that only happened less than 5 times in my 3 years. Students even bring out tablets in the middle of the class, since it is assumed a PDF is loaded up, and your smartphones can lie on your table as long as it distracts no one.

college smartphone

So how did my smartphone really help me in college?

Information Dissemination

Unavoidably, you will have to engage with your class through Facebook groups, or if not, at least through group chats. Your class officers or basically anyone responsible you know will post updates through there. Even last minute assignments.

And also, there are those times where you may or may have not already left your house and the suspension comes instantly. Twitter would be a nice tool to avoid wastes of time and transportation allowance.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, as long as you have a friend who will text or call you for urgent updates.

Notes, Books & Powerpoint Presentations

You’re going to use your phone cameras a lot of times in college, and that could be most likely due to your laziness to copy notes on the board, and because your professor won’t really wait for everyone to finish copying, so he or she’ll just allow everyone to take a picture.

Some professors also give out the soft copy of their presentations, so you can load that and other reference materials into your smartphone if you need to.

Can you survive without it?

Yes! Especially if you’re not the type to study off computer screens like me, who prefers reading off paper. Just copy lecture material from your friends, and print notes & presentation material if you need it.

Group Discussions & Teamwork

Nobody survives college alone. You will have to make friends and connect with people, and there will be times that you will be paired with people you don’t even want to work with. Ultimately, you will be faced with research and thesis eventually.

But you can’t just meet up all the time and do things face-to-face, can you? Not all your friends will be nearby in terms of location, especially if a lot of your blockmates will be “dorm-ing” in Manila while you go home to farther parts every time.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, but barely, since you will have to go to a computer very frequently, and that means the laptop or the comp shop if you’re in a dorm, and that means going out at night too if your schedules aren’t that convenient.

How about everyone else I know? Honestly, the most common trend that I saw when I got to college was, the non-tech savvy people were rocking BlackBerry phones – but two to three years later, I saw them upgrade to ZenFones, local Android phones or basically any smarter phone. When I asked them how smartphone helped, they did say the same things – organizing timetables & tasks, having study files on their smartphones, and for connecting with people. However, when asked if it was a necessity, they said no, and I agree.

You don’t need a smartphone in college, just like how you don’t really need powerful guns to win wars. You can survive college without one (provided you have friends you can count on as well), but it’s a big advantage to carry one as it makes a lot of things easier on your end, allowing you to finish tasks and be organized in a more efficient manner.

College also gets harder, so maybe halfway, you’ll find an upgrade since great smartphones come on the affordable side as time goes on.

In college, connection and efficiency is key. You can get those without a smartphone, but it’s easier to get there with one.

The post Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students?

Bob Freking Leave a comment

I think it’s safe to say smartphones aren’t a need before college, most definitely because phones aren’t even allowed in most schools. I got through the academic side of high school without much use for my phone, which was usually just tucked away since I was scared of the teachers confiscating it.

college smartphone

But how about college? Well, I don’t remember my first day of college as much, but I remember that I was rocking a Sony Xperia Play that time, which I later gave up eventually and got an HTC ChaCha, then a Nexus 4, and finally, my current Nexus 5 – because, yes, I’m still in college. But did I end up using it more than I did back in high school? The short answer is, absolutely.

College is different from high school in a lot of ways (but it does vary from university to university). For one, I have never seen a smartphone confiscated by the professor. The worst that I saw was a threat to confiscate, and that only happened less than 5 times in my 3 years. Students even bring out tablets in the middle of the class, since it is assumed a PDF is loaded up, and your smartphones can lie on your table as long as it distracts no one.

college smartphone

So how did my smartphone really help me in college?

Information Dissemination

Unavoidably, you will have to engage with your class through Facebook groups, or if not, at least through group chats. Your class officers or basically anyone responsible you know will post updates through there. Even last minute assignments.

And also, there are those times where you may or may have not already left your house and the suspension comes instantly. Twitter would be a nice tool to avoid wastes of time and transportation allowance.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, as long as you have a friend who will text or call you for urgent updates.

Notes, Books & Powerpoint Presentations

You’re going to use your phone cameras a lot of times in college, and that could be most likely due to your laziness to copy notes on the board, and because your professor won’t really wait for everyone to finish copying, so he or she’ll just allow everyone to take a picture.

Some professors also give out the soft copy of their presentations, so you can load that and other reference materials into your smartphone if you need to.

Can you survive without it?

Yes! Especially if you’re not the type to study off computer screens like me, who prefers reading off paper. Just copy lecture material from your friends, and print notes & presentation material if you need it.

Group Discussions & Teamwork

Nobody survives college alone. You will have to make friends and connect with people, and there will be times that you will be paired with people you don’t even want to work with. Ultimately, you will be faced with research and thesis eventually.

But you can’t just meet up all the time and do things face-to-face, can you? Not all your friends will be nearby in terms of location, especially if a lot of your blockmates will be “dorm-ing” in Manila while you go home to farther parts every time.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, but barely, since you will have to go to a computer very frequently, and that means the laptop or the comp shop if you’re in a dorm, and that means going out at night too if your schedules aren’t that convenient.

How about everyone else I know? Honestly, the most common trend that I saw when I got to college was, the non-tech savvy people were rocking BlackBerry phones – but two to three years later, I saw them upgrade to ZenFones, local Android phones or basically any smarter phone. When I asked them how smartphone helped, they did say the same things – organizing timetables & tasks, having study files on their smartphones, and for connecting with people. However, when asked if it was a necessity, they said no, and I agree.

You don’t need a smartphone in college, just like how you don’t really need powerful guns to win wars. You can survive college without one (provided you have friends you can count on as well), but it’s a big advantage to carry one as it makes a lot of things easier on your end, allowing you to finish tasks and be organized in a more efficient manner.

College also gets harder, so maybe halfway, you’ll find an upgrade since great smartphones come on the affordable side as time goes on.

In college, connection and efficiency is key. You can get those without a smartphone, but it’s easier to get there with one.

The post Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students?

Bob Freking Leave a comment

I think it’s safe to say smartphones aren’t a need before college, most definitely because phones aren’t even allowed in most schools. I got through the academic side of high school without much use for my phone, which was usually just tucked away since I was scared of the teachers confiscating it.

college smartphone

But how about college? Well, I don’t remember my first day of college as much, but I remember that I was rocking a Sony Xperia Play that time, which I later gave up eventually and got an HTC ChaCha, then a Nexus 4, and finally, my current Nexus 5 – because, yes, I’m still in college. But did I end up using it more than I did back in high school? The short answer is, absolutely.

College is different from high school in a lot of ways (but it does vary from university to university). For one, I have never seen a smartphone confiscated by the professor. The worst that I saw was a threat to confiscate, and that only happened less than 5 times in my 3 years. Students even bring out tablets in the middle of the class, since it is assumed a PDF is loaded up, and your smartphones can lie on your table as long as it distracts no one.

college smartphone

So how did my smartphone really help me in college?

Information Dissemination

Unavoidably, you will have to engage with your class through Facebook groups, or if not, at least through group chats. Your class officers or basically anyone responsible you know will post updates through there. Even last minute assignments.

And also, there are those times where you may or may have not already left your house and the suspension comes instantly. Twitter would be a nice tool to avoid wastes of time and transportation allowance.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, as long as you have a friend who will text or call you for urgent updates.

Notes, Books & Powerpoint Presentations

You’re going to use your phone cameras a lot of times in college, and that could be most likely due to your laziness to copy notes on the board, and because your professor won’t really wait for everyone to finish copying, so he or she’ll just allow everyone to take a picture.

Some professors also give out the soft copy of their presentations, so you can load that and other reference materials into your smartphone if you need to.

Can you survive without it?

Yes! Especially if you’re not the type to study off computer screens like me, who prefers reading off paper. Just copy lecture material from your friends, and print notes & presentation material if you need it.

Group Discussions & Teamwork

Nobody survives college alone. You will have to make friends and connect with people, and there will be times that you will be paired with people you don’t even want to work with. Ultimately, you will be faced with research and thesis eventually.

But you can’t just meet up all the time and do things face-to-face, can you? Not all your friends will be nearby in terms of location, especially if a lot of your blockmates will be “dorm-ing” in Manila while you go home to farther parts every time.

Can you survive without it?

Yes, but barely, since you will have to go to a computer very frequently, and that means the laptop or the comp shop if you’re in a dorm, and that means going out at night too if your schedules aren’t that convenient.

How about everyone else I know? Honestly, the most common trend that I saw when I got to college was, the non-tech savvy people were rocking BlackBerry phones – but two to three years later, I saw them upgrade to ZenFones, local Android phones or basically any smarter phone. When I asked them how smartphone helped, they did say the same things – organizing timetables & tasks, having study files on their smartphones, and for connecting with people. However, when asked if it was a necessity, they said no, and I agree.

You don’t need a smartphone in college, just like how you don’t really need powerful guns to win wars. You can survive college without one (provided you have friends you can count on as well), but it’s a big advantage to carry one as it makes a lot of things easier on your end, allowing you to finish tasks and be organized in a more efficient manner.

College also gets harder, so maybe halfway, you’ll find an upgrade since great smartphones come on the affordable side as time goes on.

In college, connection and efficiency is key. You can get those without a smartphone, but it’s easier to get there with one.

The post Are Smartphones a Necessity For College Students? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Volkswagen Introduces Advanced Gesture Control

PRNEWS Leave a comment

Golf R Touch

Volkswagen, Europe’s most successful car brand, has been instrumental in driving the development of more connected, more intelligent vehicles. That is because the car—which operates intuitively, is networked systematically, reacts intelligently and offers significantly greater convenience. This gives new innovative impetus to mobile life, making it more communicative, safer and interesting. This is why Volkswagen is demonstrating an entire fleet of vehicles at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to show just how much the car and computer are already intertwined today and will continue to grow together in the future. The main focus at the show is on four aspects: computer-controlled drive systems; app and smartphone integration; intuitive vehicle operation; and autonomous and semi-autonomous driving.

“The two inventions of the century, the car and the computer, are gradually coming closer together. We need to design future mobility to be even more intelligent and even more networked,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG.

Computer-controlled drive systems

Electric mobility is coming into its own. Full electric and hybrid versions of high-volume models have now arrived, and Volkswagen is setting the pace with best-sellers like the Golf. The e-Golf and Golf GTE are the protagonists of a new mobility. These cars would be inconceivable without on-board electronics with computers that control such functions as battery charging and, in the case of the hybrid models, switching between the different drive sources. At CES, Volkswagen is showing, among other things, how electric cars will be able to automatically dock to inductive charging stations and output signals that indicate the battery state-of-charge using the vehicle’s exterior lights.

App and smartphone integration

It has now been eight years, to the month, since Apple introduced its first generation iPhone in San Francisco. Smartphones have irreversibly changed our everyday lives, from the ways we communicate to how we access information. It has long been normal practice to have phones automatically connected to a car’s hands-free telephone system via Bluetooth and to have smartphones stream media libraries into car infotainment and sound systems. But now, Volkswagen is taking a significant step forward.

Later this year, VW will introduce the second generation “modular infotainment platform” (MIB II) in the United States. Along with the new infotainment system, MirrorLink will also be made available for the first time, integrating the apps and operating layout of numerous smartphones (including Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony) into cars. When MirrorLink is introduced, two other interfaces will also be launched under the App-Connect label: CarPlay (Apple) and Android Auto (Google). Simultaneously, VW will also launch CarPlay and Android Auto in the European market.

Intuitive operation

In the future, the car will not only merge with the mobile world, it will also be more intuitive for people to operate. Today, and in the future, the car will adapt by recognizing their occupants’ movements—via controls based on proximity sensors and gesture recognition. Today, the latest infotainment systems by Volkswagen already detect the approach of a hand with proximity sensors. In the next revolutionary step—which Volkswagen is showing with the Golf R Touch concept vehicle at CES—the infotainment unit will use cameras to not only detect hand gestures, but understand but assign meaning to them. Gesture control will make it possible to control displays and functionality without having to use a touchscreen. This technology adds comfort and convenience to human-vehicle interaction by reducing driver distractions while operating controls, and further underscores the synchronized relationship between the car and the computer.

Autonomous and semi-autonomous driving

Clearly, cars of the future will need to be able to drive autonomously if necessary, a change that will be introduced step by step. Even today, Park Assist by Volkswagen enables semi-automated entry and exit from parking spaces. The car executes the entire steering process for the parking maneuver independently. At CES, Volkswagen is now showing another evolutionary stage of Park Assist: Trained Parking. Here, the car scans a frequently driven path to a parking space via camera, and from that point on it executes the path semi-automatically by computer control. In another evolutionary stage, it will be possible to have the car parked by the driver remotely, using a smartphone to control the car.

 Volkswagen highlights at CES

Golf R Touch

The Volkswagen Golf R Touch concept vehicle, displayed for the first time, features an infotainment system that incorporates gesture control as the next step in the area of intuitive control. All it takes is a hand movement in the space in front of the Golf’s infotainment display to make human and machine interact as one. Volkswagen is thereby extending touchscreen operation into a third dimension.

The development team for the Golf R Touch pursued the goal of producing an interior and infotainment concept that would fulfill seemingly contradictory requirements. Despite the continually growing complexity and number of functions, this concept was intended to reduce driver distractions while attaining maximum personalization and intuitive operation in the car. The vehicle was created in which nearly all controls are implemented via touchscreens and sensor switches. Therefore, the Golf R Touch is equipped with three displays: the 12.8-inch high-resolution infotainment system touchscreen; a Control Center (8.0-inch with touch feedback) arranged beneath it to control vehicle, climate control and media functions; and an Active Information Display (digitalized instruments, 12.3-inch). The layouts of the central touchscreen and the Active Info Display can be customized rapidly, just as on a smartphone or tablet today. The same is true of the entire color staging in the interior.

Connected Golf

At CES, Volkswagen is also showing the maximum networking potential of the car in the form of the Connected Golf. This e-Golf, which will be equipped with the latest generation (MIB II) infotainment system, will incorporate an enormous range of apps, smartphones and tablets via its progressive interface management system. With online-based functionality, its various features and applications will be organized into several clusters. All of these clusters are implemented in the Connected Golf.

A look at today’s App-Connect is particularly exciting. As noted above, Volkswagen is one of the first carmakers to integrate the vast majority of smartphone operating systems in models like the Golf, based on App-Connect. The three underlying software interfaces of App-Connect are Mirror Link, Android Auto (Google) and CarPlay (Apple). Via these interfaces, the driver and passengers in the car are able to use the many different smartphone apps over the infotainment system.

Beyond the applications of Volkswagen Car-Net, the Connected Golf is equipped with many other innovations. For example, Media Control enables the integration of tablets and smart watches into the infotainment system and uses a special app that creates a new-age rear seat entertainment system. Regular Routes is the name of a function by which the navigation system automatically detects traffic disruptions on the daily commute to work, for instance, and autonomously suggests an available alternative route. Parking Guide is another ingenious navigation feature. It embodies a technology that finds parking sites that have a high probability of available parking spaces.