Wild new wearable shines a light through your skin to measure lactate threshold

In case you haven’t noticed, wearable tech is entering a new era. Now that we’re past that initial surge of accelerometer-equipped wristbands, many companies have started thinking beyond simple wrist-borne activity tracking.
Case in point: the BSXinsight. Designed to fit inside a compression sock, this sensor-packed device can record a wide range of different fitness metrics, including heart rate, cadence, pace, calories burned, and lactate threshold.
That last one — your lactate threshold — is that moment during a workout where your body can’t flush lactic acid out of your bloodstream faster than it is being produced. Turns out it’s an extremely useful measurement of exercise intensity for training and racing in endurance sports — and the

Large battery Bluboo X550 with Global 4G Mode coming soon

Bluboo are launching a new smartphone that packs a large battery and World 4G Mode for global LTE support.

As we have mentioned before Bluboo are one of the original Chinese Android smartphone makers from way back in the day. If you remember back when the JiaYu G3 was king then you most likely have some recollection of Bluboo and the phones they were making at around the same time.

Like a lot of Chinese phone makers, Bluboo have recently switched their focus away from the domestic phone market and are readying a new range of devices for international sale.

The newest in the range will be the Bluboo X550 smartphone which has two big advantages over rival phones.

Meizu preping 10,000mAh powerbank for launch

Meizu are following Xiaomi’s lead (once again) and are preparing to to release an affordable powerbank of their own.
Shown in early leaked photos, the Meizu powerbank takes a lot of its design and specification highlight right from Xiaomi’s very first battery pack offering. As you can see in the photos, the battery is a rounded rectangle and from the printed details it says it has a capacity of 10,000mAh.
The image also shows a set of LED lights which should indicate the amount of charge in the battery pack and a USB plugs for charging and devices and recharging the pack.
Meizu aren’t the first to enter the battery pack market, ZTE have also released similar accessories and it is rumoured Mlais are about to do the same.

OxygenOS finally released and available to install

If you are enjoying a long weekend for the easter and you have a OnePlus One then why not spend a few moments installing the much anticipated OxygenOS ROM?

With the OnePlus and CyanogenMod relationship on a seemingly rocky road, it meant that smartphone maker was in dire need for its own Android ROM to run on the flagship killer and up coming Android devices.

The result is OxygenOS, a ROM designed and developed from the OnePlus Team (after hiring key Paranoid Android members) for use specifically on the OnePlus One.

Ulefone recruiting 100 Android 5.0 Lollipop beta testers

Ulefone have set up a Facebook group to recruit beta testers to help with the development of Android 5.0 Lollipop. Keep reading to see how you can get involved.

Ulefone are finally getting somewhere with their Lollipop update for the Be Pro. We have seen earlier images, and even video of Lollipop on the MT6732 phone, and now Ulefone are asking fans to get involved to help with the development.

Ulefone want to recruit 100 beta testers of the Lollipop ROM for the Be Pro via a Facebook event that they have set up. Anyone who owns a Ulefone Be Pro can apply to become a beta tester and all testers will be chosen by 16th April.

Cube i7 CM comes with Ubuntu installed as standard

Tablet maker Cube have just sent over the specifications of their latest tablet model which surprisingly comes with Ubuntu OS installed as standard.

Cube have been a favourite Chinese tablet maker for years now. They sprung to fame with their range of Android tablets and used their expertise to make some interesting Windows tablet devices too.

Their upcoming model, the Cube i7 CM is a surprise though as it ditches Windows and Android in favour of Ubuntu as standard.

Measuring in at 11.6-inch the tablet has a FHD 1920 x 1080 resolution, 2GHz Intel Core M processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB of SSD flash memory.

Dell announces new 24-inch monitor with 1440p resolution, ergonomic stand

Dell announced the new Dell 24 Monitor (P2416D) today, designed to provide optimal screen performance to its mainstream customers. The monitor has Quad HD resolution and 99 percent sRGB color coverage, meaning users will have consistent color from every angle.
The 2,560 x 1,440 monitor is 23.8 inches in size. It also comes with USB 2.0 ports, VGA, DisplayPort 1.2, and HDMI 1.4 for connectivity to both legacy and current PCs. The monitor itself has a wide range of adjustability features, allowing users to pivot, swirl, and tilt the product to achieve the utmost versatility.
Related: Samsung gets in on the curved monitor game with its newest 27-inch 1080p display
“We are focused on democratizing monitors with higher resolution for everyday use,” Dell wrote on its community blog. “We understand that higher resolution can markedly improve a user’s productivity, whether they are creating content or viewing images. Monitor resolution — from HD to Full HD to Quad HD and beyond — has a direct impact on your computing experience, especially when you stare at a screen for long hours at work every day.”

While Microsoft’s Kinect sensor has never been an enormous hit among gamers, it has enjoyed much more popularity in other, more scientific areas. Now Microsoft has announced that, although the sensor will no longer be sold for Windows, developers don’t have to worry about its availability for the platform.
The past year has seen Microsoft consolidating many of its products and services, and this is another step in that direction. While the Kinect for Xbox One is popular with developers, the recent introduction of the Kinect Adapter has removed the need to sell a separate, Windows-only version. The adapter allows a Kinect for Xbox One to be connected to Windows 8 and 8.1 devices exactly as a Kinect for Windows v2 sensor would.

INTEL 750 SERIES SSD

Solid-state drives have improved at breakneck speed since they first gained traction in the consumer space about five years ago. Advancements in controller technology and memory production have made the drives faster, more durable and more affordable by a huge margin. Today’s best SATA drives are several times quicker than their predecessors and enjoy better, more stable drivers.

The pace of progress has been so rapid that the SATA interface traditionally used to connect hard drives has become a bottleneck for many SSDs, despite the introduction of SATA 3.0, also known as SATA 6Gbps, in 2009. Fortunately the major players in the hard drive industry were aware of this problem, and they sat down to create an entirely new standard that can handle the potential for future SSDs. That standard is called Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe).

Ge touchy-feely with the new Acer Chromebase all-in-one, a touch Chrome OS desktop

Acer announced the Acer Chromebase on April 1, the latest addition to its Chrome OS product line. The Chromebase is the first all-in-one Chrome OS desktop with a touch display.
The new Acer Chromebase will come with a full HD resolution and a 178-degree viewing angle display that incorporates 10-point touch technology. Acer is marketing the product to anyone who wants a computer for both work and play. It boots up in 10 seconds, and comes with multiple layers of built-in security. This reduces maintenance for users by keeping viruses and malware at bay.
Related: Acer’s C910 is a 15-inch Chromebook with 1080p display and awesome performance
Sporting an NVIDIA Tegra K1 quad-core processor, the Acer Chromebase is designed to provide a responsive, rich multi-tasking experience. And all the while, the device itself will stay quiet, even while handling heavy workloads.

Early MacBook benchmarks show performance well behind Pro, Air

Apple’s new MacBook is insanely thin, featherweight and doesn’t require a cooling fan, all of which are commendable traits. Yet they don’t come without compromise. To achieve its design goals, Cupertino’s engineers have used Intel Core M processors, which we know are slower than their standard Core equivalents. The only question was how much slower the new MacBook would be.

Now we know. A pair of early results have appeared in the GeekBench database. The single-core figures come in at 1,924 and 2,044, while the multi-core results come in at 4,038 and 4,475. According to the data, these figures were generated by a system with the entry-level 1.1GHz Core M-5Y31 processor.

Related: Get a sneak peak at the new MacBook in early un-boxing video

How do those results stack up? The latest MacBook Pro 13 with Retina scored 3,007 in GeekBench’s single-core test and 6,596 in the multi-core test, so it would seem the Pro is about a third quicker than the new MacBook.

Asus’ upcoming Flip convertible is the 2-in-1 Chromebook you didn’t know you wanted

Google announced the development of the Asus Chromebook Flip on March 31, which has a 360-degree hinge to provide both a tablet and laptop experience. The company says that it will ship in six to eight weeks, and it will retail for $249, according to PC World.
In addition to having the ability to flip the display for tablet use, the product has a touchscreen and a 10.1-inch IPS display. The Chromebook Flip weighs less than two pounds, and it’s completely composed of metal. This makes it a durable, portable computer for consumers who are always on the go.
Related: Asus may turn to ARM processors for its latest low-cost ChromebookA Rockchip 3288 processor will power the Chromebook Flip, and it will have 2GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC flash memory. With its processors, Rockchip has been enabling Google to create more powerful Chromebooks without breaking the bank.

Samsung wants to satisfy your listening needs with a new wireless speaker and soundbars

Along with the announcement of its new line of SUHD and UHD TVs, Samsung also announced a slew of products to round out the company’s home theater experience, which include a new wireless speaker and a set of curved soundbars.
Let’s start with the speaker. Samsung has made its first omnidirectional speaker with the Wireless Audio Radiant 360 R7. It accomplishes this thanks to Samsung’s “Ring Radiator” technology, which we saw earlier this year at CES with Samsung’s WAM7500 and WAM6500 multi-room speakers.
In short, Ring Radiator allows the R7 to deliver balanced audio across the bass and treble within a 360-degree radius. That way, there’s no need to rearrange your setup in order to get balanced audio in all corners of the room.

PlayStation Vue is everything you love to hate about cable TV in a game console

Cable networks know they’re in trouble. After years of resistance, content providers are striking deals that break  such coveted channels like HBO, AMC, and ESPN free from the bonds of cable, so they can be streamed right over the Internet.

Dish Network made the first great stride in this direction with the introduction of Sling TV, which offers a handful of popular channels and video on demand over the ‘net. And now Sony has come along with its own take, called PlayStation Vue.

HTC One M9+ and its fingerprint sensor ahead of its April launch

Before HTC revealed the gorgeous One M9 flagship at Mobile World Congress, there were scores of rumors that the company would launch another phablet-sized version of its flagship phone. Although we’ve yet to see the One M9+, many believe that it’s still coming, and soon.
In mid-March, noted leaker Upleaks, who correctly predicted the specs, design, and other key details about the standard One M9, recently hinted that the One M9+ will arrive in late March or early April. Here’s everything we know about HTC’s phablet so far.
Updated on 4-02-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added in new images possibly showing the One M9+.

Yotaphone shows up at TENAA, heading to China soon

The dual screen Yotaphone has appeared at the TENAA database running TD-LTE especially for use on China Mobile.

The Yotaphone is a unique device with dual screen set up. The idea being that the main screen can be used for gaming, watching movies and general smartphone fun, while the E-ink display on the rear can be used for reading, notifications or as a back-up screen should you run low on battery power.

For China the Yotaphone hasn’t changed too much but does support TD-LTE for use on China Mobile’s 4G LTE networks. FDD, WCDMA, and GSM is all part of the dual screen package too.

2GB RAM, 1080 main display, 2.2Ghz processor and an 8 mega-pixel main camera rare the main specs, while the phone runs Android 4.4.3 Kitkat.

Getting a TENAA network approval means that a China Mainland launch for the Yotaphone is imminent, but how the device will fare against Xiaomi, Meizu and other traditional Chinese devices remains to be seen.

Mlais M52 unboxing

Asus Zenfone 3 rumours begin, could come with fingerprint scanner

Asus really pulled a stunner with the Asus Zenfone 2 launch, a global phone at a great price with amazing hardware, so what’s for the next gen model?

Asus has been rolling out the Zenfone 3 with official pricing and launches in Taiwan and China, and other areas set to get the phone in the coming months. With up to 4GB RAM, an Intel CPU and nice styling the Zenfone 2 is on the radar of many buyers, but Asus are already working on the replacement.

According to Asus boss Jerry Shen, the company are looking to launch the Zenfone 3 in the second half of the year, The updated phone will be more of a ‘facelift’ model of the 2, with the added feature of a fingerprint scanner for added security.