OnePlus One 2 Rumored To Bring Hardware Surprises

oneplus one delay

There was much hype associated with the “flagship killer” this year, a competitively priced smartphone called OnePlus One which had specifications that matched many flagship devices from major OEMs on paper. Even though it has been quite hard to get your hands on one its time now to look towards the future and expect more from this nascent smartphone manufacturer. Rumor has it that the OnePlus One 2, expected next year, has “surprises in store when it comes to hardware.”

This according to a new report by BusinessInsider which cites an unnamed leaker. Apparently the company is going to produce additional StyleSwap back covers as well to offer more customization options to users. The Bamboo StyleSwap cover for OnePlus One was discontinued a short while after it was launched.

The source claims that OnePlus hopes to keep the price of its next smartphone below $500 which would place it below many other flagships, and if it can offer competing specifications, then taking a hit on the profit margin just might work out for OnePlus.

Unfortunately no details about the specifications have been divulged as yet so its unclear right now what specifications the OnePlus One 2 could boast. It is also unclear if the company will kick off sales soon after launch or if its going to conduct the same marketing gimmicks it did this year.

OnePlus One 2 Rumored To Bring Hardware Surprises , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Audi TT Launched With Virtual Test Drive

audi samsungIt seems that consumer electronics giant Samsung from South Korea has decided to allow its Gear VR headset to break new barriers, allowing Audi customers to take the TT S Coupé around the track with the help of virtual reality technology. In a nutshell, Audi customers will be able to experience the iconic TT Coupé in a whole new way by wearing a Samsung Gear VR headset that is powered by Oculus technology.

Those who wear this particular Gear VR headset will be sent into an immersive world, as they explore this third generation TT and its variants without running the risk of an actual accident. Juergen Löffler, the TT designer, would play the role of virtual guide, where he explains the various concepts behind the design of the new TT S Coupé, only to have him bring customers over to the Neuberg Audi race track in Germany for a lap. With the assistance of Samsung Level Over headphones, your ears will be treated to the sounds of the 306-horsepower four-cylinder engine.

Other than that, if you cannot make up your mind as to whether to pick up the TT S Coupé or the TT Roadster, fret not, you can use the Gear VR for a comparative review. [Press Release]

Audi TT Launched With Virtual Test Drive , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Intrinsyc Reveals Snapdragon 810 Devices For Developer

mdp phoneIt must be common knowledge by now among tech enthusiasts that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor happens to come across as an octa-core, 64-bit processor that is based on ARMv8 architecture. Qualcomm claims that this particular processor happens to be able to perform up to 30% faster compared to a regular Snapdragon 805 chip, where it will feature support for LPDDR4 memory alongside a bunch of other improvements.

However, this new processor will most probably shy away from consumer devices until next year, although developers who would like to get started early by working with Snapdragon 810-powered hardware will be able to place an order for Intrinsyc’s new MDP (Mobile Development Platform) smartphone or MDP tablet.

Both models are tipped to ship some time in the middle of next month, and do take into consideration that these will target developers and not the general public, which means that they are not going to come cheap, and the “smartphone” would be unable to support mobile networks. Hardware specifications on both devices include Snapdragon 810 processors with Adreno 430 graphics, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, and NFC, 4GB RAM, a 13MP shooter at the back and a front-facing 4MP camera.

The new MDP tablet will cost developers $999 a pop, while the new MDP smartphone is selling for $799. [Press Release]

Intrinsyc Reveals Snapdragon 810 Devices For Developer , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

StarCraft 2 Player Removed From Match Due To Tweet

starcraft 2 640x227Words do carry a whole lot of weight, and just because one is on the Internet, this does not mean that one would be able to say anything and everything that he or she likes – there is still an element of responsibility attached to the entire situation. Professional StarCraft 2 player Mihaylo Hayda has been booted from a qualifying match after he tweeted that he will “rape” his female opponent in their match.

On Hayda’s personal Twitter account, it was alleged that some time during the qualifying match for the Fragbite Masters Season Three tournament, he tweeted,Going to rape some girl soon #fragbitemasters”. Needless to say, his opponent, a certain Madeleine Leander, has labeled Hayda’s statements as “scary.”

Leander shared, “I was invited to play in the tournament Fragbite Masters. My first reaction was ‘but I’m not good enough’. It was however not the first time an underdog was invited to a tournament. It would be stupid to say no, I thought. I saw it as chance and said yes. A few minutes into the first map the game was paused. I had no idea why but it was because of the tweet. The game went on and I lost 0-2. When the match was over I saw this. A tweet with the text ‘Going to rape some girl soon #fragbitemasters’ written by my opponent. I don’t even know what to say. I was very surprised to say the least. This coming from a pro player is scary. The organizers did what they could. They asked Kas to apologize and talked about it after.”

Hayda did apologize publicly later on though, tweeting, “Sorry to everyone, sometimes i really doing stupid tweets, hate myself for that icon sad sorry”.

StarCraft 2 Player Removed From Match Due To Tweet , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Far Cry 4 Does Not Run As True 1080p On The Xbox One

far cry4 640x640It seems that Ubisoft’s shooter, Far Cry 4, has been confirmed by Digital Foundry to run at 1440 x 1080 resolution on the Xbox One platform. In other words, the Xbox One version of Far Cry 4 will not render at native 1080p, but rather, has decided to fall back upon a 1440 x 1080 resolution that has then been upscaled to 1920 x 1080. This particular bit of information might be seen as an egg on Ubisoft’s face, especially after Ubisoft laid claim to the very real possibility of them working towards “1080p on all platforms”. For folks who happen to be rocking to the Sony PS4 version of Far Cry 4, fret not, this particular version of the game will render at native 1080p.

However, it is not all doom and gloom when it comes to the lower resolution offered on the Xbox One version, since this would translate to a wee advantage where its frame rate is concerned. Digital Foundry claims that the Xbox One’s frame rate is “slightly higher [than PS4] during intense shoot-outs”.

Far Cry 4 hit a variety of platforms as it was launched on the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC last Tuesday, where the opening week sales figures have been impressive enough to ensure that it might end up being the most successful title in the series to date.

Far Cry 4 Does Not Run As True 1080p On The Xbox One , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Apple Watch Makes Time Magazine’s Best Inventions List For 2014

apple iwatch sms read 640x360

For nearly a couple of months it was being rumored that Apple is working on a smartwatch. The veil was finally lifted back in September when the company formally announced Apple Watch, its first smartwatch. It may have been shown off to the world but the device is yet to make its way to the market. Nevertheless the Apple Watch seems to have found its way into Time magazine’s list of 25 best inventions of 2014.

Time magazine’s list mentions that the Apple Watch “wholly reimagines the computer for the wrist, using a novel interface that combines a touchscreen and physical buttons.”

It can be hooked up with an iPhone to accomplish a number of tasks such as sending messages, getting directions, making payments through Apple Pay, tracking health and fitness related data and much more. Developers have also started making their apps for Apple Pay so users will be able to do more with their smartwatch.

So far Apple has not confirmed when the Apple Watch will be released. Only a vague timeframe of “early 2015” has been provided. It will start at $349 with the gold version expected to top $1,000.

Other inventions included in Time magazine’s list of 25 best inventions of 2014 are devices like the privacy focused Blackphone, the Surface Pro 3 tablet from Microsoft and the selfie stick.

Apple Watch Makes Time Magazine’s Best Inventions List For 2014 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

GTA 5 Is UK’s Best Selling Game Ever

gta5Records which are there are meant to be broken. After all, it is the overall sense of achievement that one gets from being at the top of the pile that makes life a whole lot more interesting and competitive. Apparently, Rockstar’s epic Grand Theft Auto 5 is now the best-selling game of all time in the U.K., having knocked over Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was the previous record-holder.

According to GfK Chart-Track, Grand Theft Auto 5’s release on the PS4 and Xbox One has seen the title shift a phenomenal amount of copies, so much so that it is now the UK’s best-selling game of all time. This brought an abrupt end to Call of Duty: Black Ops’ reign, which has stood the test of time – at least since 2010. Apart from that, Grand Theft Auto 5 also holds another record under its belt – which is the U.K.’s biggest revenue earner as well as the highest-grossing game in a single week, having picked up a whopping £94m during the first week when it went on sale last month.

The PS4 was also top dog where GTA 5 sales are concerned, as it garnered 58% of copies sold, while 41% made their way to the Xbox One, with the remaining 1% ending up on the Xbox 360.

GTA 5 Is UK’s Best Selling Game Ever , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

These 2 Men Ran From Atlanta To Ferguson In Memory Of Michael Brown

The expected travel time from Atlanta, Georgia, to Ferguson, Missouri, is about eight hours by car or 90 minutes by plane — but for Atlanta residents Londrelle Hall and Ray Mills, the journey took 20 days.

While harsh weather conditions can be credited for part of the delay, their extended travel time is mainly because the young men embarked on the journey by foot, running 540 miles to the memorial site of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old killed by a Ferguson police officer.

Hall is the creator of Run For Justice, an organization with a mission of raising awareness about racial injustice and police brutality. Over the last three weeks, Hall and Mills have worked tirelessly to raise money through Gofundme to help Brown’s family and wrongfully arrested protesters with legal and court fees. They also hope to organize a “Million Man March” in Missouri.

Hall, 28, and Mills, 29, remained motivated by this mission as they ran through five states: Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.

On Sunday, what was once a distant goal became a poignant reality as the men arrived in Ferguson. They were met with an outpouring of emotion as they knelt at the site where Brown was shot by police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.

“It hurts my heart that our youth think that just because they’re black and young they could be killed in the street at the hands of somebody that was supposed to protect them,” Hall told The Huffington Post on Sunday after arriving in Ferguson. “After Michael Brown, I felt compelled to change the face of the young black man, to show you don’t always have to be gunned down.”

As originally planned, Hall and Mills arrived in St. Louis on Sunday and met with local protesters as they all walked the last mile to the memorial site.

“We pretty much traveled Michael Brown’s last steps, so we really had to put ourselves in his shoes,” Hall said. “I was re-living his last moments. I felt remorse. It was a very sad moment, one of the saddest moments in my life.”

Hall and Mills shared their journey on social media using the hashtag #RunForJustice, often posting pictures with updates on locations and various moments along their travels.

Hall posted the following video immediately after his arrival to Brown’s vigil:

My Soul Cried _ #RunForJustice

A video posted by iMarc Media Group INC. (@londrelle) on Nov 11, 2014 at 3:48pm PST

How It All Began

Hall, a videographer originally from Winter Garden, Florida, describes himself as a selfless and honest man who has battled his own share of problems. Hall admitted that he was once suicidal and has fought hard never to return to such a low point. He explained that over the years, running has become a therapeutic exercise that has helped him feel liberated — but that was not always the case.

“I run to clear my mind from problems that many of us go through in life,” Hall said. “But I had no purpose in running, I had no reason to justify my running.”

That changed on Sept. 21, the day Hall said influenced his life forever.

“I was out for a jog to clear my mind and I ended up running 12 miles that day,” Hall said. “It was raining and I couldn’t find my way back home. In those two to three hours, I found myself and my purpose in running, and used it as a way to better my situation to help solve my problems as well as help solve the problems of America.”

That day, Hall decided to run for justice, and began planning ways to travel across the country.

He enlisted Mills, whom he had met through business projects, to join him. With no history of athleticism beyond playing sports in high school, Hall and Mills trained with a renowned personal trainer in Atlanta for one month — which Hall said is an extremely short amount of time to build an endurance level required to run a distance of 540 miles.

Prior to taking on the cross-country challenge, the longest distance Hall claimed to have run consistently was 12 miles. Mills was a former track runner, but Hall said his own involvement with the sport ended more than 10 years ago. Running 540 miles was a distance beyond any they initially could fathom.

“You just have to have the mindset,” Hall said. “The mind controls the body. You have to be strong, determined and disciplined, which we both are.”

runners londrelle hall and ray mills
Mills and Hall at the Michael Brown memorial site.

The Tumultuous Journey Begins

On Nov. 3, Halls and Mills — along with a cameraman and a driver — set out on their mission. The men mapped out the logistics of their travel and originally planned on running an average of 50 miles a day.

By the end of the first day, having covered 32 miles, the men quickly realized running 50 miles a day would be too difficult. They readjusted their travels and changed their expectation to 35 miles a day of running.

For the following 20 days, Hall and Mills woke up at the break of dawn and ran for 10-12 hours with few breaks in between. They dealt with fatigue, swollen muscles, body aches and increasingly colder weather conditions. But each day, they set their goals, met them and rested their heads in various hotel beds along the way.

But a pursuit of this immensity took both physical and emotional tolls.

“Initially, the biggest challenges were fighting through much of the pain, a lot of the pain you go through when you’re running 35 miles everyday and waking up feeling like you’ve been hit by a car,” Hall said. “But as we went on, we adjusted.”

Along their route, Hall and Mills opted to run along small two-lane expressways but often found this to be difficult, as the paths were directly parallel to speeding cars and were only two to three feet wide.

“There was very limited space and no sidewalks, but we always made sure we were facing oncoming traffic,” Hall said. “But we weren’t fearful. In doing something like this you have to be fearless — you’re stepping away from your comfort zone and we knew this was a big risk.”

After overcoming these initial issues, Hall said, other challenges presented themselves along their route.

Hall explained how their journey took them through some of the most conservative and historically racially biased areas of America — areas that still proudly wave the Confederate flag and are populated with people who, he said, were not too receptive to their presence.

“We ran through areas that used to be slave towns and formerly run by Confederates,” Hall explained. “But we put ourselves in our ancestors’ positions and knew that they were smiling down on us. We exuded and exemplified everything they stood for in those moments.”

Hall explained that undergoing such an experience sent him an even stronger message.

“I felt proud,” he said. “We were young black men running through their towns, peacefully protesting for a greater cause and fighting back.”

londrelle hall
Hall at the Michael Brown memorial site.

What Happens Now

As Hall and Mills steadily approached their destination, members of the grand jury met to determine whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Brown.

Reports suggested that a decision was expected to be reached last Friday, and Hall and Mills set their goal to arrive in Ferguson on Sunday when the announcement was expected to released.

To meet their goal, Hall and Mills underwent a 24-hour Power Run Protest in Nashville, Tennessee, where students from surrounding universities joined them in a nonstop, daylong journey tracking more than 86 miles.

However, no decision was announced Sunday, and the grand jury is expected to reconvene Monday.

Within hours of their arrival in Ferguson, Hall and Mills interacted with members of the community and local protesters who have been heavily active in the movement. They have not yet met Brown’s parents, but hope to soon.

Meanwhile, protesters have welcomed Hall and Mills with open arms, and congratulated them on completing a long but rewarding journey.

Hall and Mills plan to remain in Ferguson over the next few days to work with local organizers to help enact positive change in the community.

Although many may consider their trek from Atlanta to Ferguson to be the end of an impressive feat, Hall said this is just the beginning of a much larger movement.

“This is the just the start. It was just the first leg of the marathon and we still have things to accomplish,” he said. “There’s a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done. I believe this is where the revolution will start.”

A Paris Landmark Evolves with the Seasons

Text and photography by Lee F. Mindel for Architectural Digest.

2014-11-24-item0.rendition.slideshowHorizontal.luxembourggardentae01.jpg

Luxembourg Palace, photographed in summer.

Whenever I visit Paris, I make a point of strolling through the Luxembourg Garden, which–along with the accompanying palace–was commissioned in 1612 by Marie de Médicis, widow of France’s King Henry IV. The grand residence, modeled after Florence’s Pitti Palace, now serves as home to the French Senate, and the garden, which has undergone many changes over the years, is one the city’s most beloved public parks.

Luxembourg Garden has a mix of features, including French- and English-style layouts, fountains, and over 100 statues. It has appeared in plays, paintings, and novels, including Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, John Singer Sargent’s In the Luxembourg Gardens, and William Faulkner’s Sanctuary. Although it is famous for its spring flowers and a pond where children sail model wood boats in the summer, I have come to appreciate how beautiful–and dramatically different–the park is throughout the year.

2014-11-24-item6.rendition.slideshowHorizontal.luxembourggardentae07.jpg

Flowers blooming in early spring, before the potted, warm-weather plants have been brought outside.

2014-11-24-item7.rendition.slideshowHorizontal.luxembourggardentae08.jpg

The summer setup includes a childrens’ pool, sandpits, and ubiquitous palms.

2014-11-24-item8.rendition.slideshowHorizontal.luxembourggardentae09.jpg

The garden in summer.

2014-11-24-item13.rendition.slideshowVertical.luxembourggardentae14.jpg

A view transformed by fall colors.

2014-11-24-item17.rendition.slideshowHorizontal.luxembourggardentae18.jpg

The Luxembourg Garden’s Medici Fountain, moved to its current location in the 1860s.

See more images of Luxembourg Palace.

More from Architectural Digest:

  • Frank Gehry’s Best Work
  • The Best New University Buildings Around the World
  • Stunning Celebrity Living Rooms
  • Inspiring Bathroom Renovations
  • "Felons, not Families" Oversimplifies a Complex Reality

    Words count. Especially when uttered by the President of the United States. In announcing his Executive Order changing immigration rules last Thursday, President Obama used the phrase “felons, not families.” This phrase has its origins in the criminal justice lexicon, where advocates have for years sought its demise as outdated to describe those with criminal convictions.

    Criminal justice advocates have worked tirelessly to change the language politicians, practitioners, and the public use to describe those who come into contact with the criminal justice system. For example, instead of the words “felons” or “offenders”, those working to improve policies for individuals who have been and are incarcerated use terms such as “formerly incarcerated” or “individual” or “people with criminal records.” The nation has made significant progress on reintegrating the formerly incarcerated into communities through work supported by the Justice Department’s Second Chance Act. There has also been a slow change in departments of corrections and their partner agencies which assist individuals to reenter society after incarceration. Despite this progress, there are still many barriers that undermine formerly incarcerated individuals’ ability to participate in the labor market and successfully reintegrate. There are employers who refuse to hire the formerly incarcerated, hurdles to housing, crippling criminal justice debt, and some states even deprive those with criminal records of the right to vote.

    The President stated, “…over the past six years, deportations of criminals are up 80 percent. And that’s why we’re going to keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids. We’ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.”

    There has been little discussion of the White House’s newest catch phrase, which speechwriters must have bandied about for months. The phrase is reminiscent of language politicians used more frequently in the 1980’s and 1990’s when crime rates were rising. Embedded in the rhetoric is that those who have run afoul of the law are a continuing threat and that they should forever exist outside of it. There is no notion of rehabilitation. Some did notice the language and balked. Criminal justice reform advocate Glenn Martin tweeted, “‘Felons, not families’ @BarackObama? Such hypocrisy. On the one hand you’re supporting reentry and on the other you’re destroying families.” And journalist Liliana Segura ‏@LilianaSegura added, “The ‘felons, not families’ line in Obama’s immigration speech is so dehumanizing. ‘Felons’ are fathers, mothers, sisters, sons.”

    Obama’s words were also disappointing because of the bright line he drew between those convicted of a criminal act and their families. More than 2.7 million children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent; about 1 in 28 children in the U.S. have a parent in jail. Nationally, there are more than 120,000 incarcerated mothers and 1.1 million incarcerated fathers with minor children. In fact, so many families are affected by incarceration that last year Sesame Street introduced a new Muppet named Alex, who has a parent in jail.

    The President’s words about “felons” were disheartening not only because of his “felons, not families” sound bite, but because the White House PR machine tweeted it after the speech hoping it would catch on. Fortunately, so far it hasn’t, with Democrats supporting the new immigration regime, and Republicans, such as House Speaker John Boehner calling the initiative “damaging to the Presidency itself,” because of its assertion of Executive power.

    While President Obama should be applauded for reaching past the partisan gridlock in Congress that has made it impossible to improve the lives of millions of families torn apart because of strict immigration laws, his emphasis on families over felons seems outdated and a rhetorical step backward, not forward.