Smart Stamina mode reminds us of a good feature that HTC included in its Sense Companion AI engine: it delivers power info and lets you act quickly on it.
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Shortly after Samsung Canada’s announcement detailing the relief of the Galaxy Note 7’s wireless capabilities, there are signs that US units may see Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular connectivity go — along with everything else.
In an SMS missive from US Cellular obtained by The Verge, Samsung has decided to initiate its firmest measure yet in getting Note 7 users to exchange their phones — by sending out an update that will prevent the device from charging.
“THE PHONE WILL NO LONGER WORK,” the message concludes.
Since US Cellular is placing the responsibility of this software modification squarely on Samsung, it is likely that the outstanding recalled phones on all other US carriers will get the same update. This goes beyond the pale of limiting the battery’s charge to 60 percent and is closer to what was thought to happen to French Note 7 units — a kill switch.
Samsung declined comment on the issue. US Cellular did not respond to a request for comment.
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Google is “strongly recommending” to its manufacturer partners that they follow proper USB specifications for devices running on Android Nougat and even requiring compliance with specific specs.
The latest Android Compatibility Definition Document has expanded upon implementations for a USB port in both peripheral and host modes. There are specific recommendations and requirements now applied in support of the USB Battery Charging specifications, revision 1.2, including USB Power Delivery. Here
- It SHOULD implement support to draw 1.5 A current during HS chirp and traffic as specified in the USB Battery Charging specification, revision 1.2 . Existing and new Android devices are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to meet these requirements so they will be able to upgrade to the future platform releases.
- Type-C devices MUST detect 1.5A and 3.0A chargers per the Type-C resistor standard and it must detect changes in the advertisement.
- Type-C devices also supporting USB host mode are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to support Power Delivery for data and power role swapping.
- Type-C devices SHOULD support Power Delivery for high-voltage charging and support for Alternate Modes such as display out.
Google goes on to strongly recommend manufacturers to not support proprietary charging methods that stray from default voltage controls or switch sink/source roles as to render chargers not interoperable between devices. Yep, abandon ye Qualcomm Quick Charge if you want to hop on the Nougat train.
“While this is called out as ‘STRONGLY RECOMMENDED’, in future Android versions we might REQUIRE all type-C devices to support full interoperability with standard type-C chargers,” the listing goes on to read.
Charging over USB-C has been a little bit more of a trick to handle on Android. The Quick Charge 3.0-capable HTC 10 didn’t work friendly with the charger of the Pixel C. Google engineer Benson Leung also has been adamant about having USB-C peripherals following proper charging spec, be it so that a bad cable doesn’t get to fry a phone.
So, Google definitely wants to make sure that OEMs are headed in a safe direction. But will the company continue for a unified, un-fragmented direction, even with hardware spec? We don’t necessarily think so.
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The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have the largest batteries of their product generation and yet, it still charges at the same, piddling 5W that it has for a long time. And while a battery charge test isn’t as sexy as a battery drain test (or a few battery ...
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The base rate for an unlimited data plan on T-Mobile is $95 per month. On Sprint, it’s $75. Spread that difference over two years and you’ve got enough money for another good phone if you wanted it.The Now Network feels it’s important to point that out in this micro-age of Pokémon GO madness, ...
The post Sprint’s Pokémon GO campaign looks to shame T-Mobile’s gimmicks appeared first on Pocketnow.
Digital security company Kaspersky has warned us about many threats. Valid ones, too. Kinda not now. It has posted the 95 Theses against the Church of Charging.First, it attacks third-party chargers. It’s true that they’ve been the cause of explosions, injury and death, especially ones made with the idea of putting 220 volts through a USB port. But even with the charger out of the box, we’ve seen how ...
The post Kaspersky scares us into not charging our smartphones ever again appeared first on Pocketnow.
Following up on Google’s Benson Leung‘s skepticism of the LG G5 and HTC 10 for likely being non-compliant with specifications for USB Type-C for charging, the engineer has become a little less wary of the G5.A GTrusted test of the device’s charging practices when connected to Google’s universal 60W ...
The post LG G5 is USB-C spec compliant in at least one manner appeared first on Pocketnow.
BlackBerry might be thinking beyond the charging cable when it comes to plugging in your future smartphone.It has just announced two patent licensing deals with London-based International Game Technology and camera manufacturer Canon.IGT is specifically focused on the gambling and pay-to-play video gaming industries. Global Chief Product Officer Victor Duarte released a statement in BlackBerry’s press ...
The post Canon, IGT license battery charging patents to BlackBerry appeared first on Pocketnow.
Rarely has the “lull” between trade shows given us so much to talk about. We kicked off the week with an exciting announcement welcoming two new members to the Pocketnow team, and since then we’ve barely been able to keep news, editorials, and videos on the front page long enough to read them. This feed is on fire. From ever-strengthening rumors about the HTC M7 and Samsung Galaxy S IV, to interviews with newcomers like Jolla, to new looks at old friends with BlackBerry 10, to ...
