Google appears to be preparing to add a feature to Android devices that has long been a part of more traditional desktop operating systems: a trash bin (or, if you prefer the way Windows names it, a recycle bin). XDA-Developers has been digging into the code for Android 12 to uncover features that Google hasn’t officially announced yet, and the latest is a line in the main Settings app for “Trash.”
When you tap “Trash,” Android 12 should pop up a dialog box telling you how much storage deleted files are taking up on your system and giving you the option to empty it. It looks like it should work just like it does on Windows or a Mac, but in practice it’s likely to be much more complicated for a variety of reasons.
Android actually got a trash API in Android 11 that apps could use to hide files instead of instantly and fully deleting them, but it seems little used. Google itself appears to be preparing to support it in the Files by Google app, but so far it hasn’t shown up in the live version of it.
So the trash feature already exists in Android 11, but few apps seem to be using it; and even if they did, there’s not yet a way to actually recover trashed files. In Android 12, the settings XDA uncovered don’t appear to offer recovery either, but individual file management apps — like Google’s — could.
Android file management isn’t quite as straightforward as it is on your desktop OS. For example, the newer scoped storage settings mean that files that are “trashed” are technically just hidden in place by putting a period at the front of their file name. Plus, every different Android maker can choose to use its own file management app instead of the one offered by Google — and those apps may or may not support the new trash API.
In short, Android 12 and Google’s own Files app could support trashing and recovering files, but that doesn’t mean any of the apps on Android 12 necessarily will.
So: messy. But that’s what happens with any OS that develops over time with newer security models. Ultimately, what we theoretically want is an easy-to-understand trash bin that can be checked for deleted files to recover. Google appears to be pushing Android in that direction, at least.
The key word here is “pushing,” though. Implementing a feature like a trash / recycle bin requires getting everybody in the ecosystem on board, and Android is a huge ecosystem. Because of the way Android updates are structured, deep system updates that affect hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of developers take literal years to implement. Plus, of course, it takes far too long for most Android phones to get the latest version of Android in the first place.
Other features in Android 12 won’t be held back by such complications. It looks like Google will let you call the Assistant by holding down the power button, and is adding new emoji, offering new homescreen layouts, and changing some other minor UI elements. XDA has collected a bunch of the tweaks it has uncovered here.
South Korean brand HiFi Rose has launched in the UK and Ireland, and you can now pick up two of its products from select stores, supplied by Henley Audio.
Both products are premium networked streamers. The HiFi Rose RS201 E (pictured) is a music streamer, DAC and amplifier in one. Its minimalist design might be a little industrial for some, but it’s a good size to fit on a desk and boasts an 8.8in touchscreen display.
It supports audio up to 32-bit / 384KHz (PCM) and DSD256 (Native DSD), and you can stream digital music from your network or attached devices using the Rose OS Music app. It’s compatible with Apple AirPlay, Roon Ready and Spotify Connect, and comes with integrated apps for Qobuz and Tidal.
It’s MQA certified and has 100 watts of amplification. It connects online using Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or you can stream offline using Bluetooth 4.0. There’s also an HDMI output to connect to a TV. A Bluetooth remote control comes as standard.
This is joined by the RS150 network streamer which shares many features. It’s bigger than its sibling, though, with a 14.9in touchscreen, and benefits from a speedy Hexacore CPU and Mali-T864 GPU. It features an Asahi Kasei VERITA AK4499EQ DAC with support for Velvet Sound technology, and benefits from what HiFi Rose claims is “industry-leading technical measurements for exceptional sonic integrity”.
You can manually adjust the input/output settings to your liking, and it has HDMI-ARC and AES/EBU connections.
The RS201 E costs £1749, and the RS150 £3899. Both are on sale now from your local Henley Audio stockist.
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The Neotron dev team, consisting of makers Jonathan Pallant and Kaspar Emanuel, have created a custom PCB to carry our new favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico. The system is designed to resemble a retro-style computer you might find in the ’80s, albeit with a micro-ATX form factor.
The best Raspberry Pi projects don’t just draw inspiration from others, they add value and utilize the board to its fullest potential. The Neotron Pico is based off the team’s existing project, the Neotron 32, another ARM-based retro-style system using the same OS but the Pico adds a new dimension with room for expansion and a cheaper price point. The PCB was designed using KiCad, a free and open source electronics design application, and in the render we can see the Raspberry Pi Pico at the rear of the board, along with ports for PS/2 peripherals, sound, video and a DC barrel jack for power. An unpopulated SD card reader is also present to the right of the VGA connector, if the tracks exist on the board then adding an card reader should be relatively simple.
According to the project documentation, the board is able to output 12-bit Super VGA video using PIO state machines on the Pico. An SPI-to-GPIO expander is used to offer a total of eight IRQs and SPI chip-selects. Users can install up to eight peripherals or expansion slots.
Software-wise the board runs Neotron OS. This OS was written in Rust and is very similar to MS-DOS. You can read more about the PCB in detail and explore the code used in this project on the official Neotron Pico GitHub page.
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The words “Swiss design” conjure images of luxury watch movements and delicately sculpted eyeglasses, not hulking e-bikes with thickly welded frames and face-melting power. Stromer is here to challenge those assumptions and force a rethink of how its Swiss-made electric bikes, with top speeds of 45 km/h (28 mph), can disrupt urban transportation for the benefit of residents. I’ve certainly seen the light after testing a new 2021 edition ST2, Stromer’s first e-bike with a carbon belt drive.
Broadly speaking, US cities have all of the fast e-bikes and no bicycle infrastructure, whereas European cities have all of the protective infrastructure and few fast e-bikes. It’s exceedingly rare to see fast e-bikes known as speed-pedelecs in my Amsterdam home, for example, where half of all new bikes sold are electric, and bicycles outnumber people by a lot.
It’s not that EU bike makers are an effete bunch of cheese-eating milquetoasts; they manufacture slow, underpowered e-bikes to avoid the draconian measures triggered by EU Directive 168/2013. It states that any e-bike that goes faster than 25 km/h (15.5 mph) with a continuous rated power above 250 watts is to be treated the same as a gas-guzzling moped. Makers of s-pedelecs like the Stromer ST2 are subjected to a grueling certification process that then requires owners to hold a moped-class driver’s license, liability insurance, and registration. By contrast, a similarly specced Class 3 e-bike in the US usually requires… nothing, other than a helmet.
To make matters worse, speed pedelecs are banned from riding on the vast majority of the ubiquitous bike lanes that famously protect helmet-less Dutch bicyclists in cities like Amsterdam. Why? Because mopeds are banned, and the law doesn’t differentiate. Fuck that. I wasn’t going to put my life at risk for this review by riding alongside heavy (and dangerous) automobiles just because European regulators can’t get their shit together.
Over the entirety of March, I spent my days fawning over the sophistication of the Stromer ST2 while fuming at lawmakers for holding back s-pedelecs from their full potential as car replacements. While I’ll be reviewing the ST2 on its own merits, it’s nigh impossible to recommend to Europeans without first considering the operational rules by which it’s constrained.
Before diving too deeply into why European rules suck, let’s start with what makes the new Stromer ST2 so good.
The ST2 is Stromer’s all-rounder model in a range of s-pedelecs that run from the entry-level ST1 to the ST5 (there is no ST4), with prices ranging from $4,199 / €4,628 to $11,699 / €11,428 and higher depending on configuration and options. Stromer’s motors range from 670W and 35 Nm of torque to 850W and 48 Nm. All Stromers are pedal-assisted e-bikes without throttles.
The ST2 starts at $5,699 / €6,128 and is fitted with a 750-watt Stromer CYRO Drive IG motor mounted on the rear hub. It produces a modest 40 Nm of torque to accelerate the bike up to 45 km/h (28 mph) from a standstill as safely and effortlessly as possible. A torque sensor ensures that power is delivered just as soon it detects a harder press on the pedal. The Gates Carbon belt drive linked to an internal five-gear hub propels the sturdy aluminum-framed bike forward on 27.5-inch wheels sporting high volume Cycl-e ST tires custom-designed by Pirelli.
My ST2 with the large-sized sport frame options came standard with fenders, a kickstand, and a mini rack; it did not come with the optional front and rear suspension. It weighs just shy of 33 kgs (72 pounds), which is undeniably heavy for an e-bike. But that mass makes the ride feel rock solid at top speed, without any worrisome wobble or flex when riding over bumps.
Safety is also boosted by custom front and rear hydraulic disc brakes, an electric horn, daytime running lights, and a Roxim Z4E Pro headlight that can produce between 600 and 900 lumens at night. (A dazzling 1600-lumen option is available.) There’s also an integrated brake light around back. The required rearview mirror is useful to see overtaking motorists on roads, but it makes the bike quite wide. This resulted in a few slapped car mirrors before I got a feel for the added width. Fortunately, the mirror folds to make it a bit easier to walk the bike through narrow hallways.
The keyless battery makes a pleasant “thunk” when ejected after a touchscreen and button combo.
My ST2 review bike came fitted with a 48V, 618Wh removable battery rated for up to 120 km or 75 miles, though I’d estimate real-world range for an aggressive rider like me is about half that. I managed just shy of 50 km (31 miles) with 10 percent charge remaining, according to the Stromer app, before deciding to top up. The ST2 has a customizable regenerative braking feature to make the most of the battery. That flat terrain I tested on didn’t benefit from the extended range allowed by the recuperation that’s possible on long steep declines.
I did about half of my testing while illegally riding on bicycle lanes because responsible individuals can regulate their speed for the slower flow of congested city riding. If a powerful Ferrari can share city roads with slower Hyundais, then certainly a powerful e-bike can share a dedicated lane with traditional bicyclists. Putting the ST2 into low-power mode makes this easy. My riding was an even mix of max power (setting 3) at max speed (up to 47 km/h, according to the integrated display) when commuting outside the city center, and lazy 20 to 30 km/h jaunts at low power (setting 1) around town. A beefier battery with a stated range of up to 180 km (110 miles) is also available.
The + and – buttons on the left grip make it easy to toggle between the three power modes, while the right grip is home to the shifter. The excellent 5-Speed Sturmey Archer shifter is smooth and reliable and conveniently works from a standstill.
The display washes out even on an overcast day.“,”image_left”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22445516/DSC_4195.jpeg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:4928,”bottom_right_y”:3264},”bounds”:[0,0,4928,3264],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:4928,”height”:3264},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22445516,”asset_credit”:null,”alt_text”:””},”image_right”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22445517/DSC_4196.jpeg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:4928,”bottom_right_y”:3264},”bounds”:[0,0,4928,3264],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:4928,”height”:3264},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22445517,”asset_credit”:null,”alt_text”:””},”credit”:null}” data-cid=”apps/imageslider-1618567556_3085_133009″>
The display washes out even on an overcast day.
The touchscreen display integrated into the top tube is the interface to a bike OS that’s overwrought, in my opinion, though some might like having access to every configuration option (and there are a lot) right on the bike. I do not, especially not when all that overhead makes the bike take 20 seconds just to boot, an eternity if you’re in a hurry. My bike was also configured to boot into a lock screen that was frustratingly slow to respond to the five taps required to enter my secret passcode. The display also easily washes out in sunlight.
In my experience, it’s rare to make any changes once a bike is set up to your liking, meaning it’s best to offload more advanced features to an app. I prefer simple displays that boot fast and serve as a simple dashboard for basics like power setting and battery remaining. Stromer’s app is already very complete, offering lots of ride statistics and bike diagnostics in addition to options to tune the ride to your preferred balance of speed, torque, and agility. (I rode exclusively with the default “standard” setting.) The Stromer OMNI app is one of the best e-bike apps I’ve used.
The ST2 is as high-tech as they come, fitted with Bluetooth to auto-lock / unlock the bike when in range, GPS tracking, and 3G data for over-the-air software updates. An anti-theft mode shuts off the motor and starts blaring the horn to scare off thieves.
S-pedelecs can nearly reach the 50 km/h speed limit of most European cities, which is why they’re often pitched as true car replacements. Traditional e-bikes can already replace car commutes for many, but their top speed of 25 km/h means you’ll have to accept an extended travel time (while getting outside for some exercise). To test this theory, I “raced” a friend to a golf course to the north of Amsterdam; he in his new Tesla Model 3, me on the Stromer ST2 with a six-club pencil bag slung over my shoulder. His 30-minute trip took me just 27 minutes, and I had to wait 5 minutes for a ferry to arrive. Technically, I cheated by occasionally riding at top speed on deserted bike lanes I wasn’t allowed to use… but should have been.
Speed pedelecs are forbidden on Dutch bike lanes like the one above and must share roads with cars instead.
Now, about EU directive 168/2013. As the name implies, it was conceived years before it was fully enacted on January 1st, 2017, which is part of the problem. It failed to anticipate the explosion of electric personal mobility devices we’ve seen over the last four years, especially in countries like the Netherlands where half of all new bicycles sold last year were electric. The directive splits e-bikes into two categories of “type approvals”: type L1e-A includes electric cargo bikes like the Carqon, while type L1e-B includes s-pedelecs like the Stromer ST2 and gasoline-powered mopeds. Any e-bike maxing out at 25 km/h and 250 watts of continuous power is exempt from the directive and treated exactly like a regular bicycle.
Type L1e-B vehicles are limited to a maximum speed of 45 km/h and maximum continuous rated power of 4,000 watts. It requires mopeds and s-pedelecs to be fitted with a rearview mirror, horn, brake light, and prominent license plate; while the owner must be at least 16 years of age, wear a moped-rated helmet, possess a moped (type AM) driver’s license, be covered by liability insurance, and pay to have the vehicle registered.
Critics like the European Light Electric Vehicle Advocacy group LEVA-EU argue that because it was designed primarily for mopeds with combustion engines, the current type L1e-B approval process is unnecessarily complex and burdensome for bike makers. S-pedelec manufacturers are required to comply with 1,036 pages of text, much of which is about moped safety and emission concerns that simply don’t apply to speed pedelecs. The result is higher costs passed onto consumers and curtailed adoption and innovation because… why would any company bother?
Because Europe is Europe, there’s often variance in how regulations are set into law in each member country. While I complain about s-pedelec access to bike paths in Amsterdam, at least some bike lanes still allow them, unlike other European countries. Conversely, Belgium gives owners the choice to ride their s-pedelecs on any bike path or any road with a maximum speed limit of 50 km/h. It’s policy is informed by an effusive in-country study from 2019:
The speed pedelec has the potential to be a sustainable alternative for cars with internal combustion engines for commuting purposes. For the Belgian case, commuting with a speed pedelec can solve problems regarding congestion and air pollution.
At the close of 2020, Stromer bikes registered in Belgium (4,061) were more than double that of my Dutch home (1,558), according to Bike Europe. And despite being the market leader for s-pedelecs throughout Europe, Stromer produced just 12,417 s-pedelecs in 2020, which is the same number of slow e-bikes Amsterdam-based VanMoof makes in a month. European S-pedelec demand is clearly being stifled.
So, what’s to be done?
The good news here is that the European Commission seems keen to address the regulations that currently govern e-bikes. In October, the EC asked TRL, a UK-based mobility researcher, to initiate a review of the EU’s type approval process required by EU directive 168/2013. TRL recently concluded its findings and recommended that s-pedelecs be moved out of the L1e-B moped category and into the far less restrictive L1e-A category. L1e-A type approvals currently cover 1,000-watt e-cargo bikes capped at 25 km/h and some vehicles with throttles.
It’s a positive sign but still “unfortunate” for s-pedelecs from the perspective of LEVA-EU. The advocacy group has been pushing for an entirely new set of vehicle regulations for zero-emission vehicles like e-bikes, standing scooters, and electric skateboards based upon weight and speed only, not maximum continuous power. LEVA-EU believes that vehicles with similar levels of kinetic energy should be subjected to similar rules. It would therefore distinguish between vehicles with a maximum speed of 25 or 30 km/h and those capable of 45 or 50 km/h, instead of trying to bend the current regulations dictated by Directive 168/2013 (and the related Machinery Directive) to the realities of modern transportation. While the TRL did recommend to “create a dedicated approval process for PMD [personal mobility devices] separate from Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 and the Machinery Directive,” it capped this at a max speed of either 25 or 30 km/h, thus excluding s-pedelecs from the PMD category.
The EC isn’t bound by TRL’s recommendations so we’ll have to wait until 2022 for it to reveal its legislative proposal. Even then, any proposal would have to be negotiated with the member states; a process that could go on for years before new legislation is enacted.
The Stromer ST2 is also available in dark gray.
As much as I’d love to call for revolution and demand that urban commuters act on the moral obligation to disobey the unjust laws governing s-pedelecs in Europe, I can’t really apply the logic I used for a short-term review to long-term ownership — especially not with ST2 prices starting at $5,699 / €6,128.
If you’re in the US, then no problem. But anyone in Europe interested in owning the ST2 or any speed pedelec that falls under the current L1e-B type designation had better do their homework. Not only do you need to factor in local laws that might differ from EU rules, but also the costs to register and insure yourself for such a nascent and confusing transportation category.
The Stromer ST2 is easily the most sophisticated and thrilling e-bike I’ve ridden since I began reviewing the category back in 2016. It also did the rarest of things by letting me glimpse a better future that’s just out of reach.
S-pedelecs could help accelerate European initiatives to green our cities and reclaim all of that space allocated to idling cars. But that won’t happen until EU regulators first remove the barriers to adoption and then create incentives to get city-dwellers out of their cars, even the electric ones, and onto bikes like the Stromer ST2.
We already knew Acer was working on the first two Chrome OS devices powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7c chips. And today, the company has released two product listings for its Chromebook Spin 513, but you can’t buy this laptop just yet.
As spotted by AboutChromebooks, the Chromebook Spin 513 with the Snapdragon 7c processor has two configuration listings that have appeared on Acer’s website, with a starting price of $479.99. Acer announced in October that the Chromebook Spin would start at $399.99. Additionally, both laptops also do not show 4G LTE for connectivity, which is something that was noted to be a configuration option.
The key difference between the two is the RAM configuration, which is only a $20 price difference. Although the product listing for both Chromebooks include a “Buy Now” button, it is still not available for purchase yet.
The Snapdragon 7c is an entry-level mobile processor that’s built on an 8nm process. Although it is one of the weaker laptop CPUs, the company claims the biggest benefit for devices powered by this processor is a longer battery life; Acer claims its Chromebook devices powered by the Snapdragon 7c will offer a 14-hour battery life.
Parallels has released a new version of its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software that features full native support for Mac computers equipped with either Apple M1 or Intel processors. The program allows users to run Windows 10 Arm Insider Preview as well as various Linux distributions on systems running the M1 SoC at native speeds.
Running Windows on Apple’s Mac computers may not be a priority for most of their owners, but there are still quite a lot of users who need to run Windows applications from time to time. Since the latest Apple MacBook Air/Pro 13 and MacMini are based on the Arm-powered M1 SoC, it’s impossible to install regular Windows 10 as the second OS on them. Furthermore, unlike other programs for Mac, virtualization machines did not run well on M1-based Macs via the Rosetta layer, so Parallels had to redesign its Parallels Desktop to make it run on an Apple’s M1 SoC natively.
Parallels Desktop for Mac 16.5 supports all the capabilities that that users of PDM are used to on Apple M1 systems, including coherence mode, shared profile, and touch bar controls, just to name a few.
In addition to Windows 10 for Arm, Parallels Desktop for Mac 16.5 also supports guest operating systems on M1 Macs,including Linux distributives Ubuntu 20.04, Kali Linux 2021.1, Debian 10.7, and Fedora Workstation 33-1.2.
To ensure flawless operation of its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtual machine, Parallel used help of more than 100,000 Mac M1 users who ran Microsoft’s Windows 10 on Arm Insider Preview along with various software from PowerBI to Visual Studio and from SQL server to Meta Trader. In addition, engineers from Parallels did not forget games and ensured that titles like Rocket League, Among Us, Roblox, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Sam & Max Save the World worked well on Parallels Desktop for Mac 16.5 and Apple M1-powered systems.
Right now, Parallels Desktop for Mac 16.5 is good enough to launch it commercially, according to the company.
There are some interesting findings about performance of Apple M1 and Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac:
An M1-based Mac running Parallels Desktop 16.5 and Windows 10 Arm consumes 2.5 times less energy than a 2020 Intel-based MacBook Air.
An Apple M1 machine running Parallels Desktop 16.5 and Windows 10 Arm performs 30% better in Geekbench 5 than a MacBookPro with Intel Core i9-8950HK in the same conditions.
Apple M1’s integrated GPU appears to be 60% faster than AMD’s Radeon Pro 555X discrete graphics processor in DirectX 11 applications when running Windows using the Parallels Desktop 16.5.
“Apple’s M1 chip is a significant breakthrough for Mac users,” said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Parallels Senior Vice President of Engineering and Support. “The transition has been smooth for most Mac applications, thanks to Rosetta technology. However, virtual machines are an exception and thus Parallels engineers implemented native virtualization support for the Mac with M1 chip. This enables our users to enjoy the best Windows-on-Mac experience available.”
It’s been two years since Sony launched 360 Reality Audio, a format that uses Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology to deliver 360-degree sound. In that time, 360 Realit Audio has become available on Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music HD and nugs.net, with subscribers to those services able to listen to them in all their immersive glory.
Compatible products include Sony’s dedicated SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 wireless speakers, Amazon’s Echo Studio smart speaker and certain Sony headphones (such as the WH-1000XM4) via the firm’s dedicated Headphone Connect app.
Now, however, it seems as though Sony has plans to widen compatibility for the format to more Android devices. In the Android Open Source Project, code reviews and comments from both Sony and Google have directly mentioned Sony 360 Reality Audio, as spotted by XDA Developers. The report highlights a comment by Sony software engineer Kei Murayama: “This is one of the patches mentioned in the meeting ‘Android OS 360RA support’ between Google and Sony.”
That suggests a collaboration is in the works to bring Sony’s custom decoder for the format (which is built on the open MPEG-H 3D Audio standard) to the wider Android world, presumably allowing app providers to easily offer 3D audio playback.
While 360 Reality Audio can support up to 64 channels of audio, the code mentions support for a 13-channel audio layout “which uses surround 5 channels, top 5 channels and bottom 3 channels”. It also states that a “Virtualizer can place individual sounds in a 360 spherical sound field from these channels on any headphones” – so it looks like the technology may be able to work in a psuedo capacity with any set of headphones or, indeed, speakers.
With that Sony and Google joint venture in mind, plus the fact Sony recently announced video streaming capabilities for 360 Reality Audio and 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite content creation software, we could well be seeing – and hearing – more of Sony’s immersive audio efforts in the near future. Look out, Dolby Atmos Music.
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Mobvoi is starting to sell the TicWatch GTH today, a $79.99 fitness wearable that features sensors for skin temperature and blood oxygen that are typically reserved for more expensive watches. Mobvoi has generally focused on Wear OS devices in the past, providing a variety of options for Google’s troubled wearable operating system, but the TicWatch GTH seems more like a Fitbit competitor than anything else.
The TicWatch GTH has an Apple Watch-esque square body, a noticeably bezeled 1.55-inch screen, and only comes in “raven black.” Mobvoi claims the GTH’s 260mAh battery can last more than a week on one charge, “depending on usage,” and that the watch is also water-resistant up to 5ATM or 50 meters. Despite that, Mobvoi’s website notes that the GTH is not safe for shower use.
The TicWatch GTH has several sensors that appear on more expensive watches, like an SpO2 sensors and an electrodermal activity sensor.Image: Mobvoi
For sensors, the GTH has the usual fitness tracker standbys like an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a heart rate monitor, but also a SpO2 sensor for measuring blood oxygen level and a skin temperature sensor for… well, measuring your skin temperature. Actual uses for skin temperature data vary, however. The Fitbit Sense advertised skin temperature sensing as an indicator for stress. In its announcement for the GTH, Mobvoi didn’t specify what skin temperature should be used for. But as a rule, we urge caution for any big claims a new sensor might come attached with.
That rule also applies to measuring blood oxygen saturation. There’s been a trend of including blood oxygen sensors in smartwatches, but the wrist is not actually the best place to measure saturation, and these smartwatches shouldn’t be thought of as medical devices. Knowing your blood oxygen level mostly seems useful for serious athletic training and not much else.
But even if they might not necessarily be useful, the fact that the TicWatch includes both SpO2 and skin temperature sensors for only $79.99 is notable. The GTH undercuts the Apple Watch Series 6 at $399, the Fitbit Sense at $299.95, and even the Fitbit Charge 4 at $169.95, while tracking a lot of the same things. The TicWatch GTH is stuck in Mobvoi’s Tic-based app world, but the company does offer a variety of features like stress management, sleep tracking, automatic workout detection, audio playback controls, and basic messaging notifications if you’re willing to invest in a potentially unfamiliar system.
The TicWatch GTH is not particularly flashy, but its price might be enticing if you’re looking for an even more affordable entry into tracking than Fitbit’s entry-level watches. The TicWatch GTH is available today for $79.99 / €79.99 / £69.99 from Mobvoi’s site or Amazon.
A potential new Raspberry Pi competitor will soon be announced, according to a post on embedded systems blog CNX-Software. Based on the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture, the Allwinner D1 development board is a credit-card-sized single board computer with a single core XuanTie C906 64-bit RISC-V CPU running at 1GHz along with 1GB of DDR3 RAM.
(Image credit: CNX-software)
The board has a lot in common with the single-board computers we already know and love, though seems to be aimed at the less powerful end of the spectrum. The Raspberry Pi 4 has this board beat for pure computational power. There’s the familiar 40-pin GPIO which we assume is compatible with layout used on the Raspberry Pi but that remains to be seen. Also present on the board is a single full size HDMI 1.4 port, Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth, two USB Type-C ports and a single USB 2.0 Type-A, a Micro SD slot, Gigabit Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack, plus camera and display connectors which look to be the same format as the CSI and DSI connectors found on the Raspberry Pi. Interestingly, there’s 256MB of onboard flash storage, and a four-pin UART header for debugging.
Allwinner is positioning the board as a ‘multi-media decoding platform’, and CNX’s figures show it’s good for H.265 up to 1080p60 or 4Kp30, and H.264 up to 1080p60 or 4Kp24. The display header can run a touchscreen at up to 1080p60, and the HDMI port hits the 1.4 standard.
The Allwinner D1 Linux RISC-V has the same dimensions as a Raspberry Pi 4 at 3.3 x 2.2 inches (85 x 56 mm) but the overall layout is different enough to prevent Raspberry Pi cases from being used. Beyond its video engine, the Allwinner D1 Linux RISC-V development board doesn’t have much in the way of graphics processing. A quoted Coremark score of 3.8/Mhz doesn’t compare well with the Raspberry Pi 4’s 15.1/MHz, but we’d expect this board to be considerably cheaper, and it could be interesting for use in smart displays or networked cameras. Allwinner has its own Debian-based Linux distribution, Tina OS, though its Github page was last updated in 2017, so we’re hopeful for a newer kernel to go with this new board.
Right now that is all we know, but we are hopeful that this board will introduce the RISC-V platform to more makers and lead to more powerful machines coming in the near future.
Roku today announced that its latest software release, Roku OS 10, has begun rolling out and will start making its way to all supported devices in the coming weeks. “Roku OS 10 introduces a variety of new features getting users to content faster, improving network and input configurations, offering new ways to customize the experience and performance enhancements,” the company said in a press release.
The first new feature of Roku OS 10 is instant resume: now, streaming apps can pick up from where they left off when you last exited them. This seems to require some work on the developer’s part, as only a few apps (including the Roku Channel) are offering instant resume out of the gate — but none of the huge players like Netflix or Prime Video are supporting it yet.
Next is what Roku calls “automatic Wi-Fi detection.” If you’ve got separate Wi-Fi networks in your home for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, a Roku device will now recommend the better option at setup. And if there’s any buffering or other stream interruptions, you might see a prompt appear recommending that you jump over to the other, less congested network.
Roku is also adding automatic game console configuration. Starting with Roku OS 10, when you plug a console into a Roku TV, the tile will change to the right name and the Roku TV will enter game mode. “Depending on the Roku TV model being used, settings that get automatically configured may include HDR gaming, auto low latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), high frame rate, and THX certified game mode.”
AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support will be extended to more devices with the launch of Roku OS 10. Before, these Apple features came to 4K-compatible Roku products and 4K Roku TVs, but now the company says they’ll both now be available “on HD Roku streaming devices, such as the Roku Express, and select HD Roku TV models.”
Roku OS 10 lets you customize the live TV channel guide if you’ve got an antenna plugged into your Roku TV. And it also introduces support for HDR10+ on the Roku Ultra and new Roku Express 4K Plus. It also adds virtual surround sound to the Roku Smart Soundbar and new Roku Streambar Pro.
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What makes a smartwatch “smart”? Is it the ability to show you notifications from your phone? What about the ability to track your physical activity and wellness, such as step counts, workouts, and sleep? How about providing you information about your day, such as the weather and upcoming calendar events? Or perhaps it’s the inclusion of a voice assistant on your wrist that you can ask to do things without having to use your phone?
Those are the questions I’ve been asking over the past week-plus as I’ve been testing the new OnePlus Watch, a $159 smartwatch and the first wearable from the smartphone company. The OnePlus Watch has all the looks of a modern smartwatch, but as I’ve learned wearing it on my wrist day and night, it doesn’t have all the smarts.
The OnePlus Watch is not like a Wear OS smartwatch, such as those made by Fossil, Motorola, or Mobvoi. Nor is it like a Samsung Galaxy Watch or an Apple Watch. All of those have software platforms that integrate with other apps and services, so you can download apps or watchfaces to the watch itself, just like you might with a phone. That makes them very extensible and customizable — you can easily make the watch look unique and do the things you need it to.
The OnePlus Watch, on the other hand (or wrist?), runs its own proprietary software, based on a real-time operating system. This software is very quick and power efficient, but it is not extensible — there’s no app store or third-party watchfaces to download on the OnePlus Watch. It’s similar to the software on the budget smartwatches you can get on Amazon; if you’ve ever used an Amazfit, Umidigi, or Wyze watch, you’ve used a real-time operating system. The OnePlus Watch is not very different from those in this respect.
This choice of platform affords the OnePlus Watch its greatest strength, long battery life, and also its greatest weakness: it just doesn’t do all that much compared to other smartwatches you can buy.
The OnePlus Watch looks like many other smartwatches, but most especially the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
OnePlus Watch software
The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there’s no iPhone compatibility at all. But you don’t need to own a OnePlus phone, it works with basically any modern Android device. I tested it on both OnePlus and Samsung smartphones and the experience was the same.
The app is where you can see what health and fitness metrics the watch has recorded, adjust which apps send notifications on your wrist, and view the available watchfaces. OnePlus has about 50 watchfaces so far, with some offering limited customizability in the form of selectable shortcuts or widgets, such as a weather widget, date, or shortcut to a built-in app like the timer. You can choose up to 14 faces to store on the watch and switch between them without using your phone. The company says it plans on adding more in the future, but as I mentioned earlier, there are no options for third-party watchfaces or third-party app widgets like you get with Samsung, Wear OS, or Apple smartwatches.
The watchfaces themselves are what you’d expect: there is the assortment of analog and digital styles to choose from, with some showing more information about your activity than others. I’m not a big fan of the analog options, so I settled on a digital face. Unfortunately, there’s a bug where digital watchfaces on the OnePlus Watch are stuck in 24-hour time and can’t show 12-hour time. The company tells me it is aware of this bug, and it is slated to be fixed “this month.”
The OnePlus Watch’s interface mimics Wear OS and is easy to navigate.
The watch interface has a familiar layout: swipe down for settings, swipe up to see notifications, press the side button to see your apps. You can swipe right from the watchface to access basic widgets for music control, weather, and activity tracking, similar to Wear OS or a Samsung watch. The design of the interface all looks mostly fine, and there thankfully aren’t any stutters or lags when navigating it.
I do have a few gripes with how notifications are handled. You can’t clear notifications by just swiping them away, like you can with every other smartwatch. Instead, you have to tap into each one and then press clear or scroll to the bottom to clear them all. It’s a clumsy and fiddly process. The OnePlus Watch doesn’t always sync with the notifications I’ve cleared on my phone, either, and occasionally notifications for the same messages would get duplicated, forcing me to see the same alerts more than once.
You can’t do much with those notifications, either. There are no actions you can take other than clearing them from your wrist. OnePlus supports canned message replies in just five apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, Discord, and Facebook Messenger. Notably and frustratingly, that list doesn’t include standard SMS messages. On top of that, there are only four basic replies to choose from: “OK”; “Be right there!”; “In a meeting, contact you later”; and “I’m driving, contact you later.” I frequently use a smartwatch to triage notifications, delete incoming emails, or reply to messages when I’m away from my desk, but I can’t do most of those things with the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch comes with a basic set of apps: weather, timer, stopwatch, alarm, workout, sleep tracking, etc. Oddly, it doesn’t have a calculator or a calendar app, so I can’t easily see my next meeting or appointment, something I do a lot with other smartwatches. There’s no way to get your next appointment on your watchface, either. And since there isn’t an app store, I can’t add any apps to that list.
You can forget about streaming music from Spotify or playing podcasts through your favorite app — the only thing you can do with the OnePlus Watch is control what’s playing on your phone or transfer MP3 files from your phone to the watch’s 4GB of storage. Want to track your runs with Strava or MapMyFitness instead of OnePlus’ app? Sorry, no dice. If you want to control smart home devices from your wrist, the OnePlus Watch is entirely useless unless you have a OnePlus TV, where you can use it as a remote. The OnePlus TV is only available in India.
The OnePlus Watch also lacks a voice assistant. I can’t ask it to start a timer when I’m in the kitchen and my hands are dirty, I can’t ask it to turn the lights off or open my garage door, and I can’t dictate a reply to an incoming message. How well voice assistants work varies greatly between smartwatches (Siri on the Apple Watch, pretty good! Bixby on a Samsung watch, less so), but OnePlus isn’t even trying here and I’ve missed having one available.
Lastly, even though the OnePlus Watch has an NFC radio, it does not support mobile payments. You can’t tap your wrist to pay for something like you can with an Apple Watch, Samsung watch, or Wear OS smartwatch.
The OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking features hit the standard beats.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
OnePlus Watch fitness tracking
The fitness tracking features are quite basic. It will track your steps throughout the day; the watch will nudge you to get up and move when you’ve been sitting for too long; you can choose between 14 different workouts for the watch to track; and if you wear the OnePlus Watch to bed, it will make an attempt to track your sleep.
I’m not a gym rat, but I did wear the OnePlus Watch on my left wrist with a Fitbit Inspire HR on my right wrist throughout this review and the OnePlus counted thousands fewer steps than the Fitbit every day. None of these devices are perfect with their step tracking, but that kind of discrepancy is going to make tracking a longer-distance run or other intense workout inaccurate or just plain hard to do. I asked a few other reviewers I know who are also testing the OnePlus Watch and each one has had the same issues with inaccurate step counting. OnePlus says a bug fix for GPS optimization and to add more workout modes will be available sometime in mid-April.
While the OnePlus Watch frequently undercounted my steps, it overestimated how much I slept each night.
Sleep tracking, oddly enough, has the opposite problem. The OnePlus Watch consistently overestimates how long I slept each night compared to the Fitbit and Google’s Nest Hub. A bug has also prevented the Watch from syncing its sleep data with the OnePlus Health app, even though other activity synced over fine. The company says this bug should also be fixed sometime this month.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t use other fitness apps on the OnePlus Watch. The OnePlus Health app provides syncing with the Google Fit platform, so it’s possible you could cobble together a syncing solution between other apps using Fit as glue, but I did not test this. In general, the OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking is fine for basic activity trends, but any fitness enthusiasts will want something more capable and reliable.
The OnePlus Watch only comes in one size: a large 46mm face.
OnePlus Watch hardware and design
In terms of design, the OnePlus Watch is generic-looking — it reminds me a lot of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active line. It’s got a round face, there are two buttons on the side, and the body is made of polished stainless steel, which is nice to see at this price point. It comes in silver, black, or a gold-colored special edition — I’ve got the black model and it’s a little boring to look at. Either way, the hardware is solid and put together well — it’s not creaky or plasticky, and there are no rough edges to worry about.
OnePlus is only offering the watch in one size, 46mm, and frankly, it’s big. It’s bigger than I like watches to be on my wrist, and if you have smaller wrists than me you’re not going to have a fun time with this. On the plus side, it’s not the thickest smartwatch I’ve ever worn. Just one size band comes in the box — OnePlus says that customers who need a shorter band will be able to get one by contacting customer service.
The touchscreen is a 1.39-inch 454 x 454 OLED that’s easy to see both indoors and out. It’s colorful, like you’d expect an OLED to be, but there’s no always-on display option, which nearly every other smartwatch has now. That makes it that much more annoying to check the time, though the wrist turn gesture does work well to wake it up.
On the underside are the sensors for heart rate and blood oxygen. As usual, you should not use these sensors for medical purposes — and blood oxygen monitors on even the best smartwatches notoriously struggle with giving accurate readings. Inside the watch are the accelerometers and gyroscopes necessary to track your activity and workouts, plus GPS and Bluetooth radios. There’s no Wi-Fi or LTE here — if you leave your phone behind, you’re going to miss notifications and alerts until the watch is back in Bluetooth range of your phone.
Also missing from the OnePlus Watch are any rotating bezels or crowns — the only way to interact with it is to tap and swipe on the screen itself or push the buttons on the side.
Even though it doesn’t have a voice assistant, the OnePlus Watch does have a microphone and speaker, so you can answer calls from your wrist via Bluetooth. It worked fine in my tests; callers said I sounded clear to them, but the speaker on the watch is a bit crackly at full volume. It works in a pinch.
The OnePlus Watch has exceptional battery life and charges very quickly on its included charger.
The best thing about the OnePlus Watch is its battery life. OnePlus claims up to 14 days of usage between charges — it lasted about 10 days for me, wearing it day and night. Charging the watch is also quick and easy: just 20 minutes on the charger adds half a charge, which translates to literal days of usage. No Apple, Samsung, or Wear OS watch can last this long or charge this quickly.
But at the same time, the OnePlus Watch has such great battery life because, frankly, it just does less than those other smartwatches. The best comparison I can make is that the OnePlus Watch is a fitness tracker in a smartwatch body, which would be an acceptable premise if it were a better fitness tracker.
There are about 50 different watchfaces to choose from for the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch may look like a lot of other smartwatches, but I can’t say it compares well to them. It’s limited in features, only comes in one size, and as I’ve gone over, there are several bugs with it that make it feel like an unfinished product. Aside from its long battery life, the OnePlus Watch’s bestselling point is its low price, which is half that of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and over $100 less than the comparably sized Galaxy Watch Active 2. But if you’re looking for a smartwatch for your Android phone, it’s not that hard to find Wear OS models on sale, often for less than the cost of the OnePlus Watch.
For me, a good smartwatch is a lot like a personal assistant on my wrist. It tells me the time, when my next calendar appointment is, what the weather is like, and how active I’ve been throughout the day. I can quickly ask it to set a timer when I’m making a cup of tea or use it to reply to a message from my spouse when I’m running an errand. It also lets me customize its appearance and capabilities through third-party apps, watchfaces, or both. For others, it’s a way to track workouts and keep on top of their personal health.
In that framing, the OnePlus Watch isn’t really a smartwatch and based on my experience, it isn’t a great fitness tracker either. Instead, it’s just a clever watch, and it can be useful if your expectations of it are low. But if a smartwatch is going to take up real estate on my wrist, it has to be more useful than the OnePlus Watch.
(Pocket-lint) – After years of rumours, stop-and-start plans, and official teasers, OnePlus finally announced its first smartwatch. Unsurprisingly it’s called the OnePlus Watch.
The fact that it’s a round-screen device has surprised no one, but what perhaps came as unexpected is the fact that OnePlus opted not to use Google’s Wear OS platform.
Like other tech companies, namely Huawei and Samsung, OnePlus has opted to use its own software in order to improve battery life. That means up to 14 days between charges depending on usage. Check out our unboxing above for a more in-depth look.
Design
Measures: 46.4 × 46.4mm × 10.9mm
Weighs: 76g (including the strap)
IP68 water- and dust-resistant
Waterproof to 5ATM
The OnePlus Watch Classic editions are made from 316L stainless steel and finished with polished, rounded edges. It’s a simple and effective design and comes in two colours: Midnight Black (pictured) and Moonlight Silver.
LG quits phone biz, Sonos Roam reviewed, and more – Pocket-lint Podcast 98
By Rik Henderson
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Midnight Black features a polished grey case with a black bezel around the watch’s completely round display. The glass on the front is mostly flat, but features shallow, subtle curves towards the edges.
As well as those two steel models, there’s also a limited edition Cobalt model which has a case made from a cobalt alloy and a gold metallic finish.
Pocket-lint
Size-wise it’s quite a large watch, measuring 46mm across. That makes it similar in size to the Huawei Watch GT 2e and Watch GT 2 Pro.
For larger wrists the size isn’t a problem at all, especially if you’re used to wearing 44-47mm watches. However, those who need smaller sizes will likely be put off by how much it will dominate their wrist.
All of the OnePlus Watch options feature the same two-button design, where the top button features a raised OnePlus moniker. Both are slim buttons which don’t protrude too far from the side, meaning you’re unlikely to accidentally press them if your wrist is bent backward.
On the underside there’s the optical sensors required for measuring both heart-rate and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). They’re all arranged neatly and sit just above the two contact points required for charging on its included cradle.
Unusually, this features a USB-A connector on the other side so you can’t plug it into the new Warp Charge adapter that ships with the OnePlus 9 phones.
The only other thing worth noting from a design perspective is the strap. It feels similar in material and design to Apple Watch’s basic Sport Band.
It’s a fluoroelastomer band, which is really flexible and features a metal pin that pokes through the holes to fix it in place, while the end inserts through a hole and underneath to tuck it out of the way.
We’ll have a full review in the near future, but on the features side OnePlus is promising a lot. It claims the Watch can last two weeks on a full charge and has the ability to track multiple sports and movements.
Pocket-lint
It has GPS for location, gyroscope and accelerometer for movement, the aforementioned blood oxygen saturation and heart-rate tracking, plus a compass and barometric pressure. You can even use it for tracking swimming.
Add to that a Bluetooth speaker for receiving calls and storage for offline music playback and there’s a lot going for it. Especially given the price point.
Pocket-lint
First Impressions
The OnePlus Watch is simple but effective. It’s a round, polished watch that will survive being taken for a swim and should keep up with all of your fitness activities – whether you’re getting sweaty on a really hot day or you’re out on a wet and windy hike.
There are two big attractions: the price and the battery life. It’s more affordable than most other similar alternatives. And the fact you only need to charge it once every two weeks means you needn’t get battery anxiety.
If you’re looking your first smartwatch and don’t want to spend too much then the OnePlus Watch is a clear contender.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Huawei Watch GT 2e
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Huawei’s Watch GT 2e is similar in a lot of ways. It offers similar tracking capabilites and design, plus it’s also affordable. Huawei has been in the fitness game longer than OnePlus too – and that experience will likely show.
LG’s Korean website now lists which phones the company plans to update to Android 12, along with a few devices which will even get Android 13. These upgrades will most likely come long after the company’s mobile industry exit, announced last week. Phone Arena spotted the updated FAQ, which previously stated that some models would get the OS upgrade to 12.
According to the FAQ, the LG Wing and both variants of the Velvet (LTE and 5G) will get Android 13. LG also says that those models, along with the V50, V50S, G8, Q31, Q52, and Q92, will receive an Android 12 upgrade. The company also notes that these two updates aren’t strictly guaranteed and will depend on product performance, product stabilization level, and Google policy.
LG Korea says that an Android 11 update, already in progress, is planned for the models mentioned above, along with the Q61, Q70, and Q9 One. As an aside, the Q-series models sold throughout Europe and Asia are similar to corresponding models sold as the K-series in the US but aren’t strictly a 1:1 match.
Availability and timing of updates will, of course, vary by region, but the list is a good indication of which models the company plans to prioritize. Recently, LG’s German website published a timetable for its Android 11 updates, most of which won’t be released until the end of the 2021. The company isn’t known for a great track record on platform updates, but it’s encouraging to see specific model names mentioned for the future upgrades.
Intel has initiated the end-of-life plan for all of its Optane DC P4800X SSDs with Memory Drive Technology (MDT). The same drives without the Memory Drive software will continue to be shipped as long as demand is there, but the SKUs with the said program will not be available from Intel by October.
The discontinued family of Optane SSD DC P4800X with MDT products includes models with 100GB, 375GB, 750GB, and 1.5TB capacities in U.2 and card form-factors with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface.
Along with the drives, Intel has also EOL’d the Memory Drive Technology Software that’s sold separately for its Optane DC P4800X and SSD 900/905P drives. Interested parties should place their orders on the said products by June 30, 2021; Intel will ship the last drives with MDT on September 30, 2021.
Intel’s Memory Drive Technology software extends system memory to Optane SSDs transparently to the OS and essentially makes 3D XPoint-based drives appear like DRAM to the OS and applications. The software was introduced in 2018 alongside the Optane SSD DC P4800X/P4801X as well as Optane SSD 900P/905P drives and was designed primarily to expand system memory capacity on first-gen Intel Xeon Scalable (and older) machines in a very cost-efficient way, as 3D XPoint is significantly cheaper than DRAM.
Back in 2018, Intel sold its 1st Generation Xeon Scalable processors (and even their predecessors) that did not support yet-to-be-launched Optane Persistent Memory modules, so the Memory Drive Technology software made quite a lot of sense for the company and its customers that needed a cheap system memory expansion for their in-memory applications. In mid-2019 the company introduced its 2nd Generation Xeon Scalable ‘Cascade Lake’ CPUs that added support for Optane Persistent Memory Modules and it became even easier for its clients to expand system memory using 3D XPoint-based PMMs.
By now, the share of outdated Xeon CPUs in Intel’s shipments has probably dropped so significantly that it no longer needs either MDT or drives that come with it. To that end, it does not make sense to keep the SKUs in the catalog. Meanwhile, regular Optane DC P4800X SSDs will continue to be shipped as Intel has not announced any plans about them.
Crowbits’ progressive STEM kits teach future engineers (ages 6-10 and up) the basics of electronics and programming, but nondurable paper elements and poorly translated documentation could lead to frustration and incomplete projects.
For
+ 80+ Lego-compatible electronic modules and sensors
+ Helpful programming software
+ Progressive learning kits
+ Examples are very helpful
+ Engaging projects for pre-teen and teen engineers
Against
– Inadequate and inaccurate project tutorial
– Cable modules are stiff and pop off easily
– Cardboard projects are flimsy and cumbersome
– Labels are hard to read
They say that the best method of teaching is to start with the basics. This is true for most subjects, but even more so for getting kids involved and interested in learning about electronics and programming. This is exactly Elecrow Crowbits’ approach to launching young inventors and creators into the world of technology.
Available via Kickstarter, the STEM kit series starts with building simple projects that make use of basic electronic concepts, then steps up kids’ skills by introducing projects that require some coding and graduates to more advanced application development. The Crowbits lineup consists of five interactive STEM-based packages, each appropriately themed with projects that cater to kids from ages 6 -10 and up. These are the Hello Kit, Explorer Kit, Inventor Kit, Creator Kit and Master Kit.
With the variety of engineering kits out in the market today, Crowbits’ pricing falls in the mid-range category. Ranging from $26 to $90, depending on which kit you prefer, it is money well spent. One of the key values that Crowbits brings is its focus on teaching kids the basics of electronics through the use of these programmable blocks and sensors and ties that learning to current practical uses, like turning the lights on or off. This simple circuit logic is used to program small home appliances like coffee machines, automatic dispensers or even smart home security systems.
Much like the company’s previous Kickstarter project the CrowPi2, a Raspberry Pi-powered laptop which we reviewed last year, Crowbits also presented issues with documentation. Makers and creators know that clear and concise directions are very important for any project building. Unclear and inadequate instructions causes users, especially beginners, to feel that they may have done something wrong. They may be able to troubleshoot some issues themselves, but if left unresolved an air of defeat and frustration ensues.
Crowbits Setup
Setup for Crowbits starts with choosing which components to use depending on the project the child wants to try. The modules are designed to be plug-and-play so young makers can use them to build structures and experiment right away. Modules are also compatible with the entire series of learning kits, so if you purchased more than one, you can use them interchangeably.
If you want to try building from the suggested projects, of which there are plenty to choose from, note that they become more challenging as you move up in the series and may include some coding and firmware downloads.
How Crowbits Work
(Image credit: Elecrow)
Every kit consists of a number of modules. Each module has magnetic pogo-pins on all sides that help connect them easily. Another way of connecting modules are by the magnetic cables. At the back of each module are Lego holes for seamless integration of Lego bricks to any structure.
(Image credit: Elecrow)
There are four different types of modules and are easily identified by color: Blue for power/logic, yellow for input, green for output and orange for special modules. It’s important to keep in mind a few rules for creating a circuit sequence. There should be at least a power, an input and an output module in order to build a circuit, with the proper sequence having the input block before the output.
There could be multiple input and output blocks in a sequence where the output is controlled by the nearest input block. Lastly, names of modules must be facing up to ensure the correct pins are being used.
Crowbits Module and Sensor Breakdown
(Image credit: Elecrow)
There are four different types of modules and sensors for Crowbits and each function is distinguished by color:
Power Modules (Blue) – the power source and a core module that’s required for every project build. You’ll see a green light that indicates when the power is on. Use the included micro-USB cable to re-charge the power supply when needed.
Logic Modules (Blue) – for basic operations. Includes: 315 MHz Controller, Expansion, etc.
Input Modules (Yellow) – accepts input data like touch, vibration or object detection and passes it to the output modules. Includes: Touch module, IR reflective sensor, light sensor, etc.
Output Modules (Green) – receives command from input module and executes ending action. Examples are: Buzzer module (makes a sound), LED (Y) light up, or vibrate
Special Modules (Orange) – used for advanced programming tasks. Examples are: I2C or UART
Crowbits Software and Hardware
(Image credit: Elecrow)
Programming Languages Supported: Letscode (Elecrow’s visual programming software based on Scratch 3.0), which supports Python and Arduino IDE.
Open Source Hardware Compatibility: ESP32 TFT, Micro:bit board, Arduino UNO and Raspberry Pi (TBA).
OS Supported: Windows and Mac
Crowbits Learning Kits Use Cases
Hello Kit and Explorer Kit
(Image credit: Elecrow)
The Hello Kit and Explorer Kit are learning tools for beginners and targets children ages 6-8 and up. It introduces the concept of modules and their functionality. No coding is required for any of the suggested experiments and projects here. Building the projects with cardboard elements proved to be difficult for my seven-year-old and she got easily frustrated trying to use the thin double-sided tape that came with the kit.
Once the structures were built (with my help) she did enjoy putting the modules together and making things happen like sounding the buzzer on the anti-touching device or making the lights turn on her window display project. Another annoyance to note was when using the cable module that serves to connect modules together. The cable is quite thick and not flexible so it had the tendency to pop off and break the connection for multiple projects.
I would have to say that my daughter was most engaged with the Explorer Kit, perhaps because the projects had more integration with Lego blocks, and some projects were also very interactive like the Quadruped Robot and the Lift, which were her favorites. She enjoyed building the structures and seeing the creations come to life, especially when there was movement, sounds and lights.
Inventor Kit and Creator Kit
(Image credit: Elecrow)
The Inventor Kit and Creator Kit are the intermediate learning tools of the Crowbits series and targets children ages 10 and up. The Inventor Kit includes more advanced projects that incorporate the Micro:bit board in the builds. This requires some coding and the use of Letcsode, Elecrow’s Scratch-based drag-and-drop visual programming software.
The software seemed a bit buggy (mainly in steps like downloading custom code) and there were inaccuracies in the project documentation that led to a lot of troubleshooting on our part. Hopefully, by the time Crowbits is ready for release in June, these kinks will have been resolved.
It is worth noting, though, that the list of projects suggested for the Inventor kit seem to be age-appropriate. My tween worked on the Horizontal Bar and the Ultrasonic Guitar projects. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had no issues following the diagrams in building the Lego structures. There was a little hiccup in using the software, as I mentioned earlier, where we were wanting for troubleshooting tips and more clear documentation.
Unfortunately, we were not able to try out the Creator Kit as it was not available when we received our evaluation samples. We may update this review when we receive the Kit after its June release.
Master Kit
(Image credit: Elecrow)
The Master Kit definitely is the most challenging of the engineering kits in the Crowbits lineup, with the task of programming hardware and software to build real-life products like a mobile phone, a game console and a radar. I’ll set aside my comments for this kit as I was unsuccessful in trying to make the phone and console work due to a corrupted SD card.
Additionally, we had intermittent issues while uploading firmware. It is unfortunate because I was looking forward to this kit the most, but perhaps I can re-visit the Master Kit and post an update at a later time.
The one successful project build out of this kit, the radar, honestly left us scratching our heads. The expected results were not seen as we tried a placing variety of objects in the vicinity of the rotating radar dish and none of them seemed to be detected.
Crowbits Learning Kits Specs and Pricing
Modules
Projects
Age
Price
Hello Kit
7 Modules
5 Cardboard Projects
6+
$26
Explorer Kit
13 Modules
12 Projects
8+
$70
Inventor Kit
10 Modules
12 Lego, graphic programming projects and Letscode introduction
10+
$80
Creator Kit
TBD
TBD
10+
$90
Master Kit
TBD
TBD
10+
$90
Crowbits Available Bundles and Special Pricing
Bundles
Kits Included
Pricing
Bundle #1
Explorer Kit, Creator Kit, Master Kit
$239
Bundle #2
Explorer Kit, Inventor Kit, Master Kit
$249
Bundle #3
Hello Kit, Explorer Kit, Inventor Creator Kit, Master Kit
$354
Bottom Line
Despite all its kinks, overall the Crowbits STEM Kit appears to be another great educational tool from Elecrow with the emphasis on educating kids on electrical engineering. Whether it be building simple circuit projects or coding more complex applications for use in everyday living, the Crowbits series provides a complete learning platform for kids ages 6-10 and up.
With its average pricing and the flexibility to pick and choose which kit to purchase, it is an attractive choice for someone looking to buy an educational STEM kit for their child or loved one. Of course you can also buy the entire set as a bundle and enjoy helping your child build models and program as you go through the different stages of electronic learning from basic to advanced concepts. It’s also worth noting that the Letscode software program that comes with the packages is free and supports Python and Arduino programming which is a welcome added bonus.
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