Friday, 3 April 2020

Google is releasing your anonymized location data to help health officials with coronavirus containment


With coronavirus cases crossing the million mark, countries are taking strict actions to clamp down on people moving about, so as to help prevent the spread of the disease. To help health officials to understand how people are moving around, Google is releasing anonymized data from Maps for 131 countries to the public, researchers, and governments. These reports, called the COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, will contain trends of movement in terms of visiting places such as groceries, pharmacies, and workplaces. The company says it’ll contain data from the past several weeks up to until the last 48 to 72 hours. Google said these…

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HBO is offering a ton of free content to beat the lockdown blues

HBO is offering a ton of free content via HBO Go and Now.

Streaming services are seeing a massive increase in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people stuck at home try to keep boredom at bay.

Keeping up with all the services can become expensive though, so we’re glad to see that HBO has announced that it’s making plenty of content free on HBO Go and HBO Now.

Content made free by HBO includes The Sopranos, Veep, Ballers, Silicon Valley, True Blood, The Wire, The Lego Movie 2, and Detective Pikachu. It’s also making several documentaries free to stream, including The Apollo, True Justice, and We Are The Dream.

The content will be available to stream without a subscription from today (Friday, April 3), although there’s no word on when this initiative will end. Nevertheless, it should definitely help with boredom if you’re forced to stay at home.

Like the idea of more HBO content? Then you can also sign up for the HBO Now streaming service via the button below. 



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Huawei FreeBuds 3 review: No more AirPods envy

True wireless earbuds are becoming popular with users and manufacturers alike. The last few months brought lots of new options to market, including some from companies that you wouldn’t normally associate with audio products, such as Microsoft and Amazon. It’s Apple, however, that continues to dominate with its AirPods and brand new AirPods Pro.

The Huawei FreeBuds 3 are Huawei’s answer to the AirPods 2. They look very similar, they come with a similar charging case, and have many of the same features.

However, the FreeBuds 3 are not just an answer to another company’s hit product. They stand on their own, thanks to features like active noise cancelling. That’s a world first for open-fit earbuds, and something that Apple only added earlier this week on the AirPods Pro.

The new FreeBuds cost €179, so they’re not exactly an impulse buy. Should you get them? Find out in our Huawei Freebuds 3 review.



About this review: I originally wrote this review in October 2019 after spending about a week with the FreeBuds 3. I tested them with a Huawei Mate 30 Pro, a Mate 20 Pro, several other non-Huawei phones, and my Windows 10 laptop.

In April 2020, I updated this review with further impressions collected over multiple months of usage. You can read the additions in the dedicated section below. Also added details on availability and software updates.

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Man taking the Huawei Freebuds 3 out of white charging case with P30 Pro in the background

The charging case is slightly larger than the AirPods but it’s still super portable.

Huawei FreeBuds 3 review: Tech and specs

  • Kirin A1 chip with Bluetooth 5.1 and BLE 5.1 (world first)
  • Codecs: AAC, SBC
  • Isochronous dual channel connection (smaller power consumption, higher transmission rate)
  • Active noise cancellation (world first for open-fit earphones), adaptive, up to 15dB
  • 190ms minimum latency (with compatible devices)
  • 2.5 second connection time
  • Bone sensor for clear voice pick-up
  • Anti-wind-noise design
  • IPX4
  • 14mm driver with dedicated bass tube
  • Wired charging: USB Type-C (5V 1.2A 6W)
  • Wireless charging: Qi standard (2W)
  • Battery: 30mAh per earbud, 410mAh per case.
  • Battery life: 4h (earbuds only), 20h (with charging case)
  • Weight: about 4.5g per earbud, 48g for the case

What are the Huawei FreeBuds 3 like?

You saw it coming: the FreeBuds 3 are unashamed AirPods copycats. They look very similar to the Apple AirPods 2, to the point that it’s hard to tell the two products apart.

Just like the AirPods 2, but unlike the AirPods Pro, the FreeBuds 3 use an open-fit design, meaning they just sit in your ear, rather than plug into your ear canal. This is a mixed blessing.

They are very comfortable and you can wear them for hours at a time and literally forget you have them on. At the same time, the design provides almost no insulation from outside noise, which impacts sound quality. The active noise cancelling helps – a little – but it’s no match for anything louder than, say, the whirring of a ceiling fan. More about the Huawei FreeBuds 3 sound quality below.

Man holding Huawei Freebuds 3 earbud by the stem and placing in his ear

The Huawei Freebuds 3 have a touch-sensitive stem that you can tap for playback controls or to activate the active noise cancelling.

The buds fit comfortably in my ears, and basically refused to fall out even when I tried to shake them off. Your mileage may vary, and as a caveat, I didn’t use these buds while working out.

The buds fit comfortably in my ears, and basically refused to fall out.

Like many other true wireless earbuds, the Huawei FreeBuds 3 case doubles as a charger, and includes its own battery, allowing you to charge the buds on the go. The case has a capacity of 410mAh, and Huawei says that should be enough to charge the earbuds about four times over.

The case is a big part of the FreeBuds 3 experience – just like the earbuds, it feels lightweight, but well-made, even if it’s not particularly fancy. The spring-loaded lid closes with a satisfying snap. My only concern is the long-term durability of the hinge, as it’s already become a bit looser after only a few days of use.

The FreeBuds 3 are IPX4-certified. That means you shouldn’t worry about sweat or rain, but don’t try to wash them or use them in the pool.

How do you use the FreeBuds 3?

You can use the FreeBuds 3 either on their own or using Huawei’s AI Life app.

To pair the FreeBuds 3, open the case (leave the earphones in) and push the button on the side of the case for two seconds until the LED inside the case starts blinking. This will put them into pairing mode. You can then connect them to your favorite device using the Bluetooth menu.

I used the FreeBuds with half a dozen devices running Android, Windows, and iOS, and they connected quickly and hassle-free every single time.

Man taking Huawei Freebuds 3 charging case out of pocket

The case is round and smooth, making it easy to take out of your pocket.

The FreeBuds 3 lack any physical controls, except for the pairing button on the case. Instead, you control them with double-tap gestures or through the AI Life app.

Out of the box, a double tap on the left earbud toggles the active noise cancelling. A double tap on the right bud starts playback (if it’s stopped) or skips to the next track.

The earbuds usually detect taps accurately, but they’re not foolproof. Occasionally they fail to detect a double tap. The reverse is more annoying: a few times, when I was simply adjusting the right earbud in my ear, the touch was interpreted as a double tap, resulting in a skipped track.

You can adjust what the double-tap gestures do from Huawei’s AI Life app. You can set them to play/pause media or to wake the voice assistant, or just disable them completely. You can also adjust the strength of the active noise cancellation.

huawei ai life app screenshot 1 huawei ai life app screenshot 3 huawei ai life app screenshot 2

If you don’t install AI Life, the FreeBuds will work like any other Bluetooth headphones. You still get the double-tap support, but you won’t be able to change or disable the gestures. However, if you can connect them to a Huawei phone (maybe in a store), any changes you make to the double-tap gestures will carry over to your non-Huawei devices.

The AI Life is a nice touch, but it’s not a requirement to use and enjoy the FreeBuds 3.

The AI Life is a nice touch, but it’s not a requirement to use and enjoy the FreeBuds 3. It just adds a bit of extra convenience.

However, there are a few perks that are exclusive to Huawei devices running EMUI 10. These are Wearing Detection, which stops and resumes playback when you take your earbuds out and put them back in, and Pop-up Window, which shows a pop-up screen on your phone in order to make it easier to connect the earphones.

Huawei’s “Isochronous Dual Channel connection” technology is also exclusive to EMUI 10 devices. It sends data to each earbud individually, which has a few benefits: improved battery life, lower latency, and higher transmission rates. Other manufacturers send data to one earbud, and then it’s bounced off to the other earbud, which is less efficient.

How and when do you charge them?

Huawei FreeBuds 3 with battery cases in black and white

You can charge the FreeBuds 3 over a USB-C cable or wirelessly. If you go the wireless route, you can use a dedicated charger like Huawei’s own wireless SuperCharger, or a phone with reverse wireless charging, like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S10 or Note 10.

With a full charge, the FreeBuds 3 should last you about four hours of continuous playback. Enabling the active noise cancelling will draw a bit more battery life. You’ll get the best results with a Huawei device running EMUI 10. A fully charged case will add an extra 16 hours, bringing total battery life to 20 hours.

Most users won’t listen for four hours straight, so it’s good that the case acts as a portable charger. If you’re not a heavy listener, you’ll probably get away with charging once a week or so.

What do the Huawei FreeBuds 3 sound like?

I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of the Huawei FreeBuds 3. The sound is rich and pleasant around the middle. You don’t get the deep rumbling bass you’d get from other types of headphones, but it’s more than adequate for my tastes and listening habits. The bass in this particular form factor is quite impressive.

Huawei Freebuds 3 Frequency Response

In our testing, the FreeBuds 3 have a very neutral response in the mid-range (good for vocals), extra emphasis at the top (helping things like cymbals and hi-hats), but the bass is fairly flat up to around 100Hz, meaning low frequencies won’t be as loud as the mid-range.

Because there’s almost zero physical isolation, outside noise tends to drown out some frequencies, especially at the low end. That’s the biggest weakness of open-fit designs, and something you’ll have to deal with the FreeBuds 3 (and also the Apple AirPods 2).

Huawei Freebuds 3 Isolation Graph

Our testing shows that the Huawei FreeBuds 3 barely isolate any outside noise. The green and blue parts of the chart show the attenuated noise – the FreeBuds 3 only attenuate a small portion of high-frequency sounds.

Active noise cancelling (ANC) is supposed to help stave off outside noise, but I found it overhyped. I was able to hear it in action, but the conditions had to be just right. For instance, when I turned on my microwave or the kitchen faucet, ANC cancelled out some, but not all, of the noise. I could still hear the hum, it was just a slightly different hum. And that was an ideal setting, with a quiet, constant din, and no other noises to drown out the effect. In normal, real-life use, I couldn’t hear much of a difference with ANC on or off.

I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of the Huawei FreeBuds 3.

If you use the FreeBuds 3 in quiet environments, you’ll probably want to keep ANC off (or tone it down using AI Life). You can actually hear a faint hush noise when listening at low volume that sounds a bit like rain outside.

All that said, ANC is still a great feature to have, and I would definitely activate it when travelling by train or plane, when even a little bit of attenuation helps. Just don’t expect any wonders.

Don’t miss: Best noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds

The fact that the FreeBuds 3 don’t block out noise can be a positive. If you don’t turn up the volume too high, you can easily maintain a conversation without having to take off your earbuds. Open-fit buds are also preferable for outdoor activities or just for walking on busy streets, when you need to keep an ear on your surroundings.

White Huawei Freebuds 3 in its charging case pictured alongside P30 Pro and the black color

The charging case has a magnetic lid that snaps shut securely to keep the earbuds in place.

Long-term impressions (April 2020)

In the six months since my original review of the FreeBuds 3 was published, I used them on an almost daily basis. My usage included listening to Spotify (music and podcasts), taking phone calls, and video calls on my computer.

I really enjoyed their comfort and ease of use. I basically stopped using my over-ear headphones (during work hours) and wired buds (while on the go), as the FreeBuds 3 are simply more pleasant to use. 

I still enjoy the FreeBuds 3’s sound quality, but I basically forgot that there’s active noise cancelling on them. Nine times out of ten, I didn’t really hear a difference when activating this function.

I was pleasantly surprised about the microphone quality. I was able to take calls while walking my dog in the winter rain with a beanie and a hoodie covering the earbuds. I was expecting the sound of my voice to be muffled out, but that wasn’t the case. 

The long-term battery life of the FreeBuds remained satisfactory. While I didn’t measure it precisely, it was close to the four hours promised by Huawei. The ability to juice up by simply placing the buds in the case is priceless.

The earbuds also received several software updates over the last months, that optimized sound quality and improved the stability of the wireless connection.

Who are the Huawei FreeBuds 3 good for?

You should consider buying the FreeBuds 3 if:

  • You own or plan to buy a high-end Huawei smartphone;
  • You want wireless earbuds that are easy to use, and that remain comfortable for extended times;
  • You want an AirPods-like product without the high price tag and ecosystem lock-in;
  • You want noise cancelling, but don’t like in-ear designs;
  • Want a portable design with good battery life.

You should look into other options if:

  • You’re invested in the Apple ecosystem;
  • Prefer in-ear designs that isolate outside noise;
  • Want a perfect snug fit;
  • Want a pair of earphones you can use and abuse while working out;
  • You’re on a budget.

Should you buy the Huawei FreeBuds 3?

Close up of the IR sensor for Huawei Freebuds 3 earbuds on P30 Pro

The Huawei FreeBuds 3 are now available globally including Europe, the Middle East, and APAC and LATAM countries. They won’t be sold in the United States. In Europe, they cost €179. In the UK, you’ll be able to buy them for £169.99 at major retailers including Amazon, Argos, and John Lewis, as well as in carrier and phone shops.

Huawei is likely to release the FreeBuds 3 in India, but as of April 2020, we only heard rumors. We’ll update this review once they officially launch.

For users of Huawei smartphones who want a great pair of earphones, the FreeBuds 3 are an obvious recommendation.

The FreeBuds 3 are a great choice for users who want an AirPods-like pair of earphones that are more compatible with Android devices. For users of Huawei smartphones who want a great pair of earphones, the FreeBuds 3 are an obvious recommendation. They sound great, they’re a pleasure to use, and the case provides extended battery life.

At £170, they’re not cheap, but the FreeBuds 3 are more affordable than the AirPods Pro, the Sennheiser Momentum, or the Sony WF-1000XM3. If you use a Samsung phone, the Galaxy Buds are cheaper and provide a snug fit, for better or worse. Cheaper platform-agnostic alternatives also exist.

Read more: The best true wireless earbuds of 2019 – SoundGuys

The FreeBuds 3 are available in white, black, and – since February – in a snazzy red. I recommend the white model, as the black one tends to pick up fingerprints and grease, which really cheapens their look and feel. I didn’t get to test out the red model.

And that concludes our Huawei FreeBuds 3 review. Are you interested in these earphones?




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Oppo F15 review: All of the style, none of the substance

India’s mid-range smartphone space is searingly hot and has, so far, been dominated by Xiaomi. A triple threat from BBK label-mates Realme, Vivo, and Oppo, however, arose in 2019. While Realme was the fastest-growing player due to its focus on entry-level devices, Oppo and Vivo succeeded through a concerted focus on imaging and premium designs. Amongst the first devices to be launched in 2020, the Oppo F15 is yet another effort to introduce a high-end, visually appealing design with a focus on features that matter.

We spent a few days assessing whether or not the Oppo F15 is genuinely capable of carving out a niche for itself in the popular sub-20,000 rupee (~$280) price band. Here’s the Android Authority Oppo F15 review.

Update: March 31, 2020: We have updated the review with details on the CPH2001_11_A.27 update shipped out by Oppo. The value for money section has also been updated.

About this review: I wrote this Oppo F15 review after spending a week with the phone as my primary device. Oppo India supplied the phone, which was running Android 9 Pie with ColorOS v6.1.2 on board.
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Oppo F15 design: All about the style

The Oppo F15 is a pretty looking piece of kit that errs deceptively close to Realme’s phones. Oppo, Vivo and Realme are all a part of the larger BBK group and I’m not sure if taking design inspiration from a fellow brand is truly copying, but at first glance, it is pretty hard to differentiate between the Oppo F15 and the Realme XT.

Oppo F15 side profile and volume button

That said, the Oppo F15 pulls ahead with a lighter build and marginally slimmer profile. The weight advantage, in particular, is noticeable. The phone exhibits excellent ergonomics and I could see myself holding it for long periods of time with no hand fatigue. The power button is positioned well on the right, and the split volume rocker on the left delivers just the right amount of tactile feedback, a pet peeve of mine with mid-rangers. Excellent work, Oppo!

Along the bottom edge is a centrally placed USB-C port. Flanking it on the right and left are the speaker and the headphone jack, respectively. I did not like the chrome border running around the phone.

Oppo F15 rear profile gradient and camera module

We’ve seen gradients in all colors and mixes, from the aggressive patterns on the Redmi K20 series to the subtle gradation on the Oppo Reno. The Oppo F15 strikes a balance with a gentle transition between milky white and purple. The company calls the shade Unicorn White. I think it looks very nice, although some might call it a bit feminine. You can opt for a more generic black variant if you prefer a darker look. For better or worse, the back is made of laminated polycarbonate. It doesn’t feel as good as glass, but it should be able to take a beating if you have a habit of dropping your phone.

Oppo F15 in hand showing display

I like the display on the Oppo F15. It isn’t the most accurate around, but the color is over-saturated in just the right amount to make media and photos pop. I had no issues with brightness either, and the phone was perfectly visible even in bright sunlight. I don’t have the biggest hands and I found myself struggling to reach the top of the 6.4-inch display. The 20:9 aspect ratio certainly didn’t make it easier, though that’s hardly a problem unique to the Oppo F15. At the top you’ll find a not-too-large notch for the selfie camera. The phone relies on Gorilla Glass 5 for protection.

The F15 sports an in-display fingerprint reader that I found to be sufficiently fast and reliable.

How’s the camera on the Oppo F15?

The camera island on the Oppo F15 stands out thanks to is Huawei P30 Pro-esque profile. The quad-lens layout is set within a black module with a slim dual-LED flash offset to the right below it.  There’s a 48MP primary camera that can only shoot pixel-binned 12MP shots, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter, a 2MP macro camera, and an additional depth sensor — in other words, something for everyone.

Image quality is surprisingly good. Pics are generally low on noise and look punchy. Surprisingly, the camera app doesn’t have an option to shoot full-resolution 48MP images and defaults to over-sampled 12MP shots.

Oppo F15 outdoor

Outdoors on a bright day, the phone captured a shot that was low on noise and generally looked good. Dynamic range is a bit limited, as is usually the case with mid-range smartphones. This is particularly visible in the darkened shadow regions.

The camera impressed with its detail retrieval when shooting up close.

For example, there’s a legit loss of detail under the tree and foliage. Pixel-peeping reveals that intricate details have been smeared to reduce noise, but this is par for the course. The same holds true for the ultra-wide camera as well, though the lack of detail in the shadows was even more obvious here.

Oppo F15 close up

The camera impressed with its detail retrieval when shooting up close. Zooming in reveals a staggering amount of detail with minimal noise. There is a definite boost to saturation levels, but it can almost be called artistic. Purists won’t be happy with it, but social media enthusiasts will certainly appreciate the way the colors pop.

For that matter, even the portrait mode does a reasonable job at edge detection. It struggles with stray hair, but the bokeh fall-off is fairly realistic looking. I found the 16MP front-facing camera to be aggressive with smoothening and the results weren’t to my liking.

Video capture tops off at 1080p resolution at 30fps. Quality is acceptable and the primary camera includes stabilization. Just don’t bother shooting video in low-light conditions.

How well does it perform?

The MediaTek P70 chipset powering the Oppo F15 is the Achilles heel of the phone. In a silo, performance isn’t bad and I didn’t notice any issues at all with day to day usability. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that you can do far better in the price range.

The chipset can be found in competing phones such as the Realme 3, which costs less than half that of the F15. In fact, Oppo’s own portfolio includes a range of phones that undercut the Oppo F15’s pricing drastically and are powered by the same chipset.

The two-year-old Mediatek P70 chipset is no scorcher and can be found in more affordable devices.

While daily use with apps and social media is hardly a struggle, games do show us the limits of the Mediatek P70. Popular titles like PUBG struggle when pushed too high, and you will have to opt for reduced graphics in most current games. The phone ships with 8GB of RAM out of the box, which certainly helps with multitasking. The default 128GB of storage is nice to have as well, and there’s a dedicated microSD card slot should you want to upgrade storage further.

Battery life, on the other hand, is rather good. You can easily go a full day without anxiety. When it is time to charge the phone, the 20W charger is good enough to top-off the phone in a little over an hour.

Oppo F15 home screen Oppo F15 hot apps Oppo F15 App Preload

On the software front, there is little to talk about. The Oppo F15 runs the same Color OS 6.1.2 that we’ve seen on multiple Realme and Oppo devices through 2019. I like the feature additions, but the presence of bloatware and unremovable “hot apps” can definitely be a grating experience.

As of March 31, the company has shipped an update to add in the February 2020 security patches and no other features.

Oppo F15 specifications

  Oppo F15
Display 6.4-inch, FHD+ AMOLED
2,400 x 1,080 resolution
20:9 aspect ratio
402ppi
90.8% screen-to-body ratio
Gorilla Glass 5
Chipset MediaTek Helio P70
12nm chipset
4 x 2.1GHz + 4 x 2GHz
GPU Mali G72 MP3
RAM 8GB RAM
LPDDR4X
Storage 128GB UFS 2.1
MicroSD Yes
Battery 4000mAh
USB-C
Cameras Rear:
48MP main at f/1.8
8MP ultra-wide at f/2.2
2MP macro at f/2.4
2MP portrait camera /f2.4

Front:
16MP at f/2.0

Video:
Full HD at 30fps
HD at 30fps
720p slow-mo at 240fps
IP rating N/A
Headphone port Yes
Connectivity Dual nano-SIM slots
Dual SIMs dual VoLTE 4G
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5GHz
Positioning system: GPS, aGPS, GLONASS, Beidou navigation system
Supports Bluetooth 4.2 connections
Security In-display fingerprint scanner

Face unlock
Software Android 9 Pie
ColorOS 6.1.2
Colors Lightning black
Unicorn white
Dimensions 160.2 x 73.3 x 7.9mm
Weight 172g

Is the Oppo F15 worth buying?

Oppo F15 in hand showing rear gradient

The Oppo F15 brings a lot of style to then game, but not much substance. The design is great and the lightweight build goes a long way towards ensuring comfort and usability. However, under the hood is a strictly run-of-the-mill chassis that lacks the grunt it needs to go up against the competition.

Rs.19990 .00
Oppo F15
Buy it Now
Oppo F15 Buy it Now
Rs.19990 .00

For example, the Realme X2 and Xiaomi K20 series both offer a lot more bang-for-the-buck. The Realme X2 is priced at Rs. 16,990 (~$240) and offers a more competent Snapdragon 730G chipset, as well as faster charging, and a 64MP camera. Meanwhile, the Redmi K20 is priced at Rs. 19,990 (~$280) and delivers more power, and nice-to-have features like a pop-up selfie camera.

In fact, even the lower-priced Redmi Note 8 Pro comes across as an excellent alternative to the Oppo F15. Priced at Rs. 19,990 (~$280), the Oppo F15 just doesn’t offer enough value to push back the competition.

Entering April 2020, there are even more alternatives in the form of the Realme 6 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro, both of which offer significantly better performance. The Realme 6 Pro even tosses in a slick 90Hz panel which is sure to improve the user experience. Add to that the beautiful designs and the F15 just doesn’t cut the mustard when placed next to the competition.

The Oppo F15 is a good phone that faces formidable competition, making it just too hard to recommend.

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Thursday, 2 April 2020

DevOps isn’t enough — your team needs to embrace FleetOps


Let me ask you a question: How many websites and applications do you think the average medium to large-sized organization runs? Dozens? Hundreds? How about thousands? You’re almost there. Way back in 2015, Forrester Research interviewed digital leaders at enterprise organizations and found that, on average, they were maintaining 268 customer-facing sites, which at the time felt like a huge number. Well, five years have passed, and enterprise organizations are now managing thousands of apps, with some corporations running tens of thousands of domains at once and others running hundreds of apps for thousands of clients. Public-facing sites and applications have proliferated…

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