Android Leftovers

• Android 11 will fix dozens of small annoyances, but what about the apps?

• Essential Phone is getting support for the Android 11 Developer Preview

• Quick Settings colour swap in Android 11 hints at new customisation

• Poco X2 will get Android 11 update, confirms Poco

• POCO X2 is Confirmed to receive the Android 11 OS update

• Google making major changes to Android 11! To add features to counter fake news, fraudulent apps; Check details

• AC Podcast 461: Z Flip's 'Glass' display; S20 Ultra photos; Android 11

• [Released]T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S9 / Note 9 One UI 2.0 (Android 10) update roll out confirmed for Feb 23

• T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S9 One UI 2.0 (Android 10) update already released, support says

• Oppo A9 ColorOS 7 (Android 10) update trial version application open, to go live in three days

• Pine Labs plans to deploy 1.5 lakh Android POS devices by next fiscal

• A New Android Auto Version Is Now Available with Highly-Anticipated Improvements

• Android Update To Give Users Much More Control Over Location Sharing

• Sony Xperia 1 II borrows Alpha camera tech for the photographer’s Android

• Android users warned about 600 apps that can spam your smartphone with ads

Who cares about Emacs?

GNU Emacs isn't the oldest interactive text editor for Unix—it's predated (at least) by the Vi editor—nor is it the only Emacs in existence. However, it's surely the most popular Emacs and one of the best editors available on POSIX. Or it was until fresh new editors, like Atom, VSCode, and Brackets, came to the fresh new open source landscape of today. There are so many options for robust text editors now, many of which have iterated upon Emacs' ideas and traditions, that you may well wonder whether GNU Emacs is still relevant.

Devices: PicoCore, u‑blox and ESP32

• PicoCore MX8MN is a Tiny NXP i.MX 8M Nano Computer-on-Module

  The PicoCore MX8MN Nano carries the NXP i.MX 8M Nano F&S Elektronik Systeme has announced the development of the smallest i.MX 8M based CoM yet: the PicoCore MX8MN Nano.

• u-Blox Launches JODY-W3 WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.1 Module for Automotive Applications

  u‑blox has just launched JODY-W3 wireless module which the company claims to be the first automotive-grade WiFi 6 module. Apart from supporting 802.11ax WiFi with 2×2 MIMO, the module also comes with dual-mode Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. WiFi 6 will be used for applications demanding higher bitrates such as ultra‑HD video infotainment streaming and screen mirroring, wireless back‑up cameras and cloud connectivity as well as vehicle systems maintenance and diagnostics. Bluetooth 5.1 will be used for keyless entry systems and other applications leveraging direction-finding and the longer range offered by the latest version of Bluetooth.

• Barracuda App Server for ESP32 Let You Easily Develop Lua Apps via Your Web Browser

  We covered Real Time Logic’s open-source lightweight Minnow Server for microcontrollers last year, and now the company has released another project: Barracuda App Server for ESP32. This project is more complex and requires an ESP32 board with PSRAM to run such as boards based on ESP32-WROVER module with 4 to 8MB PSRAM. The Barracuda App server (BAS) comes with a Lua VM, and in complement with the LSP App Manager that facilitates active development on the ESP32 by providing a web interface. The Barracuda App Server runs on top of FreeRTOS real-time operating system part of Espressif free ESP-IDF development environment.

3-D Printing and Open Hardware: MakerBot, AAScan and RISC-V

• MakerBot Targets Schools With Rebranded Printers

  MakerBot was poised to be one of the greatest success stories of the open source hardware movement. Founded on the shared knowledge of the RepRap community, they created the first practical desktop 3D printer aimed at consumers over a decade ago. But today, after being bought out by Stratasys and abandoning their open source roots, the company is all but completely absent in the market they helped to create. Cheaper and better printers, some of which built on that same RepRap lineage, have completely taken over in the consumer space; forcing MakerBot to refocus their efforts on professional and educational customers.

• 3D-Printed 3D Scanner made to work with your phone

  An Arduino-based 3D scanner was created by an industrious 3D printing enthusiast and released open source this week for all to enjoy. This open source project was made to take out the most time-consuming component of the 3D scan process, giving said process instead to an Android phone combined with 3D-printed parts, a cheap motor, and an Arduino. This is not the first time such a system has been attempted, but it does appear to be the most complete and ready-to-roll system to date.

• AAScan open source Arduino 3D scanner utilizes the power of your smartphone

  Using the power of Arduino and utilising the camera and powerful performance of a smartphone QLRO has created a fantastic 3D scanner aptly named the AAScan. Check out the video below to learn more about the Android 3D scanner which is open source and fully automated.

• Video: RISC-V momentum around the world, from edge to HPC

  In this keynote talk from the 2020 HiPEAC conference, RISC-V Foundation Chief Executive Calista Redmond explains how the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture is gathering momentum around the world, finding applications across the compute continuum from edge to high-performance computing.

• Weekend Discussion: How Concerned Are You If Your CPU Is Completely Open?

  For some interesting Sunday debates in the forums, how important to you is having a completely open CPU design? Additionally, is POWER dead? This comes following interesting remarks by an industry leader this weekend. Stemming from discussions on Twitter about Raptor's new OpenBMC firmware with a web GUI in tow, one of the discussions ended up shifting to that of open CPU designs and the belief that secretive CPU startup NUVIA could be having an open-source firmware stack.