Vivo pushes boundaries again with Apex concept phone

Vivo made a pretty big splash at CES early last month with its work with Synaptics by putting the fingerprint reader on the phone’s OLED display. The Chinese company looks to steal the spotlight yet again at Mobile World Congress with the new concept phone it’s showing off. Called the Apex, this nearly bezel-less phone has what Vivo is describing as a “half-screen in-display fingerprint scanning technology.” However, as The Verge points out, it’s more like taking up a third of the screen, which still isn’t bad idea. For extra security, sometimes you can enable the input of two different fingerprints to have it unlock the screen.

But what happens to the other key sensors you find out the phone? Vivo’s decided to make this come out at the top of the device like a periscope or pop-up flash when you turn the selfie camera on. A pretty nifty move. It takes less than a second for it to get ready for use. As for the earpiece speaker, Vivo’s approach is to make the entire screen vibrate itself like a speaker so you can hear calls even without completely holding the device close to your ear. Vivo says it doesn’t have plans to release an actual device based on this form but it does show us the possibility of this happening and almost completely bezel-less phones being in our near future.

CES 2018: LG’s new 65-inch OLED TV concept can be rolled up like a poster

LG showed off is Wallpaper TV at last year’s CES. This time around, the company is going thinner and is showing off a new concept that makes that TV look bulky. This new concept is a 65-inch 4K OLED TV that is basically like a giant poster. It comes with a giant, block-like base where the TV rolls back into when not in use. Why would anyone want a TV like this, you ask? LG argues that this will be a space saver and boost portability (not that we’d want to lug around a 65-inch TV, but we get the idea). We don’t know when this concept might actually be seen in stores but as BGR points out, it does give us hope that those “electronic newspapers” that you can stow away might be in our future sooner than we think.

This ‘Magic Calendar’ is something we need in our lives

There are certain products we see and instantly know it’s something we need in our lives. This calendar concept from Japanese designer Kosho Tsuboi is one of those products. Chosen as part of Google’s Android Experiment program with plans for development, the Magic Calendar brings the best of both digital and analog calendars in one. It’s a protype e-ink calendar that can sync with your Google Calendar app and show you in the most stunning yet functional way possible what’s on your plate. Since it makes use of e-ink and e-paper, the battery life of the Magic Calendar can last for up to three months. You can learn more about it and see how it works in the video above. Just click on the CC button to see the English subtitles.

Source: PopSugar

Developer finds way to have a ‘shared reality’ with the HoloLens and Vive

A new proof of concept setup from software developer Drew Gottlieb reminds us that we’re no longer just limited to having a virtual or augmented reality experience. It’s possible to have a “shared reality” and he’s done this with the Microsoft HoloLens and HTC Vive. Having this setup brings the VR experience beyond just one user. The video above shows how he gets it to work with a 3D painting app similar to Tilt Brush. Aside from thinking about the possibilities this’ll bring into the gaming space, Gottlieb also demonstrates what this’ll mean for work collaboration in areas like the creative space.

Source: Engadget