Google has officially unveiled the next generation of Android, version 6.0, codenamed “Marshmallow”. At a launch event in San Francisco, also beamed around the world, CEO Sundar Pichai ran through an overview of the latest platform. Pixel, Nexus, Chromecasts Android-6-marshmallow (1)In what was a plethora of announcements, there was also a release of a Google designed Android tablet-laptop, the Pixel C, which will be the hardware flagship for Marshmallow...

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the general availability of its Bluetooth Developer Studio. This a free development environment for developers get to grips with Bluetooth technology, aiming to cut developer learning time for Bluetooth technology and speed product development. It makes building for the IoT simple for developers, from the novice to the experienced, boasts the SIG, in terms of adding smart wireless connectivity. "The...

Android Wear will now enable cellular comms, Google has announced, in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It means users will be able to take calls direct from their watch. The first Android Wear watch with cellular support? Not the new Intel-powered, Android Wear-based TAG Heur Connected . The answer is the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. The smart watch from LG has an LTE modem inside which means it can connect to the mobile phone network directly and not...

Qualcomm has updated its CPU profiling tool, App Tune-up Kit, which gives a view into the hardware performance behind an app, if it’s running on the company’s hardware. It’s SnapDragon processor, is rather prevalent in Android devices, of course. It's described as a "One-Touch Application Profiling" tool that works in 60 seconds. Qualcomm's App Tune-up Kit You can evaluate an app's performance in five areas: CPU, GPU, power, thermal and network data. You can...

Perfect for Gadget Master. Aimed at individuals experimenting at home with ways to connect their lives via their smartphones, IDT has teamed up with Digi-Key to run a new competition. It's to create wirelessly powered devices using IDT’s wireless power reference kits for creative market applications. The companies have invited electronics experts and hobbyists to find creative ways to incorporate wireless charging capability into products using IDT’s 5W kits. Sponsored...

A new Arduino is joining the devboard lineup. Welcome the MKR1000, and yes there's an IoT focus. According to the Arduino team it's a board that combines the functionality of the Zero and the connectivity of the Wi-Fi Shield. "It's based on the Atmel ATSAMW25 that is part of the SmartConnect family of Atmel Wireless devices, specifically designed for IoT. It offers the ideal solution for makers seeking to add Wi-Fi connectivity with minimal previous experience...

Sometimes the old and trusted interfaces are best. How about a good old-fashioned dial to exactly control your input to your work? Anything you can control with your mouse or cursor, that is. This is the premise of the nOb, a project on KickStarter. From analogue to digital. There are also two switches for further control and tweaking. Flick a switch, and twist the dial, but not too much... There's adjustable rotation resistance for the aluminium knob,...

It’s a competitive space, modular programming elements for kids, but check out this new entry: the Robo Wunderkind robot. It’s a robotics and coding kit for “kids of all ages”, described as “the smartest building blocks”. Build, code, and play is the slogan. You build your robot simply by snapping the Robo Wunderkind blocks together and then programme your robot via the visual interface on an associated app. The fun bit should then be controlling your build remotely...

Toshiba has launched a single-chip 15W wireless power receiver IC with the Qi v1.2 specifications defined by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). The receiver, TC7766WBG, has been designed for use in mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and a range of mobile industrial devices. The TC7766WBG enables fast wireless charging, with charging times similar to, and in some cases less than, wired charging. It accomplishes this by increasing the power reception...

I must be honest. I’ve never used the Google Cardboard camera myself, or seen it in action, and I’m not a particularly keen advocate of Virtual Reality. Which kind of explains my scepticism about Google’s low-cost device. But I do salute its low-fi approach and potential ingenuity, and it does seem a good fit with Gadget Master. More importantly, there is new functionality with the new Cardboard Camera app for Android. Apparently you now just have to move your phone...