Wireless charging has always felt pretty futuristic, but now it’s about to get fast too. The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has announced a forthcoming update to the Qi standard that will allow it to deliver up to 15 watts of power to smartphones without using cables. Several manufacturers already offer wired fast charging for their devices, providing as much as 60 percent charge in as little as 30 minutes. The latest Qi specification empowers them to extend this speed to wireless charging as well. There’s no word on when compatible devices will hit the market, but the Qi standard is currently supported by the likes of Samsung and LG: keep an eye on these manufacturers for your future fast charging needs.

SAMSUNG TRANSPARENT TRUCKS
– A life-saving change
Making use of its abundance of outdoor displays, the Korean company has stitched together a video wall of four displays at the rear of the truck, which transmits video captured by a wireless camera at the front.
Samsung says it’s now working to obtain regulatory approval for the deployment of its so-called Safety Truck. However, the idea doesn’t appear economically practical at large scale. The camera might be cheap and simple enough to install, but four displays per truck would be a major investment for any transport company to make, especially since it wouldn’t lead to any direct financial benefit. Still, it’s impressive that Samsung has managed to overcome the technical challenges (like solar glare) of realising this otherwise laudable idea.
A more realistic solution to improving information while driving will be provided by Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V) systems, which are expected to arrive in US cars next year. This is a form of networked intelligence whereby your car transmits data about its position, direction, and speed, and receives the same about cars around it. It can thus issue alerts about unsafe driving by others or notify of any collisions ahead even before any other drivers have had the time to react. In that way, V2V does even more than just give you vision the way Samsung’s Safety Truck would, though making big trucks transparent is undoubtedly a much cooler application of technology.
iOS 9 will delete Apps to make room for System updates
The iOS 9 beta 2 sports a new feature that temporarily deletes apps from devices with limited space to make room for system updates.
Users of smaller capacity 8GB and 16GB iPhones reported issues of finding space to install the 4.3 GB heft of previous update iOS 8. This feature may reduce those frustrations for users when they upgrade to the relatively smaller 1.3 GB iOS 9 update.
Apple shared new details on iOS 9 during its WWDC keynote earlier this month. The next update to the operating system powering the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices will extend battery life, increase general performance, enhance security, improve the user interface and much more.
iOS 9’s biggest focus is on intelligence and proactivity, allowing iOS devices to learn user habits and act on that information, opening up apps before we need them, making recommendations on places we might like, and guiding us through our daily lives to make sure we’re where we need to be at the right time.
Siri is at the heart of the changes, and the personal assistant is now able to create contextual reminders and search through photos and videos in new ways. Swiping left from the home screen also brings up a new screen that houses “Siri Suggestions,” putting favourite contacts and apps right at your fingertips, along with nearby restaurant and location information and important news.

SONY MEETS MICROSOFT IN GAME CONSOLE MUSCLE MATCH
Beefed up and slimmed down, the new 1TB PlayStation 4 Ultimate Player Edition (UPE) is scheduled to arrive soon, very soon! Along with doubling the storage capacity of the original PlayStation 4, the Ultimate Player Edition of the console is about 10 percent lighter and consumes about 8 percent less power.
The lighter, roomier PlayStation 4 UPE, with its sleeker chassis, serves as Sony’s answer to the 1TB edition of Microsoft’s 2015 model year Xbox console, which rolled out earlier this month. With the launch of the 1TB version of its latest console, Microsoft slashed the MSRP of the original Xbox One to US$349.
It’s always nice to see refined versions of consoles, with minor improvements and sleeker form factors. The purchase of either console, however, will be based on price, content, brand loyalty, user experience and functionality.
The important thing is that the functionality is proven to work for gamers and developers, so there is no need to change other aspects right now,” he pointed out. “The memory is enough. It is keeping the console fresh and cutting-edge.”
The 1TB console will likely become the standard size within a year — so don’t be surprised if we see a 2TB one this time next year!