When Samsung announced the S7 and S7 Edge earlier this year at Mobile World Congress, the announcement heralded the return of some of the features power users were missing the most, with microSD support pretty high on that list.

Plus the ‘basic’ model S7 and Edge are already IP68 rated for protection against water and dust, which would tend to be what Samsung adds on for the ‘Active’ models, like the S6 Active .

With no official word from Samsung that an ‘Active’ model is on the way, we can only speculate as to what it might do, but it looks like someone’s confirmed the device’s existence a little early, according to details listed on the Samsung Level app.

If the company follows the same recipe there, the S7 Active will be a ruggedized device with a built-in bumper, shock protection and perhaps even some hardware buttons for easy operation while in gloves.

Of course, doing all of this would likely ruin the svelte design of the S7 and Edge, thereby removing a lot of the appeal of the already pretty robust devices.

We’ll just have to wait and see what Samsung has in store for an official launch.

L’Oréal’s new UV patch tells you if your skin is getting damaged by the sun

Growing up with pale Irish skin, I’ve always been aware of the necessity to wear sunscreen to avoid getting sunburnt. But it still seems to happen pretty much every time I go somewhere sunny.

And now L’Oréal has come up with a nifty solution for those of us who are prone to getting sunburnt and anyone who wants to mind their skin – a patch that tells you how much sun exposure you’ve gotten and how likely it is that you’re damaging your skin.

Called My UV Patch, it’s a transparent stretchy sensor designed by PCH International , that measures approximately one square inch in area and is less than one millimeter thick. The patch contains photosensitive dyes that will change color when exposed to UV rays, indicating the level of sun exposure.

You can take a picture of the patch on the accompanying app, which then analyzes any changes and gives you information about how your skin may have been affected.

It’s not just for when you’re on vacation either. You can wear the patch daily to understand when you are most exposed so you can change your habits.

L’Oréal hasn’t said when the My UV Patch will be available but the company has stated that it won’t be charging for it and it’ll be disposable. This makes a nice change from spending hundreds of dollars on other health and fitness wearables.

➤ L’Oréal debuts first-ever stretchable electronic UV monitor at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show [L’Oréal]

Hitachi’s new customer service robot can tell when you need help shopping in stores

It’s only a matter of time before the friendly face behind the counter at your local grocery store is replaced by that of a robot.

Last week in Tokyo, Hitachi unveiled a new humanoid robot, the EMIEW3, that’s aimed at automating customer service in stores and public facilities.

The 90cm-tall child-sized robot can scoot around at about 3.7mph to keep up with humans walking briskly and can identify as well as approach people who need assistance while shopping, thanks to its ability to recognize human movement and its environment.

Credit: Hitachi

EMIEW3 can also isolate people’s voices from background noise to better understand you, and can switch between multiple languages to communicate.

In addition to having networked cameras for eyes, the bot also has a cloud-connected AI to learn new behavior and share information with other EMIEW3s.

Plus, it can overcome differences in floor levels up to 15mm, slow down when around corners and pick itself up if it’s knocked over.

That makes the EMIEW3 more mobile than Japanese tech giant Softbank’s Pepper , which went on sale last year . However, the latter has a more personable look as well as a display to make interaction easier.

Expect these bots to get exponentially smarter and more useful over time. By connecting them to cloud-based platforms like IBM Watson , their abilities to recognize human input and emotions as well as to respond appropriately can be upgraded on-the-fly.

It’ll be interesting to watch both companies race to bring their robots into stores and public spaces. Softbank recently opened a cellphone store in Tokyo staffed entirely by Pepper bots ; the trial will run for 30 days so people can see what the future of shopping might be like.

Engadget reports that Huawei expects to bring the EMIEW3 to market by sometime in 2018. And unlike Pepper, it’ll be available beyond Japan.

via Engadget