Sprint gets into high end audio game with Harman Kardon
Realizing that smartphone users would rather listen to music on a better set of speakers or audio setup, Sprint has thrown its hat in the premium audio ring.
Effective tomorrow, February 25, Sprint will offer a new Bluetooth speaker system from Harman Kardon. The Harman Kardon Onyx Studio wireless speaker system will retail for $399 through Sprint’s website, retail stores, and Telesales.
For many customers the smartphone is their primary music experience, so offering all the devices that surround that experience is important…Sprint plans to extend its offerings in premium music devices, apps and accessories such as speakers and headphones, and we are excited to collaborate with Harman Kardon to offer Onyx Studio exclusively in the U.S.”
Designed to your living room or backyard with rich sound, the Onyx Studio is 11 inches in diameter. Internally you’ll find four speakers, four amplified channels with a total of 60W RMS, an dual aluminum passive radiators. Thanks to the built-in rechargeable battery, the speaker system promises five hours playback.
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AT&T expands LTE roaming to 13 more countries
Mobile World Congress is in Spain, which is lucky, because today’s the day that AT&T allows its users to use LTE while they’re there. Following the deal with Rogers in Canada, ‘Ma Bell has pushed out a list of 13 countries, including Japan, Russia and South Korea, where road warriors can now suck down super-fast data in peace. In order to make sure you’re not going over on your plan, the the company has also launched a new travel app for iOS and Android devices that’ll alert you if you get close to your cap. Someone should have brought MWC forward by a fortnight — that way everyone could have used LTE while during the Winter Olympics.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T
Source: AT&T
This wearable Sony concept will let you document your life with photos
Back at CES, Sony unveiled a curious wearable: the Core, a miniscule activity tracker made to slot into accessories, like its SmartBand. At the time, details surrounding this waterproof sensor were scarce, but here at Mobile World Congress, we’ve gotten more insight into how the tiny tracker fits within the One Sony world. And as you can see above, Sony’s exploring ways to pair it with a camera you wear around your neck, so it’s always ready to document your day. But, first, here’s a little background on the Lifelog app that makes it tick.
The Core is effectively useless without Sony’s Lifelog, a lifestyle-tracking app for Android the company demoed onstage at its presser and is planning to release to Google Play in March. Think of Lifelog as a curated Facebook feed for your life, but without much effort on your part. It records your locations, communications, physical activity and photos taken and places them in a graphed format, in addition to coaching you with set goals.
From what little we’ve been told about the Lifelog camera concept, it seems users would be able to pair it to a smartphone and then set specific triggers for photo capture, like times of the day or activities. So say you want to record the moments of your daily jog, this concept would handle that automatically and upload the shots to your personal feed. It’s the sort of the stuff quantified selfers get all hot and bothered over — you know, those ardent lifebloggers. But just because Sony’s showing off this Lifelog camera concept, that doesn’t mean we’ll ever see it become a commercial reality. Sony may just be testing the consumer waters or simply showing off its idea of the possible road ahead.
Elop: Nokia X will bring more consumers to Windows Phone
After Nokia’s big announcement of the brand new X series, we had a chance to sit down with Stephen Elop, the Executive VP of Devices for the company. Naturally, the company’s decision to crank out an Android device was a matter of great curiosity for us. Most importantly: did Microsoft agree to this from the beginning, or did Nokia’s acquirer go into this idea begrudgingly? According to Elop, it’s the fomer. “Microsoft bought the Mobile Devices division,” Elop told us, “so they knew what they were doing.” Given the company’s focus on a tile-based experience and its emphasis on the Microsoft Cloud, it’s beginning to make a lot of sense. Elop went on to state that the X is primarily a stepping stone (a “gateway phone,” if you will) for a largely untouched market segment — emerging markets and developing countries — to get acclimatized to Microsoft’s suite of services and familiar Live Tiles interface. It’s an interesting strategy, no doubt, and we’re excited to see if it pays off in the long-run — people won’t be rushing to a Windows Phone weeks after buying an XL, but it sounds like the idea is to plant a seed within consumers, as well as a reliance on services like Skype, Outlook and OneDrive. Our interview with Stephen in its entirely is below.
Steve Dent contributed to this post.
Uber working on push notifications to let you know when surge pricing ends
Love Uber, but hate surge pricing? We get you, and so does Uber. During the LAUNCH conference in San Francisco Monday, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says he wants to take the sting out of surge pricing — by letting you know when it’s over. If you get hit with a case of sticker shock, the company is working on a new feature that will notify you via push notification when prices are back down to normal. Kalanick says that sometimes surge pricing can last just a few minutes. All told, that means if you’re willing to wait an extra 15 to head to the club, you could potentially save enough cash to buy a round of drinks once you get there.
Filed under: Transportation
How To Cancel Instant Checkmate, Amazon Prime, and Netflix Memberships So You Can Sleep Better At Night
If you’ve ever dealt with an online subscription, then you know how frustrating it is when you want to cancel but can’t figure out how. The problem is that a lot of web-based companies do this on purpose in order to keep customers locked into a contract that they didn’t even know they agreed to. These companies don’t care whether you’re happy or not; they just want those monthly payments to keep rolling in.
Luckily, not all online companies operate like this, and some of the most popular membership-based sites are actually pretty admirable in the way they do business. They don’t lure customers in by shady means. They’re honest about the terms and conditions from the get go. There are no hidden fees or binding contracts. These companies welcome new members with open arms, but they also allow them to leave at any time, should they decide to do so.
Instant Checkmate, Amazon, and Netflix are three of the largest online companies in the world, and they are perfect examples of how honest businesses operate. Each of them provides a quick and easy option for cancellation, and some even offer several different ways to cancel. We’ve outlined these cancellation processes below, and hopefully other companies will catch on sooner rather than later!
1. Instant Checkmate
If you’re not familiar with Instant Checkmate, it’s a people search engine that provides users with access to online public records. They offer two different memberships (standard and premium), and both allow members to obtain background information about their friends, family members, romantic partners, etc.
Instant Checkmate also has a great reputation for member care. They understand that cancellations are inevitable, so to make the process as simple as possible, they’ve created an entire webpage dedicated to handling cancellations. The page provides members with three different options to cancel their membership—online, by phone, or by email.
2. Amazon Prime
Amazon consistently tops every list when it comes to outstanding customer service, and rightfully so, because they really are great. They have free shipping, same day shipping, friendly staff, flexible refunds, easy exchanges; you name it. Just when we thought Amazon couldn’t get any better, they created Amazon Prime. Prime is a membership-based program that offers tons of special benefits that aren’t available to standard users.
The site is crystal clear about every aspect of a Prime membership, including how to cancel. Step-by-step instructions are provided, which makes the cancellation process almost effortless. They also make it known that those who do not cancel their 2-day free trial will be automatically upgraded to the paid membership. Many sites would probably hide that bit of information, but Amazon is honest and puts it all out there, which is why they made our list.
3. Netflix
Few things in this world are more awesome than Netflix. If you’ve never used the service, I suggest you sign up immediately because you’re definitely missing out. The membership is under ten bucks a month and you can watch almost any movie or TV show you want. They even have Netflix on Apple TV, which is a huge plus for people (like me) who don’t have cable.
Just like the companies in the first two examples, Netflix strives to make their members’ lives as easy as possible. They have a page dedicated to cancellations, and they even provide an option to choose the language. This is smart considering they have an international customer base. The page also has a list of frequently asked questions such as “Will I be charged?” and “Can I rejoin?” This shows that they care about their customers concerns, and they want to provide answers before they even have to ask.
Do YOU know of any other companies that make cancellation quick and painless? Let us know in the comments!
About the author:
Michael Grady is a blogger from Los Angeles, CA. He specializes in writing about E-commerce and new trends in customer service.
Tim Cook Honors Steve Jobs’ 59th Birthday: ‘Details Matter, It’s Worth Waiting to Get It Right’
Today marks what would have been Steve Jobs’ 59th birthday, and Apple fans around the world are once again remembering the Apple co-founder and CEO more than two years after his death.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is unsurprisingly one of those remembering Jobs today, and Cook has acknowledged the day in a pair of Tweets honoring Jobs and vowing to continue “the work he loved so much”.
Remembering my friend Steve on his birthday. "Stay hungry, Stay foolish". We honor him by continuing the work he loved so much.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 24, 2014
While remembering Jobs’ legacy, Cook may also be indirectly addressing Apple’s lack of significant announcements so far in 2014, reminding his followers of Jobs’ philosophy on making sure all details are taken care of.
Remembering Steve on his birthday: "Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right."
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 24, 2014
Cook has promised that Apple is working on “some really great stuff” in new product categories, with a smart watch and new television-related products topping the list of rumors. With Apple rarely being a company to rush to market, Cook may be quietly asking for patience as the company continues work on its upcoming products and services.
Coincidentally, today also marks the 14th birthday of MacRumors. Founded in February 2000 before the introduction of the iPad, iPhone, and even the iPod and OS X, the site has grown enormously and fostered the creation of our sister sites TouchArcade and AppShopper. As always, we are grateful to our readers, contributors, sponsors, and all those for whom MacRumors is an online home or a regular stop.
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World Wrestling Entertainment Channel Now Available for iOS and Apple TV
World Wrestling Entertainment today announced that its WWE Network channel is now live on the Apple TV and its updated WWE app is available in the iOS App Store [Direct Link]. WWE subscribers will have full access to the 24/7 live streaming network, which includes replays of classic matches, pay-per-view events like WrestleMania and other original programming.
“Today is a historic day for WWE as we transform and reimagine how we deliver our premium live content and 24/7 programming directly to our fans around the world,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. “WWE Network will provide transformative growth for our company and unprecedented value for our fans.”
At launch, WWE Network programming is available only to U.S. customers, with access coming to other countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Nordics before early 2015. The service requires a $9.99 monthly subscription with a six-month minimum commitment. Customers can demo the channel using a free one-week trial, which is available for a limited time.
Fans can sign up for the newly launched WWE Network on the service’s website or via iTunes from the Apple TV or WWE app. The free trial is available as an option during the signup process.
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Intel announces 64-bit CPU’s for Android devices
Mobile World Congress has something else up its sleeve for the Android world; not only have we seen Android powered Nokia devices, new Sony products, and more, but Intel have also just officially announced their new 64-bit processors.
Intel have shown off two different chips named Merrifield and Moorefield which will be hitting in the first and second half of 2014 respectively.
The Merrifield chip is dual-core whilst the Moorefield is a quad-core, both of which support LTE. The two chips have been designed to focus on energy efficiency and long battery life, with graphics being a major priority when designing the 64-bit chips, Intel said.
Intel clarified that these chips are aimed at powering the next generation of high-end Android devices, and was quite clear to state that Moorefield outperforms other CPU’s currently on the market.
Spec sheets and claims are one thing, how they perform powering a 64-bit Android device is another. We’ll reserve judgement until we see them powering some devices.
The post Intel announces 64-bit CPU’s for Android devices appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Sony unwraps smartphones, tablet, and wearable device for MWC
Sony has just finished their slot on stage and have shown off a fair few announcements at Mobile World Congress.
Sony have taken a step into the smartwatch market with the SmartBand SWR10 and provided some further information about their SmartWear experience. This focuses on what Sony are calling Lifelogging which coupled with the Android application provides a new user experience which Sony says is built around three key pillars – “Lifelogging”, “Wearing Smart” and “Life tools”.
Sony’s innovative new Lifelog application binds the SmartWear Experience together, enabling you to discover your past, enjoy your present and helping inspire your future. Together with SmartBand, the Android app enables you to effortlessly capture life and entertainment – places visited, music listened to, games played, books read – and presents it a beautifully visual interface.
Sony also took the opportunity to reveal the next generation of Xperia devices.
First up is the Xperia Z2 which feautres a 20.7-Megapixel, which Sony are saying is the best camera in a waterproof smartphone. The device features a 5.2″ Full HD display and is powered by The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2.3 GHz quad-core Krait CPUs and 4G LTE, 3GB RAM and high capacity 3200mAh battery.
Inline with the new device, the Xperia Z2 tablet has been announced, which Sony are calling “the thinnest, lightest waterproof 10″ tablet in the world and our best tablet yet”.
Finally, Sony have announced the Xperia M2 – a 4G compatible qHD device with a 8-Megapixel camera which is the more affordable of the devices but does not compromise on speed, or at least the company claims.
Sony have shown off their next generation devices, and are claiming they are all the fastest in the world. Whilst they are certainly impressive, we are still yet to see what Samsung have to offer.
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