Motorola is on a roll as another device name surfaces, the Moto G Cinema
One of our favorite leaksters and tipsters, Mr. @Evleaks, is always up to his crafty trickery. Over the last few days we have caught wind of the Moto X+1 with a AT&T tagged in and a -$400 line. Now we get to find a new device name floating about that points to another Moto G variant. The screen grad provided simply offers up Moto G Cinema. The remaining information in the screen grab is pretty generic simply pointing out that Motorola has the How-To’s, Forums, Live Support and more to help you get the most out of the device.
We could speculate until our brains and fingers hurt about the Cinema being a larger screened low-cost device between the current Moto X and Moto G price tag and specs, but none of that has any truth behind it. It is likely another variant of the Moto G that will be landing in another country that currently doesn’t offer it. That would be our best, and most logical, guess right now. 9to5Google points out that the term “Cinema” is more widely used in countries like the UK and could be bound for a launch in that direction and not something stateside. With a Motorola event scheduled for May 13th in London, it certain seems like the best guess for now. We will have to wait a few more days and see what Motorola ends up doing.
Source: @Evleaks G+
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Sprint HTC One Max owners see some Sense 6 and Wi-Fi calling in newly released Update
Good news for Sprint customers sporting the HTC One Max today. Seems an update is rolling out your direction that brings in some HTC Sense 6 to the phablet-ish device. Sense 6 is is what you find on the newer HTC One M8, in case you were wondering. The update swallows a ton of data at 537.07MB’s. So you might need to move a few things around before downloading it.
Sense 6 is the biggest news in the update, but you can also expect to find the Extreme Power Savings mode, color coded themes for easy navigation, personalized font style, a new interface for the camera and gallery apps, image match to find photos faster, POI (points of interest) location in map view and various improvements to BlinkFeed. On Sprint’s support page we also found that the update includes Wi-Fi Calling.
Sprint fails to mention Sense 6 as part of the update, but you can see the version numbers are the same. On a second Sprint Support page I found the update listed again. Same version number, but still lacks Sense 6 information and sticks to Wi-Fi calling. It also says the update is available for customer initiated requests and won’t start rolling on its own until May 13th.
All that means is you should pop into settings and check for updates if you want to grab it now. Otherwise it will be a few weeks. Make sure you have a good Wi-Fi connection, over 50% battery life and some time to kill to get it installed.
Source: Sprint 1 / 2 | Img via @LlabTooFeR
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California’s smartphone kill switch bill passes a second senate vote
Perseverance pays off, it seems. Just weeks after California’s senate shot down a bill that would require a remote kill switch feature on smartphones, the legislature has passed an amended version of the same would-be law. Senate critics dropped their opposition after changes were made to both give companies more time to implement the technology and explicitly left tablets out of the regulation. Apple and Microsoft are also onside after initially objecting to the measure, too. There’s still no certainty that the kill switch will become official and let you disable a stolen phone from afar, but it’s now a realistic possibility — much to the chagrin of big US carriers.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Scientists create ‘semi-synthetic’ living cells with extra DNA letters
It turns out that your biology teacher (and a certain 1997 sci-fi flick) got something wrong — DNA isn’t necessarily limited to four letters. Scripps Research Institute scientists tell Wired that they’ve created living cells which include two artificial letters (that is, nucleotides) in their genetic code in addition to the naturally occurring A, C, G and T. The researchers’ primary obstacle was making sure these nucleotides cooperated with the enzymes that copy and transcribe DNA; after that, it was just a matter of getting some E. coli bacteria to accept and propagate the newly augmented sequences.
It could be a long while before we see any practical uses of the breakthrough. It’s expensive to create the necessary precursor molecules, and it’s not yet possible to get cells making those precursors all on their own. Should the processes become cheaper and easier, though, extending DNA could be helpful for testing the effects of medicine on certain gene combinations. It could also be used to deliver gene therapy; you could have tailor-made DNA that combats specific problems. Whatever comes next, it’s now obvious that nature has a pretty limited vocabulary.
Filed under: Science
Kobo takes over Sony’s eBook business starting today
As part of its multi-pronged effort to stop leaking red ink Sony decided to eliminate its Reader division. Rather than simply cut off customers who have already bought one of its devices though, it’s turning to the Canada-based e-reader giant Kobo, which has a 4-million strong e-book catalog. The transition is now officially underway, as Sony has announced that Kobo’s app will now be pre-loaded on Xperia and Reader devices in the UK, Austria and Germany. And thus begins the inevitable shuttering of Reader stores across the world. But don’t panic, customers will get an email describing how to transfer their library over to Kobo. And until the the transition is complete you’ll still be able to buy e-books from the Reader Store. If the whole thing has left a sour taste in your mouth, though, there are plenty of other options.
Filed under: Sony
Source: Sony
Uber and Google are just getting started
This week, Google announced a huge update to its Maps app on Android and iOS, bringing new tools such as lane guidance along with one particularly intriguing feature: Uber integration. If you have the ride-sharing service’s app on your phone, Uber will show up as an option when you search for public-transit directions, and you’ll be able to jump into the Uber app from Maps to order a ride.
Google’s clearly favoring one ride-ordering app over others like Hailo and Lyft. Of course, Uber’s integration with Maps will mean nothing to you if you don’t already have the app on your phone, but for current customers, it’s one more reminder that a ride’s just a few taps away. Looking at the larger picture, though, this move points to Google’s (literal) investment in Uber — and it could be the first step in a wide-reaching partnership between the two companies. Driverless rides to the airport, anyone?
Fast-forward several years from now, and we might be talking about on-demand, driverless cars and unmanned delivery vehicles.
Google Ventures, Mountain View’s tech-investment wing, threw a whopping $258 million behind the transportation company in late 2013, the biggest deal it’s made to date. Ventures, which operates independently of Google as a corporate VC firm, previously invested heavily in another big name, the Nest smart thermostat. Nest Labs, of course, famously ended up a member of the Google family in a $3.2 billion acquisition deal. Given that there’s a precedent for investments turning into acquisitions for Google, Uber seems like an obvious next pick.
Fast-forward several years from now, and we could be talking about on-demand, driverless cars and unmanned delivery vehicles. It’s hardly a new idea to think that Google will utilize Uber to execute its vision for driverless transportation, especially considering reports that it’s been working on autonomous taxis of its own. While plenty of Uber users may wince at the idea of Google cannibalizing an independent service, it’s not like the ride-share app is any stranger to aggressively edging out the competition. And while Google Ventures does back the Uber alternative Sidecar, it wouldn’t be out of character for the company to buy out the competition once it throws its full weight behind Uber.
But driverless cars that you can order from your phone are just one way Uber complements Google’s vision for the future. Considering that Amazon’s becoming a power player with its same-day delivery service, Mountain View could bolster its Shopping Express program by joining forces with Uber. That latter company is currently testing its new UberRUSH courier service in New York City, and a combined Google-Uber effort would help in taking on Jeff Bezos and co. With Google-backed, driverless Ubers delivering you that urgent supply of mouthwash, Amazon’s delivery drones could start to look a tad gimmicky.
So, will Google acquire Uber? It already owns a significant chunk of the company, but buying it outright would give Google freedom to shape the service to serve its own goals, many of which we probably haven’t even seen a glimpse of yet. Should that day come to pass, let’s just hope the ride-sharing app continues to operate under its original name — “Goober” just doesn’t have a nice ring to it.
Filed under: Transportation, Google, Amazon
New app brings doctors to doorsteps in New York City
Uber’s been making waves (and pissing off city governments) by letting you flag down fancy cars, so is it any surprise that one of its early engineers created another “we’ll come to you” startup? It’s called Pager, it just launched today in Manhattan, and it promises to bring doctors to your doorstep… for a price. First things first: after you install the Pager app, you’re asked to set up a profile with a photo and store your credit card information. When that’s done you’ll be treated to a list of participating board-certified doctors that you can sift through based on your symptoms.
Once you’ve found someone whose equipped to tackle your particular ailment, a quick tap sets up a near-immediate phone consultation. That’s the ideal experience, anyway. The startup is so young that there are only about 20 doctors onboard, and they simply won’t appear in the map view if your domicile is too out there. As you’d probably expect though, the price tags are the real rub here. If that little bit of phone advice is all you need, you’ll shell out $50 and call it a day. Actually getting a doctor to make a house call is just a hair pricier: think $300 ($250 of which goes in the MD’s pocket). And just to keep the inevitable Uber comparisons going, the startup told the Wall Street Journal that it may give surge pricing a shot down the road too.
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Pager
Engadget Daily: OnePlus One review, new Nintendo consoles, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
OnePlus One review: a $300 smartphone has never looked so good
What you’re looking at is the OnePlus One. Despite being the company’s first smartphone ever, it’s a beast. At only $300, the One outperforms Google’s Nexus 5 almost every way. How’s that possible? Read our review to find out.
Nintendo is making entirely new consoles for emerging markets
Rather than make a cheaper version of the Wii U, Nintendo’s decided to develop entirely new consoles for emerging markets. And according to Reuters, they are targeted toward folks without lots of gaming experience. So long as the new console has Mario Kart, we’re happy.
The Minecraft version of Denmark is being attacked, hilariously
Yes, the country of Denmark does have an official Minecraft replica. But that’s not even the best part: it was recently under attack by mining carts of dynamite.
Flickr struggles to capture the selfie generation
With its latest redesign, Flickr made a definite push for the mobile crowd, but does it have the guns to compete with the likes of Instagram? Read on as our own Nicole Lee discusses Flickr 3.0′s struggle to capture the selfie generation.
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Filed under: Misc
Apple in Talks to Acquire Beats Electronics for $3.2 Billion
Apple is said to be close to completing an acquisition of Beats Electronics, the headphone company and streaming music service created by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. According to the Financial Times, the deal could be announced as soon as next week if negotiations work out.
Apple will acquire Beats’ streaming music service, which launched this year, and its audio equipment business, which includes its brand of headphones and audio equipment. The Beats management team will report to Mr Cook, said people familiar with the deal. Apple and Beats declined to comment.
Apple is said to be paying $3.2 billion dollars for the service, a sum that dwarfs the $404 million that the company spent to acquire NeXT in 1996, it’s largest purchase to date. Tim Cook said earlier this year that the company was open to making large acquisitions if the purchases made sense. “We have no problem spending 10 figures for the right company, for the right fit that’s in the best interest of Apple in the long-term. None. Zero.”
In addition to producing a range of popular premium headphones that Apple currently sells in its stores, Beats also recently launched its Beats Music service, a direct competitor to Spotify, Pandora, and Apple’s own iTunes Radio service. Beats Music is, however, a subscription-based on-demand service similar to Spotify, which could bolster Apple’s free iTunes Radio.
According to the Financial Times, the deal is still in the works with some details yet to be ironed out, suggesting “talks could still fall apart.”
Beijos to kisses: Retirees teach Brazilians to speak English via video chat
Folks living in retirement communities around the US may have just been given another activity option. As part of the Speaking Exchange project for language schools, creative agency FCB Brazil paired language students with elderly Americans in Chicago for English lessons via video chat. The pilot program joined a school in Liberdade, Brazil with the Windsor Park Retirement Community here in the States. Each session was recorded and uploaded as a private video to YouTube, allowing instructors a way to watch the footage to assess progress. The results are pretty amazing. But don’t take our word for it, a video detailing the project awaits after the break.
Via: Adweek
Source: FCB Brazil (YouTube)
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