Invites sent: Samsung UNPACKED event will be on September 3rd, Note 4 announcement Inevitable
The rumours were right. Samsung is definitely announcing some new devices before the start of IFA 2014 after invites were sent out today, confirming that a Samsung UNPACKED event will be on September 3rd. The main course of this event will of course be Samsung’s new Galaxy Note device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, but it’s rumoured Samsung might be announcing a few other devices such as their own virtual reality solution, the Gear VR, and possibly a standalone smartwatch, the Gear Solo.
The Note 4 is one of the more anticipated devices in the second half of 2014 with specs expected to be an impressive list of bleeding edge technology: Exynos 5433/Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM, 16MP camera with OIS, an UV sensor and Android 4.4.4. All of this will be housed beneath what is expected to be 5.7-inch, Quad HD display, which is perhaps the first time that a smartphone of this era has not increased its screen size over its predecessor. Except to hear more about this device as the event draws nearer.
Are you waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to be announced? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: SamMobile
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OnePlus dropping ColorOS in China for in-house ROM
Two months after OnePlus officially announced its anticipated Android smartphone, the OnePlus One, in May, reports have come up stating that OnePlus is working on building its own ROM out of Taiwan to replace its current Color OS ROM (used in its phones in China). This ROM will be exclusively made for the China market while international models will still be using CyanogenMod 11S.
Normally, Chinese mobile manufacturers like Oppo, Xiaomi, and Coolpad use bifurcated versions of Android in China, as stock Android ROMs don’t offer enough functionality due to China’s firewall blocking the working of Google products mostly.
In talks with media, Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, explained that the decision to move its design and engineering teams to Taiwan is the direct result of recognizing the abundance of user-interface design and ROM engineering talent within the country. He further added that OnePlus plans on offering a China-focused ROM that’s built in-house for OnePlus’s second generation flagship phone.
According to OnePlus founder Liu Zuohu, the North American market is the catalyst which is launching and nurturing the global brands like Apple, Uber, Facebook, and Google. Based on the similar premise, Zuohu says that CyanogenMod played a vital role in OnePlus’s global presence particularly at launch. OnePlus’s association with a globally recognized ROM like Cyanogen has helped in establishing OnePlus’s name as an internationally competitive brand.
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The original BioShock is headed to iOS this summer
If BioShock Infinite‘s brief stopover in Rapture wasn’t enough to sate your Randian desires, 2K Games’ China studio is currently in the process of moving the original BioShock from last-gen consoles and PC to iOS. Like XCOM: Enemy Unknown before it, BioShock is a “premium” iOS game and thus carries a “premium” price — that price is unknown thus far, but we’d put it somewhere in the $10 – $30 range. As one 2K Games rep told us in an interview late last week, “It is a seven year old game.” So perhaps on the lower-end of that scale, then.
Other than that, well, it’s BioShock. Would you kindly head past the break if you’d like to know more?
Yes, BioShock doesn’t look as good on iOS. It’s the truth. In-game lighting and shadows are cut down pretty dramatically, as are art assets. The grandeur of Rapture is distinctly less grand, which sucks some of the life out of one of my personal favorites. The first thing you’ll notice is “iOS fire.” The game’s opening — a plane crash — puts main character Jack in the ocean surrounded by some hideously ugly fire animations. It’s the first hint that the iOS version of Rapture has been shrunken down to fit within Apple’s app store file size limitation, and it’s a nagging issue that I couldn’t shake in my hands-on time.
But maybe you haven’t played BioShock before and you’re not overloaded with lofty expectations (like me). First things first, you’re in for a treat! Second, even without my lofty expectations, you should probably play this on a couch with an Xbox 360. BioShock is a great example of world-building in video games, and the iOS experience is a subpar representation. Simply put, between the lessened scale and the delivery medium, BioShock iOS is distinctly less immersive.
The good news is that it plays perfectly fine, even with touch controls. Admittedly, the touch control situation is not ideal. Like Grand Theft Auto‘s mobile ports, virtual buttons appear contextually on screen. Also like Grand Theft Auto‘s mobile ports, I found myself scrambling to figure out which virtual button to push as a gang of enemies descended on me. “But Ben,” you ask with a hint of hesitation in your voice. “Why not use a bluetooth controller?” Well, you can. And I tried that with a MOGA bluetooth controller. That totally works.
Here’s the thing: I don’t carry a bluetooth gamepad on me. Do you? Does anyone? Okay, does anyone who isn’t a crazy person? You can play BioShock iOS with a gamepad. But will anyone?
In terms of nuts and bolts, BioShock iOS doesn’t have any of the extra downloadable content that the console/PC version has. It requires a newer iOS device — iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, iPad 4, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C or iPhone 5 — and straight up won’t run on earlier devices (says 2K). It’ll arrive sometime this summer at an unknown, “premium” price.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Apple
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Park offers gadget lockers to stop smartphones spoiling the view
If one of Britain’s most beautiful national parks isn’t enough to tear you away from your smartphone, maybe this will. The New Forest National Park has launched Tech Creche so that you can’t give into temptation and check Twitter when you should be drinking in the scenery. Basically, you hand your smartphone and tablet over to a staff member, who places it inside a safe, er, the Tech Creche for the rest of the day. Then you’re free to wander around the forest and see its wildlife, landscapes and rich cultural heritage without the lure of Kardashian-based hashtag japery. The free service is based at the concierge building near Brockenhurst Railway station, is open between 9am- 10pm and will operate all the way through to September 14th. Because, yes, in 2014, valet parking for your smartphone is something you apparently need.
Filed under: Cellphones
Via: The Verge, Exotic Hikes
Source: The New Forest
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Major Designing Elements: Drivers for E-commerce Website
Website designing is always a challenging task. You need to think about various aspects to develop a design which is appealing and of course easy. However, when you are developing an e-commerce site, you need to consider another factor and that is sales. An attractive website is definitely pre-requisite but it should even have the ability to convert the visitors into customers. So, to achieve this goal as a designer you have to think about friendly navigation, making minor adjustments and avoid designing blunders to get the best results. Here are some of the designing aspects, which an e-commerce website demands and developers should give it a deeper thought.
Responsive
Yes, nowadays websites got to be responsive and this is more important for an e-commerce sitewhere selling of goods and services is the ultimate motive. So, if your customer comes and click on a product and it fails to act as per the entered command, you lose traffic. Hence, responsive web design is compulsory.
Moreover, statistics show a large percentage of e-commerce purchases are done through the mobile devices and by 2017 this number will increase. With the growing use of these high-tech mobiles, traffic should be enlarging. This means, it is time for you to optimize your e-commerce website and make it accessible on every device and platform. Check out the navigation, payment process and other areas, which are required to show instant response.
Account
Most of the e-commerce website owners want their customers to register because this helps to track the activities and collect demographic information to encourage future sales. This is undoubtedly an excellent strategy to analyze sales but it is still restricting your coverage. Your e-commerce site has failed to draw those customers who do not want to create account but want to purchase. So, why not develop a facility that allows people to make one-time order? Your website sales can then expand as you allow customers to make purchase without registration as well.
Navigation
It doesn’t matter whether you are developing an e-commerce web design in San Francisco or Seattle, navigation is always a critical part for any website and this is more important for an these site. The more graphics, buttons, and roll-overs you create, the more confused will be your customers. So, the architecture you create must be clear in its directions with the inclusion of the right keyword phrase that can optimize your website in the search engines.
Your e-commerce website must have categories and specifications, which can simplify the search for the customers. Do not forget to mention the important logos and graphics like the SSL Logo, credit cards, free shipping signs and so on. These are drivers for your website helping to build trust and add legitimacy.
Security
Customers are always apprehensive about online transaction due to the growing cyber crime. The website needed to be secured with SSL support that keeps all the information shared by the customers confidential. Never store credit card numbers in your site’s database as that can expose your servers to a high security risk.
While your customers make purchase, inform them about the progress. They usually get impatient when it comes to filling out online forms. To ensure them a safe purchase, guide them throughout the transaction and even at the time of payment via credit card. Let them know when the purchase process will get complete and when they will get their products or service delivered.
Reviews
If you want to add credibility to your e-commerce site, include a review portion with each product. Customer feedback increases trust about the product as well as on the website as well. A large percentage of people often fall back upon this review before buying any product. So, allow customers to share their experiences.
Images
The images you choose for the product should be clear and of very high quality. As it is an online store and buyer does not get to touch the products, the image must show each and every detail. The product must have images from every angle with clear explanation about the price, quality, colors and so on.
E-commerce website is all about details and lucidity. If your design can provide a real time shopping experience to the customers, it can stand out of the crowd.
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A white Samsung Galaxy Alpha makes a leaked Appearance
Just because @evleaks is now out of the game, doesn’t mean the leaks will stop. Today we get a look at a white Samsung Galaxy Alpha, the phone hotly rumoured to be Samsung’s direct competitor to the equally rumoured Apple iPhone 6. So similarly configured is the Galaxy Alpha to the iPhone 6 that it will incorporate a nano-SIM slot, have no expandable memory slot and have a similarly sized 4.8-inch display (the iPhone 6′s display is rumoured to be 4.7-inches).
Compared to previous leaked photos, there isn’t much new in these leaked pictures except that we get a better look at the sides of the Galaxy Alpha. Besides the fact that it definitely looks like the Galaxy Alpha will incorporate a aluminium band around its sides, the general design of that band seems very iPhone-ish. Maybe that’s just me, but the sharp edges and flat surfaces seem very similar to the design ideas of an Apple iPhone. Whatever the design, it does look like the Galaxy Alpha is raring to go and we’re anticipating its release to come on August 13th.
What do you think about the white Samsung Galaxy Alpha? Do you prefer it in black or white? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
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Android Wear app tries to squeeze Wikipedia onto your wrist
Android Wear will soon be buzzing our wrists numb with notifications, but what else can you do on such tiny screens? An app called Attopedia is testing those limits by letting you browse Wikipedia on your smartwatch. The logic is that mobile phone screens weren’t great for browsing either until sites were designed for them, so why not take it down even further? After loading a page, the grid interface lets you use your watch’s tactile screen to scroll up or down to access menus and left or right to see more detail. We’re not sure it’s the best way to view a content-saturated site like Wikipedia, but it’s a pretty good test for Android Wear — it’ll have to be more than a one-trick pony to take off. Grab it here if you’ve got an Android Wear device, you early adopter you.
Filed under: Wearables, Internet, Software
Source: Attopedia
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LG to fix G Watch corroding problem
Wearers of the first Android Wear powered smartwatch have been hitting LG with complaints that the charging connectors on the back of the watch are starting to corrode, some within weeks of wearing the device. For most users the problem is just causing some discolouration on the metal pins but for other users this corrosion…… Read more »
The post LG to fix G Watch corroding problem appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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Chinese government drops foreign security software
China’s government isn’t just giving the boot to foreign operating systems; it’s doing the same for security software, too. A national procurement agency has dropped Kaspersky and Symantec from its antivirus supplier list, leaving only Chinese companies as options. It’s not clear that the move is directly linked to the country’s concerns about foreign software being used for espionage. Kaspersky tells Reuters that it’s in “conversations with authorities” about the move, but there isn’t an official statement on the subject just yet. It wouldn’t be shocking if there was a connection, however, since security tools are at the very heart of China’s fears. The real surprise is the nature of the targets — while many would expect China to distrust an American outfit like Symantec, it may be treating a Russian developer (Kaspersky) with a similar level of suspicion.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: Reuters
Source: People’s Daily
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Google’s Venn diagram doodle is where logic and whimsy intersect
Venn diagrams are a high-school math right-of-passage, teaching us (to hate) the logical relations between sets. Google has now honored their creator, John Venn, with his own Google Doodle. Mountain View said it was going for “sound logic and silliness” by letting you pick between five objects in two sets to see what they have in common. For instance, the relationship between “Transport” and “Thrives in Cold” as shown above is “Zamboni,” the ice-rink vehicle honored in a previous Doodle. You can try the other 24 permutations yourself today at Google.com, or check some of the better ones from the past here.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google
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AIVAnet 