That can’t be good: Amazon has revealed it has $83 million worth of unsold Amazon Fire Phones
When Amazon announced its long rumoured smartphone, the Fire Phone, it was met with substantial skepticism, primarily because of the operating system it runs on – while technically Android, Fire OS uses its own app store with a heavy emphasis on media, books, movies, music, you name it. It definitely had some intriguing technology built in like the dynamic 3D display, but in a world dominated by Android and iOS with Windows and Blackberry tagging along at a distant third and fourth, the Fire Phone was always going to face an uphill battle. However, from Amazon’s recently released quarterly results, and from the quoted number of unsold Amazon Fire Phones, it seems that battle might actually have been more of a wall.
Amazon has said that in their last quarter, the company has been hit by a $437 million USD loss, $170 million of which was “primarily related to Fire phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs”. To add salt to that wound, Amazon said that it has $83 million worth of unsold Amazon Fire Phones, which really hammers home exactly how much Amazon had overestimated its device’s popularity – this might actually have been a situation that OnePlus’ invite system might have saved Amazon a little.
What do you think of Amazon’s losses due to the Fire Phone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Gamesindustry via Overclockers Club
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Exoskeleton for your hand lets you feel virtual objects and control robots
Chinese company Dexta Robotics set out to develop a hand motion-capturing device last year, but instead of creating a glove like everybody else, they designed an impressively affordable exoskeleton. This device called Dexmo — available in classic and F2 variants — can be used as a virtual reality or a robot controller. For VR, it serves as a way to interact with the digital world within systems like the Oculus Rift — the F2 version even has haptic feedback, letting you feel the size of the virtual object you’ve picked up on screen. The classic version, on the other hand, is purely an input device. In robotics, it can be used to control mechanical hands and arms, even ones designed for dangerous and sensitive tasks like bomb disposal.
In addition, Dexmo can be used to mix music à la Imogen Heap or even control remote-controlled cars and smart lighting, among many other things. Dexta Robotics is currently trying to raise $200,000 via Kickstarter to fund the exoskeleton’s production, and you can get one for as low as $65 (by May 2015), so long as the startup reaches its goal. To know if the exoskeleton’s worth pledging for, check out the demo videos below.
Filed under: Wearables
Via: Road to VR
Source: Kickstarter, Dexta Robotics
Italy hopes free public WiFi will help revive its economy
What would you do to stimulate a sluggish economy? Push tourism? Cut taxes? Well, Italy is trying something a little different: free public WiFi. Over 100 legislators have proposed spending €5 million ($6.3 million) over three years to help install gratis hotspots in thousands of locations across the country, including airports, large shopping areas and even courtrooms. Theoretically, the move helps Italy make up for its poor broadband adoption (under 1 percent of residents have 30Mbps or faster) by making internet access virtually ubiquitous. It could also help visitors, many of whom would otherwise stay offline during their stays.
It’s hard to say if this will work. Just because people can check Facebook in front of the Prada store doesn’t mean they’ll buy anything, after all. Also, there are all kinds of costs that will determine whether the public WiFi is worth using. The proposal would cover the the initial hardware, but it won’t necessarily cover the running costs — legions of access points won’t matter if they’re oversaturated or tend to break down. A finished bill isn’t expected to go before parliament until mid-2015, however, so it’s likely that this wireless networking plan will go through some revisions before it’s set in stone.
[Image credit: Lorenzoclick, Flickr]
Filed under: Networking, Internet
Source: Reuters
TGI Black Friday app gets updated for 2014 deals
Black Friday is the single biggest shopping day of the year, so of course there are apps dedicated to keeping up with the deals for the year. The TGI Black Friday app does just that, keeping you updated with what deals will be happening on Black Friday, as well as custom shopping lists and PDF scans of store ads. If you like to do any Christmas shopping on that particular day, this app is a must-have. It’s just been recently been updated for the 2014 season, so if you’re interested you can find some screenshots of the app and a download link below.
Come comment on this article: TGI Black Friday app gets updated for 2014 deals
Someone made a parody of ‘P.T.’ in Xbox One’s ‘Project Spark’
The absolutely terrifying playable teaser for the next Silent Hill game might only be available on PlayStation 4, but if you have an Xbox One you might be able to play something close to it. Someone has gone ahead and recreated P.T. in Redmond’s game creating game, Project Spark. The familiar sights are all there: a never-ending hallway filled with horrors, a ghoul waiting just around the corner, Nic Cage screaming in terror. Wait, what? Well, the trailer is intercut with clips of Nic Cage’s performance from the 1999 film about snuff movies, 8mm. Because watching him watch… well we aren’t going to describe what he’s watching, but let’s just say it fits the theme of P.T. pretty spectacularly. Need to see the horror for yourself? Jump past the break and prepare for a descent into madness — don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: KavinskeeZ (YouTube)
The truth comes out: the Nexus 9 wasn’t designed as an iPad killer
With Google announcing its new Android Nexus devices and Android Lollipop on October 15th and Apple announcing its new iPad lineup on October 16th, you could have been forgiven for thinking Google intended to pit the Nexus 9 against the iPads and wanted to one-up their release by announcing the new Nexus tablet a day earlier. As it turns out, the Nexus 9 wasn’t designed as an iPad killer as Alberto Villarreal, the Nexus 9’s head industrial designer, elucidates:
“We wanted to accelerate the premium market for Android tablets… it has a lot of attributes and definitely will bring the quality for other companies to do better.”
In a lot of ways, this makes sense for both the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, and indeed, many of Google’s previous Nexus devices – Nexus devices have always pushed the boundaries of what is possible in Android devices, both on a software and hardware level, so that manufacturers have something to aim for and surpass, something which the Nexus 9, at the very least, does for Android tablets. Obviously, Google has more recently toyed with affordable options like the Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (and to a lesser extent the Nexus 10) and it has proven to be effective, if not lucrative, but perhaps Google has seen the need to lead the Android market again, something which is epitomized by the HTC-manufactured Nexus 9. And as for why Google chose HTC to help manufacture and design the Nexus 9?
“We saw the One and really liked how their designs were very simple, focused on usability and removed things that didn’t need to be there… they have nice craft and precision details and materials.” says Villarreal.
And that’s something we can’t argue with. The Nexus 9 is now available to pre-order on the Google Play Store starting at $399 USD.
Source: engadget
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Samsung Galaxy S5 Android Lollipop update should hit sometime in December
Android Lollipop is now officially released for all and for all of us who don’t own Nexus devices, now begins the excruciating wait for software updates to the latest version of Android. With various manufacturers making their promises for when their devices are going to be updated, many people have turned their attention to Samsung to see if the Android giant is going to do anything differently than it has in the past. As it turns out, it might, as the Samsung Galaxy S5 Android Lollipop update is allegedly going to be available sometime in December.
This information comes to us via SamMobile, who’s sources have narrowed their previous claim down from “November or December”. SamMobile has also already given us a sneak peek of Android Lollipop on the Galaxy S5 so when the update does finally roll out, it’s unlikely that we’ll see anything that’s too foreign to us. It’s worth noting that while December is the quoted window for this update, depending on your region, the update may not end up reaching you for a few more weeks after it is officially released. At least we know it’s coming though.
What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy S5 Android Lollipop update schedule? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: SamMobile
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LG says LG G3 Android Lollipop update is coming before the end of 2014
Closely following the news that the Samsung Galaxy S5’s Android Lollipop update might be coming sometime in December, a rumour has emerged that says the LG G3 Android Lollipop update will also be arrive before the end of the year. This information was apparently conveyed by the European branch of LG which promised its Dutch and Belgian LG G3 customers that the update would be coming before the end of 2014.
This is a relatively ambitious timeline from LG which didn’t get out the LG G2 Android KitKat update out until February/March earlier this year. Still, it’s always good to hope, and it’s obviously in LG’s best interests to make its best selling flagship so far the best it can be, particularly in a climate that now actually has competitors with Quad HD displays to rival the G3’s.
What do you think about the LG G3 Android Lollipop update schedule? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: TechTastic via Phone Arena
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The Nexus 6 makes a pit stop at the FCC in preparation of its October 29th pre-orders
October 29th is only just a few days away now which means swathes of Android fans (in the US) are going to get the opportunity to pre-order the latest and greatest smartphone from Google’s Nexus division, the Nexus 6. While it’s a pretty polarizing device thanks to its nigh-on 6-inch display, there still seems to be enough interest in the device that sees Google bring a premium Nexus smartphone to the market again after a brief hiatus with the budget Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. With the pre-order date so close, it’s no surprise to see the device make a visit at the FCC to get approved.
While the above image might look a bit unassuming, the dimensions that are cited in the image, 159.4mm x 83mm, are an exact match for the dimensions of the Nexus 6 as listed on the Google Play Store (159.26mm x 82.98mm to be precise).
In addition to this image, we get a table which lists a whole lot of technical mumbo jumbo, but also the radio bands the Nexus 6 will support, which according to this list includes bands to support all carriers including Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T. With the Nexus 6 presumably passed the last formality before going on sale, all we really need is for October 29th to hurry up and get here.
Are you going to be ready to get the Nexus 6 when pre-orders open on October 29th? Let us know in the comments.
Source: FCC (1), (2) via Droid-life
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Pictures of Droid Turbo’s retail packaging appear online
Verizon’s big DROID unveiling is coming up on Tuesday, but it looks like we won’t have to wait until then to see the Droid Turbo in its packaging. The device, which has a 5.2-inch 2560 x 1440 resolution IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 procesor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 3900 mAh and either Android 4.4.4 or 5.0 Lollipop. (Conflicting reports on OS version exist.)
Nothing really special or noteworthy to see here, other than the fact that we’re coming closer and closer to the release of a new DROID device. Hit the break for more pictures below.
Via: Android Headlines
Source: @MotoFirmware
Come comment on this article: Pictures of Droid Turbo’s retail packaging appear online
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