HTC kicks off Hot Deals program with half price Nexus 9 (16GB for $199) [Update: Andddd they’re gone]
UPDATE: HTC says they’re completely out and will have something else to share with you all.
Looking to scoop up a Nexus 9 tablet for yourself? Why not buy it directly from HTC who just happens to have the tablet at $199 for the 16GB model. As part of the hardware maker’s new Hot Deals program, the Android 5.0 tablet is half its normal price. As you can imagine, this is a limited time deal and subject to quantities on hand. But, if there are enough of these tablets to go around, you can get in on this by 9PM PST.
Should you miss out on the deal you can still take advantage of a good, but not as great offer, of $50 off the Nexus 9. HTC will discount both 16 GB or 32 GB for everyone who purchases by 9 p.m. PT/midnight ET on Tuesday.
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LG announces the G Prime and G2 Lite for Brazil
LG has introduced two new devices to their midrange device lineup, both of which look like great budget options. The two devices are the LG G Prime and the LG G2 Lite, and they both follow LG’s typical design language with a few unique twists.
First up is the G Prime, which features a fairly low-resolution 5-inch display. The 480 x 854 screen is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.3 GHz. There’s also 8 GB of internal storage and 1 GB of memory on board, plus an 8 megapixel rear camera capable of shooting 720p video.
A very unique selling point on the G Prime is the device’s built-in antenna. The antenna lets users watch broadcast television on their smartphone, which is a pretty cool concept, even with streaming services putting a dent in OTA content.
The second device announced is the G2 Lite, but it’s not exactly what you think. Instead of just being a watered down G2, it sports its own unique look and hardware. You’ll get a 4.5-inch 400 x 800 screen with a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm CPU under the hood. There’s 1 GB of RAM present, but only 4 GB of internal storage. The camera is an 8 megapixel shooter, and the front camera is of VGA resolution.
Both devices will be available in Brazil for roughly $270. No word on if they’ll be available in other countries.
source: LG G2 Lite
via: G for Games
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Galaxy Grand 3 specs leaked in benchmarks
Samsung’s latest in the Galaxy Grand line may have leaked in benchmarks, confirming some specs for the device. If the benchmarks are accurate, the Galaxy Grand 3 will be the SM-G7200 and will feature some decent midrange hardware.
The benchmarks say the phone will sport a large 5.5-inch 720p screen powered by a Snapdragon 410 CPU. There’s 1.5 GB of RAM on board, and it looks like an Adreno 306 will be the GPU of choice. The cameras are decent, with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front facing shooter. Expect to hear about selfies whenever Samsung announces this one. On the software side of things, it looks like it’ll ship with Android 4.4.
No word on release date, but it’s been awhile since the Grand 2, so I wouldn’t expect Samsung to wait much longer before making this one official.
source: GFX Bench
via: SamMobile
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Nexus 9 teardown reveals that it won’t be easy to repair
The folks at iFixit took apart the Nexus 9, which of course revealed a lot of super cool hardware like the 64-bit Tegra K1. However, the teardown also revealed that if you’re looking to fix it on your own, it won’t be so easy. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being super easy, the Nexus 9 scored a 3.
Removing the rear case is easy enough, but once you get inside the “interior is a maze of tape and thin, delicate cables,” making your job very tedious. Even replacing the display proved to be difficult as it’s “insanely very solidly glued to the midframe.”
Now that’s out of the way, does this information impact your decision to buy the Nexus 9? I don’t plan on ever repairing any tablet so it doesn’t make as much of difference to me as the 4:3 ratio.
source: iFixit
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Xperia Z2 and Z2 Tablet getting update for PS4 Remote Play
If you’ve been holding out for PS4 Remote Play on your Xperia Z2 (or Z2 Tablet), your wait is over. Sony is officially pushing out the user experience update to those two devices which brings full support for streaming PS4 games to your device. The update will let you play full PS4 games with a Dualshock 4 controller right on your smartphone or tablet, which is an extremely cool feature, especially for gamers.
That’s not the only feature this update is bringing, though. There are also some audio improvements coming to the Z2, all of which are designed to make your music sound much better thanks to new codec support and some proprietary Sony technology that restores some compression lost in digital files. The update also lets the Z2 take advantage of Sony’s latest smart camera features, and it brings along the Ultra Stamina Mode that’s present in the Xperia Z3. This power saving mode shuts down all but the most important functions of the phone, drastically extending battery life.
A few other features in the update include smart auto-rotation, a record screen function for taking videos of what you’re doing on your device (and yes, that does work with Remote Play), and support for Sony’s smart unlock with connected Bluetooth wearables like the Sony Smartwatch. That smart unlock feature has been pretty heavily advertised with Lollipop, so it’s great to see it make its way on to a device still running KitKat.
This is a pretty major update for something that isn’t an Android 5.0 upgrade. If you have an Xperia Z2 or Z2 tablet, keep checking for the update.
source: Sony Mobile
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[Smoking Hot Deal] HTC kicks of 9 weeks of Hot Deals with the Nexus 9 (16 GB) for only $199
HTC is going to host a Hot Deal each week for the next 9 weeks, and the first one is a doozy. Starting right now (12:00 PM EST / 9:00 AM PST), you can grab the 16 GB version of the Nexus 9 from their site for only $199. That’s a whopping 50% discount off of the normal $399 price.
This hot deal is 12 hours long, but supplies are very limited and unlikely to last the entire time. Once supplies for the Hot Deal are depleted, you can still save $50 off of either the 16 GB or 32 GB version provided you enter your order in by 12:00 am EST / 9:00 pm PST. That would put you at $349 for the 16 GB version or $429 for the 32 GB version.
HTC is going to run a new Hot Deal each week for the next 9 weeks so look for a post from us or check their Facebook and Twitter feeds (#HTCHotDeals) every Tuesday at 12:00 pm EST / 9:00 am PST. If this deal is any indication of things to come, you won’t want to miss out.
source: HTC Hot Deals
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Microsoft and Dropbox team up to provide seamless integration across services
Microsoft and Dropbox have announced a pretty unlikely partnership that will allow Microsoft Office customers to integrate Dropbox into their day-to-day work. You’ll be able to keep your documents and work synced across all of your devices at work and at home, and you can make quick edits on just about any device you have.
Microsoft Office customers will now be able to access Dropbox right from Office apps, and you can edit your files right from Dropbox. Sharing files from Dropbox has also been integrated into Office.
Right off the bat, you can expect this functionality in mobile applications, and it’ll be added to web versions later on down the road.
It’s strange to see Microsoft partnering up with a company like Dropbox right after offering unlimited cloud storage space for Office 365 users, but at this point Microsoft is probably just trying to keep everyone they can from defecting to Google’s office options. This will also likely help Dropbox compete with Google’s recent extreme price cuts for Google Drive.
source: Microsoft
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Go long with new AT&T Next 24 program
AT&T announced today that they are expanding their AT&T Next program to add an even longer term for consumers who are interested in buying a new smartphone for $0 down followed by monthly payments. The new AT&T Next 24 option will be available to qualified consumers starting on November 9th. The 24 in the program’s name refers to how many months a consumer has to wait before being eligible to trade in their smartphone and upgrade to a new device. However, the payment schedule is based on a 30-month installment plan.
Besides giving consumers an option to drive down the monthly installment cost for a device, in exchange for a longer commitment, AT&T also offers a monthly discount on access charges for users who opt for an AT&T Next financed device. For users on a Mobile Share Value plan of 10GB or more, the monthly discount is $25 while users with a plan of less than 10GB get a $15 discount.
In addition to the new AT&T Next 24 plan, consumers can still choose from the AT&T Next 12 plan, with a 20-month installment option, or the AT&T Next 18 plan which is based on 24 monthly installments. The AT&T Next options are available to new customers or existing customers who are upgrade eligible. For new customers, AT&T is sweetening the pot with a $150 bill credit if they switch from another carrier.
If you are interested in getting in on this new deal from AT&T, hit the source link and be sure to read up on all the fine print.
source: AT&T
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Amazon offering free unlimited cloud photo storage for Prime members
As if you needed another reason to sign up for Amazon Prime, Amazon has just announced that Prime members will get unlimited photo storage on Amazon’s Cloud Drive service. This is a pretty competitive move against Google’s free photo backup with Google+ and other services like Dropbox and Box.
Photos can be automatically backed up from nearly any device you own, including Android devices, iOS devices, Kindle Fire phones and tablets, and a web browser. Users can access those photos from several different devices, including smartphones and tablets as well as Sony’s Playstation devices and some smart TVs. Plus, Amazon backs up photos at full resolution, so you won’t lose any image quality with the service.
If you’re a Prime member, this should take effect immediately. If you aren’t, will this convince you to sign up?
source: Amazon
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Owners of 128 GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Models Reporting Crashing and Boot Loop Issues
A number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners have been reporting an issue with the device that causes it to crash and remain stuck in a boot loop following a restart. The issue appears to primarily affect 128 GB models, particularly those with larger app libraries, and some suggest it may be a hardware problem associated with the increased storage available on that device.
While the exact cause of the issues has not been determined, speculation by industry contacts speaking to BusinessKorea (via G for Games) suggests the problem may lie in the controller for the TLC (triple-level cell) NAND flash included in the device. This issue reportedly is new to the iPhone as Apple previously has typically used MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash in its iPhone units. The only recourse for owners experiencing this boot loop is to bring their phone back to Apple and request a replacement.
Some in the industry point out that considering that technical defects mainly occur in the 128GB version of the iPhone 6 Plus, there might be a problem in the controller IC of triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash. […]
As numerous reports of low read performance of the Samsung SSD 840 and 840 EVO using TLC NAND flash have surfaced on the Internet, a problem in the controller IC is considered to be the more likely cause of the defects.
The report says Apple could be facing a “huge potential recall” to address the issue, but the claim is purely speculative given that the prevalence of the problem has not been established and an exact cause remains undetermined.
While Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have generally been praised since their release in September, the devices have experienced a few issues related primarily to software. In a problematic release, Apple’s iOS 8.0.1 update disabled cellular service and Touch ID on the new iPhone models. Other reports pointed to a Bluetooth problem with owners claiming to have difficulty connecting to Bluetooth-enabled car stereo systems after purchasing a new iPhone model or updating their existing phone to iOS 8, an issue that appears to have been largely addressed with iOS 8.1.
AIVAnet 