NVIDIA CES 2015 livesteam scheduled for 8pm PST on Sunday
The countdown to CES is well under way, with many of the big names in the mobile industry ready to unveil some of their latest and greatest pieces of technology. NVIDIA has announced that it will be live-streaming its CES press event directly to its official blog, which will take place on Sunday at 8 pm PST. The company’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, will take to the stage himself.
NVIDIA has not given anything away just yet. However, when announcing the livestream through its blog, the graphics giant was keen to remind us that it unveiled its Tegra K1 mobile SoC at CES last year and the NVIDIA SHIELD the year before. Perhaps we can expect a new SoC announcement for 2015 or another mobile gaming oriented product this coming Sunday.
The NVIDIA livestream blog page will go live just before the press event on Sunday and, of course, we will have our own coverage of NVIDIA’s announcement and the rest of the big news at CES directly from our team on the ground.
OnePlus releases alpha build of its own custom ROM
OnePlus’s New Year gift to its users is an Android 5.0 Lollipop based custom ROM, the alpha version of which was released on Wednesday. The custom ROM that has been in development for some time currently provides a stock-Android experience to users, but it will eventually be customizable.
While the Chinese company has not added any extras in the basic features of the AOSP Lollipop, it will continue to improve and stabilize core functionalities on the latest firmware updates.
“As we look towards the official ROM release in the near future, we will keep to our promise and deliver an experience that is customizable, yet bloat-free with stock-Android-like simplicity by default; we would not ask you to settle for anything less. In the meantime, we thought you’d appreciate an early community preview and a progress report,” a post on OnePlus’ website reads.
If you want to flash OnePlus’ ROM on your device, you need to have TWRP recovery installed. You need to be extra careful since this is an alpha build with limited testing. The experience is best when you have GMS (Google Mobile Services) installed. If you have GApps package, you can install it after you flash the ROM to have access to all the google services.
This build does not have a built-in recovery so if you do a clean wipe, you may have to reflash TWRP onto your device.
Some of the issues that you might face with this build include unstable camera and video. While the custom ROM supports 4k video, its quality may not be up to the mark. There are also some issues with the capacitive keys, clock and booting of the device.
Source: OnePlus
The post OnePlus releases alpha build of its own custom ROM appeared first on AndroidGuys.
ASUS uses Morse code as part of its latest CES 2015 teaser video
ASUS has been teasing us with some videos and images ahead of their press event in Las Vegas on Monday, January 5 as part of CES 2015. Today, the company posted their latest video teaser, which uses Morse code to delivery a “secret” message which the company says centers on “a feature of one of our highlights at CES.”
Teaser video reveals ASUS plans on unveiling a new smartphone with optical zoom at CES
ASUS is notorious for releasing teaser videos before big events, and CES 2015 is no exception. There latest video is titled, “See What Others Can’t See” and has a series of tones which sounds a lot like Morse code.
The code translates into “optical zoom,” which obviously indicates that they plan on showing some sort of a device with that feature. We have yet to see smartphones with optical zoom, so this would be a huge feat. Yes, we have had phones like the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, but to me, that’s a camera with the ability to make and place phone calls. Those types of devices are just too big and bulky to really be classified as a smartphone. ASUS could be planning something similar or they could actually be incorporating optical zoom in something a little more compact, such as a traditional smartphone.
I guess we will know pretty soon, but I still stress that optical zoom means nothing if the quality isn’t there. Android smartphone cameras still need to show more progress in the quality of shots before getting excited about optical zoom. Still, it would be a remarkable step if ASUS can pull this off. Stay tuned to next week to find out what ASUS has in store.
Click here to view the embedded video.
source: AndroidGuys
Come comment on this article: Teaser video reveals ASUS plans on unveiling a new smartphone with optical zoom at CES
Opening Apple’s ‘Lucky Bags’ in Japan, where $300 can get you a MacBook Air
Happy New Year. And when it comes to shopping in Japan, the means sales and fukubukuro. These ‘lucky bags’ are sold by all kinds of stores, and typically contain products equal in value to what you pay, but sometimes a whole lot more. Even Apple’s bricks-and-mortar stores have followed the tradition since 2004, with a handful bags housing a coveted MacBook Air. All of the bags cost 35,000 yen, roughly $300: but if you’re shopping for an Apple laptop it’s a gamble. There’s no guarantee on what will be inside yours. This year, for the first time, Apple has added a handful of limited edition products for its crowd of dedicated Japanese fans. We visited the store in Ginza, Tokyo, today, which alone (there’s three stores in the city) managed to attract 900 people before the store even opened. Let’s see what 300 bucks can buy, if you’re willing to risk it.
Lucky bags are a Japanese retail tradition that began at the Matsuya Ginza department store — which conveniently stands directly across the street from Apple Store. The first bags apparently went on sale in the late 1800s: take that Black Friday. This year, Apple’s bags aren’t the paper variety, but a limited edition InCase laptop backpack (15,800 yen, roughly $130). Limited edition items also include Mophie Juice Packs, a speaker unit and laptop cases adorned with the same origami print of the lucky backpack.
Most bags included the battery pack, as well as a pair of wireless Beats headphones. The rest of the contents, well, vary. If you’re not-so-lucky, you’ll find a 16GB Product Red iPod Touch. From there it rolls through to the latest iPad Mini and iPad Air models. If your bag is particularly lucky (and we saw three), then you could find an 11-inch MacBook Air. That’s 88,800 yen-worth of luck. (Or around $730.) According to Japanese Apple blog Macotakara, these were the four patterns for the bags. We managed to see second-in-line Yon (a lucky bag regular) get his bag, which housed an 11-inch MacBook alongside a cover case and travel adapter.
After leaving the store to write up how the madness went down, this editor discovered a friend in the queue. Nothing quite like the emotional roller-coaster of a lucky bag, right? So we asked Masa to take us through it all. He was customer number 1035, according to his entry card, and the line for lucky bags closed almost immediately after him. He was hoping for an iPad mini — the bag was (kinda tragically) a Christmas present to himself, so we were hoping that his gamble would pay off. After handing over the money (around $300), he was ushered to a table that had the remaining bags on display. The nature of lucky bags ensures the contents are pretty random. the staff doesn’t know what’s in them, nor does Apple offer up a specific number of bags that’ll go for sale, or number of MacBooks hiding within.
Did he get his Christmas wish? Let’s take a look.
Starting with the limited edition backpack, (15,800 yen), there was also:
- Power Beats 2 Wireless headphones (20,600 yen)
- Apple TV (9,800 yen)
- iPod Touch 16GB (20,800 yen)
- Mophie Juice Pack power station (8,800 yen)
- iTunes credit (unknown value)
No iPad. But such is the life of a lucky bag shopper. However, racking up the retail prices of the contents totals 75,800 yen (around $630 dollars), far in excess of the 35,000 yen paid for it. That said, my friend was… disappointed. The bags offer up a great value, as long as you’re happy with the contents. Lucky bags are likely going to remain a Japan-exclusive. (Apple Japan said it doesn’t comment on future plans.) Would you take the risk?
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Apple
Kodak jumps on the Android bandwagon with their own device
The smartphone market rarely stands still and Kodak look to be embracing that by utilising Google’s Android OS. Kodak was spotted churning out plans for a new Android device to be announced in CES 2015.
Not only that, it seems Bullitt Group is going to partner with Kodak in releasing their own device. Bullitt is already an established manufacturer for making Android devices. The devices will flaunt best-in-class image management software and features along with great design and UI.
The devices will be aimed for, but not exclusive to, those who want a rich android experience without the overcomplicated tidbits of Android Ecosystem. Not only that, since this is Kodak we are talking about, you can expect the devices to carry with them bespoke image capture functionality and sharing tools.
Kodak also has future plans to release a tablet, a 4G handset and a connected camera in the second half of 2015. Though what ‘connected camera’ means remains to be seen.
The post Kodak jumps on the Android bandwagon with their own device appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Photos section disappears from iCloud.com
It appears that the Photos section on the iCloud website has disappeared. Photos on iCloud.com has been the only way to access your iCloud Photo Library from a desktop or laptop since it launched in November. The Photos section is also missing from the iCloud Beta website.
Photos on iCloud.com was never supposed to be the only solution for viewing and uploading photos to your Photo Library from your PC or Mac. A new Photos app for Mac is supposed to launch sometime early this year for OS X Yosemite users. It will give you access to photos taken on your iOS devices, as well as let you upload photos to your iCloud Photo Library.
It’s unknown if the removal of Photos from iCloud.com is temporary or permanent.
Source: iCloud
OnePlus unveils its own Android build without Cyanogen
Following a temporary ban in India, OnePlus has released its own alpha Lollipop ROM for the One based on stock Android 5.0 — with no Cyanogen influence. For now, the alpha software is only available as a download, and you’ll need to wipe your phone in order to get it. It’s also very basic and OnePlus said it includes “no extras beyond the stock features of AOSP Lollipop,” though it promised to build on it over time. OnePlus started talking about its own Android fork shortly before Cyanogen inked an exclusive deal with Indian smartphone maker Micromax.
When ready, the new ROM will no doubt be used in India to avoid any conflict with Micromax. It’s not clear, however, whether OnePlus will use it for One models elsewhere and eschew Cyanogen software completely. That might not sit well with buyers who specifically signed up for the Cyanogen experience, though most users would likely be happy with something close to stock Android. So far, OnePlus models are still running the Cyanogen 11s, KitKat 4.4.4 version, and Cyanogen’s Lollipop flavor (12s) for the One still looks far off. As for future OnePlus models? We wouldn’t be surprised to see the company go down the same road as Xiaomi and others with its own Android build.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: TechCrunch
Source: OnePlus
iBall announces the Andi4L Pulse Windows Phone
Indian manufacturer iBall has announced the Andi4L Pulse, a new Windows Phone to target the low-end segment of the platform. The device itself comes with 1 GB of RAM, which means owners will not be limited by what apps and games they’ll be able to enjoy from the Windows Pone Store.
Does Sony’s PlayStation apology compensate for a lost holiday?
Sony’s PlayStation Network was hit by a devastating denial-of-service attack over Christmas. Now that the gaming service is back online, should the company be offering players some sort of peace offering? If so, what’s a reasonable gift in this scenario? It’s quite a conundrum, because the festive downtime wasn’t predominantly Sony’s fault. A hacking group called Lizard Squad orchestrated the attack (they also targeted Xbox Live) causing all online functionality to collapse. It meant new console owners on Christmas Day were unable to redeem game download codes or create new PSN accounts, while existing PlayStation owners were locked out of the online multiplayer modes for their favorite games.
To make things right, Sony is giving PlayStation Plus members an automatic five-day subscription extension. This easily covers the extended downtime, although, because Sony obviously can’t give you those Christmas hours back, it’ll also be offering a 10 percent discount for one total cart purchase later this month. Is the gift a little ungenerous? Consider this analogy: You’ve paid to get into your favorite club on Friday night, but suddenly the music stops. It seems vandals have snuck in and destroyed the sound system, so the club’s owner apologizes and works hard to fix everything. Eventually the music comes back on and again, to say sorry, the bar manager offers everyone a free drink.
Was there an expectation for the club owner to offer everyone that drink? Or does it just add insult to injury, given your night is ruined and you paid to get into the club anyway? It could be argued that Sony is offering fair compensation (if not more) in terms of sheer monetary value for the PSN outage — but of course, it’s hard to put a price on a less than stellar Christmas. Regardless, Sony has over 7.9 million PlayStation Plus subscribers at the moment; an annual subscription costs $49.99, so this little gesture could cost the firm at least $5 million. Microsoft is yet to offer anything for its (albeit less disruptive) outage, so this could be a chance for the company to one up its closest rival with a better deal for the Xbox faithful.
Source: PlayStation Blog
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