Grab a Nexus 6 $48 Cheaper Using a T-Mobile Coupon Code
Thinking about getting a Nexus 6 on your T-Mobile plan? Now is the time to do it. T-Mobile wants to save you $48 on a new Nexus 6 by using their special coupon code. This coupon code works for both the 32 and 64 gb variants, so it is a nice little save for phones […]
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128GB PNY micro SD cards on special for $79.99, 64GB for $29.99
SanDisk was the first, that I know of, that offered a 128GB micro SD card and that was just about a year ago in February of 2014. They came out swinging with a $199.99 price tag, but it wasn’t long before the price tags started to drop. Eventually they started hovering around the $100 mark […]
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Former Opera CEO launches a feature-packed browser called Vivaldi
John S. Von Tetzchner, founder and former CEO of the popular Opera browser, has just announced a new way to browse the web. It’s called Vivaldi, and it’s aimed at power users. When von Tetzchner created Opera back in 1994, the startup browser began gaining some traction and soon became one of the fastest web browsers on the web. Unfortunatlely, after Opera grew to the next level and ultimately changed directions, the founder decided to part ways with the project. He made it his point to develop a browser that’s rich in functionality and easy to use. Thus, Vivaldi came to be.
Vivaldi is built using the Chromium source code, similar to what we see in Opera’s current iteration. Being such a small team of developers, they couldn’t build their own engine from scratch, which might be a good thing. This way, the basis of the browser is set up for them, allowing the developers to focus on layout and features.
This browser is filled with awesome features. Quick Commands allow you to assign your own keyboard shortcuts to scroll through settings menus, open tabs, view history and much more. You can even jot down blurbs or add screenshots to the built-in Notes tab. Notes in the browser can be tagged and organized for keeping your thoughts in order. You can add “Speed Dials” (shortcuts) to Vivaldi, so your most-visited sites are easily accessible. Last but not least, Vivaldi has a feature called “Tab Stacks” which lets you group tabs together under a single tab. This can really come in handy if you constantly have an abundance of different web pages open at once.
Vivaldi Technologies is also working on a huge list of features, likely set to debut before the official public launch of the browser. Here is what we have to look forward to:
- Mail – Yep, we are working on mail. That’s all we can say for now.
- Sync – Your Notes, bookmarks, History and session synced across your different devices.
- Spatial Navigation – Spatial navigation allows you to navigate the Web easily, using only your keyboard.
- Performance – Our aim is to be the fastest browser in the universe but we are not talking about theoretical speed here. It’s all about efficiency. We focus on making it quicker and faster for you to find things and getting things done!
- Extensions – We want to build a powerful, feature packed browser to minimize your need for extentions. They can impact browser performance and increase security risks. Still, we understand you might want more, so extension support is coming. Stay tuned.
Vivaldi is currently only available as a tech preview, though it’s widely accessible through their homepage. So far, this browser is fast, intuitive and packed with some great features. If you’ve tried Vivaldi, be on the lookout for new enhancements and updates added to the browser weekly.
Apple Pay Responsible for Two of Every Three Contactless Payments on Visa, MasterCard, and American Express [iOS Blog]
Since its introduction in October, Apple Pay has accounted for two of every three dollars spent through contactless payments on Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook who shared the information during the company’s earnings call for the first fiscal quarter of 2015.
“Apple Pay is off to a very strong start,” said Cook, adding that he expects 2015 to be “the year of Apple Pay.” About 750 banks and credit unions have signed on to accept Apple Pay, and according to numbers shared by Cook, Apple Pay was responsible for 80 percent of mobile payments at Panera Bread, and at Whole Foods, mobile payments increased by 400 percent.
Earlier information has also pointed to Apple Pay’s success. Apple Pay had more than 1 million card activations during the first 72 hours Apple Pay was available, and in November, Apple Pay captured a total of 1 percent of all digital payment dollars.
Thus far, Apple Pay has proven to be most popular at Whole Foods, with the speciality grocery store responsible for 20 percent of all Apple Pay transactions and 28 percent of all Apple Pay spending. Walgreens and McDonald’s were also popular with Apple Pay users.
Apple Pay is still in its infancy, limited to the United States. In the coming months, Apple plans to expand to several other locations across Europe, Canada, and Asia. In the United States, Apple Pay now supports cards representing 90 percent of U.S. credit card purchase volume.
Vivo X5 Max L passes through TENAA
Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo is notoriously renowned for its exceptionally thin high-end smartphones, but now it looks like the company is ready to bring the revolutionary technology it used to produce the world’s thinnest Android-powered handset to the budget-friendly market.
Earlier today, an unannounced Vivo smartphone, named the X5 Max L, passed through China’s official certification database. In terms of design, the handset looks to be extremely similar to the X5 Max, but measures in a little thicker at 5.1mm.
Vivo has also altered the specifications of the X5 Max L. Instead of featuring the same Snapdragon 615 SoC its older sibling sports; the new handset will pack a more powerful, yet more cost-effective 64-bit MediaTek processor.
Hit the source link below to view the full certification certificate over on TENAA’s website.
Source: TENAA
Come comment on this article: Vivo X5 Max L passes through TENAA
Meet the Devs – Minisaur
Welcome back to our Meet the Devs segment! In this piece we take a little time to get to know the people who really make Android what it is today and that is the app developers. In this week’s developer interview, we are talking to Matthew Mario Negri of Minisaur.
Name: Mario Negri
Developer Name: Minisaur
Country: Italy
Website: Official Facebook page
Social Media Profile/Page: Google+
How many people on your team? 3
Apps
About your company?
Minisaur is a small group of 3 really good friends. We are all from Milan (Italy) and have the same great passion for videogames. The 2 designers of the team both studied Design & Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, where they got to know each other and discovered their common interest. The last year of their studies they decided to create their first game and asked me to be the key part of the team. 
Before working with Gianni and Riccardo I was a freelance software developer for many big italian and european companies and studios. Minisaur was my chance to finally focus on something I really love.
What level of experience do you have with coding and development?
I’ve worked for 6 years as a web developer and recently started to develop apps for Android. To develop Bruce Wheels and Java Android apps I use Eclipse. I have some experience with visual studio to develop .net applications, while for web I’ve been mainly using notepad++, ultraedit and sublime text.
What languages do you know? How and where did you learn them?
The first language I learned was Amiga Basic, thanks to my father’s lessons when I was only 12 years old To develop Bruce Wheels I used Java, which I first learned back in Highschool. I’m extremely well versed with python, asp 3.0, php and c# and familiar with visual basic 6 and c ansi. The book I recently really loved to read is “Pragmatic Programmer”, which really teached me the correct way to act and think as a programmer.
What level of experience do you have with design?
0, zero. All the design is done by my brother Riccardo and my friend Gianni They are awesome! They do their job using mainly Adobe Illustrator and Spine, a great program for 2d animations which we chose to support since its Kickstarter.
What apps have you made?
Bruce Wheels is our first big app. We put all our passion to develop and design it the way we wanted it to be. We strongly believe in this project, which took us way too much time We worked on it for 2 years in our little spare time between work, university and other annoying IRL stuff.
How do you monetize your apps?
For Bruce Wheels we chose a freemium model. The game is free to download, while the complete version without ads is unlocked with an in-app purchase. We want people to try our game before purchasing it and we thought that this was the best way to do it as a new indie company.
Do you consider yourself successful?
I created something I love, together with 2 of my best friends. Within the span of 2 years, we all acquired in depth technical knowledge in building and designing a great Android game. Yes we consider ourselves successful.
How difficult is it to make money as a developer?
As an indie developer it is really difficult. With the Android market beeing flooded with all kinds of trash apps coming out every second, games developed with passion and love are simply not noticed without marketing and advertisement.
What can Android do to improve?
Android is used on so many devices, it is really difficult to get a game running well on all of them. There could also be a spotlight on a choice of new indie releases in their main page on the Google Play Store.
Why did you choose Android? Do you develop for other platforms? What are the differences between them?
We picked Android mainly for one reason: it was the type of device we all had when we started. We have never been the biggest Apple fans and love Android becouse it is open source and costumizable. I’ve never tried to develop anything for iOS or Windows Phone yet, but I may do an iOS version of Bruce Wheels soon™.
What do you think of the Android design guidelines?
Early on, there weren’t any guidelines and it was really hard to design a consistent user experience without the help of good UI designers. Now they are really well designed and simple but there’s not that much yet that could be applied to games.
What are your favorite apps?
My favourite games for Android are Cannabalt, Rayman Jungle Run and Doodle Jump. I really love to use Whatsapp, Dropbox, Sketchbook Mobile, Waze, Tasker and Wunderlist on a daily basis.
What has been your experience been like working with Google?
Google is really fast to solve problems and to give feedback to opened tickets. The play console once had a problem with my app and they were really kind to immediately contact me and get it fixed.
What tips do you have for aspiring developers?
Be passionate about what you do. Passion drives creativity. It is passion that keeps you working on something you love for hours on end. It’s what eats away at your nights and weekends, completely destroying your social life.
Developer interview wrap up
We want to thank Mario for chatting with us in this week’s developer interview! If you’re a developer and this looks like something you’d like to do, check out our Meet the Devs form! We look forward to hearing from you!
iOS 8.1.3 Fixes Exploits Used by TaiG Jailbreak [iOS Blog]
It appears that today’s iOS 8.1.3 update fixes many of the exploits that were used for the iOS 8 TaiG jailbreak, which worked up until iOS 8.1.2. The earlier Pangu jailbreak was disabled with the iOS 8.1.1 update that was released on November 17.
TaiG has not yet confirmed whether iOS 8.1.3 breaks its jailbreak tool, but reports on the MacRumors forums and on Twitter suggest that is indeed the case. Apple’s support document detailing the security fixes in iOS 8.1.3 credits the TaiG jailbreak team for four vulnerability fixes.
At the current time, Apple is still signing iOS 8.1.2 so it’s possible to downgrade from iOS 8.1.3 back to iOS 8.1.2 or upgrade to iOS 8.1.2 from an earlier version of iOS, but that could end at any time.
Released this morning, iOS 8.1.3 includes a range of bug fixes including a repair for a lingering Wi-Fi issue, and it also reduces the amount of storage space required to perform an iOS update.
What movies do you want to see in virtual reality?
It’s no secret that virtual reality seems to be all the rage at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. With a number of consumer oriented VR headsets on the horizon, filmmakers are clearly excited about this technology and experimenting with ways to take advantage of it. If there’s one thing we know about Hollywood, it’s its obsession with rebooting some of our most cherished movies. Given the opportunity, what classic and beloved movies would you love to see in VR?
Filed under: Misc
Source: Engadget forums
This week’s sidebar poll: Which online video store do you use most?
Let’s stay in and order a movie…
Well, it’s a perfectly miserable day in the Northeastern U.S., and that makes it the perfect time to bust out some videos and hold yourself a marathon. That’s what I’m doing today — though for health reasons; it’s absolutely gorgeous here in Texas — and it got me thinking: which online video store to our readers use the most? Sure, Google Play comes standard on most devices, but if The Interview was able to become their top-selling movie in a week, I wonder what that means for the sales numbers of Google Play Movies overall.
AIVAnet 