Buy the OnePlus One without an invite on January 20
The OnePlus One is a solid phone (as highlighted in our review), but remains to be one you’re unable to purchase unless you receive an invite. The company is planning to run yet another day for those interested in purchasing one to place an order without an invite on January 20.
Owners reporting issues with the Nexus 6 back cover popping off and battery swelling
On paper, the Nexus 6 is one of the most alluring devices out there for Android enthusiasts, but that’s only if you can get your hands on one. Lack of stock has rendered it almost as rare as the abominable snowman, however it looks like what few of them are out there could be suffering […]
The post Owners reporting issues with the Nexus 6 back cover popping off and battery swelling appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Sprint snags its first Lumia smartphone
Believe it or not, Sprint hasn’t had a Lumia-badged smartphone since Nokia (and now Microsoft) got into Windows phones — you’ve had to go with HTC or Samsung and forgo a bunch of apps and services. You won’t have that problem from now on, since Sprint just picked up the low-cost Lumia 635. It’s been available on the carrier’s prepaid Boost and Virgin Mobile labels for a little while, but the move gives you truly unlimited data without having to break the bank on either your phone or your plan. You can score a 635 for $168 up front, or $7 per month over two years.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Sprint
Via: Neowin
Source: Sprint
Guide: How to get and play Puyo Puyo Tetris for Xbox One
In early December, the Xbox One got its first Japanese exclusive retail game: Puyo Puyo Tetris from Sega. That same month, Ubisoft plopped out another boring, generic Tetris game as a downloadable Xbox One title in English territories: Tetris Ultimate.
But in far-off Japan, Sega crafted a Tetris game that overflows with color, charming characters, a lengthy story-filled campaign, and tons of creative new game types. That’s the Tetris we should have gotten, and sadly Sega seems content never to release it outside of Japan.
Luckily, importing and playing Puyo Puyo Tetris on non-Japanese Xbox Ones is actually really easy. And to make things even easier, Japanese Xbox guru @Lifelower and I have teamed up to translate nearly the entire game (minus the story itself)! Check out our exclusive guide to either get the most out of Puyo Puyo Tetris or find out what you’re missing!
New York governor wants statewide 100Mbps internet by 2019
With a $1 billion plan, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to have every New Yorker hooked up to high-speed internet by 2019. The administration is billing it as the largest state investment in universal broadband in the country. Just how fast are we talking, here? In most cases, the program calls for providers to offer at least 100 Mbps, or as Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot described it at a press conference, “more than 10 times the federal definition of ‘broadband.’”
The plan, known as the New New York Broadband Program (yes, that is two “News”) would include $500 million in capital funds (taken from recent bank settlements). The state wants those funds to serve as an incentive for private companies by offering 1:1 financial matching for broadband providers willing to invest their own money — hence the $1 billion total size. The program is part of Cuomo’s 2015 State of Opportunity Agenda and although those matching funds call for providers to offer at 100 Mbps speeds in most cases, it does allow for as low as 25Mbps in extremely remote areas of the state.
According to Ookla’s Net Index Explorer, New York ranks third in the US with an average broadband speed of around 39 Mbps. However, stats from the state’s Broadband Program Office show that large swaths of the population lacked broadband access as recently as July 2014. In Greene County, for instance, the office estimates 91 percent of the county’s 50,000 residents lack access to 100Mbps broadband — and 79 percent can’t even muster 6Mbps. While it’s obviously very early days for the program, Cuomo’s office seems mighty bullish about its potential, even with the not-so-far-off January 1st, 2019 deadline. “At the end of the next four years,” New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said, “you’ll see that every business in this community, in this state, is connected and will have the fastest-speed broadband of any state in the nation.”
[Image credits: Bloomberg via Getty Images, New York State]
Filed under: Networking, Internet
Source: New York State
Motorola Migrate gets Material Design touch ups, new transfer features
Motorola‘s Migrate app has been updated, adding Material Design updates and new transfer features. Migrate allows you to transfer data to your Motorola device from a number of sources, including other Android devices, iCloud, and non-smartphones, and the latest update makes that even easier.
What are HomeKit vendors waiting for?
One of the things I was most interested in for CES 2015 was seeing how far home automation vendors had come in integrating Apple’s HomeKit frameworks. HomeKit is supposed to take us from tediously tapping our way through dozens of disparate apps to elegantly controlling everything in our house with Siri. For all the announcements, however, there were no shipping products. So, what’s taking so long?
Kelly Guimont, writing for The Mac Observer, heard something from Phillips at CES that made her think vendors might be waiting on Apple, and more enticingly, on an Apple “HomeKit event”:
What if there is going to be an event? And what if that event is an official HomeKit launch? And what if that launch includes a new Apple TV that has “hub” functionality? A launch event would be a great way to re-introduce Apple TV, especially since we’re coming up on three years since the last update. Not only would this event draw attention back to the Apple TV, but it would also plant Apple’s flag pretty firmly in the home automation market.
Kelly has since updated the same article with the following:
According to Philips, the “HomeKit launch” referenced in the quote was the launch of iOS 8 in September, though the company has yet to comment on HomeKit support since that time.
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop added:
Very interesting wording from Philips in response to Kelly Guimont’s question regarding their support for HomeKit.
It is indeed. Apple did have an education event in January of 2012, so events centered around specific topics, while extremely uncommon, aren’t completely unheard of. If Phillips was, in fact, referring to the iOS 8 launch back in September of 2014, however, there might be far, far simpler explanations as to what vendors are waiting on now:
- To finish. Few vendors showed anything that looked polished and ready to ship when it came to HomeKit and Siri integration, so most of them likely need more time.
- For certification. Once finished, vendors will still need to go through Apple if they want to market their products as HomeKit compatible (the way speakers are marketed as AirPlay compatible, for example).
Apple has a Made for iPhone (MFi) program in place, and anything using the HomeKit accessory Protocol (HAC) or Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC) needs to be part of it.
Join the MFi licensing program and get the hardware components, tools, documentation, technical support, and certification logos needed to create AirPlay audio accessories and electronic accessories that connect to iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
MFi application is under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) but it’s not hard to imagine that the HomeKit process will take some time to ramp up, similar to how other new categories have taken time to ramp up in the past, including CarPlay and game controllers.
Current-generation Apple TV hardware running current-generation software already supports HomeKit, allowing Siri to be used to control the system remotely. Apple Watch supports Siri as well (though there’s been no specific announcement about the watch and HomeKit). So, it’s also not hard to imagine HomeKit making for a good demo at some future product or operating system-focused event either.
For now, however, my guess is everyone is just working as hard as they can to get everything finished, certified, and on the shelves.
Xiaomi’s two new flagship devices announced
We were already seeing a lot of rumours about the imminent launch of Xiaomi’s next flagship devices. Xiaomi was already doing well with its previous generation flagships Mi4 and now it comes up with two new flagship devices, Mi Note and Mi Note Pro. Both the devices with a screen size of 5.7″ have stormed their way into the phablet territory and stirred up the entire niche with their beastly specs. This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi is cramming best-in-class hardware into a reasonable price point and many people including me appreciate that. Xiaomi touts the design of the phone particularly the back as 3D glass and the front as 2.5D.
The Mi Note sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC can be considered a previous generation device since next two successors of Snapdragon 800 series are already out. However, the Mi Note Pro pretty much tears the specs sheet apart with the latest 64-bit Octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor. The only real competitor I can think of to this phone is the LG G Flex 2 which has the same chipset. Yes, this is the second device in the world with a Snapdragon 810. Along with 2K resolution and 4GB of RAM, I can’t even imagine the out-of-the-world performance it will bear. Here is a quick rundown of the complete specifications of both the device.
Xiaomi Mi Note
| Display | 5.7-inch Sharp/JDI Full HD (1920×1080) |
| Chipset | 2.5 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 801 |
| GPU | Adreno 330 |
| Memory | 3GB |
| Storage | 16GB or 64GB of internal storage |
| Camera | Primay: Sony IMX214 13MP with OIS, Secondary: 4MP with 2-micron pixels |
| Battery | 3000 mAh Li-ion, Quick Charge 2.0 |
| Connectivity | Dual 4G SIM (Nano/Micro) / Dual Standby |
| OS | Android Lollipop with MIUI v6 |
Xiaomi Mi Note Pro
| Display | 5.7-inch Sharp/JDI Quad HD (2560×1440) |
| Chipset | 64-bit Octa-core Snapdragon 810 |
| GPU | Adreno 430 |
| Memory | 4GB LPDDR4 |
| Storage | 64GB of internal storage |
| Camera | Primay: Sony IMX214 13MP with OIS, Secondary: 4MP with 2-micron pixels |
| Battery | 3000 mAh Li-ion, Quick Charge 2.0 |
| Connectivity | Dual 4G SIM (Nano/Micro) / Dual Standby, LTE Cat 9, upto 450 Mbps download speed |
| OS | Android Lollipop with MIUI v6 |
The announced price of Mi Note 16GB is ¥2299 (≈ $370) and that of 64GB model is ¥2799(≈ $451). Mi Note Pro is available at ¥3299 (≈ $532). The device will go on pre-order on January 20 and will be available on January 27 in China. Xiaomi also released two videos which showcases the its two new offerings.
I am very eager to see how these devices racks up against the TBA flagships of other manufacturers.
Source: Xiaomi via TalkAndroid
The post Xiaomi’s two new flagship devices announced appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Android 5.0 Lollipop for the LG G2 is now live in South Korea
A few weeks ago, we got a sneak peek at Android 5.0 Lollipop for the LG G2 and now it appears the software update is now officially rolling out in South Korea. Prior to this, the update was in testing, which is presumably where the leaked footage came from, but the V30D update has been confirmed […]
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On January 20th, you can buy a OnePlus One without an invite
OnePlus is the kind of company that needs no introduction. Despite only launching one device so far in its short life, the OnePlus One, it’s weathered many highs and lows that some other companies dream of having – and some mistakes that other companies are glad they haven’t made. One of those things that many consider a mistake […]
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