Sprint offers guranteed $200 device trade-in for T-Mobile defectors
Sprint on Friday announced a new promotion which puts T-Mobile squarely in its sights. Starting today, and running through April 9, Sprint will guarantee a minimum of $200 instant trade-in value to T-Mobile customers who port their phone number. The $200 device credit, when attached to the (up to) $350 per line ETF credit puts the total deal worth upwards of $550. Not too shabby, eh? Wonder what the Un-carrier thinks of this one.
“Our industry-leading program gives customers a clear and immediate financial incentive to turn in their old phone,” said Chad Lander, director of Sprint’s buyback and phone trade-in program. “We’re able to target customers, like those from T-Mobile, offset any termination fees, and provide a far superior offering.”
The post Sprint offers guranteed $200 device trade-in for T-Mobile defectors appeared first on AndroidGuys.
‘GMT Bug’ in iOS 8 Calendar Syncing Causing Time Zone Confusion for Users [iOS Blog]
A growing number of users on Apple’s support forums are reporting an issue with iOS 8 and the time zones of synced calendar events, reports Forbes. Known by users as the “GMT bug,” the issue is causing confusion as calendar events sometimes see a secondary time zone (frequently GMT) added on.
The issue is documented in a lengthy thread on Apple’s support forums that was started shortly after iOS 8 was released, and it has continued to gain significant attention since that time. According to user reports, calendar events created in one time zone are converted to another timezone possibly when they sync across a server.
Most of the affected appointments originate from either Google or Microsoft Exchange calendars that are linked to the default iOS calendar app. While the appointment remains at the correct time for the user, the actual time setting becomes defined in GMT rather than the user’s local time zone, which can cause issues if the user edits the entry without realizing the different time zone.
There are conflicting reports, however, over whether this behavior is indeed a bug or not. Apple support representatives reportedly have confirmed to at least one user that the company is aware of the issue and working on a fix, while others have been told this is expected behavior.
The issue may in fact be related to a “Time Zone Override” setting in iOS 8 that allows users to maintain a consistent time zone for their calendars even while traveling to different time zones, but even if the GMT addition is intended behavior the implementation is clearly causing confusion for many users.
Apple last updated iOS to version 8.1.2 in December with a fix for disappearing ringtones. A minor iOS 8.1.3 update is in testing with Apple engineers and retail staff, with a public launch expected soon. Developers are now also using iOS 8.2 betas, the fourth of which was released in last week. None of the public or beta versions of iOS are yet confirmed to contain a provision to address this issue.
Crapgadget purveyor Skymall is filing for bankruptcy
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Skymall, the ubiquitous in-flight magazine featuring things you’d only buy when drunk on tiny liquor bottles and jet lag, was already dead. Well, it’s alive — but it appears not for much longer. Skymall has just filed for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Its killer? You guessed it: Internet access and more gadgets on planes. The wider availability of in-flight Wi-Fi “resulted in additional competition from e-commerce retailers and additional competition for the attention of passengers, all of which further negatively impacted SkyMall’s catalog sales,” said CEO Scott Wiley. Guess you’ll just have to get your day of the week clocks and zombie garden statues elsewhere.
[Photo credit: Shozu/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
Source: Wall Street Journal
Do you want a virtual assistant on your desktop?
Microsoft showed off a number of new features from its upcoming Windows 10 yesterday. It brings support for things like universal apps, a new and improved web browser, potentially free upgrades, cross-platform gaming and more. One of the more interesting announcements was that Cortana, a voice-controlled virtual assistant similar to Apple’s Siri and Google Now, would be available on your desktop. Many of us spend our days in office environments, where it’s not convenient to talk to our computers (besides, I have other issues with virtual assistants as well). Is this something you’ll find useful on your computer? Head over to the Engadget forums and let us know what you think.
Filed under: Desktops
Source: Engadget forums
LG smartphone sales grew 25 percent in 2014
2014 was a tough year for some smartphone manufacturers and a prosperous one for others. LG has managed to squeeze itself into the latter category, having seen its smartphone sales grow by 25 percent year-over-year, according to industry sources.
LG is estimated to have sold around 59.6 million smartphones throughout 2014, up from 47.6 million units in the previous year. This matches up pretty closely with the 60 million unit estimate mentioned several times in the third quarter of last year and brings LG closer to taking third spot in the global smartphone market.
LG and Huawei are both contesting fourth place, based on third quarter 2014 sales figures, with Xiaomi beating both companies into third place, behind market leaders Apple and Samsung. Although not rising as quickly as the explosive Xiaomi, LG has seen smartphone shipments consistently increase at a strong pace since 2011. According to Strategy Analytics, LG shipped 20 million smartphones in 2011, 26.3 million in 2012, and has now risen close to 60 million this year. We should see official figures for Q4 and yearly 2014 smartphone sales within the coming month.
http://embed.chartblocks.com/1.0/?c=54c26cfdc9a61df15ffd3026&t=dc1c1d72ace9371
Industry commentators are attributing LG’s strong growth to the rising popularity and competitive price point of its G smartphone line-up. From its flagship G2 and G3 smartphones, to lower-end G3 Stylus and the G3 Beat, LG has managed to cater to a range of budgets and consumer needs.
With LG making use of its own cutting-edge technology, such as its in-house flexible display found in the new G Flex 2, the company is in a strong position continue to compete with its rivals throughout 2015 and beyond.
Samsung to use their own camera module in the Galaxy S 6
Rumors have the Galaxy S 6 sporting a 20 MP main rear camera along with optical image stabilization (OIS), but that’s not all that surprising. What might be surprising is the fact that Samsung is going to use their own camera module.
Samsung has been using Sony modules for the past few flagship phones so this is a major change. This news comes from a report in which Korean analysts were talking about Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEM) in that they will benefit from a 20 MP module for smartphones that will be available during the 1st half of the year when the Galaxy S 6 will be released.
It should also be noted that it was reported over a year ago that Samsung was working on a 20 MP camera for smartphones and it would become available towards the end of 2014. Although a little later, this does line up.
Samsung has been one of the leaders when it comes to picture quality so let’s hope the trend continues with their own module.
source: etnews
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Samsung to use their own camera module in the Galaxy S 6
Today you can save 43% on these metal bumper cases for iPhone 6
The TETRA Case adds an advanced design to your typical bumper case with its geometrically shaped corners and CNC-machined aluminum edging. Even with the combination of aluminum and shock absorbent TPU, this case is amazingly thin and lightweight. Comes in 6 colors and is only $16.95 today!
Amazon Prime will be available for just $72 tomorrow
Been wanting to sign up for an Amazon Prime account but don’t have the $99 to play with right now? Perhaps Amazon’s upcoming promotion might be what you need.
Effective tomorrow, Saturday, January 24 only, you can grab a one year Amazon Prime account for only $72. A savings of approximately 27% it’s discounted to celebrate the recent Golden Globes awards for Best Musical or Comedy Series (Transparent) and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series (Jeffrey Tambor).
And, if Transparent is the sort of thing you’re interested in checking out, you can watch it for free. Regardless of whether you have a Prime account or not, the show is available to all on Saturday.
Anyone can watch Transparent at no cost on Saturday using the Amazon Instant Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/Transparent.
Getting back to the Prime promo, you do get everything you would normally receive.
Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items, one million songs and hundreds of playlists through Prime Music, free unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos, early access to select Lightning Deals and access to over 800,000 books to borrow through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
The post Amazon Prime will be available for just $72 tomorrow appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LG Electronics says no heat issues with new Qualcomm processor
You may have been aware of a comment Samsung made when it came to the new Qualcomm 810 processor regarding the chip overheating during testing, in which LG have no replied denying any such claim.
The new Snapdragon 810 processor is powering the curved-display LG Flex 2, which LG say has had no heat issues during its internal tests.
“I am very much aware of the various concerns in the market about the (Snapdragon) 810, but the chip’s performance is quite satisfactory,” Woo Ram-chan, LG vice president for mobile product planning, told reporters at a press event for the company’s G Flex2 smartphone.
Samsung have insisted on issues with the chip and will instead opt for their own manufactured processor in their next Galaxy S device.
Could it be something else attributable to the heat of the chip in Samsung devices, or are the company simply trying to big their own chip up?
The post LG Electronics says no heat issues with new Qualcomm processor appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Apple’s iTunes Radio, Beats, and Others Hit With Unpaid Royalty Suits Over Pre-1972 Music [Mac Blog]
Following a lengthy lawsuit that pitted Sirius XM Radio against members of classic rock band The Turtles in a fight over royalties for music recordings made before 1972, new class action lawsuits have been filed against Apple, Sony, Google, and Rdio over their streaming music services (via The Recorder). As noted by Law360, Beats Music has also been hit with a suit.
According to the suits, filed yesterday by Zenbu Magazines Inc., streaming services like iTunes Radio, Beats, and Google Play Music have been making money off of pre-1972 music recordings without paying any royalties to the owners of the original recordings.
Zenbu owns the copyrights to many songs in question and is represented by The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald in San Diego. The lawsuit seeks to create a certified “class of all owners of recordings made before February 15, 1972, whose recordings appear on streaming services.”
While musical compositions have been protected under U.S. copyright law since 1831, sound recordings were only added to the federal copyright act in 1972. That’s meant that the holders of copyrights to pre-1972 compositions—largely music publishers—have been paid royalties for public performances while those holding the copyrights to recordings—largely record labels—have not.
As noted by The Recorder, last year a judge in Los Angeles decided to extend ownership rights for pre-1972 recordings to include public performances. Similarly, in that case of Sirius XM versus owners of the sound recordings made by The Turtles in the 1960s, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled against Sirius.
The lawsuits come at a time when Apple is working behind the scenes for an upcoming relaunch of the Beats Music streaming service, rumored to include integration into iTunes and iOS in general. “The streaming services don’t have a good idea of what their total liability is going to be,” noted Santa Clara law professor Tyler Ochoa, with the lawsuits against the numerous streaming music services “inevitable”, following the Sirius XM case.
Due to the growing popularity of streaming services worldwide, Ochoa sees some of the companies perhaps pulling those pre-1972 songs to avoid further liability, with record labels falling in line with their own lawsuits against the services for better royalty deals.
AIVAnet 