Lenovo Vibe Shot hands-on: It’s all about the camera
Lenovo puts its focus on the camera with the 16-megapixel Vibe Shot. It’s as much smartphone as it is camera, perhaps, but it’s clear this one’s intended to be the only shooter you need.
Lenovo’s brought a couple of new phones to Mobile World Congress this year, and the Vibe Shot (as the name suggests) is bringing some serious tech to the back of the phone. This guy’s got a 16-megpixel camera (using a Samsung sensor and f/2.2 lens) with optical image stabilization that Lenovo says could well serve as the only camera you need.
The Vive Shot has some interesting controls, starting with the hardware.
Report: Galaxy S6 Edge could start from 64GB in the UK
Despite the fact that the Galaxy S6 Edge doesn’t make quite as efficient use of the curved display as its big brother the Galaxy Note Edge, it has still managed to turn a lot of heads thanks to its sleek, stylish design and dual curved sides. When coupled with the rear/front Gorilla Glass 4 panels and a metal frame, it’s by far the most premium and precious product Samsung has ever produced.
Pricing has yet to be set in stone with respect to either the S6 or S6 Edge, however given the fact that the Note Edge retails for around $800-900 (off-contract) and is made with lesser materials and older hardware components, it’s best to brace yourself for a similar figure. One thing that will definitely come into play however, is the storage option: as the new devices lack a removable back cover and microSD card slot, what you buy is what you get. The phones are available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB variants…or are they? Take a look at this screen capture:
Assuming that nothing changes, this would indicate the Galaxy S6 Edge will lack a 32GB base model. This will, in turn, obviously drive up the price considerably.
Samsung is probably wanting to create the most premium image possible for the product. Though this screen capture allegedly comes from a UK-based Samsung page, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the same storage standard used in other markets.
Suffice to say, it’s best to start saving up your money now if you intend to get an S6 Edge in the UK.
Google’s got a slam dunk with their latest Android commercial
Did you need a 15 second distraction to get you pumped up about Android today? Good, that is exactly what Google’s latest Android commercial is for, jam packed with cameras, it is a slam dunk, of sorts.
There is very little to say about the commercial itself, more Androidify characters grace the screen, sports are involved, and everyone is taking a photo with their Android device. It is fun.
Highlighting the wide range of camera sizes, styles and capabilities available across Android devices is subtly masked behind the action here. Camera technology has come a long way on Android, ranging from the single digit MP sensors often used for front facing, or ‘selfie’ cameras all the way up to the 20.7MP Sony sensor found on many last generation higher-end device and beyond.
Although we did not see or hear a whole bunch about the cameras and capabilities on the recently announced HTC One M9 or the Samsung Galaxy S6 flagship devices, Lenovo came to MWC with a treat. The Lenovo Vibe Shot is a well equipped mid-range device with a focus on photography. Packing a 16MP OIS camera and dedicated camera buttons, we see a great example of Google’s point, we can all use Android, but we don’t have to use the same equipment.
Surprised we could get so much out of this 15 second spot? Us too. Here, check out some of the older Android commercials and Androidify goodness before you go.
- High fives and fist bumps, here’s Google’s latest Android commercial
- Androidify app gets big update and tie-in with Google’s new Android ads
- Androidify Winter Update – Holiday Gear For Your Android Buddy
- Google takes out a gargantuan billboard ad in Times Square
- Google shows off watches, tablets, and phones in 4 new Android commericals
Android distribution for this month shows Lollipop on 3.3% of devices
The latest distribution of Android was published earlier today and it shows that Lollipop has reached 3.3% of devices with Google’s operating system. This is an increase from January when Lollipop was not able to be registered, so it took the current version of Android about 3-4 months to become noteworthy. The most commonly found version is still Android 4.4 KitKat with 40.9% of the distribution. All of the other versions, with the exception of Android 2.2 Froyo, are continuing to fall.
Source: Android Developers
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Samsung is confident Galaxy S6 will be a sales hit
Financially speaking, 2014 was a rough year for Samsung Mobile given its poor sales performance and the subsequent aftermath that included everything from internal staff changes to terminating services to a supposed “fresh start” with the Galaxy S6. Given what we have seen at MWC 2015 so far, it looks like the company took some major initiative in seeking to fix what ails it: the S6 (and S6 Edge) has no plastic on its body, has a cleaner, leaner TouchWiz, and will even come in a 128GB variant.
It’s so good that Andy Tu, General Manager of Mobile Communication at Samsung Taiwan, has gone on record to state that he expects the S6 to surpass all of its previous incarnations. Specifically, the Galaxy S4 is the phone to beat as last year’s Galaxy S5 was found to have sold 40% less than expected.
While this is a very big claim indeed, the company’s revised game plan will aid it well given that Mr. Tu indicated Samsung will focus on the S6 and Note 4 during Q2 2015, with supporting focus on the lower-end Galaxy A and Galaxy E products. Of interest is the fact that neither the Note Edge nor the S6 Edge were mentioned, perhaps a given when considering the higher price points and more niche-oriented appeal the pair of devices have.
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Take a quick look at our hands on impressions here, and be sure to check out all of our coverage on the Galaxy S6 to see just what everyone is so hyped up.
Telegram Messenger Beta is popular in South America, rolls out update to fix scaling issues
The crew at Telegram Messenger Beta have noted a massive increase in popularity in South America, which is why they’ve rolled out an update that allows the service to scale in the region. The sudden increase in users has to do with a ban imposed on WhatsApp in Brazil on February 27 over violent images shared on the network.
Googles takes step back from default encryption on new Android Lollipop devices
Last fall in the lead up to the release of Android Lollipop, Google let it out that they were planning to enable encryption of storage by default on new devices. This was going to be a change from previous versions of the Android operating system which had the capability of encrypting storage space, but left it up to the user to enable the encryption. As several new devices are starting to finally come to market loaded with Android Lollipop out of the box, Google has apparently decided not to make encryption the default, at least not for their partners manufacturing mobile devices.
When Google first announced plans to make encryption the default, they said it would only apply to new devices. Older devices that were upgraded to Lollipop would not be forced to enable encryption by default as part of the upgrade process. This was apparently done in consideration of potential hardware limitations for devices not designed with encryption in mind.
During the last few months of 2014 and in to 2015, this position appeared to hold. Only the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 were released to market and they did indeed have encryption turned on by default. Meanwhile, the small number of devices that received the Lollipop update left the decision about encryption up to the user, but it was off by default.
However, the recently released Motorola Moto E (2015) does not have encryption turned on out of the box and sources at MWC 2015 who have gotten their hands on the Samsung Galaxy S6 demo units say encryption is not turned on for those devices either.
Google has not issued any statement about why their position regarding default encryption changed or is at least being delayed. It could be the performance hit is still a concern, even on new hardware, especially after Google’s own Nexus 6 performance was hurt by encryption. It seems hard to imagine a device like the Galaxy S6 would suffer a noticeable performance hit from disk encryption.
For the present time at least, Google’s guidelines for OEMs only indicates that disk encryption should be turned on by default and Google strongly recommends this. However, it is not mandated.
source: Ars Technica
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Google Play Service 7.0 converts your Android phone into a game controller for Android TV
Google has announced a few great things at Mobile World Congress this year. Ranging from their plans to put unmanned drones above our heads all the way down to a simple update to Google Play Service. Ah, but this is no ordinary update, Google Play Service 7.0 introduces its own set of good things, including the ability to use your Android phone as a video game controller for your Android TV set-top box.
As is usually the case with updates to Google Play Services, it may be a little while before we see these new features go live on our devices. The update does not automatically make these features available, instead, it opens up APIs for developers to work with in order to create apps for these features.
The short list of new items in Google Play Service 7.0 includes an improved Location settings dialog, to better inform the user when and how location services need to be used for an app. A new Places API, that allows developers to pull from Google’s database of places and business, not just GPS coordinates or addresses.
Google Fit sees a big bump, opening half a dozen new APIs, allowing devs to tap into sensors, recording, history and more. Google Mobile Ads have also been updated for optimizations on battery usage and better Analytics tracking. App Indexing sees an updated API, allowing apps to be better searched by Google on your device. And more.
The big one here, which I’ve made you wait to read about, Google Play Games now has a Nearby Connections API. This API serves one amazing purpose, to allow your Android phone or tablet to operate as a video game controller to your Android TV hooked to the big screen. More than just a simple A, B, Up, Down etc. controller, your phone or tablet can operate as a second screen to your TV, adding additional controls, or just cleaning the main display of clutter.
I imagine myself playing a first-person shooter, in which I must look down to the device in my hands to reload my gun. A touch of reality that may or may not appeal to all users.
Head over to the Google Developer blog for all the details on the Google Play Service 7.0 update.
What do you say, are you excited for any of the new features made possible with Google Play Service 7.0?
BlackBerry ‘Keian’ is an all new BlackBerry 10 slider
Calling all BlackBerry Torch fans. BlackBerry has just shown off an all new BlackBerry 10 slider at their Mobile World Congress event. The BlackBerry ‘Keian’ as it has been dubbed shares a striking resemblance to the Torch line from not that long ago and while details are still slim at this point, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the codename the device has is pretty dear to us.
Google posts new Selfie Slam Android commercial
Google has released their latest Android commercial, titled Selfie Slam. If you’ve ever wanted to see an extremely tall Android dunk a basketball over a team of other Androids while everyone (including the guy with the ball) takes a selfie, this is the commercial you’ve been waiting for.
The video cashes in on the selfie craze and uses the tagline “Be together, not the same.” I guess the point behind the video is to show how varied and versatile Android devices are, and even though they’re made by many manufacturers with all kinds of different hardware and software, everyone can take selfies in the middle of basketball games together.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: Google posts new Selfie Slam Android commercial
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