Denim update rolling out to Lumia 830 in India
Microsoft had previously announced that all Lumia devices in India will receive the Lumia Denim update by the end of February, and now it looks like the final few devices are making the switch to the latest firmware. Lumia 830 owners in the country are starting to receive the OTA update, according to a number of tips we’ve gotten.
BlackBerry at Mobile World Congress 2015 Live Blog
With all the announcements coming thus far from BlackBerry at Mobile World Congress, one would be excused for possibly thinking they’ve already held their event, but I assure you all those were just the warm up. We’ve got Derek Kessler on the ground in Barcelona, Spain for the actual event which kicks off at 8:00-10:00am CET with the presentation beginning promptly at 8:30AM CET. What will we see? Well, that’s what we’re all here to find out. So, get comfy and let’s see what BlackBerry at Mobile World Congress brings us.
Imagination shows off watch-class PowerVR G6020
Introducing the state-of-the-art of watch graphics.
Imagination Technologies, the maker of the PowerVR graphics processor IP found in Apple’s iPhone and iPad A-series chipsets, has announced the PowerVR G6020, which is aimed at low-end smartphones and… high end smartwatches. According to AnandTech:
From a design perspective, the G6020 is aimed at very simple desktop workloads – the Android UI, wearable interfaces, etc. Imagination has essentially built the bare minimum GPU needed to drive a 720p60 display, taking out any hardware not necessary to that goal such as compute and quite a bit of geometry throughput. What remains is enough of a ROP backend (pixel co-processor) to drive 720p, and the FP16 shading resources to go with it.
And:
The end result of their efforts is designed to be an incredibly small and incredibly low power OpenGL ES 3.0 GPU for devices that fall in the cheap/small range. G6020 is only 2.2mm2 in size on 28nm, making it similar in size to ARM’s Cortex-A7 CPU cores (a likely pairing target). And power consumption is low enough that it should be able to just fit into high-end wearables.
Until the inevitable teardowns, it’ll be hard to know for sure what GPU Apple is using in the Apple Watch‘s S1 computer-on-a-chip. Since the company has such a significant history with the PowerVR, and Imagination has chips like the G6020, it may at least give us a clue as to what sorts of capabilities and power efficiencies are available in cutting edge ultra-ultra-mobile graphics these days.
Google Play Services 7.0 released, brings improvements to locations, Google Fit, and AdMob
Google has officially updated Play Services to version 7.0 bringing several new features and enhancements for developers to take advantage of. They had previously mentioned some additions to AdMob and Google Play Games, but now the entire service has been updated.
The new Places API seems like the biggest new addition to Play Services, as it will allow apps to get information from Google’s database of locations, venues, and restaurants, and users can quickly get info about the business in particular including addresses and phone numbers.
Google Fit has introduced a handful of new APIs for tracking new measurements and sensors, and it’s supposedly significantly lighter on memory requirements for Fit apps. AdMobs is seeing some Google Analytics integrations, and Google Play Games has adopted a new feature that will let games use a nearby device as a second screen for content. This is especially useful for using your Android device as a controller on Android TV.
Although the developer SDK hasn’t gone live yet, this update should be hitting your devices in the near future. For Google’s full blog post about it, hit the link below.
source: Android Developers
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LG Watch Urbane LTE first look
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LG has announced two new wearables here at MWC 2015, and they’re some of the most premium-looking smartwatches we’ve ever seen. The first of which is the Android Wear-powered LG Watch Urbane. We went hands-on with the watch a few days ago, and you can check out our first impressions here. The second new wearable from the company is the Watch Urbane LTE, a standalone smartwatch running the LG Wearable Platform OS (based on webOS). We’re taking a look at this LTE-enabled watch today, so let’s dive right in. Here is our hands-on and first impressions of the LG Watch Urbane LTE!
The first thing you’ll notice about the Urbane LTE is the bulkier build to make way for the extra equipment needed for the LTE model. Furthermore, the proprietary band houses all of the antennas in the watch, which will allow you to connect to Wifi, Bluetooth and LTE networks. This also means the band isn’t removable. The overall chassis is similar to the Watch Urbane with its aluminum housing, though the LTE model is, as mentioned, quite a bit bigger. This watch features three buttons on the side which allow you to access your home screen, settings menu and more. While the chassis of the watch is classy and sleek, the band is very similar to what we’d usually see on a sportswatch. This will allow you to exercise with the wearable without worrying about getting a nice leather watch strap dirty. Additionally, the watch has a heart rate monitor, which is always nice to see on a fitness-oriented wearable.
As far as software is concerned, the Watch Urbane LTE is running the “LG Wearable Platform” OS, which is based on webOS. While it’s not actually running webOS as we once knew it, this is basically the same software we’ve seen running on LG’s smart TVs only with modifications for wearables. The interface takes on a circular design, offering up a carousel view of apps to scroll through. With this being an LTE-enhanced model, you can take calls and respond to text messages directly from the watch. You’ll need to respond to messages using an on-screen keyboard, which surprisingly wasn’t too difficult to use.
Due to the LTE functionality of the device, the battery has been upped to 700mAh. We obviously couldn’t test the battery in length with our brief hands-on time, though it will be interesting to see how the battery holds up in our full review.
Gallery
Specs
- 1.3-inch POLED display with resolution of 320×320
- 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB of internal storage
- 700mAh battery
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Sensors: 9-axis, PPG, barometer, A-GPS/GNSS
- IP67 certification for dust and water resistance
What do you think of the Watch Urbane LTE? Do you think you’ll pick one up?
“Fusion Storage” created by ARCHOS, tablets with 256GB of internal storage and support for 128GB micro SD cards
Device storage can sometimes turn into a rather heated battle between users. Be it the cloud users insisting smaller device storage is all you need, or the dedicated micro SD card guys wanting to pack a 128GB card in their device for various needs. The battle tends to heat up even further when it comes […]
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Samsung Galaxy S6 edge listed with 64GB storage as standard in the UK
Samsung introduced the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in storage variations of 32, 64 and 128GB, with the flash memory based on the vendor’s latest UFS 2.0-based storage modules. While the Galaxy S6 comes in all three storage variants, it looks like the dual-curved Galaxy S6 edge will be offered with 64GB as standard, with the 128GB storage version also available.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs. LG G3
Examining the specs, it can definitely be said that LG did a great job in future proofing its G3. Many details are near identical despite the fact that the G3 is eight to nine months old.
Sure, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has a better processor, graphics, and cameras. However, the G3 has a larger battery, a larger display, a microSD card slot, and a cheaper price point.Of course, this is all just on paper. The S6 could be a device noticeably more optimized for performance, especially since it is brand new.
In my opinion, there is no wrong option here. The lack of expandable storage could be a deal breaker for some. For those people who need their device to act as a player for their media collection, they should consider the G3 more so. If that’s not an issue, then choose which experience you prefer. Touchwiz and Optimus UI both are featured packed user interfaces, but should you desire a fingerprint scanner or the quicker charging capability of the two devices for example, consider the S6 more so. The S6 will get four hours of battery use from just 10 minutes of charging. It should also be noted that neither device is waterproof or dustproof.
Source of specs: GSMArena 1, 2
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Samsung may be delaying any more smartwatches until the Apple Watch
If there’s one thing Samsung is good at, it’s flooding a potential market with tons and tons of devices. The smartwatch market has been no exception, and the company has deluged consumers with multiple options to pair with their Galaxy devices. Remember, the Galaxy Gear launched at the end of 2013 with the Galaxy Note 3, and since then we’ve had the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Gear Fit, Gear S, and Gear Live. For those of you keeping count at home, that’s about 6 devices in 18 months, which means they’re releasing a new watch roughly every quarter.
It would’ve made sense to see a new watch alongside the Galaxy S 6, but Samsung only announced an updated Gear VR for use with the newer devices. There could be many explanations for that, but some analysts seem to think it has everything to do with Apple’s upcoming smartwatch.
While Apple’s watch is slated for release next month, Samsung’s Young-hee Lee said that the company isn’t done making smartwatches, but they are instead taking a pause, considering they’ve released so many more products than any of their competitors. She says they want to developer a more “perfect product,” which likely just means Samsung wants to see what consumers do and don’t like about the Apple watch. It’s been a successful strategy for their smartphones and tablets, so it’s a sensible option for smartwatches, too.
For right now, you’ll have to settle with Samsung’s “older” models like the Gear S or Gear Live, but in a few months, it’s a safe bet we’ll see a handful of new Samsung wrist-computers hit the market.
source: Wall Street Journal
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Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 hands on and first look
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We’re here at Mobile World Congress 2015, where we’ve seen all sorts of excellent devices from Samsung, HTC, Sony and countless others. We aren’t leaving the smaller players in the industry out though, as we spent a little time hanging out with Alcatel ahead of the start of MWC. While there, we had the opportunity to check out the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3. With that in mind, here’s our first look at the One Touch Idol 3.
The Idol 3 comes in two different variants, a 4.7-inch model and a 5.5-inch model. Both phones carry over the same aesthetic and many of the same features, though the 4.7-inch version has a smaller battery, lower resolution display and a few other changes. During our hands-on time with the Idol 3, we decided to focus most of our time on the bigger model of the two.
The first thing you’ll notice is the phone has a very simple and minimalistic design that’s entirely made of plastic, but feels great in the hand and is very light in weight.
Turning to the specs, the Idol 3 5.5-inch variant offers a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 and packs 2GB RAM. There’s also 16GB storage, a 1080p display, microSD, a 2910 mAh battery, and an 8MP front cam. For those wondering, the 4.7-inch version has a 720p display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 with 1GB RAM, a 2000 mAh battery, 16GB storage, and a 5MP front cam.
Moving on to software, you’ll find Android 5.0 Lollipop with Alcatel’s slight customizations on top. This means you aren’t getting stock Android, but it’s not too far off and retains a lot of the design language you’d find with a stock offering. Some of the stand-out software additions include the ability to swipe over to the left most screen to get to the Touch Stream. Here you’ll find weather, news, calendar and things of that nature.
However, the feature that really stood out to me was Alcatel’s Mix application. This app takes advantage of the dual front facing speakers and lets you mix tracks. Basically, Mix lets you become sort of a makeshift DJ. Certainly a unique feature, and one that’s complimented by fairly loud speakers that deliver a rather high quality sound.
As far as pricing is concerned, Alcatel will offer the Idol 3 4.7-inch for less than $200, and the 5.5-inch for less than $250. No exact details on launch date, but expect the device to land sometime in Q2 of this year.
So there you have it – a quick look at the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3! Stay tuned with Android Authority as we continue to bring you more great coverage from MWC 2015!
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