Moto E (2nd Gen) LTE now available in the US for $149.99
Following last week’s announcement, the Moto E (2nd Gen) is now available to purchase in the US through Motorola’s online store.
There are three choices when it comes to network options. There’s the new 4G LTE handset and 3G options for global or US carrier bands. Here’s a breakdown of the differences between three, so that you can double check bands with your carrier. GSM/GPRS/EDGE bands are identical on each handset.
4G LTE – US GSM (XT1527):
UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 1700 (AWS), 1900 MHz)
4G LTE (2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17)
3G US GSM (XT1511):
UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 1700 (AWS), 1900 MHz)
3G Global GSM (XT1505):
UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
As well as LTE capabilities, the second generation Moto E comes with a few other hardware changes too. The new Moto E moves up from a dual-core SoC to a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processing package, storage space has been increased from 4GB to 8GB and the screen is now also a little larger at 4.5-inches, rather than 4.3-inches. However, the display’s resolution remains the same at 960 x 540 (qHD).
The Moto E (2nd Gen) is available for $119.99 with 3G networking, while the 4G LTE variant costs $149.99. Both come in your choice of either a black or white case.
Apple Tops Movie Product Placement Rankings for the First Time Since 2011
Branding website Brandchannel recently revealed the winners of the Brandcameo 2015 Product Placement Awards, which names the movies and brands with the most proliferation within Hollywood films over the past year. For the first time since 2011, Apple nabbed the 2014 Award for Overall Product Placement, appearing in 9 of the 35 films that topped the U.S. box office last year.
Brandchannel mentions the most influential Apple moments in films last year, perhaps the most popular of which is an extended scene in Marvel’s blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which two of its protagonists use a MacBook Pro inside an Apple Store to hack into secretive S.H.I.E.L.D. data.
A quick tangential reference to an iPod Shuffle in The Lego Movie also helped Apple reign over previous winners like Budweiser (2013) and Mercedes-Benz (2012), and just barely beat out the likes of Coca-Cola and Sony for the award.
Apple bested both Coca-Cola and Sony by a single appearance, for which Apple can thank “The Lego Movie.” The Apple logo doesn’t appear in the film but Lord Business does talk about his iPod Shuffle. Recent winners Budweiser (2013) and Mercedes-Benz (2012) showed up in a distant five and six times respectively.
Other appearances include in “Ride Along,” “The Other Woman,” “Neighbors,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Think Like a Man Too,” “Gone Girl” and “Ouija.”
The website mentions that while Apple’s return to product placement dominance in 2014, appearing in just over 25 percent of the top box office films, is a step up from the last few years, the company’s brand appearances still remain well below its peak performance years. The brand saw the most proliferation in its “golden age” of 2009, appearing in nearly 50 percent of all number 1 movies that year. It dropped to 42.5 percent in 2011 and to just 15 percent in 2013.
The newly Apple-owned brand Beats, unfortunately, won the 2014 Award for Worst Product Placement. The company’s popular Bluetooth speaker, the Beats Pill, popped up in a scene in the critically-panned Transformers: Age of Extinction, wherein Stanley Tucci creates a Pill using his mind and the fictional “Transformium” material that pushes much of the film’s plot into motion.
Relaxing with Runcible, the circular ‘anti-smartphone’ steeped in nostalgia
The Runcible is both the strangest and most intriguing device that I’ve seen at Mobile World Congress this year. It offers many of the same capabilities as a smartphone, but it looks like a trinket you would find in a trendy vintage store. That’s by design though — its creator, Monohm, wants the circular gizmo to challenge the now ubiquitous smartphone experience, which is increasingly defined by a relentless stream of notifications. Aubrey Anderson, founder and CEO of Monohm, describes the Runcible as a “quieter” gadget that can help people relax and live in the moment, while still staying connected online.
So what does it do? Well, the Runcible tries to solve the problem of internet overload. Smartwatches, Google Glass and other wearables all promise to make notifications more manageable, with glanceable information that can save you from constantly pulling out your smartphone. The difference with the Runcible is that it’s a truly standalone device. It runs on Mozilla’s Firefox OS platform and lets you make calls, ask for directions and browse the web. So when you’re heading out to grab dinner with friends, you can leave your smartphone at home and avoid the temptations of Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.
Three people at Monohm have been building the Runcible for the last 10 months, so the software is still in early development. Anderson is cautious to talk about too many individual apps, or “faces,” as he calls them, but the prototype indicates where the team is headed. One watchface has different colored bubbles that increase in size as your social networks become more active. Another apes a classic compass, giving just a single direction and the remaining distance to your destination. They’re not as complex or informative as a smartphone app, but that’s the sort of whimsical experience Monohm is shooting for.
It’s also why the “anti-smartphone” is such an unorthodox shape. The company wanted a quiet, relaxing product and took inspiration from pocket watches, compasses and other circular objects that people used to carry in their pockets. It culminated in the prototype now being shown off in Barcelona, which has a flat, circular display on one side and a softly curved piece of wood on its rear. “As we did the industrial design, the form became a symbol for the idea and the product itself,” Anderson says. “Just to hold it is calming.”
The Runcible is supposed to represent a new product category that sits somewhere between a wearable and a smartphone. It’s small enough to slip in a pocket, but also boasts all of the connectivity of a modern handset, including LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC. Like a traditional pocket watch, Monohm hopes people will hold on to the Runcible and pass it down as an “electronic heirloom.” Technology moves fast, so its innards have been designed to make it easily fixable and upgradeable. It’s not quite Project Ara, but Anderson hopes it will keep the Runcible current and useful for years to come. “Just because the camera resolution falls out of spec with whatever is current, we don’t want you to have to throw out the whole thing,” he says. “We just want to be able to replace the camera.”
The Runcible is a strange product, but it’s hard not to admire Monohm’s audacity. It’s a radically different take on the smartphone, which is refreshing in a market chock-full of thin, flat handsets made from metal and glass. The company also has financial backing from Japanese carrier KDDI; the Runcible is almost definitely coming to Japan, and won’t evaporate like so many Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects. It’ll be a difficult gadget to market, but at least Monohm won’t have any problems standing out from the crowd.
Filed under: Cellphones
Tapjoy’s Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform aims to maximize Lifetime sales from Freemium Apps
Many of us have a smartphone or tablet with a selection of paid or free apps installed. Sometimes the free apps are subsidized by the inclusion of ads, but the growing trend is to release a free app (freemium) that earns the developer money by offering In-App-Purchases (IAP’s). Only a small percentage of people make use of the IAP’s though, so Tapjoy has just launched its Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform to help maximize the revenue from these ‘proven spenders‘.
How does Tapjoy aim to optimize revenue for the App developer? Well, by combining predictive analytics, marketing automation, IAP’s and something called the Future Value Map. The Future Value Map uses data to predict when an individual user will be most open to making an In-App-Purchase, allowing developers to deliver the right message to the right user at the right time, instead of a blanket campaign that can often drive potential customers away. The Future Value Map function can also predict how much a proven spender is likely to spend during the lifetime of the app.
Domin Yoon, Product Manager at NeoGames said that ” The Future Value Map gives us a clear picture of our user’ lifetime value potential, and allows us to conduct effective marketing campaigns using this segmentation. We also look forward to increasing our monetization throught the variety of content and messaging tools offered in the new Tapjoy platform.”
Tapjoy’s platform also allows developers to use rewarded advertising. This is where the user can earn a reward by watching a video ad or clicking on an ad. Usually, the reward will consist of a virtual currency that is used in the app, for example, 10 gold coins for clicking a link. As of December 2014, Tapjoy has a reach of over 520 million monthly active users.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Full Press Release:
SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — At the Game Developers Conference today in San Francisco, Tapjoy launched its Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform, designed to help freemium mobile app publishers maximize the lifetime value of every one of their users. The new offering combines predictive analytics, marketing automation, IAP driven monetization and Tapjoy’s rewarded advertising solutions to transform the company into the industry’s most comprehensive mobile marketing automation platform.
The new platform introduces Tapjoy’s Future Value Map™, an innovative solution that leverages data science, deep segmentation and proprietary algorithms to predict the future behaviors of individual users, and determine whether an IAP promotion, advertisement or in-app message will drive the most revenue. The platform’s marketing automation capabilities then enable developers to deliver targeted messages to those users at the right moment.
“Freemium app developers understand that the vast majority of their revenue comes from a very small percentage of users,” said Steve Wadsworth, president and CEO, Tapjoy. “Tapjoy’s Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform helps optimize the revenue from those proven spenders, while also uncovering more spenders and increasing engagement and ad-based monetization from the rest of their audience. With Tapjoy’s Future Value Map, developers can now predict the lifetime value of all of their users, and initiate personalized in-app experiences that maximize the engagement and revenue potential of every user.”
Tapjoy’s Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform includes market differentiators such as:
- Predictive and Actionable Analytics that enable developers to know, and take action against, the future value of every user. Tapjoy’s Future Value Map makes deep segmentation and real-time analytics actionable so developers can serve a nearly infinite variety of marketing actions that drive lifetime value.
- Marketing Automation tools that instantly deliver contextually relevant messages to engage spenders, or deliver rewarded advertisements to the users that will never spend.
- Real-time IAP and Ad-based Monetization are now available to developers from a single data set, in one platform. With Tapjoy, developers no longer need to integrate a variety of single point solutions and can focus on one SDK for all of their analytics, marketing automation and ad-monetization needs.
“We are very excited about Tapjoy’s newly integrated product, especially the new analytic features and marketing automation tools,” said Domin Yoon, product manager at NeoGames. “The Future Value Map gives us a clear picture of our users’ lifetime value potential, and allows us to conduct effective marketing campaigns using this segmentation. We also look forward to increasing our monetization through the variety of content and messaging tools offered in the new Tapjoy platform.”
Publishers interested in gaining additional revenue from their apps simply need to serve an estimated four interstitial ads per monthly active user, and Tapjoy will credit back their analytics costs, enabling them to create a sizable, and incremental revenue stream. For more information or to download the SDK, visitwww.tapjoy.com.
About Tapjoy
Tapjoy’s goal is to maximize the value of every user for freemium mobile app publishers. Its Marketing Automation and Monetization Platform for mobile apps uses market leading data science, user segmentation and predictive analytics to drive deeper engagement and optimize revenue from every user. Tapjoy’s SDK is embedded in more than 270,000 apps with a global reach of more than 520 million monthly active users (December, 2014). Backed by top-tier investors including J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, and D.E. Shaw Ventures, Tapjoy is headquartered in San Francisco. The company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Boston, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tapjoy.com.
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Huawei Honor 6 Plus heading to India this month
Already released in China and Europe, Huawei’s Honor 6 Plus smartphone is now also scheduled for a release in India later this month.
Huawei already launched its Honor 3C and Honor 6 smartphones in India last year and the country is becoming an increasingly important market for the brand, and one that the company will be focusing heavily on this year.
With the launch of 4G in India, we are sure that we will be able to increase our market share by introducing affordable 4G smart phones in India.
The Honor 6 Plus features some compelling specifications at a reasonable price, including an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 925 CPU, 3GB RAM, 16/32GB internal memory, a microSD card slot, 3,060mAh battery, and dual 8MP cameras at the back. Although, we weren’t blow away by the dual-camera implementation, the smartphone is a great entry point into the high end market.
An exactly date for the handset’s Indian launch has not been given yet, nor has the price, but Huawei will be teaming up exclusively with popular e-commerce retailer Flipkart to bring the phone to consumers.
For a closer look at the Huawei Honor 6 Plus, its specs and our thoughts, be sure to check out our full review.
Huawei related videos
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Save 43% today on these 6ft Lightning to USB cables in any color!
Now you can charge your Lightning device without worrying about knots and tangles! Ventev’s charging data cable provides 6 feet of convenient charging and syncing whenever you need it. The cable’s flat design makes it easy to maneuver around obstacles and even easier to store away for traveling purposes. Yours today for only $16.95
Apple Watch Magazine Tour Continues in Chinese Fashion Magazine ‘YOHO’ [iOS Blog]
The international debut of the Apple Watch in magazines across the world continues this week with the wrist-worn device making a cover appearance on Chinese fashion magazine YOHO. The upcoming April issue of the magazine features actor and pop icon Archie Kao wearing an Apple Watch Sport with a white band on the cover and showcases other fashion shots of the wrist-worn device in a related story.
Kao has been acting in Hollywood films and TV shows for nearly two decades, making regular appearances in series such as Chicago P.D., Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The actor was born in Washington D.C., but splits his time between living in Los Angeles and Beijing. He married Chinese actress Zhou Xun at a charity event in Hangzhou, China in July 2014.
Apple has been marketing the Apple Watch in a number of magazines over the past few months, including Self, Vogue, Style and East Touch, as it continues to position the wrist-worn device as a fashion item. Apple is expected to provide more details about the Apple Watch at its highly-anticipated “Spring Forward” media event on March 9th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Galaxy Gifts for the Samsung Galaxy S6 includes Fleksy, Evernote and Life360 and 19 others
It’s been a couple of days since the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets were officially announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and we are still finding out new things about them. What we have today is confirmation of the 22 premium apps and services that Samsung will give Galaxy S6 owners via its Galaxy Gifts program.
Kindle For Samsung – A version of Kindle optimised for Samsung devices, sometimes gives free books to users.
Magisto – Video editor
Pac-Man Friends – Pacman, doh!
VSCO – Photo editing
The Hobbit: Kingdoms – The battle for middle earth
NYTimes – New York Times Newspaper App
The Economist – Newspaper App
Audible – Audio books
Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs – Build an army of dragons and take over the kingdom
Workout Trainer – Workout plans and exercise videos
Endomundo – Fitness tracker
Uber – Get a taxi, private car or ride share from your mobile phone
Keepy – Preserve your child’s special moments
PayPal – Online payments App
Life360 – A family locator, messaging tool and communication app
LastPass – Password manager
Shazam – Identify the media playing around you
Fleksy – Keyboard replacement
Evernote – Synchronize your notes across your devices
Pocket – Save your articles to read later
Parallels Access – Remotely access your PC or Mac applications from your mobile
Hancom Office – An Office or Google Docs alternative
As you can see, there are games, productivity tools, entertainment apps and fitness applications included in the list. Some appear to be more useful than others, with a notable inclusion being Fleksy’s keyboard replacement app. It’s likely that the list may vary depending on the region. What do you think? Is this yet more Samsung bloatware? Or are these apps that you might use in your everyday life?
Source: SammyHub
Come comment on this article: Galaxy Gifts for the Samsung Galaxy S6 includes Fleksy, Evernote and Life360 and 19 others
These are the 22 digital gifts for Galaxy S6 users
The list of premium apps and services that Samsung is going to offer to Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge users includes 22 entries, from games, to productivity apps, to various subscriptions.
We’ve already learned that Fleksy will be one of the perks offered in the digital gift bags coming with the Galaxy S6, but now we have the full list, and there’s a little something for everyone in there. For now, we only know the names of the apps and services that Samsung is bundling, with more details about the actual value of these freebies to come closer to the actual release date.
- VSCO
- Magisto
- Pac-Man Friends
- The Hobbit: Kingdoms
- Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs
- NYTimes
- The Economist
- Kindle for Samsung
- Audible
- Workout Trainer
- Endomondo
- Uber
- Keepy
- PayPal
- Life360
- LastPass
- Shazam
- Fleksy
- Evernote
- Parallels Access
- Hancom Office
To make a rough idea of what you can expect, check out the breakdown of the Galaxy gifts coming with the Note 4.
Samsung has greatly reduced the number of apps that are pre-installed on the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. It’s telling that there are only two screens of apps in the app launcher, although that’s partially due to Samsung grouping Google apps in one folder.
It’s good to see Samsung giving up on its obsession with bundling apps and services with its devices – though generally regarded as bloatware, these apps are still useful for some users; making them optional seems like the best compromise.
In case you somehow missed it, check out our coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge from MWC 2015 – more videos and posts are coming today, so stay tuned.
Xiaomi to open an accessory store in Europe too
Speaking at MWC, Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra announced that the company’s growing range of accessories will be heading to Europe at some point in the future. However, smartphones definitely won’t be sold through the e-commerce store.
Last month, Xiaomi made a similar announcement in San Francisco regarding opening an online store in the US. Although the company is not planning to sell smartphones in these regions any time soon, focus is still firmly on expansion in India, this store and the products on sale will offer essential feedback as Xiaomi tests the waters in Western markets.
“It’s going to be a different Mi.com experience from what we have in our markets in Asia, because we’re not selling phones… We’re only going to sell a small number of our hero accessories” – Hugo Barra
This is all part of the company’s brand awareness strategy. Xiaomi doesn’t just view itself as a smartphone manufacturer, but as a “lifestyle brand”. As well as smartphone accessories, such as power banks, fitness bands and headphones, Xiaomi also manufacturers low cost TV boxes, routers, and an air purifier designed for the Chinese market, some of which may also end up on sale in Europe sometime down the line.
Xiaomi has not announced any specific countries or dates for its new e-commerce store just yet.
AIVAnet 