T-Mobile HTC One M7 to see Android 5.0 Lollipop starting March 10th
All those HTC One M7 owners out there holding out on T-Mobile will have something delicious to look forward soon. HTC’s Mo Versi let loose a tweet this afternoon that the magenta carrier has shipped over technical approval for Android 5.0 Lollipop for the first One device and is set to start on March 10th. […]
The post T-Mobile HTC One M7 to see Android 5.0 Lollipop starting March 10th appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
What makes Samsung’s mobile VR consumer-ready? Marketing
A consumer release is en route for Gear VR. Hey, alright! If you’ve been paying attention, you might realize the problem with that first sentence, though. Think for a few minutes, I’ll be here. Give up? Well, here’s the answer: Unlike Oculus’ still-in-prototype Rift headset, you can go to Best Buy’s website today, throw down $200 and, boom, you’ll have a head-mounted virtual reality display. Just like that. Okay, you’ll need a Galaxy Note 4 too. But still, it already exists.
What’s largely separating the “consumer” Gear VR from the currently available Innovator Edition is a marketing push from Samsung. “We’ve got a plan now; we’ve got a date,” Oculus Chief Technology Officer John Carmack said during his lengthy (and dense!) presentation at the Game Developer’s Conference this week. “You can kind of mark it on the calendars. Oculus is going to go for it as hard as we can [with] broad consumers, trying to sell as many units as possible, unleashing Samsung [marketing] with the next Gear VR.”
So essentially, when the Note 5 gets its multimillion-dollar marketing blitz, the consumer version of Gear VR will too. This all sounds a little like double-talk, though, considering how well-received the current Gear VR’s been to this point. And Carmack’s aware of that. He seems hopeful that older hardware will get a retroactive boost from the new awareness. It’s what he sees as hitting an “infection vector” for VR. In so many words, he means that it won’t be sitting in your “VR cave” where you’re tethered to a high-end PC that’s going to push virtual reality into the mainstream; it’ll be tech like Gear VR.
The current Note 4 Gear VR (left) and Galaxy S6/edge Gear VR (right) — not many differences!
“When we say we’re ready, which is really on Oculus from a platform structure, software and content level, we’re going to be able to sort of back-unlock the promotion and sales of multiple products there,” Carmack said. He continued that Samsung’s hardware “probably” could’ve gone wide with the Gear VR available currently, but that Oculus is taking the hit for not having enough stuff that everyone would expect to be there at launch. Namely, more software, more paid apps, in-app purchases and internationalization.
“We’re still not ready for Samsung to go out and do their blitz,” he said. “We expect when everything is ready, Samsung can go out. You’ll see ads everywhere; [Gear VR will] be in all the cellphone stores, all these things that we really wanted and sort of expected to do in the beginning” will be in place.
So don’t worry that the Gear VR you might already own, or the Galaxy S6-powered Gear VR, is somehow deficient (Carmack says there’ll only be “minor tech improvements”) compared to the one you’ll be inundated with later this year — that’s just Samsung’s marketing department talking. Carmack’s entire speech is just below, and the Gear VR bits run roughly from the 15-minute to 30-minute mark.
Don’t miss out on all the latest from GDC 2015! Follow along at our events page right here.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Wearables, HD, Mobile, Samsung
Market share numbers for January show almost no changes from last year
ComScore has reported their numbers for the US smartphone market share for November 2014 through January 2015. The numbers are almost identical to how things looked three months ago, with Apple claiming the top spot, Samsung close at #2, and LG, Motorola, and HTC pulling up the next three places.
In total market share, Apple still held the crown, but their numbers dipped by roughly half a percent. Samsung’s market share sat at 29.3%, which was exactly the same in October of 2014, and Motorola’s market didn’t grow or shrink either. LG showed some improvement, but HTC took a slight dip.
As far as operating systems go, Android is still the top dog with over half of the market, but that’s split up among several manufacturers. These numbers look a little different globally, but in the US, Apple still holds an edge over Android OEMs.
source: ComScore
Come comment on this article: Market share numbers for January show almost no changes from last year
Secret Apple Watch controls: How you’ll control what’s on your wrist!
The Apple Watch only has two hardware buttons but, just like the iPhone, there’s a lot you can do with them!
Tim Cook introduced the Apple Watch back in September and while much was shown off, much still remains to be seen. What we do know is that it has two buttons — a digital crown that can also be pushed, and a traditional hardware button beneath it (or above it if worn on the right wrist). Rumor has it, though, when you combine multiple and long presses, there’ll be a lot you can do with it.
Scroll and zoom
Spin the digital crown to scroll through lists or zoom in or out of the home screen, maps, photos, and more. Like the click-wheel on the classic iPods, it’s a new way to navigate the digital world. (And it prevents your fingers from obscuring the screen while you do!)
Home
Single click the digital crown and get taken to the Home screen. Think of it like the Home button on your iPhone or iPad. No matter where you are, it’ll take you home.
Siri
Single click and hold down to activate Siri, Apple’s personal digital assistant. Of course, you can also raise your wrist and just say, “Hey, Siri!”. Still, it’s nice to have something physical to press.
Time switch
Double click the digital crown to switch between your watch face and the last app you used. It’s a convenient way to go from the time, to what you’re doing, and back.
Accessibility
Triple click the digital crown to bring up Accessibility options. It’s a rumor for now, but it would also match the triple click option on the iPhone and iPad.
Friends
Single click the button to bring up Friends, which shows icons of all the people that matter to you. Tap to message, call, sketch, tap, or send them your heartbeat.
Power off
Single click and hold down the button is said to bring up a power down screen, just like the iPhone and iPad.
Apple Pay
Double click the button to bring up Apple Pay, the NFC-based credit and debit service. Once authorized on your iPhone 5 or up, it’ll work for as long as the watch stays in contact with your skin.
Swipe and tap
Swipe and tap on the display to change screens — for example, to move between Glances — and tap to make selections. Yes, even though there’s a digital crown, multitouch still works on the Apple Watch.
Force touch
Press down on the display to activate Force Touch. Think of it like a secondary mouse click (right click) that brings up context-sensitive options.
And more!
Again, there’s still a lot we don’t know. But that’s what makes the Apple Watch so interesting. It’s something new to discover. And we’ll know doubt discover a lot more on Monday, March 9. So, make sure you join us for our Spring forward liveblog starting 10am PT, 1pm ET!
- Secret Siri commands
- Secret Safari shortcuts
- Secret Mail shortcuts
- Secret keyboard shortcuts
- Secret power-saving shortcuts
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Google working on new version of Android for virtual reality
Google’s efforts in virtual reality are moving much further than it would seem after taking a look at Cardboard. The company, according to The Wall Street Journal, has put together a team of engineers and other staff members to develop a new version of Android geared towards virtual reality.
The business model for this upcoming platform will be identical to Android because hardware manufacturers can use it at no cost. Google provides the software and relies upon sales in its online store while hardware manufacturers put the pieces together.
The leader in virtual reality right now is Oculus, which was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. Facebook has allowed Oculus to continue operating at its own pace but with the inclusion of additional funds. The competition between Google and Facebook can be seen in the poaching of one of the former’s executives. Mary Lou Jepsen, who now works for Oculus, specializes in display technology.
Oculus has an all-in-one approach to virtual reality while Google wants to mirror what he has going on with Android on other devices.
This month has made it quite clear that virtual reality is a field in which everyone wants involvement. Both Samsung and HTC (with Valve) introduced new virtual reality headsets to carry them into the next year. The Gear VR headset was adjusted for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge while a partnership between HTC and Valve bloomed the Vive. These products, as well as Oculus’ hardware, were put on display at MWC and GDC all week.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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Pandora looking at a paid day-pass for its ad-free experience
While Pandora makes most of its money off its ad based streaming service, the company is looking to entice users into its paid service. The streaming company is looking to add a 24-hour day pass that you can purchase for a small price.
According to Chief Product Officer Chris Phillips, who showed off a slide to investors featuring the sign-up page for this new day pass, says that the $0.99 plan would make Pandora a good source of music for a summer BBQ with the idea that users don’t want to annoy their guests with a barrage of ad breaks. He also added that the company is toying with the idea making the day pass a three day pass.
A Pandora spokesman told Gigaom the following:
“Pandora is committed to delivering an effortless, personalized experience and we recognize some consumers may want an ad-free experience but don’t necessarily want to commit to a subscription. This offering will allow consumers to choose and explore what is right for them or suits a particular event or experience. Pricing and exact timing are yet to be determined but we expect it to be available later this year.”
Come comment on this article: Pandora looking at a paid day-pass for its ad-free experience
Matte vs. Glossy: The Lumia 640 and 640 XL colors
When the Lumia 640 and 640 XL were announced, I was excited to see a familiar color make a come back. I’m talking about Cyan blue. I fell in love with this color when Nokia introduced it in the Lumia 800, but it disappeared as a color option after the Lumia 1020 was released. Now, the color is back as an option for the Lumia 640 and 640 XL. To make things even more interesting, not only will you have to choose between a smaller and bigger phone, but you also have to decide between a glossy and a matte phone.
I compare the orange and blue Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL in matte and glossy finish, so you can see the difference. Go watch the video.
T-Mobile HTC One M7 to get Lollipop beginning March 10
HTC One M7 on T-Mobile owners will be able to get there hands on the latest major release of Android in just a few days.
The OTA rollout of Android 5.0 Lollipop to the T-Mobile One M7 will begin this Tuesday, March 10.
Is the LG-H818 the LG G4? Mysterious device gets spotted in multiple places with Android 5.1 and Quad HD display
LG is expected to release its 2015 flagship sometime soon, but as with most devices prior to release, it’s allegedly been spotted. The device in question, the LG-H818, was spotted on the html5test site running a benchmark, performing quite nicely, but crucially listing Android 5.1 as its operating system. Which begs the question: Is the […]
The post Is the LG-H818 the LG G4? Mysterious device gets spotted in multiple places with Android 5.1 and Quad HD display appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
T-Mobile customers with the HTC One (M7) to get Lollipop on March 10
This Tuesday, owners of the HTC One (M7) from T-Mobile will see a software update arrive on their handsets. Mo Versi, HTC Vice President of Product Management, announced on Twitter that the Lollipop update is coming on March 10. The over-the-air (OTA) update received technical approval from the carrier which allowed its rollout to be scheduled.
Source: @moversi (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: T-Mobile customers with the HTC One (M7) to get Lollipop on March 10
AIVAnet 