AT&T Upgrades Samsung Galaxy S4 to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop
Providing evidence that No Phone Left Behind™ should be the mantra of every major carrier (and reminding us that Bush-era -isms are things of beauty), AT&T has announced the Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update for Samsung’s now-ancient Galaxy S4. OK, it’s not really ancient, but phone years are like dog years times seven. So the S4 is actually 98 years old.
To be clear, this is an upgrade straight into Lollipop from KitKat, and it’s a big ol’ file at 947MB. So much for laughing at your friends with their massive iOS updates.
Upgrading should be as simple as an OTA update. AT&T has a full list of instructions for the unsure or wary, but we’ll cover the basics for you right here:
- Connect to Wi-Fi.
- From the Home screen, press the Menu key, and tap Settings.
- From the More tab, tap About device.
- Tap Software update.
- Tap Check for updates.
- The phone displays: Software update process will not delete any personal data on your phone. Check the AT&T server for new software update?
- Tap OK.
- A status message displays:
- Checking for update; Processing&The download for the software update will begin in a moment. The software download may take several minutes’s.
- Downloading&
- Software update: A software update is available for your device that requires Wi-Fi connectivity for download progress to begin. Connect to a Wi-Fi network? For a list of free Wi-Fi networks click here AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots.
- A status message displays:
- Select Continue or remind me later.
- The phone displays: A new software update from AT&T is available for our device. This download will occur over Wi-Fi. Please make sure that you stay within the Wi-Fi coverage area while the download takes place. This could take several minutes.
- Tap Continue.
- A status message displays:
- Downloading software update, Please do not leave Wi-Fi coverage area.
- A new software update from AT&T is available for your device. This software update will take several minutes and will not delete any personal data on your device. All service (including emergency calls) will be suspended during the install.
- The device will automatically restart once the new software has successfully installed.
- Update Complete. The software has been successfully installed. Your device is now ready to use.
- A status message displays:
- Tap Done.
And there you have it. You’ll be all Lollipopped up to Android 5.0.1 just in time to wonder when you’ll get the 5.1 update.
Source: AT&T
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Stanford’s flexible aluminum-ion battery can fully charge in a little over one minute
The current Lithium-ion batteries we have in our smartphones today are slowly improving, but it seems as though these types of batteries just can’t keep up with what the rest of the tech world needs. Many other types of battery tech have surfaced over the years, but none have been as efficient or powerful as lithium-ion. But a new type of aluminum-ion battery out of Stanford may have the potential to change that.
The battery, which is made of aluminum and graphite, offer an inexpensive and efficient alternative to today’s battery tech. The prototype battery is flexible and durable, and can be fully charged in just over one minute’s time.
Hongjie Dai, a chemistry professor at Stanford, explains:
We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.
The biggest problem with aluminum-ion batteries in the past has been finding materials that are capable of producing enough voltage after repeated charging cycles. Past aluminum batteries typically die after just 100 charges, but Stanford’s battery is able to withstand 7,500 charging cycles without losing any capacity. To compare, a standard lithium-ion battery lasts about 1,000 charging cycles.
For now, this battery is nowhere near perfect. It can only produce about 2 volts, which is a far cry from the 3.6 volts a standard lithium-ion battery can produce. And while aluminum is a cheaper metal than lithium overall, the former can only carry 40 watts of electricity per kilogram compared to lithium’s 100-206 watts.
Aside from a few major downfalls, these new batteries have just about everything else you could want – inexpensive electrodes, fast charging, great safety, flexibility, durability and long charging cycle life. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of new battery charging tech that will one day revolutionize the way we use our smartphones, but this is still a big step in the right direction.
Tweetium for Windows Phone updated with support for revamped quoted tweets, bug fixes
Popular Windows Phone Twitter app Tweetium has snagged an update today that brings along initial support for previewing quoted tweets in expanded view, along with a few bug fixes.
Russia might have hacked the White House
Luckily, the White House segregates its classified and unclassified data (it would be insanely stupid statecraft not to). As deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes explained to CNN, “We’re constantly updating our security measures on our unclassified system but we’re frankly told to act as if we need not put information that’s sensitive on that system. In other words, if you’re going to do something classified, you have to do it on one email system, one phone system.”
The FBI, Secret Service and intelligence services are already investigating the matter and have found tell-tale coding and operational clues that strongly suggest Russia was likely behind the attacks. They also noted that the Russians cleverly hid their tracks by routing the activity through various servers throughout the globe. And while this is certainly a public embarrassment for the President, Rhodes added, “Frankly, you have to act as if information could be compromised if it’s not on the classified system.”
Filed under: Internet
Source: CNN
Instagram v6.19.0 introduces Color and Fade tools
There are new tools rolling out today to Instagram users with Android devices. The latest update, version 6.19.0, introduces the Color and Fade tools. The Color tool puts color — yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, cyan, or green — over highlights and shadows of a photograph. Surprising, right? Didn’t think so. Neither is the Fade tool which provides a cooler look to photographs by softening colors. These tools join the filters and Adjust tool that arrived late last year.
Source: Instagram
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Slacker Radio for Android gets a redesigned interface in new update
Slacker Radio, one of the most popular music streaming services on Android, is receiving quite the update today. It’s been awhile since the app has gotten an interface refresh, so users will be happy to know that a completely redesigned interface is present in the update. Not only that, there are also a slew of new customization options added to the service that will likely make your listening experience much smoother. There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s get to it.
For starters, all of the menus and various screens have been revamped with a new look that gives the application a much needed refresh. Once you jump into the app for the first time, you’ll notice the addition of a few new tabs in the main navigation menu. The Slacker team has added in some new features that aim to direct you towards music recommendations.
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First up is “Today on Slacker”, which shows you artist, station and album recommendations based on your music taste. The feed also includes music news stories and tweets from artists. You can now listen to Slacker Radio offline if you choose, and even get fully personalized stations when you’re not connected to the Internet. The new Slacker update will even let you set songs, stations, albums or playlists as ringtones or ringback tones for your contacts. This particular service is exclusive to Verizon customers, and you’ll need to pay $2 per month to get the features if you’re on Big Red.
If you’re interested in grabbing the update, head to the Play Store link below.
Massive update to ‘Make it Rain’ for Windows Phone adds bacon, selfies, and more!
Game Troopers‘ Xbox for Windows Phone mission continues with an update to their addictive money swipe ‘em up Make it Rain, which adds various new features.
The popular (and bizarre) Windows Phone game is an Xbox Live title, one of the more recent to drop on the Store. So what’s new? Head past the break to see the full changelog!
Zedd, T-Mobile offering 250,000 free downloads of latest single
Those who follow/like T-Mobile on Twitter and Facebook will have an opportunity to download a remix of Zedd’s “I Want You To Know” for free. Starting tomorrow, T-Mobile plans to allow 250,000 free downloads of the musician’s latest single to promote his True Colors album. The carrier has already done similar promotions with Macklemore and Shakira.
T-Mobile also announced its return as the sponsor of Coachella’s livestream. Beatport, another sponsor of the event, will join T-Mobile’s Music Freedom program as well. This brings the total amount of music streaming services featured on Music Freedom to thirty.
Hit the break for the full press release.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Multi-platinum, GRAMMY award-winning artist/DJ/producer Zedd will release his hotly anticipated second album, entitled True Colors, on May 19th via Interscope Records. Zedd executive-produced the album and co-wrote all the songs. Featured vocalists will be announced in the coming weeks. True Colors is the follow-up to Zedd’s 2012 debut album Clarity, which spawned five singles, including the Grammy-winning title track, and cemented Zedd as a global star.
True Colors‘ first single, “I Want You To Know,” featuring Selena Gomez, has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Written and produced by Zedd, with contribution from OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, the uplifting pop-influenced dance track was dubbed USA Today’s “Song of The Week” in late February, while Refinery29 said: “We’re calling it: This is the turn-up song for spring.” The video for “I Want You To Know” has racked up more than 17 million views on Vevo. Watch it HERE.
T-Mobile and Zedd also announce a new partnership and tomorrow morning, 250,000 free downloads of the Milo & Otis remix of “I Want You To Know” will be made available to fans who follow Zedd and T-Mobile’s Facebook, and Twitter. T-Mobile will also be a working with Zedd throughout the year to bring Un-carrier customers access to exclusive benefits including reserved tickets for live performances and more. This sponsorship to help un-leash the music represents one of the major investment areas for T-Mobile. T-Mobile launched Music Freedom™ last year to allow customers to stream all the music they want on America’s fastest nationwide LTE network − without hitting their monthly high-speed data. Zedd will hit the road in support of True Colors this fall T-Mobile will be the title sponsor of the tour. More details will be announced soon.
Word has already gotten out about Zedd’s very special roll-out of the #ZeddTrueColors campaign, in which 50 fans in 10 different cities get to hear a new song from the album, party with other fans, and meet Zedd at color-themed events in very special locations around the U.S. As part of the experience, fans will listen to each new song on brand new matching colored Beats By Dr. Dre headphones. The first event began in Austin on March 19th during the SXSW festival and wound up in one of the largest caverns in the state of Texas, Longhorn Cavern State Park. At the purple-themed party, Zedd unveiled the album’s first song, “Addicted to Memory” feat. Bahari — a classic Zedd dance track that acts as “an odyssey that brings the listener into the album,” he says. See more about the Austin event HERE.
The second event began in Los Angeles and traveled to the Integratron in Joshua Tree, Calif., on March 28th. There fans watched as Zedd set a giant wooden Z on fire in the middle of the Mojave Desert and got the first-ever listen to “Straight Into the Fire” at the orange-themed party.
The yellow themed third event took place in Phoenix on April 5th under a full moon with boating on Lake Pleasant where Zedd unveiled the track “Bumble Bee”.
“I wanted fans to experience the album in a whole new way,” Zedd says, adding that every song on the album is associated with a color, which inspired the idea for the events. “I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s coming next.” Keep an eye on http://zeddtruecolors.com/ as Zedd reveals the music of True Colors to select groups of fans in unbelievable locations across the country in the coming weeks.
Born Anton Zaslavski, Zedd has distinguished himself by drawing from his diverse musical training and a background spanning classical to post-hardcore/metal to electro house. He creates detailed, carefully produced compositions that also appeal to audiences outside of the EDM world. The New York Times has said, “his talent is extraordinary,” while Stereogum has noted: “His beats tend to sound like gorgeously engineered spacecraft that shift into warp speed at the drop, their engines overloading and threatening to disintegrate.” After signing with Interscope Records in 2012, Zedd released Clarity to much critical acclaim. The title track climbed to No. 2 at Top 40 radio, went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and won a 2014 GRAMMY Award for Best Dance Recording. The video has racked up more than 122 million Vevo views, while his platinum follow-up hit “Stay The Night” (ft. Hayley Williams of Paramore) has over 102 million Vevo views and won the 2014 MTV Clubland Video Music Award. Zedd first made waves with a series of remixes of tracks by Skrillex, The Black Eyed Peas, Fatboy Slim, and Lady Gaga. He has headlined at numerous festivals including Coachella, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal, Tomorrowland, Lollapalooza, Electric Zoo, and many more.
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From the Forums: Retina MacBook Opinions and Discussion [Mac Blog]
Apple’s recently announced 12-inch Retina MacBook has been met with both praise and criticism ahead of its upcoming release on April 10. The new MacBook, positioned at the lower end of Apple’s notebook lineup, paves the way for the future with an ultra-thin design, one USB-C port, redesigned keyboard with an all-new butterfly mechanism, Force Touch trackpad, fanless architecture and all-day battery life.
At the same time, the new MacBook has been criticized for having an Intel Core M processor, a system-on-a-chip that Intel typically markets for use in mobile devices. The single USB-C port, which combines power, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA connections into one, is also an area of concern for some, especially given that costly adapters must be used to connect many external devices and peripherals to the notebook.
Look no further than this parody of an Apple engineer talking about the Retina MacBook on YouTube, where it has amassed over 5 million views since being uploaded in early March. The video pokes fun at the Retina MacBook for, among other reasons, having one port and a 480p front-facing camera. Rest assured, the parody’s creator Armando Ferreira is an Apple fan that owns an iPad and a few MacBooks himself.
While waiting for Apple to lift its embargo for large tech publications to publish their in-depth Retina MacBook reviews, we’ve sifted through the MacRumors forums and highlighted some of the more interesting discussions about the notebook. Read ahead for a roundup of opinions and noteworthy comments about the Retina MacBook, and be sure to join the conversation within the discussion forums.
Forum Discussion Threads
- Who Else Changed Their Mind? “When Apple announced the new MacBook, I was very excited and was seriously planning on getting one April 10th even after I’ve seen the price tags and specs. However, two days ago it all of a sudden hit me that I should not get the new MacBook. Even though I can afford one. I’ve started contemplating. I think it’s not worth it at all for the price Apple is asking for it.”
- 12″ MacBook — Disappointment and Hope: A number of users offer their opinions about the pros and cons of the new MacBook, emphasizing how the notebook paves the way for the future but requires making compromises in the present. Apple has a history of heading in bold new directions with past products such as the original iMac, MacBook Air and iPhone, so this is not unchartered waters for the world’s most valuable company.
- USB-C Accessories: Belkin announced a new line of USB-C cables and USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for the new MacBook last month, while LaCie announced the first USB-C external hard drive. This discussion thread is a valuable resource that highlights a number of other USB-C accessories from HydraDock, MonoPrice, Google and other accessory makers and vendors.
- Retina MacBook Benchmarked: We posted an early 64-bit Geekbench benchmark of the Retina MacBook that places the notebook in line with the 2011 MacBook Air in terms of CPU performance, and this full Geekbench 3 report offers a more in-depth look at the notebook’s single-core and multi-core scores based on integer, floating point and memory performance.
- Performance Difference Between CPUs: A side-by-side comparison of the performance differences between the three Intel processor options available for the Retina MacBook. The discussion thread includes speculation that the entry-level CPU may generate the most heat inside the fanless notebook and contains other interesting information about the trio of processor options. Apple recently confirmed build-to-order pricing for the 1.3GHz processor.
- Retina MacBook vs. Surface 3: Microsoft is marketing its new Surface 3 tablet as a potential laptop replacement, so it naturally has been compared with the Retina MacBook. The discussion touches upon a number of factors, including price point, physical design, processors, operating systems, battery life, multipurpose functionality and more. Realistically, the Surface Pro 3 is the more suitable device for drawing comparisons.
- The Can’t List — Reasons Not to Buy Retina MacBook: A forum user shares eighteen different reasons not to buy the Retina MacBook, including a lack of ports, planned obsolescence, the need for multiple adapters, a 480p FaceTime camera, no SD card slot and, in his opinion, the notebook’s expensive price tag. Some other users are quick to counter that Apple’s new MacBook is not designed for everyone, arguing that refreshed MacBook Airs and Pros are still available.
- Software for Retina MacBook: A forum user shares a list of software that he plans to install on his Retina MacBook when it becomes available, including Matlab, Parallels, OrCAD Schematic Capture and PCB Layout Tools (Windows), Freescale Symphony Studio (Windows), Microsoft Office, Microchip MPLAB (Windows), XCode, Handbrake and Windows 7. Other users list software such as Chrome, Scrivener, Pages, Notability, OneNote, Skype, Moom, Caffeine, Dropbox, OneDrive, Reeder, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, 1Password, VLC and Logic Pro X.
- Who’s Buying a Retina MacBook Without Trying It? This popular discussion thread within the forums involves users that plan on purchasing the Retina MacBook without trying it out first at an Apple Store. Many users claim they will be pre-ordering the new MacBook on April 10 and having it shipped to their home under the assurance of Apple’s standard 14-day return policy.
- Retina MacBook Cases: A list of cases and accessories for the new MacBook.
Visit our MacBook section within the forums to keep up with the latest discussions.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will bring its cyberpunk world to the Xbox One and PC
Publisher Square Enix has officially announced Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the next game in the acclaimed cyberpunk-themed shooter-RPG hybrid. The game will be launched for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC platforms.
AIVAnet 