[Video] Samsung USA officially unboxes the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge via a promo video
Samsung USA has taken it upon their YouTube account to officially unbox their two new flagships in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge via a pretty cool promo video. With all the coverage these two devices are getting in the recent weeks, I’m sure you are well familiar with them both. If not, check out the videos below and let us know what you think!
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: [Video] Samsung USA officially unboxes the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge via a promo video
Join the Microsoft Band discussion in the Windows Central forums!
Now the Microsoft Band is available to more people than ever before, with a wider U.S. retail availability and now the launch in the UK, there’s sure to be a number of new owners out there among the Windows Central community. And we’ve got just the place to talk about it.
The Windows Central forums are a hive of activity and the perfect place to jump in and talk with other enthusiasts about the Microsoft Band. Whether you’re looking for help or just want to tell everyone how awesome you think it is, there’s something for everyone. Come on in and join the discussion at the link below!
Nokia just bought Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion
Nokia will soon be the largest maker of telecom equipment in the world ahead of Ericsson and Huawei. It just acquired French telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent for 15.6 billion euros ($16.6 billion), or more than double the $7 billion Microsoft paid for its Windows Phone arm. The Finnish company also acquired Alcatel-Lucent’s famous Bell Laboratories, established by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880. It said, “the combined company will be in a position to accelerate development of future technologies including 5G… as well as sensors and imaging.” The merged businesses will run under the Nokia banner, but Bell Labs will keep the Alcatel-Lucent name.
Nokia won’t necessarily be jumping into the Android business, as the company that makes Alcatel smartphones is a separate joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent and China’s TCL. Nokia took pains to point out that while the merged business would be headquartered in Finland, France will remain “a vibrant center of the combined company.” It added that it’ll stick with Alcatel-Lucent’s employment commitments in France — no doubt because the Gallic nation is a shareholder and has been touchy about acquisitions of French companies like Dailymotion. The deal is scheduled to close in 2016.
Nokia said it may also sell off its Here mapping division to focus on the network business, but would only do it if the price was right. It was reportedly considering a sale to a German automaker consortium and even Uber, according to Bloomberg.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Nokia
Source: Nokia
Segway is now a Chinese company thanks to Ninebot and Xiaomi
Can’t say we saw this coming, but Segway has just been acquired by a Chinese company called Ninebot, which also specializes in self-balancing human transporters. Unsurprisingly, the firm had a little help from others: the same event announced that Ninebot received an $80 million investment from Xiaomi — who’s got plenty of cash to play with — plus three venture capital funds, but there was no mention of how much of that went towards said acquisition.
Developing…
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Lei Jun (Weibo)
Don’t have a phone that has wireless charging? Duracell has your back with a giant wireless charging ring that hooks to your micro-USB port
Wait, what? Sometimes you come across some odd products via random brands, but this time you have a fairly big company taking a whack at a fairly odd product that will allow devices that don’t have wireless charging to wireless charge via their “Ring”. As you can see above, the Ring grants you the ability to place your device onto any wireless charger and charge it. While a really cool idea, I just question the practicality of it as the Ring isn’t exactly small. The fairly large size may be more of a nuisance than anything.
Either way, I think the idea itself is wonderful. The Ring comes with a charging pad and sets you back at an odd number of $53.98. If you would like more info on the product or would like to purchase one, you can check out the source link below.
What do you guys think about this? Something you’d use, or just not practical? Let us know!
source: Duracell
Come comment on this article: Don’t have a phone that has wireless charging? Duracell has your back with a giant wireless charging ring that hooks to your micro-USB port
Microsoft Lumia 540 Dual SIM is official with 5-inch 720p display and 1GB RAM for $150
Microsoft has launched another Windows Phone geared at the budget segment, the Lumia 540. The device’s main selling point is the price, which the Redmond giant has mentioned will be under $150. For that amount, you get a 5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 200 CPU, dual SIM connectivity 1GB RAM and 8GB storage along with an 8MP camera at the back.
Jawbone and AmEx want you to pay for stuff with your fitness band
If you’re looking to get a little more mileage out of that fitness tracker, Jawbone and American Express are about to lend a hand. The duo is teaming up to bring a payment feature to the former company’s line of gadgets. Of course, Apple’s new wearable sorts payments too, and now a similar function will be on an upcoming Jawbone device. This means that the Up3 that’s set to ship next week won’t help you pay for a burrito, and neither will it’s predecessors. Instead, the collaboration with AmEx will arrive on wearable that we’ve yet to hear about, so it’s unclear if it’ll be another band or a smartwatch. If your go-to credit or debit card is Visa or MasterCard, there’s no indication if Jawbone’s mystery tech will handle payments from those either. However, when it does arrive, it’ll wrangle those payments via NFC — just like the Apple Watch.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Wall Stree Journal
Huawei rumored to offering Samsung designers more money and higher level positions to work for them
Is Huawei trying to steal away Samsung’s designers and technicians? If so, you certainly can’t blame them for the effort as Samsung is most certainly poised to have their most successful Galaxy S ever with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The refined and refreshed look of the S6 and S6 Edge seems to have caught Huawei’s attention as reports are coming that the company is not only offering more money, but higher level positions are also being dangled to Samsung’s design engineers. More independence is also rumored to be promised to these candidates which is essentially an engineers/designers dream. If these people were to take Huawei’s offer, you certainly can’t blame them.
Do you guys think Samsung’s own engineers can steer Huawei into a serious contender in the mobile phone industry?
source: Korea Times
Come comment on this article: Huawei rumored to offering Samsung designers more money and higher level positions to work for them
AT&T may stop offering any two-year contracts by the end of May
If you’ve bought a phone from AT&T recently, you’re probably familiar with their Next program. The financing program was designed as a competitor to T-Mobile’s JUMP plan so consumers could purchase their phones without entering into a contract and tangling their phone payments into their phone service plans. Unlike T-Mobile, AT&T continued to offer two-year upgrades alongside financing options, but it looks like that might come to an end in May this year.
Rumors point towards the carrier completely doing away with two-year contracts and moving exclusively to Next financing plans next month, leaving customers with that as their only option to purchase a new device if they don’t want to buy the phone outright. Fortunately for customers on AT&T’s newer mobile share value plans, Next pricing is pretty similar to two-year pricing, but it’s not good news for anyone hanging onto older plans, including unlimited data plans.
Moving to Next on an old unlimited data plan would basically be like purchasing the phone outright, as there’s no off-contract discount built-in to those older plans. Customers with unlimited data wanting to upgrade would be forced to switch to a newer plan, or buy the phone at full retail (or buy used) to keep that plan.
To be fair, this is exactly T-Mobile’s stance on the issue, so AT&T isn’t the first carrier to want customers to go exclusively to device financing. It’s not fantastic news for customers still clinging to unlimited data packages, but that’s where the wireless industry is heading.
If this rumor ends up panning out next month, who wants to take a guess how long it’ll take for Verizon and Sprint to follow suit?
source: Android Authority
Come comment on this article: AT&T may stop offering any two-year contracts by the end of May
Huawei Ascend P8 promotional material leaks out ahead of tomorrow’s event
There have recently been a lot of rumors floating around the internet regarding Huawei’s next big flagship, the Ascend P8. Now, we don’t know for sure that the phone even exists, but given the number of rumors and leaks we’ve seen in the past few weeks, we’re pretty confident that it will launch sometime soon. Huawei is holding a big event in London tomorrow, which is when the company will likely show off the new handset for the first time. To help add to the hype surrounding this unannounced phone, some new promotional material for the Ascend P8 has just leaked out, giving us a better look at the handset.
This promotional poster helps us substantiate a few leaks and rumors we’ve already heard in the past. The device is thin – only measuring 6.5mm – and will be offered in four different color variants. It’s hard to tell what specific colors will be available judging by the quality of this image, but it is clear that there are four different options presented on the poster.
Previous rumors have suggested that the P8 will launch with a 5.2-inch 1080p display with a 2.5D panel, a 64-bit octa-core Kirin 930 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage, a 13MP rear-facing camera with OIS and a 2,600mAh battery. None of these specs are confirmed quite yet, so we’ll have to wait until the big Huawei event tomorrow to know anything for sure.
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