Samsung Moves Away from ARM Chips in Favor of Custom Exynos M1 Chipsets
Samsung famously (or notoriously) ditched Qualcomm this year when it came to powering the next iteration of its Galaxy S series of phones, the Galaxy S6. Citing overheating and general performance issues, the Korean giant opted against the Snapdragon 810 in favor of a newer iteration of its Exynos in-house chip. The downside to this, however, is a reliance on ARM architecture (which Qualcomm and others, including Apple, do not use),
In what looks to be a bold, but predicted move, Samsung’s next line of in-house cores will likely be powered by an Exynos M1 core, and utilize custom architecture in an effort to avoid being dependent on ARM.
The leak comes via a references to the Exynos M1 that’s been added to the latest development tools for ARM cores.
Chipset makers typically release new technology to developers nine to 12 months away from the start of a new production cycle, which would fall in line with the M1 series being used on the (presumed) Galaxy S7 next spring. Reports say the new Exynos M1 is 45 percent faster than the Exynos 7420 used in the Galaxy S6.
Utilizing custom processors could also open up the new Exynos series’ use for other applications, such as custom GPUs. Samsung has been a regular player in the chip supply business for many years, and there’s no reason to assume it won’t want to diversify and maximize the potential of an all-new custom processor.
Source: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: Samsung Moves Away from ARM Chips in Favor of Custom Exynos M1 Chipsets
Facebook brings video calling to Messenger
Facebook is no stranger to video chat, but it’s been keeping a low profile as of late. Well, it’s no longer content to sit on the sidelines while Skype and Hangouts steal the show — the company has just introduced video calling in Messenger. Whether you’re using Android or iOS, you only need to tap a single button in an existing conversation to start a face-to-face session. The feature is available today in 18 countries (including the UK and the US), so give it a shot if you’re a Facebook fan and would rather not fire up another app just to see who you’re talking to.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: Facebook Newsroom
‘Minecraft’ finally has a free girl character
Lots of girls play Minecraft, but you wouldn’t know it from the default character options. Unless you’ve been willing to pay up or install a mod, your only real choice so far has been Steve, the game’s male mascot. At last, though, things are opening up — Mojang is giving builders the choice of a free girl character, Alex. She’s been around before as a randomly assigned character in the computer version, but the move will help female players on all platforms sculpt their dream worlds using a character they can identify with. PlayStation and Xbox gamers will get Alex as of April 29th, while mobile users playing the Pocket Edition should see her this summer.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Washington Post
Source: Mojang
Instagram debuts three new filters and emoji hashtags
The five new filters that Instagram released back in December have reportedly been such a hit with users, the company has unveiled three more retouching options: Lark, Reyes and Juno. According to Instagram’s blog, Lark softens reds in favor of blue and green hues to highlight landscape shots while Reyes washes out the image as a whole to create a weathered and vintage feel. The Juno filter is geared more for portraits. It boosts warm tones and whites while adding a slight green tint to cooler colors.
Additionally, Instagram now supports emoji in its hashtags. As the company’s blog explains, “…you can discover even more by adding them to your own photos and videos, searching them on the Explore page and tapping on them when you see them in captions.” These features roll out today; look for iOS version 6.11.0 in the App Store and Android version 6.20.0 in Google Play.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Instagram (blog)
Apple Seeds Second OS X 10.10.4 Yosemite Beta to Developers, First Public Beta Version
Apple today seeded the second beta of OS X 10.10.4 to developers, approximately a week and a half since releasing the first 10.10.4 beta and nearly three weeks after releasing OS X 10.10.3 with the Photos for OS X app to the public. Alongside the new developer beta, Apple also released the first public beta version of OS X 10.10.4.
Developers can download the new beta, build 14E11f, through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Mac Developer Center.
OS X 10.10.3 introduced several consumer-facing changes including the new Photos for OS X app, a redesigned emoji picker, new diversified emoji, and more, but OS X 10.10.4 appears to be an under-the-hood update that brings performance enhancements and bug fixes.
The first two updates to OS X Yosemite, OS X 10.10.1 and OS X 10.10.2 were also minor behind-the-scenes updates that improved performance through bug fixes and enhancements.
Instagram for iOS Gains Three New Filters, Emoji Hashtags [iOS Blog]
Instagram for iOS received a major update today, adding three new filters to the app: Lark, Reyes, and Juno. Lark brightens up images and adds purple tones, while Reyes adds a vintage-looking fade with yellow tones. Juno is the boldest of the three new filters, brightening images and bumping up the contrast for a more stylized look.
Today’s three new filters come four months after Instagram added Slumber, Crema, Ludwig, Aden, and Perpetua, the first new filter additions to the app in two years. With those five filters, Instagram began focusing more on subtle improvements, a trend continued with the three new filters added today.
Lark filter on left, Reyes filter on right
Instagram has also gained emoji hashtags with the latest update, so it’s possible to use emojis to create hashtags to enable new ways of tagging and finding photos on the image sharing service.
Introducing 3 new photo filters! Lark, Reyes and Juno have been added automatically so you can start using them right away.
Emoji hashtags. Use your favorite emojis to create, share and search for hashtags.
Get the best of Instagram from the Apple Watch. Browse your feed and like your favorite photos, or even leave emoji comments. Plus stay up to date with interactive notifications right on your wrist.
Instagram can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Snapchat hires a top CNN reporter to oversee its news
Snapchat just showed how serious it is about turning its mobile video messaging service into your news hub. The company has hired Peter Hamby, one of CNN’s best political reporters, to oversee its news efforts. He’ll still contribute to the TV network through 2016, but his top priority will be the internet startup. As to what Hamby will actually do in his new job? He’s not spilling the beans, but his interest in Snapchat’s live stories suggests that you’ll see more on-the-ground coverage of unfolding events. You may well find yourself using a single app to both catch up on the day’s happenings and share gossip with your friends.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Source: Politico
Get notified about coming rain with this app
Rain is a force of nature that we can do nothing about, and yet can completely change our day. From not having work, to canceling that trip to a theme park, rain has a large affect on what we do. With where technology is, you would think we would have ways to help the rain not do so much, but alas this is not the case. Until that day comes, we have weather apps that can help. This app in particular can help alert you to rain without you requesting the information.
Rain Alarm
Rain Alarm looks to notify you of any precipitation coming your way, whether it be rain, snow, or hail. Most weather apps we use “forecast”, or attempt to predict what the weather will be. However, the accuracy of these forecasts aren’t exactly reliable. Rain Alarm uses real-time data to give you alerts as to when it will rain rather than forecasts. Not only does this mean you can trust the notification, but you can check the weather map in the app to see it for yourself.
Rain Alarm focuses on one thing, and seems to do it really well. It has 4.2 stars (out of 18,883 ratings), and over a million downloads. The app below is the free version, but there is a paid version as well that removes ads, allows for more customization, and even gives Android Wear notifications.
Alternative: Arcus Weather
If you’d rather have an app that will alert you of rain, and also give more function with weather altogether, than perhaps Arcus Weather will better suit you. Arcus Weather not only alerts you of rain, but also is more modern looking with Material Design guidelines. Also, the free version comes with Android Wear support, and provides all sorts of weather information from forecast.io and its API.
The only reason this is not the main one mentioned is because it it has far less downloads (and therefore ratings). However, it still has 4.2 stars (with 3,756 ratings) and over 100,000 downloads.
Have questions you want answered?
This article was written in response to a question from social media, using #HeyAG. If you have a question about anything Android related (or smartphone-related, smartwatch-related, or Chroms OS/Chromebook/Chromecast-related), than shoot us a question on social media!
The post Get notified about coming rain with this app appeared first on AndroidGuys.
NBC’s live sports streaming comes to Apple TV and Roku players
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: NBC Sports (1), (2), Roku Stream Blog
Android 5.0 Lollipop now rolling out to the Sprint LG G2
We’ve already seen the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop roll out to the LG G2 on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks, and now it’s finally Sprint’s turn. The update, which is labeled software version ZVG, will bring Lollipop to your G2 starting today.
Android 5.0 Lollipop will bring along with it a number of changes, both aesthetic and under the hood. Your G2 will get a taste of Google’s Material Design enhancements, complete with more fluid animations, a redesigned notification panel and new Lollipop-style softkeys. You’ll also get to take advantage of the convenient Smart Lock security feature, actionable lock screen notifications and a new priority notifications mode. On the Sprint side, the update will also bring changes to your device’s FM Radio software.
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As per usual, the update is rolling out in stages, so there’s a chance you may not see it for a few days. If you’d like, you can check for the update manually by heading to Settings>Software updates>Update LG software>Check now. Once you get the update, be sure to let us know how you like the new features!
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