Win a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge courtesy of Opera

Great smartphones need great apps to truly shine, and nowhere is that more visible than when it comes to browsers. The browser you use on your Android phone is your gateway to the web, making it a crucial part of the overall user experience.

One of the highest rated Android browsers out there is Opera Mini, which recently received a big update that we’ve reviewed here. Known for its data compression feature that enables users to save data by reducing download sizes, Opera Mini can really give you an edge. But it’s not all just data savings – Opera Mini is fast, fully featured, and user friendly.

That is why we have teamed up with the good folks at Opera to give away a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to one lucky winner. The contest runs for one week and there are multiple ways to get your entry tickets into the draw. Good luck everyone!

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is the phone to have if you want to stand out from a crowd of nondescript slabs. Featuring a sleek aluminum frame and a mirror-smooth glass back, the S6 Edge looks and feels truly premium. But it’s the dual sloping edges that really make this phone stand out, both in terms of looks and functionality – the edges can act as a customizable notification light when the phone is placed on its screen, or as a notification area that gives you key info at a glance.

On the inside the Galaxy S6 Edge is almost identical to the S6, offering best-in-class specs, including a 14-nm processor, 3GB of RAM, a 16MP camera, and a Quad HD AMOLED screen. Everything is packed into a compact and light body, available in four colors.

With the Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung really delivered what people have been clamoring for: a truly premium phone, with no compromise in terms of functionality.

Enter the giveaway now!

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – Opera Mini/Android Authority

Terms & Conditions

• The giveaway is an international giveaway (Except when we can not ship to your Country.)
• If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
• We are not responsible for lost shipments.
• You must be age of majority in your Country of residence.
• We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
• Only 1 entry per person, do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
• We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
• The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.

Full terms & conditions and FAQ | Past giveaway winners [Gallery]

Good luck, everyone!

Verizon to position itself as high quality service at expense of bargain shoppers

As wireless services, especially high-speed data service, increasingly become a commodity with the corresponding race to the bottom in terms of price, Verizon has largely avoided being sucked into the price wars. Despite the goading of T-Mobile’s John Legere and Sprint’s pricing moves, Verizon has resisted making wholesale changes to the way it does business. According to the latest financial report for Verizon, shared by Verizon CFO Francis Shammo today, the company lost 138,000 postpaid customers in the last quarter and they seem to be okay with that.

Shammo says Verizon is focused more on customers who value factors like the quality of the network over price,

“If the customer who is just price-sensitive and does not care about the quality of the network—or is sufficient with just paying a lower price—that’s probably the customer we’re not going to be able to keep.”

Positioning a company to be a supplier of a premium product while others target less expensive buyers is a strategic move that can pay off. One only has to look at a company like Apple which seems content to be a niche player while reaping a financial windfall. Verizon is unique in that regard as they are currently the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. and their ability to expand and improve their network is supported by the vast customer base they have.

Sources have noted that Verizon will have to do some work to ensure consumer’s consider them a premium brand worth the extra cost. One part of this strategy involves deployment of a new wireless video service the carrier hopes to roll out this summer. Verizon is currently working on securing content from a variety of sources. The big question that remains though is how plans will be structured. T-Mobile’s Legere has criticized carriers for penalizing customers who take advantage of services made available and has specifically called out Verizon for asking customers to access NFL content then turning around and charging overage fees when customers do that.

source: Bloomberg

Come comment on this article: Verizon to position itself as high quality service at expense of bargain shoppers

5 reasons you shouldn’t root your new Galaxy S6

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are Samsung’s newest devices and they are definitely packed with power. They feature QHD displays with over 570 ppi, an amazingly powerful Exynos 7420 processor backed by 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and a top of the line 16 megapixel camera. Not only are the insides of these devices revamped, but aesthetically, it’s completely a device.

With all that power and prowess, one of the first things that comes to Android users minds is whether to root their device or not. This article is here to give you 5 reasons NOT to root your Galaxy S6. I’ll be sure to follow this up with 5 reasons to root your Galaxy S6, but this is just here to give you both sides.

Disables OTA updates

One of the biggest reasons not to root devices is that it disables OTA updates. That means, once you root your device, whether it is from the Chainfire method or something else, your device will no longer receive incremental updates automatically. This is one of the main reasons not to root, so you’re going to want to think about this ramification.

If you aren’t going to flash a custom ROM on to the device, it is hard to come by the latest Samsung firmware. SamMobile does have a great repository, so all hope is not lost. If you do find the latest firmware for your device, you will have to flash over the top of the existing one, which leads to loss of data, so be sure to back-up if you plan to do so.

Rooting trips the KNOX counter

Tripping KNOX is another big factor on why to not root the Galaxy S6. KNOX is essentially a service employed by Samsung to give after-sale service a better idea if the device has been tampered with. There are also rumors that the counter can keep track of how many times the device has been flashed with different ROMs, although that is unconfirmed.

Since KNOX is capable of detecting changes to the device, once root privileges are enabled, the KNOX counter will be tripped and there will be no way of reversing it (there are some exceptions). This means that if you ever have to warranty your device, they have right to refuse service if they feel that rooting and or flashing was the culprit of the issue.

Lose out on KNOX capabilities 

Samsung’s KNOX is a misunderstood service as it brings more to the device than just helping Samsung detect if you tampered with your device. If someone were to find your device or steal it, this said person cannot use it. Without your account, the thief will not be able to factory reset the device or flash a new ROM to it. With a $700+ device, I’d take all the help I could get.

Along with helping deter potential thieves, KNOX also protects your data and information by using technologies that are patented by the National Security Agency (NSA). I had to throw that one in there just for the heck of it. If you are curious about KNOX and its capabilities, here is the actual overview from Samsung.

Disables Samsung Pay

One of the newest features on the Galaxy S6 is Samsung Pay, which is Samsung’s direct competitor to Apple Pay. If you plan on using Samsung Pay, it was just reported by SamMobile that when users root their device, this feature will not work anymore and is disabled.

SamMobile states that “when you root your device, the integrity gets breached, which is necessary for important and sensitive features like mobile payments.” This has been seen on many other apps as well, such as banking apps, media apps such as TiVo, and other apps that have sensitive data.

This may sound like it’s not a big deal, but Samsung has completely revamped their fingerprint sensor to be used on mobile payments, similar to Apple Pay. Gone is the sliding fingerprint sensor, replaced by a touch-based sensor, which is much more accurate and much more convenient.

TouchWiz isn’t the same as years past

The Galaxy S6 is one of the, if not, the top performing device on the market right now. Samsung’s in-house processor blows the competitors away, and scored an insane score of 68,000 on the AnTuTu Benchmark. Couple the amazingly fast octa-core processor with a slimmed down version of TouchWiz and you have yourself a pretty fast device.

One of the strong reasons for rooting a Galaxy device in the past was to de-bloat TouchWiz and speed it up. It has always been knocked for being a performance hog, but the latest version is quite different. Samsung took the complaints about their UI to heart and have drastically improved TouchWiz. They have also made it easier than ever to disable pre-installed apps, but you still can’t completely uninstall them.

Since having the Galaxy S6 for nearly a month, I can say it is one of the best performing devices I’ve ever used… even with TouchWiz. It comes free of any stutters or lags that have been seen in the past, plus Samsung adopted much of Google’s Material Design.

Conclusion

All in all, the Galaxy S6 is not like any Samsung device we have seen in the past. Once you root your device, there is no turning back, so you better be in it for the long haul. Not only will it disable key features on your device, it will also void your warranty.

I advise that if you do decide to modify your device, READ UP on everything, especially if you are new to rooting and flashing. All it takes is one wrong move and your $700 flagship device is a great paperweight.

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