T-Mobile rolling out Lollipop update to the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
Last Monday the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 finally received an update to Lollipop on T-Mobile’s network, about a week later than Sprint and AT&T. Now the Uncarrier is rolling out the same update to the Note 4’s curved brother, the Note Edge. Just as we saw with the Note 4, the new build bumps the software up to Android 5.0.1. The update itself is a massive 1.84GB, so you might want to wait until you’re on a Wi-Fi connection before downloading.
Read also: Why is the Galaxy S6 more successful than the Note Edge?
So what should you expect from the update? Just as we’ve seen with all other Samsung Lollipop updates, you’ll get changes like Smart Lock, priority notifications, an improved lockscreen and plenty of other tweaks.
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One thing you won’t get much of is the new Material Design UI changes, as TouchWiz masks a lot of the aesthetic updates that you’d find with a vanilla Android build.
While the update is rolling out now, don’t be surprised if it takes at least a few days (or longer) before it hits your device. For those that don’t want to wait any longer than they have to, you might also want to check Samsung Kies to see if you can snag the update from their instead.
Plastic-clad M9e could be yet another One M9 variant
HTC is working on a new member of the One M9 family. The “M9e” looks like an economy version of the One M9+, sharing most of the specs, but swapping metal in favor of a plastic body.
The One M9+ launched in early April in Beijing, as a bigger and arguably better version of the M9 targeted primarily at China and India. The device comes with a 5.2-inch Quad HD LCD display, a 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10, 3GB of RAM, and a 20MP main camera featuring a depth sensor just like the M8. On the front, the M9+ features a touch-based fingerprint sensor.
The HTC M9e, spotted by Engadget Chinese in China’s TENAA certification database, features the same fingerprint sensor on the front, but the back is dual-tone plastic, and there’s no secondary depth sensor.
The specs that can be gleamed from the regulatory docs suggest the M9e is identical to the One M9+, save for the lack of the depth sensor.
There’s no official info on this device yet; the use of plastic could result in a lower price tag, but it remains to be seen if M9e will ever make it outside of Asia.
Provided the M9e is indeed coming to market, we have to question why HTC feels the need to release another device that looks a lot like the E9+, which also features a plastic body and BoomSound speakers. Thoughts?
The US opens up on its use of phone surveillance hardware
It seems as if we’re not alone in thinking that America’s spies may have trodden on a few too many civil liberties of late. That’s why senior officials at the Justice Department are calling for a wide-ranging review of electronic surveillance practices and will open up a little bit about why, and when, this technology is used. A report by the Wall Street Journal reveals that there’s a big push for greater transparency, but no-one’s quite sure on how many beans they should spill in order to restore public trust but not give helpful hints to criminals.
Ever since the Snowden leaks, the public have been exposed to a constant stream of revelations about how authorities use technology to spy upon us. For instance, the ACLU found that stingray devices were used 47 times by police in Erie County, New York, but only got the court’s permission once. For those not in the know, a stingray is a fake cellphone tower that sucks up all the mobile traffic in the immediate region, making them perfect for spying on a city block’s residents at the same time.
The paper cites an example from Baltimore, where officers are normally required to obtain a court order to get a person’s cellphone details. However, there’s also a shortcut if the information is time sensitive, enabling them to request from the phone company directly under the auspices of it being an emergency. You’ll win no prizes for guessing which process is more frequently used, with one anonymous source describing a deluge of requests along the emergency back door channel.
The road to restoring the public’s trust will be a long one, but there are some reasons to be optimistic, at least. The paper has noted that the FBI is no longer simply snatching people’s information without permission, but is now submitting requests for search warrants to Judges. That should provide some much-needed oversight to what has previously been an unsupervised process, and let’s just hope that some more agencies remember to abide by due process.
Filed under: Internet
Source: WSJ
Court tosses United Airlines lawsuit over a cheap ticket website
United Airlines can’t sue Skiplagged for exposing a loophole in ticket prices… at least, for now. A Chicago court has tossed out United’s lawsuit because the airfare website doesn’t operate in that jurisdiction. The move lets site owner Aktarer Zaman breathe a little, although he may only get a temporary reprieve. While United hasn’t said whether or not it will sue again, it notes that the dismissal was based purely on “procedural grounds.” The company still believes that Skiplagged’s “hidden city” ticket shopping (where you stop at connecting cities, not the final destination) is verboten — don’t be surprised if it finds another way to take legal action.
[Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images]
Filed under: Transportation, Internet
Source: CNN Money
US telecoms try to kill net neutrality by blocking key rules
The big US telecoms are trying every trick in the book to kill net neutrality, and that includes some very specific tactics. AT&T, CenturyLink and multiple industry groups have sent filings to the FCC asking it to block specific procedures, not the neutrality rules themselves. They want to stop the Commission from both reclassifying the internet as a utility and implementing a standard that prevents providers from “unreasonably interfering” with your internet access. Purportedly, these moves would require “crushing” costs and might chill investments in network upgrades — arguments we’ve definitely heard before.
The FCC is likely to toss out these requests, but they should lead to a call to freeze the net neutrality rules (which kick in June 12th) until legal battles are over. Also, they might give a peek at the strategy the telcos will use when they’re in trial. The carriers have launched broader legal attacks on net neutrality in the past, claiming that it violates numerous laws and even the Constitution, but this is more targeted. They’re trying to undermine the rules based on the supposed burdens involved with the implementation, not the core principles that earned so much public support.
Whether or not this approach works isn’t clear, and may depend on which court hears the telecoms’ cases. The FCC wants them to go to a federal appeals court in Washington, DC that maintained the agency’s power to regulate internet access even after rejecting earlier rules. The FCC no doubt wants a judiciary that enshrines its authority at the very moment that companies are trying to undermine it — another court might not be so sympathetic.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Internet, Mobile, AT&T
Via: VentureBeat, HotHardware, SlashGear
Source: Reuters
Lost luggage might be a thing of the past thanks to Samsung and Samsonite
Unless you have never traveled in your life, you have experienced what it feels like getting off a long flight only to find out that your luggage decided to travel to a different spot. We have smartphones, smartwatches, smart TVs, and now it’s time for smart luggage.
Samsung and Samsonite are partnering to do just that. They are fitting suitcases with microchips that can not only be located via the airlines, but also with your smartphone. Usually when you realize your bag is lost, you immediate report it, but the agent rarely knows where it is at the time. They end up putting a trace on it, and eventually it makes it way to your destination.
With this new technology, the rep will know exactly where it is. Moving beyond that, smart luggage has other perks. Since it communicates with your smartphone, you will be alerted if you ever stray too far away from any of your carry on bags. Then there is the dreaded wait at the luggage carousel. Everyone waits and stares at the same bags as they wonder when theirs will come out. You will now know exactly when yours will hit the belt. You will even know when it has exited the aircraft. So if it is lost, you will know right away.
There is one hitch to all of this and that is that if you are connecting with a different airline that does not use the service, you might not be able to benefit from all the features. Right now Samsonite is working with Emirates, Lufthansa and KLM Air France. One of the benefits of airline participation is a streamlined check-in process. Your bag will already be programmed on where it needs to go by the time you drive up to the curb.
Now if location tracking isn’t enough, how about if you never have to carry or pull your bags? They are testing a motor that would move with you around the airport. However size is an issue since the current prototypes have motors that take up one third of the space of the bag. You don’t want to have to leave your underwear at home so it might be worth waiting a couple of years until the technology is tweaked a little.
source: Daily Mail
via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Lost luggage might be a thing of the past thanks to Samsung and Samsonite
Looks like Lollipop for the Note 2 isn’t happening
Chalk this up as sad news this morning but it looks like the Note 2 won’t be getting Lollipop. Despite news that the Note 2 made the official list for the update in Finland in December of last year, it looks like we won’t be seeing an official update for the second-generation Note phablet.
If the Samsung Gulf Facebook page has anything to say about the global availability of the update, it’s not happening. As such, the Note 2 phablet will officially remain on Android 4.4.2. It could very well be that the update will be quite region dependent, if it’s available at all, but given that Samsung has only just begun to put together Android 5.1, it could be Samsung is only focusing on the most current of devices. Even so, it could very well be that Note 2 users dodged a bullet here given the buggy nature of Lollipop 5.0.X.
That said, if you’re wanting to get a taste of Lollipop on your second-gen Note phablet, it looks like you’re going to have to do so in an unofficial capacity.
source: GSM Arena
Come comment on this article: Looks like Lollipop for the Note 2 isn’t happening
‘Reserve Strap’ Debuts New Design Focusing on Apple Watch Diagnostic Port [iOS Blog]
Originally announced by third-party developers Lane Musgrave and John Arrow back in early March, one of the biggest concerns of the battery-boosting accessory “Reserve Strap” was its use of the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor as a way to provide power to the wearable. Although it was unconfirmed, there was always a possibility of the Reserve Strap obstructing normal functions of the heart rate sensor, or causing the Watch to not function altogether by interfering with skin contact completely.
Last week, after getting their hands on an Apple Watch, Musgrave and Arrow have gone back to the drawing board on the design of the Reserve Strap, coming up with a new look that acts as more of a traditional Apple-made band without blocking the heart rate sensor at all. The new Reserve Strap aims to use the 6-pin diagnostic port – hidden inside of the band port on the bottom of the Watch – as the main source of providing power to the device, shirking the heart rate sensor’s magnetic inductive charging altogether.
The Original Reserve Strap design (left) vs the new design (right)
Finally getting our hands on the Apple Watch has further confirmed the immense value of the Reserve Strap. Since release day, we’ve been executing series of tests on the Apple Watch and have some really exciting news to share today.
We’ve developed and tested a completely rethought design that takes advantage of the 6-pin port underneath the band slide of the Apple Watch. This port hadn’t been deciphered by anyone until now but we’ve been able to make significant enough observations so far to warrant shifting our development focus to this new method. We’re looking forward to sharing more design details and technical specification of this new Reserve Strap as soon as we can.
The company claims in its blog posts that its engineers have “been able to independently confirm that the 6-pin diagnostic port underneath the Apple Watch case can be used for charging.” They continue by also noting the diagnostic port will allow for not only a higher charge capacity, but faster, more efficient charging times. The blog post also notes that the new method should improve durability of the strap as a whole and eliminate “any interference with Apple Watch functionality including taptic feedback and heartrate sensors.”
Initial renderings of the new design (left) vs fully realized 3D model (right)
No word was given on the planned Kickstarter for the Reserve Strap, but those interested can still pre-order the device from the company’s official website for $249.99. Color options will include white, gray and black, and customers will be able to choose between 38mm and 42mm strap sizes to fit their preferred Apple Watch size.
12.9-Inch ‘iPad Pro’ Rumored to Feature NFC, Bluetooth Stylus, Force Touch and USB-C [iOS Blog]
The much-rumored 12.9-inch so-called “iPad Pro” will feature a built-in NFC chip, pressure-sensitive Bluetooth stylus, Force Touch and USB-C port, according to AppleInsider. The report, citing a source familiar with Apple’s future product plans, also claims that the larger iPad will have a new touchscreen with improved latency and unsurprisingly be powered by Apple’s latest A-series processor.
A purported “iPad Pro” blueprint from December 2014 with possible dimensions
The inclusion of an NFC chip will enable the iPad Pro to be used as an Apple Pay payment terminal, although it is unlikely the tablet itself will have tap-to-pay functionality, according to the report. Apple Pay contactless payments are currently limited to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 5, iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s when paired with an Apple Watch, in the United States.
Meanwhile, the report corroborates well-informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s claim that the iPad Pro will feature an Apple-built stylus, which AppleInsider says will connect via Bluetooth and allow pressure-sensitive input. The iPad Pro’s display will also reportedly feature Force Touch, a technology that distinguish between a tap and a deep press on the screen.
The report adds that the iPad Pro’s USB-C port will either replace or supplement the Lightning connector equipped on other current iPads:
“The source also said that Apple’s new, larger iPad will also feature a USB-C input, though they didn’t indicate whether it would be a new, second port option, or if USB-C would replace the Lightning connector found on current iPads. Cases based on allegedly leaked “iPad Pro” designs have included spaces for two port openings, leading to speculation that Apple could potentially include both USB-C and Lightning, or offer docking capabilities in two different orientations.”
Many of these rumored iPad Pro features have been reported by other sources over the past year, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Kuo.
The report stops short of providing a release timetable for the iPad Pro, although The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Apple is planning to begin mass production of the device in September following some internal setbacks. Apple typically refreshes its iPad lineup in October, and it’s possible the iPad Pro could launch around that time if there are no further production delays.
Google tests converting websites so they load 4x faster over slow connections
Android users in Indonesia navigating on slow connections will soon be served streamlined versions of websites that load four times faster and consume 80 percent less data than normal versions.
Here’s how it works: when detecting a 2G or other slow connection, Google will automatically serve a stripped down version of the website that the user requests. This process is called “transcoding” and happens on the fly, without requiring any modification from the website’s behalf.
The approach resembles a bit what Opera Mini does with its data compression service. But Google goes deeper by optimizing the websites and stripping off non-essential content. Ads are also removed, though Google will preserve ads from its own AdSense and a few other networks.
Not every website can be transcoded; large sites, like video sites, any site that uses cookies, and any site that is “technically challenging” are excluded.
Webmasters can opt out from the program, and users can click on a link at the top of the page to get the regular version.
Google claims that transcoding speeds up page loading by up to four times, reduces data consumption by 80 percent, and increases page views by 50 percent. After all, users will browse a whole lot more if the experience is faster and smoother.
Google will begin field testing the feature later this month in Indonesia, for users running Chrome or the Android browser on Android 2.3 or higher. Only mobile users using slow connections will see the optimized pages.
There’s no information on the program expanding to other markets for now. Would you be interested in something like this in your own country?
AIVAnet 