Charter is reportedly close to buying Time Warner Cable
Charter’s interest in buying Time Warner Cable appears to be more than just a passing fancy. Bloomberg sources claim that the cable company is on the cusp of reaching a deal to buy TWC for $195 per share. The finer details of the buyout aren’t available, but Charter would fold both its new acquisition and Bright House into a single mega-entity. Reportedly, Charter could announce the purchase as early as Tuesday — if so, it’s not wasting much time following Comcast’s failed TWC deal.
Neither side is commenting on the rumor. However, a hasty buyout suggests that Charter is determined to challenge the biggest US telecom giants. The real question is whether or not regulators will be any more favorable to this attempt at snapping up TWC. Charter isn’t as big as Comcast, but an acquisition would still reduce the number of big competitors and give the remaining rivals more sway when negotiating TV and internet deals.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Bloomberg
Deal: Pay what you want for 4 different courses in the Game Design Course Bundle
Are you trying to start a career in video game design, but aren’t sure where to begin? Getting a start on your career shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, and that’s why you might want to check out the Game Design Course Bundle in the AA Deals Store.
Offering over 115 hours of game design and developer training, this bundle consists of almost $800 worth of online courses. The best part? You can pay whatever amount of money you’d like for all four courses. As long as you beat the average price (currently $8.25), you’ll get instant access to all four applications. Here’s what you’ll get when you beat the average price:
- Engage Your Customers w/ Gamification Course – Understand Engagement Science & Gamification w/ 29 Lectures ($49 value)
- Learn To Craft “Hand-Painted” Textures Course – Use Classic Hand-Painted Texturing & Make Superior Game Props ($49 value)
- Make Real Games: Become a Unity 3D Power User Course – Master Unity 3D w/ 105 Lectures + 19 Hours of Content ($299 value)
- Professional Video Game Art School Course – 83 Hours of Software Training + 2D/3D Drawing Techniques ($399 value)
It really couldn’t be any easier to kickstart your career! If you’re interested, head to the Android Authority Deals Store link below.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 review: Living unlocked doesn’t mean compromising
Unlocked or locked? That is the question that millions of people have to ask themselves when purchasing a new phone. The biggest factor, and it’s no surprise, is cost. Take a look at any of the latest flagship phones on the market today. The majority of them cost more than $500. The last two years, though, have seen off-contract prices of phones dramatically fall. Now it takes only a few hundred dollars to bring home a phone that is capable of very much. Alcatel OneTouch, a brand underneath TCL Communication, believes to have met a premium experience with an affordable price for everyone with the new Idol 3.
The Idol 3 is touted by Alcatel OneTouch for its ‘3-in-1 experience’ that centers on the display, camera, and sound. The company is not wrong for doing so because those are three areas that consumers look at when purchasing a new phone. Does it look good? Can I take clear photographs? Are the speakers loud? Alcatel OneTouch says yes.
We have our own take on those questions and more regarding the Idol 3. Hit the break for the full review.
Design
The glass on the front of the Idol 3 sits atop the phone’s body, so you will notice that it’s slightly raised from the rest of the phone. The upper and lower portions of the front have the speakers. Aside from the front-facing camera, you would never know which way the Idol 3 is being held.
The Idol 3 measures 157 x 75.14 x 7.4mm and weighs 140.7g. Those numbers position the Idol 3 as thinner and lighter than the OnePlus One, another 5.5-inch phone that seems to be Alcatel OneTouch’s biggest competitor. Not once did I think about the phone’s weight. The height of the Idol 3 did make one-handed use difficult but manageable.
The rear has a dark slate color with what looks to be a brushed aluminum finish. No, a brushed aluminum finish is not actually there. That would make the Idol 3 too expensive to be a viable unlocked option. The rear is plastic just like the rest of the phone’s body. Although it does not suffer from ‘flexing’ seen with other plastic devices, the Idol 3 is slippery.
Two ports, one for the audio jack and one for micro-USB charging, are split between the top and bottom of the phone, respectively. In my opinion, audio jacks should not be on top of a phone because any connected wires easily make it uncomfortable to hold. The only two buttons on the Idol 3 also frustrated me because the layout goes against just about all other phones. The two volume buttons are on the right side but the power button sits on the left. Also, both are positioned very high. Buttons need to be reached comfortably on a phone with a 5.5-inch display.
Hardware
The Idol 3 features a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920×1080) Technicolor IPS display (400 ppi), a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615, Adreno 405, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD card slot for up to an additional 128GB of storage, 13MP rear camera, 8MP front camera, dual front-facing speakers, 2910mAh battery (non-removable), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.1.
Bands:
GSM Quad (850, 900, 1800, 1900)
UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 1900, 2100, 1700)
4G LTE (2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17)
Performance
Normally, a flagship phone in the United States would have a processor belonging to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series. The Idol 3, despite being Alcatel OneTouch’s flagship, instead has the Snapdragon 615 inside. Here, we have eight cores based on 64-bit architecture and Qualcomm designed it to be energy efficient. This processor is no slouch either. I found it to run at the same pace, maybe better or worse at times, as my HTC One (M8) when launching apps, multitasking, or calling upon Google Now. The Idol 3 pleasantly surprised me with running games, especially ones that are complex. I installed Mortal Combat X and it ran smoothly on the Idol 3 without any hiccups. While load times were a bit long, animations refused to stutter and graphics were sharp. I assume the 2GB of RAM does its job very well.
The 5.5-inch display of the Idol 3 presents itself clearly with Full HD (1920×1080) resolution. However, the Idol 3 does not have a display as dense as the Samsung Galaxy S6 or HTC One M9 because its pixels per inch count comes in at 400. The other two phones have 577 and 441 pixels per inch, respectively. Can our eyes really distinguish a difference between all of those pixels? Not really. Pixels per inch has quickly become another item of the spec sheet for companies to try and one-up each other.
The best part of the display is how vivid and vibrant it is. The Idol 3 has Technicolor Color Enhance technology. Terms like that are sometimes marketing ploys but the Idol 3’s display made my One (M8) look cold and dim. The display was leaps and bounds more visible in direct sunlight, too. And remember, this is an LCD display we are talking about. They typically fall short of AMOLED displays in outdoor tests. Outdoor performance of the Idol 3’s display was excellent.
Just like the last three flagship phones released by HTC, the Idol 3 has dual front-facing speakers. Through the years, HTC worked with Beats and Dolby to provide powerful stereo speakers. Alcatel OneTouch enlisted JBL Audio for its own dual front-facing speakers. Compared to the One (M8), the Idol 3’s speakers are louder but slightly less crisp. Alcatel OneTouch has solid viewing experience on the Idol 3 due to the execution of the display and speakers. The included earphones are also fine-tuned with JBL/Harman technology.
Battery
The Idol 3 does not operate as a power-hungry phone by not having a Quad HD (2560×1440) display or beastly processor. The non-removable 2910mAh battery serves well by having the Idol 3 powered from morning to night without worry even on just a 4G LTE connection, based on use that ranges from monitoring Twitter to exchanging emails and Hangouts messages to browsing Google Maps throughout the day. With heavier use, of course battery life gets a bit more squeezed. Expect battery life to be greatly extended when the Idol 3 has a hold of a WiFi connection. I found myself using the Idol 3 into the next day before needing its charger.
Software
The phone’s software has been customized only slightly with Android 5.0.2 running at the core. Alcatel OneTouch made very few changes to how the operating system looks and functions. The lock screen and manufacturer-made apps are the only places where you would question it not being a stock Android experience. Alcatel OneTouch went for a very simple experience rather than throwing everything at users like Samsung and LG do.
An extremely thoughtful touch, one that I am amazed with, is the tailoring of apps to align with Material Design. Practically all of the apps that Alcatel OneTouch made itself (20+) match Google’s vision for Android. It elevates the user experience with the Idol 3 because everything feels connected. Congratulations to Alcatel OneTouch for doing something that seemingly no one else cares to do.
The software takes advantage of the look by offering a ‘Reversible’ toggle. When activated, the Idol 3 can be used if it were rotated 180°. It flips content on the display and phone calls work in this mode as well. So, actually, there is no way that one can be told that they are holding the Idol 3 incorrectly.
Any software updates for the Idol 3 will come directly from Alcatel OneTouch. There are no carriers present to act as a middleman since this is an unlocked phone. Because not many people are aware of Alcatel OneTouch’s handling of software updates, the company provided the following statement:
“We’re committed to ensuring that we always have the very best user experience possible and plan to have IDOL 3 software updates available to consumers via over-the-air updates. Timing on these updates will be on a rolling basis as needed.”
Alcatel OneTouch included some pre-installed software from third-party developers, but doing so lowered the cost of the Idol 3. The pre-installed software includes Adobe Acrobat, AVG AntiVirus Pro, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Facetune (Lite), Flipboard, Twitter, WhatsApp, and WPS Office. Did I mention that all ten can be uninstalled? Yes, any of those apps can be removed if you have no use for them. That leaves software from Alcatel OneTouch and Google left.
Camera
The camera snaps photographs quickly and, in proper lightly, the results are decent. Outside, the Idol 3’s 13MP camera, which uses a Sony IMX214 sensor, produces images that are worth sharing. Enter a low-light setting and pretty much any hope of a quality photo is gone. The Idol 3’s flash somewhat improves things. The issue is that images look grainy and washed out, the lack of optical image stabilization does not help.
The front-facing camera of 8MP takes selfies of standard quality that we have seen from other phones.
There are various modes included: Auto, HDR, Pano, Manual, Time-lapse, Scanner (for QR codes), Face Beauty. The photos below were all taken with Auto.
Outdoors
Low-light
Closing
The Idol 3 is a very appealing option for people seeking to live unlocked. The phone’s display, camera, and sound are unrivaled in the sub-$300 market. The display is vivid and bright, the camera can pull off decent outdoor shots, and the sound cannot go unheard. Alcatel OneTouch did not need the help of a carrier to subsidize the cost of the Idol 3. That’s impressive because I never felt like I made any compromises were made. While the phone is not priced as high as the OnePlus One ($299) or Moto X ($399), the Idol 3 undercuts them at $249 and specifications are competitive. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 makes it possible to get an affordable unlocked phone that does not feel like you settled.
Come comment on this article: Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 review: Living unlocked doesn’t mean compromising
Livescribe 3 review
Livescribe 3 Smartpen
As a writer, I find myself writing something here, jotting some notes over there, just basically writing on anything that is on hand. Then I have to remember where I jotted my notes down and decide on whether or not I want to make a digital copy of them for my digital archives. I am sure that I am not the only one that goes through those mental excursions (what, I am? Hm…) Well, I had accepted my fate of just having to write everything down and then typing it up when I had time until I got an email from the uber friendly people over at Livescribe. They informed me that their Livescribe 3 software was coming to Android and that it would be released soon. That was all I needed to hear to know that I had to try it out for myself. So, without further adieu, here is my review for the Livescribe 3 digital pen.
Design
The Livescribe 3 from initial impressions does not really have much to differentiate it from its not tech-infused siblings. It’s not until further inspections that you are able to see the small changes. Starting from the top, you are greeted with a rubber nub that serves as the contact point for the stylus aspect of the Livescribe 3. It’s a bit bulky, so you won’t be creating the next Mona Lisa anytime soon, but it still functions well if you are just tired of using your hands and want to use something else to input information on your device. The rubber tip also serves as a cap, as the USB port and reset button are located under it. Moving on down, in the middle of the pen, is the rotating button that turns the Livescribe 3 on and off. Move it to the right, it turns on, left, off. It also serves as the switch mechanism that makes the actual ballpoint pen nib retract.
Functionality
Well, now that we have the design out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. To be able to use the Livescribe pen with your Android-powered device, you are going to need to download two apps from the play store. One of them contains the software to connect the pen to the device while the other contains the actual features. Such as the digital notepad. After you have those downloaded, you are ready to get started with using the Livescribe 3 pen.
This is where my only gripe with the Livescribe 3 comes in. Getting it to connect with my Droid Turbo was a hassle. I turned it on by rotating the middle switch and then I opened the Livescribe + app on my smartphone. I followed the onscreen prompts asking if I wanted to pair the Livescribe with my smartphone but whenever I would click on yes, it would just sit there. That went on for about five minutes before it finally connected. After it did, it needed a firmware update that took about 10 to 15 minutes. After the firmware finally updated, the Livescribe disconnected from my device and it took another 5 minutes to reconnect. This was more of a hassle than I was expecting, but I am sure Livescribe will have some future updates that should make this problem disappear. In the meantime though, you should take note that there will be some connectivity issues.
After the Livescribe finally connected with my Turbo, I was good to go. I opened up the app on my smartphone and I was ready to get going. I started writing down some random thoughts on the official Livescribe notepad, which you will need to make the Livescribe work. Text registered almost immediately on the app, and I was surprised just how well it worked. I did not random doodles as well, to see if it would pick them up and it did. After you start writing things down, you can create digital notebook on the app to organize all of your writing.
Final Thoughts
Minus the issues with software and connectivity, the Livescribe 3 is a neat tool that would be a welcome addition to any writer’s desk. Due to the fact that the main issues with the Livescribe 3 are software propose, so easily fixed with some future updates, you should definitely consider getting one for the sheer pleasure of writing something down and seeing it digitized on your smartphone.
The post Livescribe 3 review appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Privatoria Personal VPN: 3-Yr Subscription, $39
Online security has always been a concern for most people but with the growing number of attacks, leaks and controversy surrounding digital privacy, we’re reaching new heights. Depending on the sensitivity of the information, having your data breached can range from infuriating to life-threatening. If you’re concerned about the integrity of your connection, and you should be, a personal VPN may be worth considering. Privatoria is running a terrific deal that safely and easily encrypts your activity without the need for a master’s degree in computer science.
One of the simplest and safest ways of staying secure online, Privatoria obscures your IP by connecting you to encrypted servers across the world. Not only does that mean your credit card information stays safe but you’ll also enjoy the benefit of unlocking geo-restricted websites (such as Netflix). Privatoria also offers a James Bond-esque self-destructing file transfer service which sees your content swallow a digital cyanide capsule if compromised. Pretty cool, right?
You might expect to pay hundreds of bucks for online security but Privatoria is offering a three-year subscription to AndroidGuys readers for just $39.
See more at deals.androidguys.com
The post Privatoria Personal VPN: 3-Yr Subscription, $39 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
How to Calibrate Apple Watch for a More Accurate Offline Workout [iOS Blog]
Apple Watch tracks your movement and heart rate. It uses that information in conjunction with your gender, height, age, and weight to estimate how many calories you burn during daily movement, including light strolls and dedicated workouts.
However, Apple Watch needs proper calibration to get the most accurate reading of your movement and heart rate, which is used to help determine distance and pace measurements when you are walking or running without your iPhone, or while using a treadmill.
Calibration is fairly easy and takes about 20 minutes of exercise. For this purpose, you will need both your iPhone and your Apple Watch. After calibrating, you won’t need to bring your iPhone on walks or runs anymore.
Read more 
The Big Picture: NASA images typhoon eye in stunning detail
NASA’s CloudSat has imaged the eye of a category 4 typhoon, a feat the space agency likened to a “golfer hitting a hole in one.” Its cloud-penetrating radar has a field of view of just .5 square miles, making it a challenge to zone in on such a tiny, fast-moving target. The pass produced an accurate cross-second of the eye, as shown in the lower part of the image above. Researchers from Colorado State University also combined the data with Japan’s MTSTAT infrared satellite to create a full 3D cross-section (below). CloudSat provides valuable wind data to forecasters, and is also helping scientists build more accurate climate models to better predict the effects of global warming.
Filed under: Science
Via: Gizmodo
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
Microsoft OneClip is a cross-platform cloud clipboard app
Continuing with its new focus on a cross-platform strategy, Microsoft is developing a new productivity tool called OneClip. It’s a cloud clipboard application that allows for easy copy and pasting of data between devices, regardless of their operating system.
OneClip is a universal clipboard app that can be installed onto multiple devices across a variety of platforms. Once installed, users can retrieve items copied to their online clipboard using the application. To pair the apps, you will have to enter a randomly generated number onto each device before data is synced up. The process is always on in the background, so you won’t have to manually copy data in and out of different app screens unless you want an older file.
The app works with text, images, phone numbers and even web clippings, among others, and can be organized by different categories. Content refreshing is done automatically at regular intervals, but can be forced manually if required. OneClip stores a history of your copied items, not just your last copy, and these can also be deleted from all your synced devices, if so required.
We’re not sure about an exact launch date for Android just yet, but OneClip is said to be heading to Android, Windows, Windows Phone, and iOS once it finishes its current stint in an internal closed beta.
Roman Nurik’s “FORM” Watchface mashes APKs together for customizable watchface
While the Android watchface scene is as old as the Android Wear platform itself, it wasn’t until late last year that the official Android Wear watchface API was launched. Since then, we’ve seen the AW watchface market explode with options, and now you can add one more to the list. FORM is a new WatchFace by none other than Roman Nurik, the man best known for the creation of the Muzei Live Wallpaper app.
While Muzei itself already contained support for Android Wear, providing a basic watchface, the new FORM WatchFace takes things a step forward. At first glance, it is an ordinary watch face utilizing a new (ironically somewhat hard to read…) typeface created for the FORM 2014 conference, but underneath lies Meizu integration that can mash together five different APKs to create a customizable watchface experience.
What does that mean exactly? In short, the code behind FORM lets a watch show off whatever wallpaper is currently on the phone, all while using a custom watch face that sits on top of the wallpaper — provided the watch face developer adds Muzei support. Here’s a rundown of the five apps/APKs involved in the process, for those looking for a bit more detail:
- The FORM watch face app, installed on the watch. It gets the latest Muzei artwork using the content provider described in #3 below.
- The FORM watch face configuration app, installed on the phone. There’s no icon for it in the app launcher, but if you press the settings cog for FORM inside the Android Wear app on the phone, this is the app you’ll see. It lets you change the watch face theme from your phone, communicating changes to the watch over Bluetooth.
- The Muzei watch app (built by the amazing Ian Lake), which contains a content provider that exposes the latest Muzei artwork to other apps on the watch, along with a very simple additional Muzei watch face.
- The Muzei phone app, which provides a wallpaper for your phone, and sends a downscaled version of the latest artwork to the Muzei watch app over Bluetooth. Like the watch app, it also offers a content provider exposing the latest artwork to other apps on the phone.
- The Muzei HD Landscapes art source, one of many art sources for Muzei available on Google Play and built with the Muzei Art Source AP
For developers interested in bringing similar capability to their own watchfaces, the source code can be found on GitHub. If you simply want to try out the watchface, you’ll want to head over to Google Play.
Deal: Kingston 16, 32, and 64GB microSD cards are up to 69% off on Amazon
If you’re looking to expand your smartphone’s or tablet’s storage space on the cheap, Amazon has Kingston microSD cards going for 60 to 69 percent off their list price.
These are 30MB/s class 10 microSD cards with adapters, with an average review score of 4.4 stars across hundreds of reviews. This promo is not as good as the Gold Box deal from last week, but it’s very close. Check it out:
- Kingston Digital 16 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $7.99 (69%)
- Kingston Digital 32 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $13.49 (66%)
- Kingston Digital 64 GB microSD Class 10 UHS-1 30MB/s with Adapter for $ 49 (60%)
Happy shopping!
AIVAnet 