Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 specs leaked on TENAA
In further light of rumours, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 has been spotted at China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center (TENAA). The bold successor of last year’s Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 has been labeled with the model number SM-T715C.
Reportedly, it features an 8.0 inch AMOLED display spanning 2048 × 1536 pixels with a 4:3 aspect ratio with dimensions of 198.2 × 134.5 × 5.4 (mm). Weighing at just 260 grams and 5.4 mm thin, the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 could well be the thinnest tablet on the market.
Talking about hardware specs, it looks to run on a 1.9GHz octa-core CPU (probably an Exynos 7420), 3GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal memory (expandable up to a 128GB). It sports an 8MP main shooter and a 2MP front-facing camera. Connectivity wise, the tablet shows support for LTE networks.
According to the certification, the Galaxy Tab S 2.0 runs on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop but we can likely expect Android M (or whatever it will be called) at the time of launch. Of course nothing can be said until Samsung officially announces it. We can expect it to be available in two screen sizes of 8.0 and 9.7 inches later this year.
Check out the image gallery below. It might not look like much in the images, but then again we know devices look much better in reality than in TENAA’s pictures.
The post Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 specs leaked on TENAA appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Amazon’s Fire HD Kids Edition tablet is available to pre-order in the UK from £119
Amazon launched its Fire HD Kids Edition tablet in the U.S. last year September, and now the global retailer has decided to finally launch the kid-friendly 6-inch tablet in the UK. Amazon has bundled a protective case, two-year ‘Worry-Free’ guarantee and 1 year’s subscription to its Fire for Kids Unlimited service with the tablet.
The Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition tablet is available to pre-order from Amazon themselves or the UK retailer, Argos, for £119 for the 8GB model. The 16GB version will set you back £139. Amazon has said orders will begin shipping from June 18th. So, what will you be getting for your £119/£139?
Specifications:
- 6-Inch IPS display; 1280 x 720 resolution and 252ppi
- Quad-core processor. 2 cores @ 1.5GHz and 2 cores @ 1.2GHz
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB/16GB internal storage
- WiFi b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.0 LE
- 3.5mm Audio jack
- 2MP Rear-facing camera
- VGA Front-facing camera
- 8 Hour battery life
Being a tablet aimed at being used by kids, one would think that there’s going to be a few mishaps with the device, either being dropped or submerged in water, maybe even being sat or stood on. Luckily, the Fire HD Kids Edition tablet comes with a pre-installed protective case that looks like it can withstand a fair amount of abuse. And if that isn’t enough, the 2-year ‘Worry-Free‘ guarantee covers the tablet for any mishaps, all you have to do is return the tablet and Amazon will replace it for free.
Amazon has also included a 1-year subscription to its Fire for Kids Unlimited service, offering content for 3-10 year olds ranging from apps, books, videos and games. Yes, it even has educational games.
Source: Amazon
Full Press Release:
Fire HD Kids Edition—the kids tablet that has it all, including the first-ever 2-year worry-free guarantee—now available in the United Kingdom
Unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if anything happens, return it and we’ll replace it for free—no questions asked
A real tablet, not a toy—a quad core processor for powerful performance, a vivid HD display, front and rear-facing cameras, Dolby Digital Audio, and access to Amazon’s world-class content ecosystem
Don’t worry about the bill—comes with the content kids love at no additional charge—thousands of books, videos, educational apps, and games in Fire for Kids Unlimited
Luxembourg—3rd June, 2015—Amazon today announced Fire HD Kids Edition, its first tablet built from the ground up for kids (and their parents) is now available in the United Kingdom. Fire HD Kids Edition is built around three ideas:
Despite best intentions, kids break things—Fire HD Kids Edition has an unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if they break it, return it and we’ll replace it. No questions asked.
Parents don’t want to worry about the bill—Fire HD Kids Edition includes a year of Fire for Kids Unlimited so kids get unlimited access to thousands of books, videos, educational apps, and games—at no additional cost.
Kids want a real tablet, not a toy—the Kids Edition features a quad-core processor, a vivid HD display, front and rear-facing cameras, Dolby Digital audio, and access to Amazon’s world-class content ecosystem of over 33 million songs, apps, games, movies, TV shows, books and more.
Fire HD Kids Edition is £119 with 8GB of memory and £139 with 16GB of memory, and is available for pre-order today at http://www.amazon.co.uk/kids-edition-tablet.
“Fire HD Kids Edition offers the best of both worlds for parents and kids,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, Amazon Devices EU. “With the 2-year, no-questions-asked, worry-free guarantee, and Fire for Kids parental controls, parents can rest assured that the device is well protected and that they’ll never be surprised by a bill, unwanted ads or social media posts. And, with a year of the Fire for Kids Unlimited subscription, kids can choose from thousands of books, videos, educational apps, and games – including many classics and favourites.”
Fire HD Kids Edition includes a year of Fire for Kids Unlimited, Amazon’s all-in-one subscription that brings together all the content that kids and parents love—books, videos, educational apps, and games. Fire for Kids Unlimited has the content kids want, including favourite characters like Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Avengers, Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, The Penguins of Madagascar, Shaun the Sheep, and many more.
Fire HD Kids Edition also comes with Fire for Kids, which offers innovative parental controls that encourage learning before play and that help manage screen time. With Fire for Kids, parents select all of the content their kids can see, and parents can limit kids’ screen time by content type—for example, they may choose to limit videos and games, but make reading time unlimited. Fire for Kids blocks stores and in-app payments, so parents don’t have to worry about additional expenses, and blocks unwanted advertisements and access to social media.
Dave Miles, European Director of the Family Online Safety Institute, the leading not-for-profit for guiding parents on how to use technology in their families, said: “We are excited to see this product released in the UK and commend Amazon for its efforts in building something with parents’ needs and safety in mind. Amazon’s attention to parental controls and the screen time balance makes Fire for Kids an ideal service to help families while teaching their children to use technology responsibly.”
Fire HD Kids Edition is just £119 with 8GB of memory and £139 with 16GB of memory, and is available for pre-order today at http://www.amazon.co.uk/kids-edition-tablet. It will start shipping to customers on 18th June and will also be available for purchase from Argos and http://www.argos.co.uk.
Come comment on this article: Amazon’s Fire HD Kids Edition tablet is available to pre-order in the UK from £119
Synaptics’ touch-sensitive space bar speeds up your writing
Your smartphone’s keyboard has loads of shortcuts that help you write faster, but the keyboard on your big, brawny PC doesn’t. Seems illogical, doesn’t it? Synaptics doesn’t think it makes sense, either. The input firm is launching SmartBar, a technology that turns your keyboard’s space bar into a touch-sensitive surface for gesture controls. You can swipe your thumb to select text, pinch to zoom in and program five “logical buttons” that perform macros, such as formatting text or building units in a favorite real-time strategy game. This might only save you a couple of seconds reaching for your mouse, but Synaptics is betting that those little time savings will add up.
Just how soon you’ll get SmartBar depends on your hardware tastes. Thermaltake’s gaming-focused Tt eSports badge has already committed to using this touch-savvy key, but it’s not certain whether there will be a lot of additional support. It could take a while before you can get a SmartBar-equipped keyboard that’s suitable for the office, folks. Still, don’t be surprised if you soon find yourself finishing reports (and slaying monsters) just that little bit faster.
[Top image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Desktops, Peripherals
Source: Synaptics
‘Skylanders SuperChargers’ takes to the skies, streets and sea
Imagine Mario Kart, Looney Tunes and Top Gear got together to plan a wild, rockin’ birthday party for a 9-year-old. The result would probably resemble Skylanders SuperChargers, the latest game from Activision and Vicarious Visions, due to launch in North America on September 20th for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and iPad. This is the first Skylanders game to feature vehicles in its toys-to-life lineup — and we’re not just talking cars.
SuperChargers takes to the land, air and sea with 20 vehicles and 20 characters, although of course most of these will be sold separately. The SuperChargers Starter Pack ($75) comes with two characters, one car and a portal, and that’s all you’ll need to complete the main game. The rest of the game, with action-packed water tracks and cloud-streaked midair passages, looks so intriguing that players and parents alike will most likely be tempted to splurge on additional planes and submarines. Standalone vehicles cost $15, while characters are $13. As a bonus, though, every existing Skylanders figure will work with SuperChargers.
Players can use any character with any vehicle they wish, but each car, plane and boat has a corresponding driver. When that character is behind the wheel, the vehicle gets special upgrades, such as more firepower or unique attacks. Plus, they look pretty cool together: The bird character Stormblade, for example, has silver-blue plumage and sharp-tipped feathers with wavy, aerodynamic details. SkySlicer, Stormblade’s paired jet, features a similar aesthetic, almost as if it were her custom helmet enlarged 50 times over.
SuperChargers pits players against series antagonist Kaos and his “Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction,” which eats the sky. Considering the game plays out in a place called Skylands, that’s a fairly big deal. A few former Skylanders characters show up in SuperChargers, with some modifications — Super Shot Stealth Elf, for example, is a new twist on the classic figure, adding a new weapon and the ability to lay down an auto-attacking turret as she goes invisible. She’s one of the Starter Pack characters, alongside newcomer Spitfire and his paired car, Hot Streak.
At first glance, the car portion of SuperChargers looks eerily similar to other cartoonish racing games, most notably Mario Kart. There are winding tracks with collectables and speed boosts along the way, and players are able to drift around tight corners or between obstacles. Speeding down streets in the sky isn’t the only option here, though — there are also mini battle arenas where players must maneuver their cars to shoot down enemies and figure out laser-based puzzles to move forward.
The game also features secret side-tracks lining the streets — and then there are the non-road areas. These are technically side quests, not necessary to finish the game, but impossible for any completionist to ignore. Plus, they look like the most innovative portions of the game. Flying features a lot of swerving, shooting and weaving, but the game’s true newness comes in with the water sections.
Each seafaring vessel is able to dive below the water’s surface, so there are technically two tracks for every boat level: one on the water and one underneath. One of the boat-based boss battles, using the Dive Bomber submarine figure, features a circular pool with a wave-making machine in the middle and dozens of enemies scattered around it. Players have to dive beneath the water to dodge attacks and get some air by ramping off of waves at the right times. Eventually, players dive directly beneath enemies so that the boss’ shots take out the baddies for them. It’s all hectic and complex, and it looks like a solid culmination of many different skills picked up throughout the game.
SuperChargers is a big game with new features (aside from the jets and subs), including one level that takes place on the back of a dragon, a top-down flying section, a 2D submerged area and a portion with a shrink-and-grow ray. Plus, players can customize their vehicles on the fly by picking up spare parts along the levels.
Oh, and since it’s a video game featuring cars, planes and boats, we asked Activision the obvious question: Will there be racing?
“Where would your mind go?” a developer responded, while literally stroking his beard as if in deep thought. Our minds go to, “Yes.”
[Images credit: Activision]
Intel wants you to stop hating meetings
The worst part about meetings isn’t showing off your new presentation, it’s how difficult it is to get your computer screen to show up on the TV. At Computex, Intel introduced its real-time collaboration solution Unite to remove some of the headaches associated with sharing presentations. The system uses a secure WiFi connection with a rotating PIN to connect to a Core vPro processor-powered mini PC connected to an office’s display. Attendees download and install a lightweight client on their Mac or Windows machine and can share their desktop, annotate shared presentations and view up four attendee’s screens at once. It’s a pretty straight forward solution. It makes meetings start quicker and gives attendees the ability to work together on a single presentation. But, it’s the upcoming extensibility that could convince your IT department to drop your current solution for Unite.
Intel will release reference plugins in the next 30 days that will add additional functions to the Unite platform including a Skype plugin that can be used to make the collaborative meeting system into a teleconferencing system. These reference plugins will coincide with the release of a Unite SDK for third-party developers. The upcoming reference plugins will also include a way to control a room’s lighting and a telepresence solution. But Intel is keen to see what the community builds for the platform.
A low-cost platform (roughly $700 with a computer according to Intel) that’s already available for large IT departments. Intel VP of Business Client Platform Division Tom Garrison noted that those departments will be able to deploy updates to all devices running Unite just like any other PC on a network. For small businesses looking for a meeting solution, a version for them will be available in 30 days.
Filed under: Wireless, Networking, Intel
Source: Intel
Fallout 4 is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC
In the four-plus years since Fallout: New Vegas was released, gamers have been waiting for Bethesda to confirm the next title in the super-popular franchise. The company had us salivating when it dropped a new 24-hour counter on its website yesterday, but even before the timer has reached its conclusion, we finally have confirmation of the next instalment: it’ll be called Fallout 4 and it’s coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Details are scarce but it appears that that Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop will begin accepting pre-orders, most likely from today. We can expect more news at 10AM ET when the game’s teaser site goes live, showing us the first official trailer and what we can expect to see at Bethesda’s E3 showcase on June 14th.
Another screencap from Fallout 4, this one’s a bit more high res (thanks @DigDugg89) pic.twitter.com/pQXptWtyWC
– Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 3, 2015
Source: Fallout 4
Metromile’s Tag uses Apple iBeacon tech to track your driving
For almost three years now, Metromile has offered a pay-per-mile insurance service that tracked your trips via an OBD-II reader (a device that plugs into your car’s data port) called the Pulse which also provided other useful info like your mileage, parked location and fuel costs. Today, Metromile has unveiled the Tag, a wireless device that uses Apple’s iBeacon tech to do almost the same thing. Instead of plugging into that aforementioned OBD-II port — which is in every car built and sold in the US since 1996 — the Tag can be placed anywhere in your vehicle. It then communicates that same car and trip info to your phone over Bluetooth LE (which does mean that both the Tag and your phone needs to be in close proximity in order for it to work).
The accompanying Metromile app — available on both iOS and Android — will then let you do things that you could already do with the OBD-II reader. You can figure out the best commute times, find a parked location and track your mileage. In select markets like San Francisco and Chicago, you can also get street cleaning alerts. The only thing that the Tag can’t do is get a vehicle health report, as that still requires direct access to the car’s computer. And yes, the Tag is available for free, to both customers and non-customers alike. The catch? If you want to sign up for Metromile’s pay-per-mile insurance, you still have to use that regular ol’ OBD-II reader.
But if all you want is some insight into your car’s performance, then it couldn’t hurt to try the Tag out. After all, it’s one of the first consumer implementations of iBeacon we’ve seen outside of airports, retail stores and baseball parks. It should be available today for folks in California, Oregon, Illinois and Washington State, with further expansion slated for later this year.
Filed under: Transportation, Apple
Source: Metromile
The Big Picture: Google wants to build a futuristic see-through dome
The curious structure above blanketed with transparent, undulating glass isn’t someone’s concept of a futuristic high-tech habitat on another planet. It’s actually Google’s latest design for the dome it plans to build on the 18.6 acres of land it’s leasing from the government right across its headquarters. The four-story 595,000 sq. ft. edifice is called Charleston East, because the company wants to build it right next to Charleston Park. According to the application Google has recently submitted to Mountain View’s local government, it will house not only offices, but also a 72,000 sq. ft. of space for retail shops and amenities, as well as underground parking.
You’re not having a déjà vu, by the way: Google really did release concept art for other transparent structures earlier this year. The tech corp was aiming to create a complex of four see-through facilities on 2.2 million sq. ft. of commercial land available for lease at the time in Mountain View’s North Bayshore district. Unfortunately, the local government gave another tech company, LinkedIn, most of the space (1.4 million sq. ft.), leaving Google with a measly 515,000 sq. ft. Google hasn’t announced its new plans for that area yet, since it obviously won’t be able to fit a modern campus right out of a sci-fi movie. But it clearly knows what it wants to do Charleston East, which will become the company’s campus extension if it passes the city’s review process.
Source: City of Mountain View, Silicon Valley Business Journal
Galaxy Note 4 beats iPhone 6 for customer satisfaction
Owners of the Galaxy Note 4 are the most satisfied consumers according to a new survey conducted by the American Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The latest survey from ACSI reveals that the Galaxy Note 4 tops the chart with 86% customer satisfaction while the Galaxy Note 3 comes joint second with the iPhone 6 Plus, Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6.
The survey shows that customers using the Galaxy Note 4 – which was released in October last year – are the most satisfied and despite the handset being several months old, it still ticks all the boxes for customers. Interestingly, the top six positions in the survey are taken by either Samsung or Apple and these two companies top the list for manufacturers.
Looking past the top of the list, both Samsung and Apple still dominate but Motorola, HTC and LG all feature on the list as well. The omission of any Sony devices from the top of the satisfaction survey suggests that Sony’s devices – which are not widely available in the US – don’t satisfy customers as much as its rivals do. Given that Sony’s smartphone sales performance has been dwindling over the past 12 to 18 months, the satisfaction survey reveals that the company has a lot to do to keep the key US market satisfied.
Looking at the list of manufacturers, the swing between Samsung and Apple – resulting in both companies tying for the top spot – could be due to less than stellar Galaxy S5 sales and Apple finally delivering the bigger screen its customers have been asking for.
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Motorola‘s third spot shows that the company’s handsets – and in particular the Moto X, which can be customised to your specification through Moto Maker – offer the package that customers are looking for. BlackBerry‘s sales figures have also been steadily declining over the past few years but the company’s customers are the fourth most satisfied in the US.
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Moving past the top four and HTC and Nokia may not have sold as many devices as their rivals but they came fifth and sixth in the list respectively: for HTC at least it shows that customers certainly do enjoy its HTC One range and for Nokia, it shows that despite Windows Phone being a much smaller OS than Android and iOS, its customers are certainly satisfied.
It’s worth noting that none of the latest flagships – the LG G4, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and HTC One M9 – had been released to the market when the survey was conducted, hence why they do not make an appearance on the smartphone list. The next survey will reveal whether Samsung’s switch in design with its latest smartphones will deliver higher satisfaction than Apple’s handsets.
Samsung Galaxy E7 and E5 to be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop in Q3 2015
Samsung has been busy rolling out Android Lollipop to its high-end devices and now it looks like the company’s mid-rangers are in for the update treatment too. According to SamMobile, the Samsung Galaxy E5 and Galaxy E7 are scheduled for an Android 5.0 Lollipop update sometime in the third quarter of the year.
The Android 5.0 Lollipop update will include all of the Android features and changes found on Samsung high-end products and will also give the smartphones a bit of a face-lift, thanks to Material Design inspired elements found in the new Touchwiz. Speaking of which, Samsung’s latest iteration of its TouchWiz UI seems quite improved over previous versions, and the mid-range E5 and E7 could benefit greatly from Samsung’s performance optimizations. Although we will probably have to wait until Q3 2015 for the full list of changes heading to Samsung’s latest mid-rangers.
The Galaxy E5 and Galaxy E7 were launched by Samsung at the beginning of the year in India and have apparently been selling rather well in emerging markets. Although the handsets don’t pack in all of Samsung’s cutting edge high-end features, the E5 and E7 do include Ultra-Power Saving Mode, Private Mode and Multi screen software features, along with larger Super AMOLED displays and 5MP front facing “selfie” camera sensor hardware.
Although Google’s new Android M operating system will be close to its official release later in the year, it is promising to see that Samsung is intent on providing substantial updates for its full range of smartphones going forward. Perhaps Samsung could have been a little quicker, but Q3 isn’t that long to wait anymore.
AIVAnet 