Vodafone’s most powerful own-brand phone is great value at £125
Own-brand devices appear to be all the rage at the moment, or at least for two of the UK’s major carriers, they are. EE’s recently launched new smartphones, a tablet and a 4G action cam, while Vodafone too is yielding a steady stream of bespoke handsets and slates. And now, just as EE’s dipped its toe into the mid-range with its Harrier smartphone, Vodafone wades into the same waters with the Smart Ultra 6, its “most powerful” own-brander to date. Available from today, the mouthful of a phone is fronted by a 5.5-inch, 1080p display, with a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 humming away inside. For landscapes and selfies you’ve got 13- and 5-megapixel cameras, and in other key specs you’re looking at 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 3,000mAh battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop running the show. Not too shabby, considering the £125 pay-as-you-go price.
Vodafone’s really stepped up its game since releasing its first own-brand 4G phones. Last year’s Smart 4 Power, for example, was chunky and overpriced, whereas both the new Smart Ultra 6 and smaller Smart Prime 6 are more refined and attractively inexpensive. Now, the Ultra 6 isn’t the prettiest handset I’ve ever come across, but it’s not without its merits. The uniform, grey plastic that dominates the back and sides of the handset doesn’t come off as cheap, and in fact looks well suited to the device. The placement of the main camera lens and companion flash give the rear panel an iPhone 6 vibe, to the Ultra 6’s benefit, and the mirrored Vodafone logo fits nicely with the colour scheme. It’s also better executed than the mirrored logos EE’s coincidentally used on its latest phones. The blue glow emitted by the Android soft keys is also a nice visual touch, and is the calling card of Chinese manufacturer ZTE, which built the Ultra 6 for Vodafone using its own Blade S6 Plus handset as a reference point.
There’s more to be said about the design of the Smart Ultra 6 than its visual attributes. It’s a well-constructed, sturdy device, with a level of build quality that defies its bargain price. With microSD and nano-SIM trays tucked away on either side of the handset, there’s no need for a removable back panel, which means there’s one less seam to croak and warp under pressure. At 154 x 77 x 8.35mm, the Ultra 6 is a little big for my liking, and I find it slightly clumsy to use one-handed. It’s not uncomfortable to wield in general, thanks to its relatively slim profile, and those wanting 5.5 inches of screen real estate won’t feel like there’s an excess of phone ballooning around the large display.
The Smart Ultra 6 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop, and while there’s a handful of Vodafone bloatware apps pre-installed, you’re getting more or less the stock experience. The only real differences from pure Android are the odd rogue app, like the camera, which usurps Google’s version. The device’s 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 kicks out as much power as you realistically need. A few laps in Asphalt 8: Airborne and Real Racing 3 with no noticeable performance issues is testament to that, and in general usage, navigating the menus and jumping in and out of apps is just as fluid as on any Lollipop phone I’ve poked at.
Needless to say, the Smart Ultra 6 makes a good first impression, and at its price point, I can’t think of another handset that offers the same kind of value for money. EE’s Harrier, for example, is matched or bested by the Ultra 6 in every column on the spec sheet. And yet, the Harrier is £200 on pay-as-you-go, while the Ultra 6 is only £125. Vodafone will also give you a Smart Ultra 6 for free on contracts starting from £17. For comparison, the Harrier is free on contracts from £19 per month, and that plan includes double the amount of 4G data and minutes as Vodafone’s £17 per month tariff. So, there’s not much in it if you’re taking the contract route, but it’s hard to ignore the £75 discrepancy in pay-as-you-go pricing, especially when the Ultra 6 is better on paper in every area. With the Kestrel, EE showed Vodafone how affordable, own-brand phones should be done. This year, though, it’s EE that has some catching up to do.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Vodafone
Nokia will design and license phones in the future, says CEO
Following a series of rumors and refuting statements back in April, it turns out that Nokia will indeed end up designing smartphones again, according to CEO Rajeev Suri. Although exactly who the company will partner up with to manufacture its designs still remains to be seen.
Speaking in a recent interview, Suri stated that Nokia is looking for suitable partners and that the company would simply design a phone and then make the brand name and design available to others through a licensing scheme. This means that Nokia will be the brains behind its future branded smartphone(s), but it will be a third party manufacturer who ends up building and distributing the end product. This is basically what the company did when it launched the N1 Tablet back in November of last year, which was manufactured by Foxconn.
Although no operating systems were mentioned by name, we can probably safely assume that Nokia, and whoever its future hardware partners, would likely opt to use Google’s open-source, license free Android platform. As was the case with the Nokia N1.
“Microsoft makes mobile phones. We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license … Anybody who can improve the business in the long run is a good buyer.” – Nokia CEO, Rajeev Suri
The reason for the seemingly round-about root for releasing new products is partly due to the company’s contract with Microsoft. Nokia is prohibited from selling phones under its own name until the end of the year and from licensing out its brand for use with phones until Q3 2016. So although this recent news means that Nokia will be back in the picture, it likely won’t be until late next year at the very earliest. Speaking of Microsoft, several analysts expect that the company will write off all or part of the $7.2 billion that it paid for Nokia’s handset unit.
The Nokia N1 tablet.
Despite being temporarily locked out the consumer hardware market, Nokia has continued to do business in the broader telecommunications industry. In April, Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent to expand its important network equipment business and the company has been closing patent deals with a number of major players in the smartphone industry.
It will be a difficult climb back into the heart of the smartphone market for Nokia, but a licensing model could end up being the smartest way to get its brand back on the shelves in a relatively short space of time. Are you hopeful about a future Nokia smartphone? What would be on your wish list?
Rumour: Samsung to release the Galaxy Note 5 in August to avoid competing with new iPhone?
It’s the season for Galaxy Note 5 rumours, and along with this year’s handset sporting auto-ejecting S Pens, dual edges as well as a bigger display, we have rumours about the launch date of Samsung’s premier phablet. While the Samsung President, Jong-Kyun Shin, denied that the launch of the Note 5 would be brought forward to July, he never mentioned August, did he?
You can probably guess where today’s rumour is going. Basically, a news report out of Asia has said that the Note 5 will be brought forward to August in an attempt by Samsung to get to market before Apple releases its inevitable iPhone 6S/6S Plus smartphones. This has come about because Samsung is apparently in talks with Taiwanese carriers, allegedly to release the Note 5 in Taiwan earlier than usual in order to offset the impact of the iPhone launch.
The previously denied rumour intimated that the Note would be announced in July, this rumour says August. To be honest, it would be a shock if Samsung was to change the tradition of announcing the new edition of its Note range at the IFA in Berlin in September. A fair question would be, does the Note range have anything to fear from the iPhone?
Do you think that the Note 5 will eschew tradition and be announced earlier in August? I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this sort of rumour almost every time a new Samsung flagship is on the horizon, that it must be launched early or the iPhone 109S Super Plus will steal all of its sales. I would take a huge pinch, nay, a bag of salt with this rumour. I believe Samsung will stick with tradition and announce the new Note handset at the same time and place it does every year, the IFA in Berlin in September. But, I wouldn’t complain if it was released earlier than usual, would you?
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Would you want an Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone if it had these specs?
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 808. 3GB RAM. 5.4-inch Quad HD display. 18MP rear camera. I could easily be describing an upcoming Android flagship device, and in some ways I am, but the interesting thing about this particular device is that it’s rumoured to be a Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone. We first heard this rumour only a week ago, and we’ve now been treated to what could be this BlackBerry’s specification list. According to the rumour, this Android-powered Android device is codenamed “Venice” at BlackBerry, and although its spec list looks very Android (and actually pretty impressive), its hardware – which allegedly incorporates a sliding keyboard – screams BlackBerry.
In a lot of ways, an Android-powered BlackBerry device makes a lot of sense for BlackBerry – after all, if you can’t beat them, join them. BlackBerry still has a formidable corporate business presence, and even if they opted for a forked version of Android with all their own furnishings, it could signal a revival for the once great mobile company. We’ll have to see whether that pans out, and whether these rumours are true at all.
What do you think about an Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Would you want an Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone if it had these specs? appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Google, Microsoft join government’s disaster response program
People hit by storms and other disasters need more than food, clothes or shelter in the days following the unfortunate event. They also need access to working internet or cellular networks to find family and friends who (heaven forbid) might be missing or to get in touch with people who might be worried sick about them. Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hopes to supply the need for tech-savvy volunteers who can help out in those situations. That’s why it has launched the Tech Corps program and enlisted the help of several big-name companies in the industry, including Cisco Systems, Google, Intel and Microsoft.
These companies will not only provide volunteers with the skills to carry out tasks the Tech Corps needs to do, but also train others willing to help out. According to FEMA, the Tech Corps will be in charge of setting up temporary networks to bring back internet connectivity and enable telephone and radio communications in disaster areas. Some of the program partners have previous experience helping out in times of need, such as after the earthquakes in Nepal and Haiti, as well as during Hurricane Sandy. Hopefully, this initiative enables them to organize bigger disaster response operations.
According to Senator Ron Wyden, who first proposed the idea:
Tech Corps harnesses a deep well of technical expertise and private-sector manpower to make sure every resource is available immediately when disaster strikes. Information technology is often critical to saving lives, and this program ensures that red tape won’t stand in the way of volunteer experts who can stand up temporary cell networks and Wi-Fi solutions that are so important in disaster areas. I’m hopeful today’s partners are the first of many to sign up to work hand-in-hand with emergency responders to help craft more resilient and effective responses to future disasters.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Misc, Microsoft, Google
Source: FEMA
Timed exclusive games: Does anybody win?
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We recently found out that Fallout Shelter, recently crowned #1 game on the Apple App Store, would eventually be arriving on Android in a few months. I postulated that it was ridiculous that big developers were still delaying Android games after their iOS counterparts, but I completely forgot the possibility that Fallout Shelter might have timed exclusivity attached to it. Certainly, this isn’t the first time that this has happened, if true, though it often happens the same way: iOS game gets released, Android release comes months later. Which got me thinking about the question – timed exclusive games: Does anybody win?
Whether it’s a monetary bonus that’s offered to the developers, or some other assurance, we’re honestly baffled why this is still a thing. Sure, if you are Microsoft and Sony and you’re still trying to sell your relatively new game console hardware, that makes sense – however, if you are the two most established mobile platforms in the world and hardware is not really a question anymore (besides eking out percentage points of market share every year) and games aren’t a major selling point, it kind of stops making sense.
If you only release your game on one mobile platform, you’re potentially short-changing yourself of immediate profit – it’s not like users are going to flock to the other platform if they don’t release their game on that platform immediately. If you release your product on both platforms at the same time, you’re going to make more money right now. Is the amount of money Apple is offering Bethesda going to offset the loss of sales due to the delayed launch – possibly. However, one thing’s for sure: smartphones and tablets aren’t like game consoles – while they still polarize people, they are considerably more expensive than a game console, which really makes the notion of video game exclusivity on a mobile platform even more moot.
There’s perhaps only one scenario where this practice would make sense – if Apple were pushing the iPhone and iPad as a gaming platform. Is Apple selling Fallout Shelter as an iOS exclusive? No. And even if they were, what difference does it make? – after all, they’re only denying the other platform’s profit by a few months. Keep in mind that I’m not having a go at small development studios that can only afford to develop one game at a time. But when you’re backed by a huge publisher like Bethesda in the case of Fallout Shelter, that’s not really an excuse anymore.
The only reason I can see that either Apple or Google would bother to do something like this is to engage in their (at times) medieval pursuit of dominance over the other, which I think is as disappointing in the 21st century as it is backwards. Nobody wins with time exclusivity, and we’d all be better off without it.
That’s my rant over. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts about timed exclusive games in the comments below.
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Targeted, interactive ads are coming to the Roku platform
Roku and advertising firm Innovid have joined forces to make advertisements on the company’s streaming set-top boxes both more accurate and more entertaining. The new ad format will reportedly allow viewers to do things like play games (using the Roku remote), browse a retailer’s stock and current sales, or even watch extended videos should they wish. Unfortunately, skipping the ads entirely doesn’t appear to be an available option just yet. CBS, VEVO and Crackle have already signed on for the new service. Roku and Innovid actually began implementing this new system just over a month ago, however, it’s only now going live. This news follows a pair of recent announcements from Roku that both Showtime and Nickelodeon are being made available to its users as well.
What’s more, the Innovid pairing will also allow advertisers to better target their desired audiences based on the user’s location and, as Techcrunch describes, “by tracking information collected on devices running on a household’s Wi-Fi network using traditional means.” Because that doesn’t sound the least bit intrusive. Nope, not one bit.
Filed under: Internet
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Brightroll
YouTube’s multi-angle video meets Boeing’s acrobatic 787 flight
At the Paris Air Show earlier this week, Boeing showed off a few of its 787-9 Dreamliner’s tricks, including a near vertical takeoff. This new YouTube video shows the flight demo from several angles: one has the fuel-efficient plane in full view, another gives you the chance to watch what went on inside the cockpit and the last one shows the flight from the plane’s perspective. YouTube launched multiple camera angles as an experimental feature earlier this year, making the option available to select users. It uses an algorithm that syncs all the angles as you play the video, and you only have to either click on any of them or press their respective numbers on the keyboard to switch views.
The transitions were pretty smooth during our tests, so long as you allow the video to load a bit first before hitting play. However, the feature’s only accessible from computers, doesn’t work on mobile devices yet and isn’t ready to be embedded (you can see the regular vid below, but click here for the multi-angle version). Couldn’t care less about planes? Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube also has a Choose Your View video, if you’d rather learn how to cook beer-battered corn dogs like a pro.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KYbM-3E11Qo?rel=0
Source: YouTube
Redditor gives us an adorable reason why Android M should be Android Marshmellow
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Every year, around this time, we’re often pondering what dessert Google is going to name their next version of Android after. This year with Android M, we’ve had great suggestions like Milkshake, Mint and Milk Chocolate, but one Redditor has put his 2 cents in about why he thinks it should be called Android Marshmellow. CaptGarfield provided the following image he created to illustrate his point of view and his argument is… well, adorable.
In the style of Stay Puft Marshmellow Man from Ghostbusters, you can almost see a life-size version of this marshmellow Andy sitting on the Google HQ front lawn. Too bad that licensing and trademarks would make this a minefield for Google to navigate and get the rights to, but it’s always nice to imagine. What do you think Android M should be? Do you like Android Marshmellow? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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AirDroid update brings quick reply feature to notifications for Telegram and Kik
AirDroid is a fantastic app for remotely managing your device across your WiFi network, and it’s just received a handy new update that should speed up your social media conversations.
The last AirDroid update allowed users to quick reply to pop-up notifications from both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages, all without ever actually touching a phone. The newest update expands on that functionality, bringing Kik and Telegram into the fold. Any message notifications you get from either of those two apps will give you the option to reply from your PC or Mac as soon as you receive them.
Hopefully this update means AirDroid will continue adding quick reply features to more and more messaging apps in the future.
source: XDA Developers
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