Apple is bumping the iTunes Match limit to 100,000 songs
When Apple first revealed iTunes Match — the service that lets you add your own, non-Apple purchased music to iTunes — the 25,000 song limit probably seemed huge. That was way back in 2011, however, and Apple VP Eddy Cue has revealed that when iOS 9 arrives this fall, Match will be bumped to 100,000 songs. Cue reminded followers that Apple Music will also get Match-like capabilities, meaning you can fill in any missing streaming music with your own tracks. Though the service will launch tomorrow with a 25,000 song limit, it too will support 100,000 songs when iOS 9 comes out.
That’s good news for users who want song-matching in Apple Music but not iTunes, as it’ll save them the $25 per year iTunes Match subscription. Also, though Apple has resolved many disputes with labels and artists, a lot of music will still be missing — which users can buy from any source or fill in from their own collections. Apple Music is scheduled to launch tomorrow, and will be free for the first three months. After that, it’ll run $9.99 per month. Beats 1, meanwhile, will come a day later on July 1st.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Apple
Via: SlashGear
Source: Eddy Cue
Diet-based ‘video game’ claims to make you thinner
We know that Pavlovian conditioning can make you do all sorts of crazy things, so could it be used to make us all a bit healthier? Psychologists from the universities of Exeter and Cardiff believe that it’s possible after building a “computer game” that, essentially, trains you to steer clear of bad food. Unfortunately, the game itself is just a flashcard routine where players are asked to push a button when they’re shown salad and hold off when they see cookies. If we’re honest, the bad guys in the food and drink industry still have the upper hand, just look at Cool Spot, the 1993 platformer that was a giant ad for 7 Up.
The study asked 41 people to spend four, 10 minute sessions playing the game online while keeping a food diary. According to the results, participants wound up losing a “small but significant” amount of weight and laid-off for the bad stuff for the following six months. Meanwhile, a control group of 42 adults played the same game, but with images of non-food items, and saw no such change in their eating pattern.
Of course, it’s hard to say that we should all rush out and buy The Vanishing of Ethan Carter’s Waistline on the basis of this one study alone. After all, people normally do behave slightly better when they’re keeping a food diary, and may not have wanted to let the side down by putting on weight. Still, project lead Dr. Natalie Lawrence feels that there’s some potential for this sort of research and funding has been secured for more testing. In the mean time, we’re running down to Gamestop to pre-order Saints Rowing Machine and Diet Ex: Mankind Divided.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Via: Hot Hardware
Source: University of Exeter
Huawei Honor 7 rumored to have two different metal variants
Yet another leak has dropped for Huawei’s upcoming Honor 7 smartphone, which is expected to launch on June 30th. According to Chinese media, the smartphone will arrive in two variants, each featuring a slightly different body build and internal hardware.
This isn’t the first that we have heard of this rumor. Previous leaks have suggested that the Honor 7 will ship with two models – one premium and one entry level. Originally it had been hinted at that the entry level model would feature 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, while the premium variant would bump this up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The latest leak now says that there will be a slight difference in build materials between the two as well.
The entry level model is expected to have a metal frame with rounded corners, presumably meaning that the back cover will be plastic. However, the premium model is said to come with a full metal build. If true, the two models should help Huawei compete with high-end build materials used by other premium smartphone manufacturers, while still catering to consumers who have become fans of Huawei’s lower cost handsets.
Other expected specifications for the Honor 7 include a Kirin 935 processor, 5-inch 1080p display, 16 megapixel rear camera and 3,280mAh battery, along with a fingerprint scanner and dual-SIM compatibility. Quick-charging technology was also recently rumored to be heading to the handset.
The final retail price is unknown at this point, but is expected to be in the region of 1999 Yuan ($322) for the entry level model, while the premium handset may cost closer to 2699 Yuan ($435).
Hopefully all will be revealed soon, as an announcement is expected tomorrow, June 30th.
No surprises there: Nexus 5 2015 and Android M will be releasing at the same time
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In news that should surprise nobody, a rumour has emerged today saying that the Nexus 5 2015 and Android M will be released at the same time. We’re assuming this is going to be the LG-made Nexus device – there is another Nexus smartphone known to be made by Huawei, but that is expected to be a phablet – though there’s still so much up in the air at the moment that anything could be possible. We’re not surprised to hear that the Nexus 5 2015 and Android M will be released at the same time as the release of a Nexus smartphone and a new version of Android have always been loosely aligned.
Regarding the Nexus 5 2015 itself, it’s been leaked by someone close to the Google engineering team that the new Nexus will have a more durable body that the usual plastic, opting for a form of carbon fiber – I smell a premium priced Nexus device again, though I’d love to be disproved.
What do you think about this latest rumour about the Nexus 5 2015 and Android M? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: GeekSnack via TalkAndroid
The post No surprises there: Nexus 5 2015 and Android M will be releasing at the same time appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
The Big Picture: Nitrogen-rich star left a beautiful corpse
A small minority of enormous stars explode in a fiery supernova after they run out of fuel and collapse. Regular stars die less spectacularly, but the remnants can still be gorgeous. Case in point is NGC 6153, a nebula about 4,000 light-years from Earth. The ethereal blueish, ellipse-shaped cloud (imaged by Hubble, above) was ejected by a sun-sized star after it burned up its fuel. However, the nebula contains an unusually large amount of elements like neon and argon, and five times the nitrogen of our sun. Why? Likely because its star formed in a corner of the Milky Way with a completely different composition than our own neck of the woods.
Filed under: Science
Via: io9
Source: ESA
Lenovo Tab 2 A8 review: great sound on a tight budget
Over the last year or so, budget-friendly device manufacturers have been focusing on a particular key aspect, in order to help their device stand out in the over-crowded and highly competitive market. Some offer fantastic battery life, some attempt to provide a great camera, and some, like in the case of Lenovo’s latest budget-friendly tablet, are focused on the audio experience. Does Lenovo deliver with regards to audio quality, and what else does the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 bring to the table? We find out, in this Lenovo Tab 2 A8 review!
Design
The design of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 can best be described as simple, but elegant. The rear plastic panel with a matte finish wraps around the sides of the tablet to meet the display frame, and this device is available with navy blue as the color option, which is a pleasant change from the default black that is sported by many devices in this class.
Going around the device, the power button and volume rocker are on the right side, and while neither is exactly within easy reach, it doesn’t take a lot of hand gymnastics to get to them. The disappointing thing about the buttons is the fact that they do sit quite flush with the body of the tablet, and don’t offer much tactile feedback when pressed. At the back is a flap that houses the microSD card slot, and has an additional space, presumably for a SIM card for those that opt for the LTE version of the device. The front-facing stereo speakers are above and below the display, and both the headphone jack and the microUSB port are at the top.
The tablet has a thickness of 8.9 mm and weighs 360 grams, and while it is a little too wide for comfortable one-handed use, the handling experience is standard for a tablet in this size category. Overall, the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 does feel really good in the hand, and features a build quality that goes beyond what its extremely budget-friendly price point would suggest.
Display
The Lenovo Tab 2 A8 comes with an 8-inch IPS LCD display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 184 ppi. The display is certainly capable and colors on the screen do look quite good, but the viewing angles aren’t the best, and the low resolution does make for a display that is average at best. That said, this resolution is standard at this price range, and while this display doesn’t stand out, it isn’t any worse than even some more expensive devices out there.
Performance and Hardware
Under the hood, the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 packs a 64-bit quad-core MT8161 processor for the Wi-Fi-only model, and a 64-bit quad-core MT8735 for the LTE model, both clocked at 1.3 GHz, and backed by the Mali-T720 GPU (Wi-Fi-only model) and 1 GB of RAM.
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While the processing package leans towards the lower-end, it does handle tasks quite well, with no obvious issues in performance. Understandably, it can feel a little slow at times, but not when doing what you might want a tablet for, which is watching a video or listening to music. 1 GB of RAM is somewhat limiting when it comes to multi-tasking though, but at least the device handles gaming very well, including some popular titles like Need for Speed – Most Wanted.
The Tab 2 A8 comes with 8 or 16 GB of internal storage, further expandable via microSD card, but only by up to a further 32 GB. The standard suite of connectivity options is available, including GPS, which is great to see, given that it isn’t available with some other budget-friendly tablets. Being able to use the tablet for offline navigation is certainly a big plus, and something that can be useful for a lot of users.
Coming to what is the biggest selling point of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8, the front-facing stereo speakers: featuring Dolby Atmos Cinematic Moving Audio, the fantastic quality of these speakers is very apparent when listening to any audio. This speaker setup allows for a truly immersive experience when watching a movie or playing a game, and is huge plus when it comes to the media consumption experience.
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On the battery front, the Tab 2 A8 packs a non-removable 4,290 mAh battery, that provides a battery life that’s better than average. In my usage, the battery lasted for about 7 hours with over 5 hours of screen-on time, and usage that consistently mostly of watching videos or writing, with very little standby time, while using Wi-Fi, and with the display brightness set to 100%. Overall, most users shouldn’t have too difficult a time getting a full day of use out of this device.
Camera
The Lenovo Tab 2 A8 comes with a 5 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front-facing camera. Being able to take pictures isn’t really a part of the tablet experience, and as such, very rarely will you find a tablet with a good camera. While some do allow for decent shots in a pinch though, that is unfortunately not the case here. The shots taken by the rear camera lack sharpness, color, and detail, and are basically just not very good. Overall, the camera feels like quite an unnecessary addition.
Software
The Lenovo Tab 2 A8 comes with a very slightly customized version of Android 5.0 Lollipop. The only noticeable changes in the user interface are in the form of custom icons, a few changes to status bar and Quick Settings menu, and the presence of an the actual representation of a home button, instead of just a circle.
A big change that has been made to the software experience is with regards to the animations, which have been disabled, making transitioning between various elements seem very abrupt. This has likely been done to accommodate the lower-end processing package, but you do have the option enable animations in the Android Developer options.
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There’s not a lot in terms of additional features, but one that can be quite useful for some is Notification Log, which, as the name suggests, provides a log of dismissed notifications. Things otherwise remain close to stock Android with only minor modifications to be seen here and there, which is a very nice change from the quite heavy Vibe UI that Lenovo uses.
Specifications
| Display | 8-inch IPS LCD, 1280 x 800 resolution 184 ppi |
| Processor | 1.3 GHz 64-bit quad-core MediaTek MT8161 Mali-T720 GPU |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Storage | 8 GB/ 16 GB expandable up to 32 GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 GPS microUSB 2.0 |
| Camera | 5 MP rear camera 2 MP front-facing camera |
| Software | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
| Battery | 4,290 mAh |
| Dimensions | 210 x 125 x 8.9 mm 360 grams |
Gallery
Pricing and Final Thoughts
The Lenovo Tab 2 A8 is available for $130 for the 16 GB model, and currently, the only color option available is navy blue. That is an extremely impressive price tag, and there’s not a lot of devices at this price range of a similar caliber.
So there you have it for this closer look at the Lenovo Tab 2 A8! Lenovo has undoubtedly built a very solid tablet that goes beyond what its very budget-friendly price point would suggest. While not without its flaws, with its slower processor, the availability of just 1 GB of RAM, mediocre display, and bad camera, the Tab 2 does deliver in the area it was meant to, and that is in the audio experience. You’ll be hard-pressed to find such an excellent speaker setup with even a twice as expensive tablet, and to be able to have that with a device that is priced at just $130 is amazing. If media-consumption is the primary objective, and you are on a budget, the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 should be under consideration.
Gold Edition Samsung Z1 coming to celebrate 1 million units sold
The Tizen OS powered Samsung Z1 smartphone seems to be out performing expectations, as it passes another sales milestone this month. According to Samsung, the smartphone has sold more than 1 million units in various markets since its launch less than six months ago. Not at all bad for a first-generation device.
Earlier in June the Z1 smartphone had sold around 500,000 units in India alone, and had moved 100,000 units in total back in February. The low-cost handset appears to have gained traction in price sensitive markets, leaving Samsung vindicated when it cancelled the launch in Russia to target the handset at India and Bangladesh. The smartphone arrived in India with a very aggressive price tag of just Rs 5,700 ($95), which seems to have won out over the handset’s low-end specifications.
In celebration of reaching the one million sales mark, Samsung is preparing to launch a gold color model of the Z1 in the near future. A specific release date has not been given. Although the hardware will remain otherwise unchanged, Samsung is also said to be throwing in some additional free games and messaging apps by default, which may or may not suit customers.
Samsung has also confirmed that newer Tizen models are in the works, suggesting that a successor to the Z1 could be on the way. In a bid to continue its momentum in emerging markets, Samsung is hosting a Developer Conference in Shenzhen, China in September and a Tizen Developer Summit India 2015 in Bangalore, India next month. It’s possible that a new smartphone model could be unveiled at the Indian conference.
It looks like the Tizen powered Samsung Z1 is off to a pretty good start for a new platform, although it is mainly the highly competitive price point that has opened the door to India’s market. We will be eagerly watching to see what Samsung has planned for its next Tizen release.
Nexus 5 (2015) and Android M to be released together
Google gave us a preview of the yet-to-be released next version of Android, Android M (6.0) at the 2015 Google I/O event. This sparked the big question of how will the next version of Android be released to the world. According to recent rumors, Google is planning on releasing its next OS alongside a new Nexus device, known to be at this point the Nexus 5 2015, codenamed “LG Angler”. The new device is hypothesized to be released by the end of this year, alongside a Nexus tablet that Huawei will most likely be in charge of making. The specs of the upcoming Nexus 5 2015 are still to-be-annouced, however users do have high expectations which will force Google and LG to release a device with the latest specs and tech available in the mobile market. We definitely expect to see a Full HD resolution touchscreen (5-inch minimum) with a possibility of a Quad HD panel as well. The new Nexus device will certainly feature a fingerprint sensor to take advantage of Android M’s new native fingerprint identification support. In terms of internal specs, the new Nexus will most likely come with the snapdragon 810 or 808, 3GB of RAM and come with 32GB, 64GB or 128 GB of internal storage options. In addition, wireless charging and fast charging should be included in the package, and most certainly, a USB Type C port. Finally, according to a person close with the engineering team at Google said that the new Nexus will have a major design improvement with a more durable body made up of a specific type of strong carbon fiber.
Another important question to ask at this moment is whether the new Nexus 5 2015 or so-called “LG Angler” will feature a built-in non-removable battery or not. Having a removable battery does offer a great advantage as batteries do wear out and having the option of removing the battery yourself and replacing with a new one is always preferable.
Source: GeekSnack
Come comment on this article: Nexus 5 (2015) and Android M to be released together
Hawk-eyed police seize drone flown over Wimbledon
If you own a drone and want to take it for a quick test flight, heed our advice: don’t fly anywhere near large sporting venues. Police arrested a pilot for filming Premier League football matches in March, and now a drone has been seized for swooping too close to Wimbledon. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was spotted flying over the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday morning and the Metropolitan Police were promptly notified. The pilot was discovered at a nearby golf course and officers ultimately confiscated the trespassing drone — hardly surprising, given the Grand Slam starts this week.
Under rules set out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), you must have direct, unaided visual contact with your drone at all times. In practical terms, this means it can’t be more than 500 metres away from you. If the drone has an onboard camera, you also have to stay more than 50 metres away from people, vehicles and buildings that are outside of your control. We suspect it’s this last point where the daring pilot came a cropper. “Anyone intending to fly a drone should give prior consideration to the surrounding landscape and any structures or venues,” inspector Roger Robinson said. “While it is not our intention to prevent people from enjoying the use of drones, it is important that regulations are adhered to.” UAVs are already banned from London’s eight Royal Parks, so we wouldn’t be surprised if sporting venues were soon added to the capital’s growing no-fly zone.
[Image Credit: Tony Barson/FilmMagic]
Filed under: Misc
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Metropolitan Police
T-mobile offering the LG Leon LTE for $79
LG’s G4 flagship may be the topic on everyone’s mind at the moment but the company’s other devices are also quite popular. Announced back at MWC 2015, alongside the Magna, Spirit and Joy, the LG Leon is an entry-level device that launched on T-Mobile last month for $149 but for two days, it’s available for just under $80. As part of a special deal, the Leon LTE will cost you $79.92 between June 28 and June 30, which is almost half its normal price tag.
The operator is also extending its data plan promotions until June 14; the 4 for $100 plan lets you connect four family members to LTE (with data limited to 2.5GB per line) for $100 per month while the 2 for $100 plan offers unlimited LTE data for two subscribers.
As a refresher, the LG Leon is an entry-level handset featuring a 4.5-inch IPS display with a paltry 480 x 854 pixels resolution and a low density of 218 pixels per inch. The Leon is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor with 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage and a microSD card expansion slot. Other notable specs include Wi-Fi n, Bluetooth 4.1, a 1900 mAh battery and a 5MP/8MP rear camera. LTE Cat 4 support lets you download data at up to 150Mbps on the go – when connected to a compatible network – and upload data at up to 50Mbps.
With T-Mobile’s Uncarrier constantly revealing new efforts to shake up the market, it’ll be interesting to see what the company do next. The Leon itself is an inexpensive smartphone that runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and despite its entry-level price tag, the handset is still a capable smartphone.
Best of LG:
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