BT’s launching an Ultra HD box to host Europe’s first 4K TV channel
While BT will begin charging Sky subscribers for access to Champions League football next season, the company may soon ask for more money from existing customers too. It’s for a good reason, though: the company has said it will launch the first 4K channel in Europe in August, called BT Sport Ultra HD, delivering selected matches from the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Aviva Premiership Rugby. As you’d expect, these broadcasts won’t work on BT’s existing hardware, so it’ll introduce a new BT TV Ultra HD set-top box to do the heavy lifting.
Details are scarce but we do know that it’ll be BT’s “best ever” Youview+ box and is capable of storing up to 600 SD hours or up to 250 HD hours on its 1TB hard drive. In February, reports suggested that the broadcaster had brought forward the launch of its new box in order to steal a march on Sky. It’s believed that it could also share streams to smartphones and tablets, like EE TV, and let users access recordings while on the move. BT also says that Ultra HD content will only be available to BT Infinity subscribers.
With BT soon to push 4K content, you can expect that Sky won’t be too far behind. It too is said to be readying a new internet-connected 4K set-top box, but has yet to confirm plans. If you already own a 4K TV and intend to jump on BT’s new hardware, the Community Shield will be the first match to be shown in Ultra HD when it kicks off in August.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: BT
Authorities want collision avoidance tech to be a standard car feature
A lot of automakers have been developing crash avoidance systems for years, but the technology hasn’t made it to most vehicles’ feature list yet. The National Transportation Safety Board wants to change that: in a report released today, the agency has recommended for collision avoidance tech to be a standard in cars and all other passengers and commercial vehicles. In addition, it’s asking federal regulators (aka the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to test and rate the crash avoidance systems developed within the past 20 years. The suggestion’s already facing opposition from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, though. Its vice president, Gloria Bergquist, told AP that the tech should remain optional, so buyers can device which driver assist product they want.
Most crash prevention technologies use radars, cameras or lasers to detect incoming vehicles or pedestrians. They then either warn the driver to brake or automatically push the brake pad in their stead. According to NTSB, 80 percent of the 1,700 deaths and half a million injuries caused by vehicular accidents every year could be avoided if automakers package their products with the tech. Unfortunately, out of the 684 2014 model passenger vehicles, only four come with anti-collision systems — buyers usually have to top up to get them installed as an add-on. NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart, however, believes that just as you don’t have to pay extra for seatbelts, “you shouldn’t have to pay extra for technology that can help prevent a collision altogether.”
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Transportation
Source: NTSB
LG’s 4K monitor is first with AMD’s game-enhancing FreeSync
LG will be the first to sell a 4K monitor with AMD FreeSync technology, beating models from rival Samsung by a nose. The technology in its 27-inch 27MU67 is similar to NVIDIA’s G-Sync, matching monitor and GPU refresh rates to eliminate tearing, stutter and other gaming issues — as long as you have a compatible AMD graphics card or chip. Like Samsung, LG makes its own panels and it shows in the specs. The IPS screen can run at 40 to 60fps with 9.7 milliseconds of input lag, while being decent for color pros with a 99 percent Adobe gamut and 10-bit interpolated color. It’ll come calibrated out of the box later this month at select retailers for $599 — quite a drop in price from last year.
Source: LG
Better Re Kickstarter wants to give new life to old batteries
Fancy a little extra battery life to top up your smartphone with? Better Re, which recently passed its Kickstarter goal of $50,000, wants to make use of your old spare batteries by turning them into a portable power pack that you can use with your other gadgets.
Better Re apparently works with a range of battery sizes, supports two battery connection types and can be used to charge any gadget that draws power from a USB connection. The chassis also features a clip to hold different sized batteries into place, a charging port, and an LED to tell you how much capacity remains in your old battery.
Although the early bird Kickstarter packages are gone, you can still grab a basic pack and USB cable for $49, or a double pack with engraving for $69. If you don’t happen to have any spare batteries around to use, Better Re will also sell you a used battery with a capacity somewhere in the region of 2800-3400mAh for $10.
The company suggests that smartphone batteries are still up to 80 percent efficient even after two years of use, which is usually when customers will trade in for a new phone anyway. Instead of throwing your old battery in the trash, Better Re thinks that we should make use of them to power our newer gadgets.
The only real problem with the idea is that external battery packs with much larger capacities are already available for much cheaper than the Better Re. Not to mention that there’s usually a load of offers on these type of items too. With that in mind, this is definitely more of a product for the eco-warriors rather than the scrooges out there.
Even so, if you have a few spare batteries lying around that no longer fit in your new smartphone, Better Re will enable you use them to charge all your latest gadgets.
Verizon starts pushing out an OTA to fix a major bug on the Galaxy S6 Edge
Verizon has begun rolling out a firmware update for all its carrier-branded models of the Galaxy S6 Edge located in the United States. The upgrade doesn’t bring much in terms of added functionality. Well, in fact, it doesn’t bring anything at all. It merely transports a fix for the extremely irritating auto-rotation bug that many early adopters have been experiencing for a while now.
Just in case you’ve missed any of the kerfuffle surrounding the major bug imbedded in the operating system, here’s a rundown. It started as an occasional glitch early users discovered where the auto-rotation feature curiously stopped working following some usage of the handset. This developed into a full-scale error and even rebooting the device wouldn’t solve the issue.
To see if the update is ready for your device, follow the four simple steps below:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”
- Hit “System Updates”
- Tap on “Check for update”
Come comment on this article: Verizon starts pushing out an OTA to fix a major bug on the Galaxy S6 Edge
Sony’s Xperia Z3+ and Z4 Tablet to use v2.1 of the Snapdragon 810, overheating issues remain
It’s getting closer to June 15th, the international launch of the Xperia Z3+ (Z4 in Japan), and it seems like its Qualcomm processor is still suffering from the overheating issues that have plagued the Snapdragon 810 chip since release. This is despite Qualcomm developing a v2.1 of the processor, incorporating a revised design with improved thermal management.
The Snapdragon 810 v2.1 is believed to be the silicon of choice for both the Xperia Z3+ smartphone and the delayed Xperia Z4 Tablet. It’s existence was found after Sony released its kernel source code (V28.0.A4.8) which refers to “msm8994-v2.1″. MSM8994 is the Snapdragon 810’s model number, and the v2.1 would indicate that it was version two-point-one of the CPU.
Just what sort of overheating issues has the Snapdragon 810 been experiencing? One symptom is the processor throttling down when it gets too hot, which means the CPU slows down in an attempt to cool off before damage is inflicted on it from the excessive heat. Another symptom is receiving a message that the camera will shut down due to high temperatures. All things you don’t want to be seeing in your brand new smartphone or tablet, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Here’s hoping that between them, Sony and Qualcomm can solve the overheating issues once and for all for the Snapdragon 810 chip.
Source: AndroPlus
Via: XperiaBlog
Come comment on this article: Sony’s Xperia Z3+ and Z4 Tablet to use v2.1 of the Snapdragon 810, overheating issues remain
Sony’s Xperia Z4 Tablet is delayed, again
Sony first unveiled its Xperia Z4 Tablet at the beginning of March during the Mobile World Congress (MWC), with it scheduled to become available at the end of May. It’s main claims to fame its use of the Snapdragon 810 CPU and being only 6.1mm thick while maintaining Sony’s trend of making its flagship devices waterproof.
We are now in the second week of June and still waiting, with the release of the Z4 Tablet having been delayed until June 29th unless something causes a further delay. No explanation has been given by Sony, but one has to wonder if the Snapdragon 810’s well-known overheating issues are behind the delay. Being only 6.1mm thick, the Xperia Z4 Tablet may well prove too hot to handle if the CPU’s heat isn’t dispersed well enough. Despite using v2.1 of the Snapdragon 810 in the Z4 Tablet (as well as the Xperia Z3+), it would seem that the overheating issues are still present. June 29th is still a little while away, so hopefully Sony can resolve whatever issues there are and get the Xperia Z4 Tablet released by its self-imposed deadline.
Source: XperiaBlog
Come comment on this article: Sony’s Xperia Z4 Tablet is delayed, again
Spotify intends to match Apple Music’s discount family plan
Yesterday, Apple announced its Apple Music music service and also confirmed that the platform will be heading to Android at some point in the future. The market may already be full of competing music services with an equal, if not larger arrays of features, but Apple’s low cost family plan could shake up the market a little bit.
Apple Music will cost $9.99 per month for an individual plan, while its family plans for up to six people will cost just $14.99 per month. Spotify and Rdio also offer family subscriptions, but these cost $14.99 for only two users, and pricing leaps up to $29.99 for five users.
It seems that Spotify has already taken notice of the price difference and states that it expects to offer more competitive pricing across different regions in the near future. Spotify already offers a $20 family plan which allows for up to five members in Sweden, so this pricing scheme could soon land in other regions as well.
“We already have similar family pricing in some markets and we expect to offer competitive pricing everywhere in the near future,” – Jonathan Price, Spotify’s global head of communications
This move would leave Google’s service, installed on Android handsets by default, lagging a little behind. Although Google Play Music’s individual subscription price already matches the competition, the service currently doesn’t offer family discounts or a way for members to part-share a subscription across different accounts. We will have to wait and see if price pressure from competing services will change Google’s mind and if the music industry is happy for content services to continue to squeeze down prices.
While Apple Music may not have turned out to be a huge game changer in terms of features, a push for lower prices and a little extra competition is likely to become very beneficial for us listeners.
BT details how much it’ll charge for Champions League football
We knew it was coming, but now we’ve got confirmation: Next season, BT will start charging for full Champions League and Europa League coverage on BT Sport. When both tournaments start up again, BT broadband customers will need to pay an extra £5 to access the new games. If you’re signed up for BT TV, however, you’ll be able to watch the European fixtures at no added cost. BT Sport 1 will remain free for BT broadband customers, under a new package called “BT Sport Lite,” but the company is yet to confirm whether BT Sport 2 and BT Sport ESPN are included. The broadcaster also hasn’t explained how the new pricing structure will affect Virgin Media and Sky TV customers that currently pay for BT Sport, either as an optional extra or an inclusive TV bundle.
But BT didn’t hold a press conference today just to talk about pricing. To broadcast this new allotment of European football fixtures, BT is launching three new channels: BT Sport Europe, BT Sport Showcase and BT Sport Ultra HD. BT Sport Europe will be a premium channel giving viewers the ability to watch Champions League and Europa League matches live. If you want to pick specific games, however, you’ll need to be a BT TV customer. The broadcaster is revamping its TV platform so that viewers can switch matches with the red button and also view live in-match statistics. It’s not clear just yet, but we presume that BT Sport Europe will default to the most popular fixture, and this is what will be shown by Sky and Virgin Media on their respective TV platforms. BT Sport Ultra HD, meanwhile, will offer 4K resolution sports coverage as an exclusive BT TV channel.
Fronting BT’s Champions League coverage will be Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and presenter Jake Humphrey. BT is also working on a new “Goals” show, presented by James Richardson, which will offer live news and highlights from across all of the games.
If you’re yet to take the plunge with either BT TV or BT broadband, fear not. BT is launching a BT Sport Showcase channel on Freeview later this year, replacing ITV’s European football coverage. The channel will show at least 12 Champions League matches and 14 Europa League matches, including at least one fixture of every British team. The free coverage was part of UEFA’s conditions when BT snatched the football TV rights from Sky, and ensures the competition, at least in some capacity, will remain accessible to the public.
[Image Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Source: BT
The LG G4 will be available to pre-order in Australia on July 1
LG has announced it will launch its long-awaited flagship smartphone, the G4, in Australia on Tuesday, July 14, with pre-orders starting as early as Wednesday, July 1. The handset will be available in Sky Blue, Beige and Yellow.
As far as specifications go, the G4 packs a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 808 chipset powered by four 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU’s, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, an 8-megapixel front-facing shooter an a 3,000 mAh battery.
Recent rumors suggest that independent Australian retailers, such as Telstra, Optus, Harvey Norman and JB HiFi, will receive stock of the G4 in July, but no pricing information has been specified as of yet.
Source: CyberShack
Come comment on this article: The LG G4 will be available to pre-order in Australia on July 1
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