Apple Launches Refreshed iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle
Apple today introduced the sixth-generation iPod touch with a 64-bit A8 chip and M8 coprocessor, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and new colors, with 16GB and 64GB models costing $199 and $299 respectively and a larger 128GB model available for $399. Apple also updated the iPod shuffle and iPod nano with a matching lineup of colors, including deep blue, pink, silver, space gray, gold and red.
New iPod touch via The Loop
iPods have become an increasingly minor business for Apple over the past several years, with only 2.6 million units sold in Q4 2014, the last quarter when Apple reported iPod sales. Beyond new colors and storage capacities, Apple had last updated the iPod touch and nano in October 2012 and the iPod shuffle in September 2010.
HTC Desire makes premium smartphones affordable
HTC announced today the release of four new HTC Desire LTE smartphones. The HTC Desire 626, HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 are designed to make premium smartphones affordable and accessible to all. HTC brings many of the same features found in its flagship HTC One® M9 to a premium and modern design that will withstand the test of time.
“At HTC, we don’t think you should have to sacrifice or settle if you are looking for an affordable smartphone. That is why we are bringing the absolute best affordable smartphones to market with the HTC Desire lineup,” said Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America. “Our Desire smartphones bring the premium experiences, performance and style of our flagship smartphone at an incredible price.”
HTC Desire: Bold, personal design, and high performance
The new HTC Desire smartphones bring a similar style as the HTC M series. The seamless construction combined with the latest in color combinations delivers stand-out style that will continue to look great over time.
The HTC Desire 626 and HTC Desire 626s have a 5-inch screen and come in an array of dual color combinations, including Marshmallow White, Gray Lava, Blue Lagoon, Marine White and White Birch. The HTC Desire 526 has a 4.7-inch screen and comes in Stealth Black, and the HTC Desire 520 has a 4.5-inch screen and comes in Steel Gray.
The similarities aren’t only on the surface. With HTC Sense® 7, the new HTC Desire smartphones can be customized with HTC Themes, HTC BlinkFeed® and HTC Sense Home applications.
HTC Themes* pull color and textural elements from a favorite photo to modify the look of apps, color scheme, and home screen. HTC Themes also provides an opportunity to create and share a theme with the HTC community, or just browse and download one created by other HTC users.
The HTC Sense Home is an intelligent widget that automatically curates apps based on usage and location. It is contextually aware of location, time of day and preferred apps at home, work or on the go. While exploring a new city, HTC BlinkFeed intelligently recommends restaurants near you and recommended by friends during mealtimes.
As LTE devices with quad-core processors, the 626, 626s, 526, and 520 offer speedy uploads and downloads while keeping up with multitasking between apps. A 2000 mAh battery and expandable memory further enhance the power of the new HTC Desire line.
Relive favorite memories
The HTC Desire 626 and HTC Desire 626s’ 5-inch, HD 720 pixel screen beautifully displays photos, video and multimedia content with an immersive smartphone experience. HTC One Gallery syncs with Facebook, Flickr, Google Drive and Dropbox accounts and brings photos together in a single location to make finding, searching and viewing easier than ever.
Zoe®, a signature HTC app that comes preloaded, makes it especially easy to share visual stories of experiences with friends and family in a more dynamic way. Zoe Highlights combine favorite photos and video with music to bring the experience to life. The HTC Desire line comes with an 8MP primary camera and video captured by HD 720p video recording capabilities. The HTC Desire 626 has a 5MP front-facing camera while the HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 come with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Availability
The HTC Desire 626, HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 will be widely available in a variety of colors from major prepaid and postpaid U.S. wireless providers including AT&T, Boost Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, Sprint Prepaid, T-Mobile, Tracfone, Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile USA. Each provider will confirm the colors and models it’s carrying, beginning
this week and through the coming months. Follow @HTCUSA and visit www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-desire-626/ and www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-desire-526/ for more information.
The post HTC Desire makes premium smartphones affordable appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Android M already confirmed for the HTC One M8
An interesting and important bit of information has been hidden away in the depths of Twitter’s conversations – Android M will be heading to the HTC One M8.
Responding to a question on Twitter a couple of weeks ago now, HTC’s Mo Versi confirmed that the One M8 will be receiving an official update to Android M at some point in the future. A time frame was not specified, so it doesn’t look like HTC is planning on promising a 90 day release policy this time around.
@sonsonnetwork @HTCUSA Thanks Pierrette! Appreciate your support. Yes, the M8 will receive the M OS update.
— Mo Versi (@moversi) June 30, 2015
Back at the end of May, HTC’s Jeff Gordon announced that Android M would be coming to the One M9 and M9+. Details regarding other handsets are expected to continue to trickle out, and we’d be surprised if we don’t hear something about some of HTC’s recent Desire handset soon as well.
Along with HTC, Sony is the only other OEM to have openly begun talking about Android M updates. The company recently released a series of Android M Developer preview builds for its wide range of Xperia devices, suggesting that Sony is planning on bringing the update to a number of its handsets too.
If you would like a closer look at what to expect from Android M, feel free to take a look at our Diving into M series.
How to improve your privacy on Android with a few simple steps
If you think about it, your phone knows an awful lot about you. It tracks your location, it handles your phone calls, text messages, emails, and messenger chats, it contains photos and videos of you, it knows what you look for online, it knows who you know, it knows what apps and games you use and for how long, and it probably knows something about how you spend your money.
Does anybody know more about you than your phone?
If someone could get their hands on even a small portion of that data they could put together a pretty detailed profile of you. They could extrapolate a lot of information about your lifestyle and use it in a variety of nefarious ways – don’t assume it’s just about serving targeted adverts.
Security and privacy aren’t always the same thing. We’ll try and focus on privacy here and give you a few tips on where to start. The bad news is that there’s no substitute for doing your own research. There’s no shortcut or single app that will protect you. You need to work out how important your personal privacy is to you and how much effort you’re willing to put in to protect it. There’s always a trade-off with convenience and the best solutions tend to cost money.
Use the lock screen
The first, most obvious thing you can do to protect your privacy is use a PIN or passcode on the lock screen. We’ll get into encryption in a minute, but bear in the mind that the vast majority of apps, even with end-to-end encryption, aren’t encrypting data on your device, only in transit. That means that anyone that gets a hold of your phone physically can see everything.
You can encrypt your whole phone in Android by heading into Settings > Security and tapping Encrypt phone. This will render your phone impossible to access without the passcode or PIN and it’s definitely worth doing if you’re concerned about theft or someone snooping on your physical device by getting a hold of it. The downside is that it can take ages and significantly impact on performance.
Using encryption
Most people don’t use encryption when they store data, send messages, make phone calls, or browse the web. This makes it relatively easy for people to intercept that data and read it. If you use encryption, then you are essentially scrambling the data. Only someone who possesses the right key to unscramble it can read it. It may still be intercepted, but it will be impossible to understand.
To give you an idea of how effective end-to-end encryption is, the UK government is currently trying to pass a law change to ban it, because it’s unable to read our messages. Ostensibly, the reason given is that they can’t intercept terrorist and criminal communications. They simply don’t care if they expose the rest of us in the process.
So far, tech companies are resisting. Snapchat and WhatsApp both offer end-to-end encryption. But there are better options if privacy is your primary concern. If you want to protect your calls then check out RedPhone. For messaging try TextSecure.
If you want more options, the Electronic Frontier Foundation provides a handy Secure Messaging Scorecard that’s well worth a look.
Using a VPN
If you don’t want someone tracking your web searches, which could reveal your purchasing habits, sexual proclivities, politics, and a whole lot more, then you should be using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Instead of communicating directly with the websites you visit, you’ll be connecting to a server first, and that server will connect to the websites for you, hiding your actual device. The primary purpose is privacy, they don’t really provide anonymity.
This is also a common technique for changing your location. Say, for example, you want access to the much bigger US Netflix library, but you’re in the UK. You can use a VPN to connect to a server in the States and Netflix will show you the American version. Some people use VPNs to torrent.
VPNs are not created equal and there are lots of potential problems here. The most obvious thing that you’re going to notice is a slow down in speed, because your data is pinging through an extra hoop. From a privacy point of view, you also want to find a VPN that isn’t storing logs. Some of them store your IP address and might give it up if asked.
You have to be particularly careful with free VPN apps on Android. For example, Hola Unblocker was recently exposed for various vulnerabilities. Because it’s based on a peer-to-peer system strangers could be using your internet connection for all sorts of unpleasant and illegal activities that you might end up getting into trouble for. They also sell access to third-parties.
In general, you’ll find that free VPNs come with some kind of catch, whether it’s a lack of servers, limitations on time, slow speeds, or security threats. To get a really decent level of service you’ll probably have to subscribe and pay a monthly fee. You’ll have to research the right VPN for you, but some apps worth considering are TunnelBear, CyberGhost, and VyprVPN. If you want to read up about what VPNs can and can’t do in more detail, there’s a great article on VPN myths over at Golden Frog, the developers behind VyprVPN.
What about apps?
A lot of the snooping that goes on is conducted by apps that you have given permission to. From a security and privacy point of view, there is no substitute for reading through the app permissions before you install and really thinking about them. What’s missing in Android right now, though it used to be there in something called App Ops, and is rumored to be returning in Android M, is the ability to say no to specific permissions while accepting others.
It looks like Android M will switch to a model where you are asked about permissions when the app actually tries to use them, not in a big list at the start when you first install. You’ll also be able to access an app menu and turn permissions on or off. The trouble with this is that suspicious users might end up breaking apps by switching off permissions they need. In any case, it’s not available yet.
Flashlight apps are notorious for the unnecessary permissions they request.
Rooting gives you much greater control over your Android device and it can help you to protect your privacy. You might try something like X Privacy, but be warned it’s not the most straightforward of apps. For most people, rooting and sideloading is going to be a security or privacy risk. If you download an APK from a dodgy link, or you root without really understanding what you’re doing, there’s a chance you’ll expose your data and install malware.
Security apps can potentially be useful. They can alert you if you install a known piece of malware (remember that they aren’t a guarantee, because malware takes time to be identified and new malware is landing all the time). They can also alert you to suspicious activity. But there’s a limit to how much they can do. Check at independent testers, AV-Test, for the latest results on Android antivirus software.
Changing the way you use your phone
You can also improve your privacy by tweaking the way you use your phone. Don’t have location services turned on unless you need them (your service provider will still be able to track you, though). Uninstall apps and games that you don’t use. Be picky and do some research before installing anything new. Use a password, encrypt your communications, and use a VPN. Taking these steps will drastically boost your privacy.
If you’ve got any Android privacy tips or app recommendations to add, then please post a comment.
Amazon rivals launch their own Prime Day sales
Amazon is currently celebrating its 20th birthday with a Prime Day sale – which it claims will be bigger than Black Friday – but its rivals don’t want Amazon to have all the fun. Tech site Newegg and retailer Walmart are both hosting their own sales but while Walmart’s runs for 90-days, Newegg is going head to head with Amazon by offering 24-hour discounts on a range of electronic items.
The FantasTECH sale offers big discounts on items ranging from headphones to hard drives and the biggest deals include almost half-price Beats headphones, a gaming laptop for under $1000 and a 2-in-1 tablet for less than half its usual price. Like Newegg, Amazon is also focusing on tech and while its Kindle range is on offer for the whole day – including a Fire TV Stick for just £19.00 – its lightning deals offer limited time discounts on a whole range of products.
Our pick of the Newegg deals includes:
- MSI GS Series GS60 Ghost-444 Gaming Laptop: $999.99 – 44% saving
- Lenovo Miix 2 11-inch 2-in-1 tablet: $399.99 – 52% saving
- ASUS 27-inch 3D-ready monitor: $349.99 – 36% saving
- Seagate 4TB Internal Hard Drive: $124.99 – 38% saving
- JBL J56BT Bluetooth On-Eat Headphones: $39.99 – 76% saving
- Targus CleanVu Cleaning Pads for phones, tablets & monitors: $0.99 – 94% saving
Amazon in video:
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Walmart has also chosen today to launch a sale featuring more than 2,000 price “rollbacks” but unlike both Newegg and Amazon, the sale will last for 90 days. Walmart’s sale is open to all shoppers on its website, which is unsurprising given that the company publicly criticised Amazon’s requirement that you need to be a Prime customer – at a cost of $99 per year – in order to access the Prime Day sale.
Walmart’s sale isn’t only on technology however, with the company also offering discounts on a range of outdoor furniture, toys, tents and household items. Some of its tech deals include discounts on tablets, cell phones, accessories, laptops, peripherals, components and software. There’s also big discounts on clothing, home, sports and garden items including a 3-burner Gas Barbecue for almost half price.
For more on Amazon’s sale, check out our US Prime Day and UK Prime Day round-ups.
Spotted any other big deals on Newegg, Walmart or any other website? Let us know in the comments below.
Newest Pushbullet update brings full SMS support to the desktop
Just about two weeks ago Pushbullet, the all-in-one file sharing/messaging platform, received its biggest update ever. The developers are back yet again with another notable update, this time bringing full SMS support to the desktop. In the past, users could select individual messages and reply, but now the full messaging service is synced with your mobile device.
When you open Pushbullet on your computer, all of your SMS threads will show up on the left-hand side, and clicking on one opens up your conversation history. Just like any other messaging service on the computer, you can simply type out your message and hit enter to send. Replying to friends and family from the computer through Pushbullet has always been convenient, but this update will ensure you can seamlessly switch from your computer to your phone without missing a beat.
You can also have multiple conversations open at the same time on the desktop. Just click on the arrow to the right of the person’s name to open up a chat window.
All of the messages are of course sent through your mobile device, so the person you’re texting will never know you’re sitting on your computer. Unfortunately you won’t be able to send MMS this way, though you can view images on your computer if someone sends them to you. The update is now live in the Google Play Store, so check it out by following the link below!
Samsung Galaxy Note 5: how important are microSD and removable battery?
Life Support: Depending on how the public-at-large receives the potential changes the Note 5 may bring, Samsung may need to brace for the worse. Or best.
Disclaimer: This piece is based largely on speculation as to what the Galaxy Note 5 is, and isn’t. We are approaching this from a purely hardware perspective for the sake of argument, as nothing is yet known about the TouchWiz alterations that will inevitably be made from the Note 4 to this new flagship. Please remember that Samsung has neither confirmed nor denied any of these spec-related details and thus they should be approached with skepticism.
With all that out of the way, let’s jump in and discuss the Note 5, shall we?
There is a rising tension in the air and all those who have stayed with Samsung know it. This year has seen the departure of two signature features form the Galaxy product line, a removable battery and support for expandable storage via microSD. These features were arguably a large part of the reason Samsung initially found such a big market. The problem is seemingly going to get even worse if rumors hold true and the Galaxy Note 5 follows in the footsteps of its mainstream mentor.
Indeed there is a twinge of irony given that tech pundits the world over have harshly criticized the Korean conglomerate’s use of plastic, despite the fact that mobile devices have been using it for decades now. Suddenly it became de rigueur to shun it. Still, as the de-facto mainstream device, a product like the S6 can get away with trying mostly anything and people will still buy it. The Note series, on the other hand, has gradually graduated into the power user’s weapon of choice, and it is here that Samsung may face new trials and tribulations if it the larger flagship ends up following suit and drops the removable back and microSD card slot.
The Note 5: What we “know”
Let’s start by talking about what we know about the device. Samsung, as with most every other OEM, is tight-lipped on the details of its future products, and that means officially we know nothing about the Note 5. That said, there has been a steady stream of leaks that have given us a rather good idea of what to expect. While a full list of what to expect can be found in our Note 5 rumor roundup post, we’ll do our best to summarize a few of the important things we (think we) know about the device.
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The Galaxy Note 5 will be released as SM-N920 and will have a QHD SAMOLED flat display as with the models before if (i.e. not the Note Edge). It will have a glass back just like the Galaxy S6. It will use the 64-bit Octa-core Exynos 7422 all-in-one chipset which includes the GPU, RAM, storage, and LTE modem on-board. It will likely not have a 4K panel. It will have 4GB of RAM.
Other information, also unconfirmed, includes the same fingerprint scanning home button as found in the Galaxy S6, no removable battery, and no microSD card support. It will also, arguably, make use of an ejectable S-Pen, a design that Samsung patented last month.
Given that Samsung is clearly seeking to make 2015 all about “premium” flagships, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Note 5 is seemingly going to feature a glass back. It is a flagship after all, and it would actually be quite strange for Samsung to make such a case for the new design elements and then take a major step back and go with a plastic rear. While Forbes argued that it might be possible to make a glass back removable, the plausibility of such an idea seems quite spotty at best.
Battling the battery-bashers
Buyer beware: the Note 5 may not include a user-replaceable battery, unlike the Note 4 (see here).
Given that the Galaxy Note series has been the purveyor of the phablet form factor, we know it’s used for heavy gaming sessions, business productivity, and hardcore media consumption. Indeed it is the very existence of this type of product that has led to a decline in the tablet market, a market that almost never contains a user-replaceable battery. Samsung has always been about swappable batteries, and so too, in turn, has the Note series. Some more outspoken users are upset at the idea of this core feature possibly being removed, and rightly so.
With that said, even with a removable battery, the functionality isn’t a done deal by any means. The process has always involved the purchasing of an extra battery, and (possibly) a charging pod for it so as to make sure it’s full of juice when you need it. (Interestingly enough the Korean variants had, up until the Note 4, always included a spare battery and the battery charging cradle free of charge.) This of course translates to coughing up extra cash.
Now that Samsung has decided to make full use of wireless charging (two different standards supported no less) it’s easier than ever to simply pop the device onto a wireless charger and watch the magic happen. Some of these chargers can be had for around the same cost as the extra battery/cradle combo, and thus technically speaking it really shouldn’t matter if the end result is the same. Is pulling off the battery door that much more fun? Likewise, now that Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 technology is included, it’s easier than ever to top-up the device when around an AC outlet.
Ultimately the question revolving the battery becomes a very simple one: would you be willing to sacrifice a more premium, thinner design for the sole benefit of having a user-replaceable battery, especially when the alternatives suggested above basically cover the very same thing?
Morbid about the microSD
There is a certain twinge of irony in thinking that Samsung’s new products lack one of the main features they have always embraced.
Whereas the battery issue is, in theory more forgivable, for many the lack of expandable storage isn’t. Again this is something that doesn’t require too much analysis to understand: not everyone has unlimited data, and thus streaming everything is just not a viable option. Likewise, if you have 100GB of movies, it’s easy to simply pop them onto a few microSD cards and carry them with you be it on a long car ride, an airplane, or even at lunch. Samsung can be accused -and rightly so- of encouraging this behavior for the simple fact that its done so from the beginning. Make no mistake, this isn’t Apple (or Google) we’re talking about here, which has always relied on spending more to expand the always-finite amount of storage. No, Samsung has at times made a marketing USP out of the inclusion of microSD support.
Samsung can be accused -and rightly so- of encouraging this behavior for the simple fact that its done so from the beginning.
While it’s expected the Galaxy Note 5 will come in three size variants (32, 64, and 128GB), that still doesn’t solve the problem for everyone. For starters, some regions (like Japan for example) never got the 128GB Galaxy S6 to begin with, and thus the size might not be a possibility at all. For others, there is a cost-factor in that the extra internal storage comes at a higher initial purchase price whereas microSD can be had for almost nothing these days.
From a design perspective, there is technically no reason Samsung can’t include microSD, as it certainly has on the Galaxy A8, which is made entirely of metal, just as the other installments in the A-series smartphones. Heck, there was technically no reason the S6 and S6 Edge couldn’t have had support either, given that it would have just required adding an extra tray to the frame, or -as is the case with the Dual-SIM S6 variants- an extra wide one.
Salty about storage
Samsung’s new storage format breaks with that of the past.
SamMobile has raised the idea, stemming from a user comment, that the problem lies in the internal storage option Samsung has chosen for the phone. “SD cards and the eMMC 5.0 solution used on other flagships are able to use the same memory controller (the controller is what handles data transfer and communication with things like the processor), making it easier for them to exist in the same device. UFS 2.0, on the other hand, uses a new type of memory controller, and Samsung will have to find ways to interface the new controller with the one used on SD cards to be able to make them work together without affecting overall performance.”
What this means is that it’s seemingly impossible for the Note 5 to include microSD support from a technical standpoint. This could very well be the same reason the feature was dropped from the Galaxy S6 Active given that it was widely expected – based on leaks – that the device was going to include support prior to the official announcement. This also raises another issue however, namely how it is that rumors are claiming the upcoming Galaxy Tab S2 will include microSD support? Assuming Samsung includes UFS 2.0 with it then, based on the above explanation, it wouldn’t work. So will Samsung release the Tab S2 with standard eMMC storage? If so, then couldn’t it technically do the same with the Note 5? It’s also worth pointing out that there is little to stop Samsung from making a workaround for this purported problem, thus why isn’t it?
Double Dosage
Some of the more outspoken critics of Samsung’s new design ethos have suggested the panacea for this perceived malady is to simply produce two versions of flagship products: one that conforms to the premium standards, and one that adheres to the design language of old. In theory this is a solid, sound idea that would solve the problem entirely. At the same time, there are a few fundamental problems to consider in such a solution:
1. Demand: Look no further than Galaxy S6 sales performance to understand just what the danger is of making two similar models with slightly different hardware. Given the unsurprisingly average sales numbers for the Galaxy Note Edge, it would make sense to have tapered expectations about the performance of the S6 Edge, all the more so given it doesn’t have anywhere near the level of usability that its Note progenitor offered. Lo-and-behold the S6 Edge is a sweeping success despite costing about $100 more than the standard variant.
If Samsung makes both a “new type” and “old type” Note 5, who can really say which will be the winner? If all bets are on the unibody variant and it doesn’t sell, then that’s a lot of potential write-down and unsold inventory to deal with. On the other hand, if the old-type is projected as the winner and it doesn’t move major mountains, suddenly there is a major production shortage of the new-type. Whereas the demand used to wait for the supply to return, these days there are so many alternative products out there, one need not wait at all.
Confusion is one of the worst possible factors when it comes to making a purchase choice, and by making two products Samsung would thereby be actively promoting it.
2. Costs: Directly related to the demand issue, making two separate phones would entail making two totally separate devices. Costs are involved, and all the more so when you consider that the change in design might result in totally different circuit boards, components, and parts being needed to make both variants. This would be lesser of an issue were the plastic version a “Neo” of sorts, but if it must have the same exact specs as the premium glass variant, then costs will be higher.
3. Specs: If Samsung were to make a plastic variant of the Note 5, then it would quite feasibly be of a larger form factor than the unibody glass. As such, this would create a need to alter the specs. Perhaps give it a larger battery, perhaps remove a spring-loaded S-Pen, perhaps make it waterproof, etc. At the end of the day, this does nothing more than create more confusion for customers: hardcore users will be torn between sacrificing features for a more premium design and the mainstream customer will be totally lost as to what the differences are; why one is better (or “worse”) than the other. Confusion is one of the worst possible factors when it comes to making a purchase choice, and by making two products Samsung is thereby actively promoting it.
4. Common Sense: As harsh as it sounds, many of the more vocal critics of Samsung’s 2015 flagship choices need to confront the idea that their needs may not be indicative of those of the general public. Gone are the days when the Galaxy Note is competing in a barren playing field. Literally everyone has a phablet out these days, even Google and Apple, two companies one might never have expected would bring such a thing to market. Sure the Note series has its signature S-Pen, but how many people actually make extensive use of it? Samsung is now dealing with a very crowded ball park, and the only way to truly make the next home run is to produce the best possible player. Of course some will argue it’s more of a strikeout, but then again so too have critics been bashing the plastic usage for years: no one will ever be truly happy.
Preparing for the worst (or the best)
How realistic is this concept render of the Note 5? We will need to wait a bit longer to find out.
As we said in the beginning, nothing is certain about the Galaxy Note 5, at least not yet. We have a lot of theories about what it might be, some convictions about what it won’t, and some ideas about how the market will receive it. Until Samsung itself formally announces the product (or we at least get some hands-on leaks) the best thing to do is just sit back and relax. Remember why you like the product to begin with: the fantastic HD SAMOLED display, the large form factor, (perhaps) the inclusion of TouchWiz, the high specs…take all that in and ask yourself just how much a swappable battery and microSD really matter to you, if they really do at all.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5: how important are microSD and removable battery?
Life Support: Depending on how the public-at-large receives the potential changes the Note 5 may bring, Samsung may need to brace for the worse. Or best.
Disclaimer: This piece is based largely on speculation as to what the Galaxy Note 5 is, and isn’t. We are approaching this from a purely hardware perspective for the sake of argument, as nothing is yet known about the TouchWiz alterations that will inevitably be made from the Note 4 to this new flagship. Please remember that Samsung has neither confirmed nor denied any of these spec-related details and thus they should be approached with skepticism.
With all that out of the way, let’s jump in and discuss the Note 5, shall we?
There is a rising tension in the air and all those who have stayed with Samsung know it. This year has seen the departure of two signature features form the Galaxy product line, a removable battery and support for expandable storage via microSD. These features were arguably a large part of the reason Samsung initially found such a big market. The problem is seemingly going to get even worse if rumors hold true and the Galaxy Note 5 follows in the footsteps of its mainstream mentor.
Indeed there is a twinge of irony given that tech pundits the world over have harshly criticized the Korean conglomerate’s use of plastic, despite the fact that mobile devices have been using it for decades now. Suddenly it became de rigueur to shun it. Still, as the de-facto mainstream device, a product like the S6 can get away with trying mostly anything and people will still buy it. The Note series, on the other hand, has gradually graduated into the power user’s weapon of choice, and it is here that Samsung may face new trials and tribulations if it the larger flagship ends up following suit and drops the removable back and microSD card slot.
The Note 5: What we “know”
Let’s start by talking about what we know about the device. Samsung, as with most every other OEM, is tight-lipped on the details of its future products, and that means officially we know nothing about the Note 5. That said, there has been a steady stream of leaks that have given us a rather good idea of what to expect. While a full list of what to expect can be found in our Note 5 rumor roundup post, we’ll do our best to summarize a few of the important things we (think we) know about the device.
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The Galaxy Note 5 will be released as SM-N920 and will have a QHD SAMOLED flat display as with the models before if (i.e. not the Note Edge). It will have a glass back just like the Galaxy S6. It will use the 64-bit Octa-core Exynos 7422 all-in-one chipset which includes the GPU, RAM, storage, and LTE modem on-board. It will likely not have a 4K panel. It will have 4GB of RAM.
Other information, also unconfirmed, includes the same fingerprint scanning home button as found in the Galaxy S6, no removable battery, and no microSD card support. It will also, arguably, make use of an ejectable S-Pen, a design that Samsung patented last month.
Given that Samsung is clearly seeking to make 2015 all about “premium” flagships, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Note 5 is seemingly going to feature a glass back. It is a flagship after all, and it would actually be quite strange for Samsung to make such a case for the new design elements and then take a major step back and go with a plastic rear. While Forbes argued that it might be possible to make a glass back removable, the plausibility of such an idea seems quite spotty at best.
Battling the battery-bashers
Buyer beware: the Note 5 may not include a user-replaceable battery, unlike the Note 4 (see here).
Given that the Galaxy Note series has been the purveyor of the phablet form factor, we know it’s used for heavy gaming sessions, business productivity, and hardcore media consumption. Indeed it is the very existence of this type of product that has led to a decline in the tablet market, a market that almost never contains a user-replaceable battery. Samsung has always been about swappable batteries, and so too, in turn, has the Note series. Some more outspoken users are upset at the idea of this core feature possibly being removed, and rightly so.
With that said, even with a removable battery, the functionality isn’t a done deal by any means. The process has always involved the purchasing of an extra battery, and (possibly) a charging pod for it so as to make sure it’s full of juice when you need it. (Interestingly enough the Korean variants had, up until the Note 4, always included a spare battery and the battery charging cradle free of charge.) This of course translates to coughing up extra cash.
Now that Samsung has decided to make full use of wireless charging (two different standards supported no less) it’s easier than ever to simply pop the device onto a wireless charger and watch the magic happen. Some of these chargers can be had for around the same cost as the extra battery/cradle combo, and thus technically speaking it really shouldn’t matter if the end result is the same. Is pulling off the battery door that much more fun? Likewise, now that Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 technology is included, it’s easier than ever to top-up the device when around an AC outlet.
Ultimately the question revolving the battery becomes a very simple one: would you be willing to sacrifice a more premium, thinner design for the sole benefit of having a user-replaceable battery, especially when the alternatives suggested above basically cover the very same thing?
Morbid about the microSD
There is a certain twinge of irony in thinking that Samsung’s new products lack one of the main features they have always embraced.
Whereas the battery issue is, in theory more forgivable, for many the lack of expandable storage isn’t. Again this is something that doesn’t require too much analysis to understand: not everyone has unlimited data, and thus streaming everything is just not a viable option. Likewise, if you have 100GB of movies, it’s easy to simply pop them onto a few microSD cards and carry them with you be it on a long car ride, an airplane, or even at lunch. Samsung can be accused -and rightly so- of encouraging this behavior for the simple fact that its done so from the beginning. Make no mistake, this isn’t Apple (or Google) we’re talking about here, which has always relied on spending more to expand the always-finite amount of storage. No, Samsung has at times made a marketing USP out of the inclusion of microSD support.
Samsung can be accused -and rightly so- of encouraging this behavior for the simple fact that its done so from the beginning.
While it’s expected the Galaxy Note 5 will come in three size variants (32, 64, and 128GB), that still doesn’t solve the problem for everyone. For starters, some regions (like Japan for example) never got the 128GB Galaxy S6 to begin with, and thus the size might not be a possibility at all. For others, there is a cost-factor in that the extra internal storage comes at a higher initial purchase price whereas microSD can be had for almost nothing these days.
From a design perspective, there is technically no reason Samsung can’t include microSD, as it certainly has on the Galaxy A8, which is made entirely of metal, just as the other installments in the A-series smartphones. Heck, there was technically no reason the S6 and S6 Edge couldn’t have had support either, given that it would have just required adding an extra tray to the frame, or -as is the case with the Dual-SIM S6 variants- an extra wide one.
Salty about storage
Samsung’s new storage format breaks with that of the past.
SamMobile has raised the idea, stemming from a user comment, that the problem lies in the internal storage option Samsung has chosen for the phone. “SD cards and the eMMC 5.0 solution used on other flagships are able to use the same memory controller (the controller is what handles data transfer and communication with things like the processor), making it easier for them to exist in the same device. UFS 2.0, on the other hand, uses a new type of memory controller, and Samsung will have to find ways to interface the new controller with the one used on SD cards to be able to make them work together without affecting overall performance.”
What this means is that it’s seemingly impossible for the Note 5 to include microSD support from a technical standpoint. This could very well be the same reason the feature was dropped from the Galaxy S6 Active given that it was widely expected – based on leaks – that the device was going to include support prior to the official announcement. This also raises another issue however, namely how it is that rumors are claiming the upcoming Galaxy Tab S2 will include microSD support? Assuming Samsung includes UFS 2.0 with it then, based on the above explanation, it wouldn’t work. So will Samsung release the Tab S2 with standard eMMC storage? If so, then couldn’t it technically do the same with the Note 5? It’s also worth pointing out that there is little to stop Samsung from making a workaround for this purported problem, thus why isn’t it?
Double Dosage
Some of the more outspoken critics of Samsung’s new design ethos have suggested the panacea for this perceived malady is to simply produce two versions of flagship products: one that conforms to the premium standards, and one that adheres to the design language of old. In theory this is a solid, sound idea that would solve the problem entirely. At the same time, there are a few fundamental problems to consider in such a solution:
1. Demand: Look no further than Galaxy S6 sales performance to understand just what the danger is of making two similar models with slightly different hardware. Given the unsurprisingly average sales numbers for the Galaxy Note Edge, it would make sense to have tapered expectations about the performance of the S6 Edge, all the more so given it doesn’t have anywhere near the level of usability that its Note progenitor offered. Lo-and-behold the S6 Edge is a sweeping success despite costing about $100 more than the standard variant.
If Samsung makes both a “new type” and “old type” Note 5, who can really say which will be the winner? If all bets are on the unibody variant and it doesn’t sell, then that’s a lot of potential write-down and unsold inventory to deal with. On the other hand, if the old-type is projected as the winner and it doesn’t move major mountains, suddenly there is a major production shortage of the new-type. Whereas the demand used to wait for the supply to return, these days there are so many alternative products out there, one need not wait at all.
Confusion is one of the worst possible factors when it comes to making a purchase choice, and by making two products Samsung would thereby be actively promoting it.
2. Costs: Directly related to the demand issue, making two separate phones would entail making two totally separate devices. Costs are involved, and all the more so when you consider that the change in design might result in totally different circuit boards, components, and parts being needed to make both variants. This would be lesser of an issue were the plastic version a “Neo” of sorts, but if it must have the same exact specs as the premium glass variant, then costs will be higher.
3. Specs: If Samsung were to make a plastic variant of the Note 5, then it would quite feasibly be of a larger form factor than the unibody glass. As such, this would create a need to alter the specs. Perhaps give it a larger battery, perhaps remove a spring-loaded S-Pen, perhaps make it waterproof, etc. At the end of the day, this does nothing more than create more confusion for customers: hardcore users will be torn between sacrificing features for a more premium design and the mainstream customer will be totally lost as to what the differences are; why one is better (or “worse”) than the other. Confusion is one of the worst possible factors when it comes to making a purchase choice, and by making two products Samsung is thereby actively promoting it.
4. Common Sense: As harsh as it sounds, many of the more vocal critics of Samsung’s 2015 flagship choices need to confront the idea that their needs may not be indicative of those of the general public. Gone are the days when the Galaxy Note is competing in a barren playing field. Literally everyone has a phablet out these days, even Google and Apple, two companies one might never have expected would bring such a thing to market. Sure the Note series has its signature S-Pen, but how many people actually make extensive use of it? Samsung is now dealing with a very crowded ball park, and the only way to truly make the next home run is to produce the best possible player. Of course some will argue it’s more of a strikeout, but then again so too have critics been bashing the plastic usage for years: no one will ever be truly happy.
Preparing for the worst (or the best)
How realistic is this concept render of the Note 5? We will need to wait a bit longer to find out.
As we said in the beginning, nothing is certain about the Galaxy Note 5, at least not yet. We have a lot of theories about what it might be, some convictions about what it won’t, and some ideas about how the market will receive it. Until Samsung itself formally announces the product (or we at least get some hands-on leaks) the best thing to do is just sit back and relax. Remember why you like the product to begin with: the fantastic HD SAMOLED display, the large form factor, (perhaps) the inclusion of TouchWiz, the high specs…take all that in and ask yourself just how much a swappable battery and microSD really matter to you, if they really do at all.
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Best weather apps [2015]
When smartphones first hit the market, it seemed like one of the “core” apps every smartphone got was a weather app. Part of this was probably due to the graphic nature of weather information and forecasts that could benefit from a smartphone screen. Add in the mobile nature so users could always have up to date weather no matter where they were and it makes absolute sense. The fact that weather apps came pre-installed did not stop developers from working on third-party weather apps, especially if they could be tied into an existing service on other platforms like the ubiquitous Weather Channel on virtually every cable and satellite service lineup and appearing in every hotel lobby.
Like the constantly changing weather, apps to keep up with the weather frequently change as well, so we are taking a look at some of the top weather apps this summer.
WeatherBug
Heading up the list is the popular WeatherBug app. Compared to some other apps and despite attempts to incorporate some Material Design guidelines, WeatherBug tends to be one of the “busier” looking apps in terms of the user interface. That is not necessarily a bad thing as WeatherBug packs a lot of information and features into the app and, despite this, the app is easy to navigate and gets to the information you are looking for.
On the main page when starting up the app users get basic, current weather conditions with a small radar inset. Tapping on the radar opens it full screen where it can be zoomed, panned, animated and other layers turned on or off. Back on the main screen you can slide to the right to access weather details like wind data, sunrise and moonrise information, pollen counts, precipitation, hourly forecasts; and a 10-day forecast.
WeatherBug also includes a variety of activity forecasts for 13 different lifestyles like a Fitness forecast, Golf forecast, Lawn Care, or a Beauty forecast. Users can also access news, photos and live weather cams.
One feature that sets WeatherBug apart is their Spark lightning detection system. Not only can you open a map display to see where lightning strikes have been recorded, you can set the app to alert you if any come within the danger zone.
AccuWeather
The next top weather app in our guide is AccuWeather. The developers of AccuWeather have put in some work to produce a clean, Material Design-inspired user interface. However, that comes at the expense of some features as the AccuWeather app tends to stick to the basics. From the main screen when you open the app you get current conditions. This goes beyond the temperature and any current weather activity like rain to include some other weather data like pressure, humidity and wind speed/direction data.
AccuWeather tries to set itself apart by providing MinuteCast, an attempt to provide a detailed precipitation forecast for the next 120 minutes. This can be displayed using a circular graph or as a list.
Joining MinuteCast are traditional hourly and daily forecasts, radar maps, and some AccuWeather-produced videos and news stories. All of these make good use of screen real estate and drill downs are available for things like daily and hourly forecast details.
Yahoo! Weather
The Yahoo Weather app joins AccuWeather in going for an app that may not have the most features, but presents weather data in a super clean user interface. Unlike other weather apps that make use of right and left swipes to get to a variety of information, Yahoo Weather presents everything in one long scrolling screen.
Besides current conditions, users will find they can access hourly forecasts and 5- or 10-day forecasts along with a detailed narrative forecast for the next day or evening. Users also have access to a map that can show radar, satellite, temp or wind data. Unlike most of the weather apps, the Yahoo Weather radar map can not be animated to show the movement of storms over time.
Yahoo also included links to several of their other platforms like Yahoo Sports, News Digest, Mail or Finance to name a few. This could be useful for users who still use the Yahoo! platform.
The Weather Channel
Similar to Yahoo! Weather, The Weather Channel uses a single vertically scrolling screen to present information to the user. The app starts out with basic weather conditions following by more detailed data and then hourly and 10-day forecasts. Scrolling on down past some video options, users will find that radar screen which can be tapped to open to take up the whole app screen.
The radar function is quite robust with several alert layers that can be selected like severe storm warning, floods, or winter weather. Users can also choose from data layers like radar, clouds, temps, wind and others. For animation, The Weather Channel offers both past and future options.
The Weather Channel also incorporates some functions like news, pollen count data, a flu report, and airport data. Users may also notice that they encourage users to report weather data in an effort to make the app more “social” along the lines of WeatherBug. The Weather Channel also offers an option to be warned of lightning strikes.
Weather Underground
Our final weather app to check out is Weather Underground, or Wunderground. Weather Underground is based on a single vertically scrolling screen, but the developers use a simple white background, giving the app a more Material Design feel. The main screen does present current condition data, but also has a small radar inset that can be tapped to open the radar screen. A couple other data points are available on the main screen like winds data and the precipitation forecast, both of which are joined by a short narrative forecast.
Moving on down users are presented with a forecast table that can be toggled between daily and hourly, some health measures like air quality, pollen and UV, and sunrise/sunset information. A separate radar panel is available. No matter how the radar is opened, it provides extensive options for data to be displayed on the map. If you are in a storm prone area, be sure to check out the option to display the storm track.
The Weather Underground app helps users prioritize and access information by putting all of this different data on their own panels that can be dragged and dropped into a different order. Just hit the two horizontal lines in the upper right corner and hold to highlight panel. As it is moved, other panels will move out of the way.
Finally, the main menu gives users access to features like live weather radio stations, hurricane updates, and ski reports. For the hardcore weather nerds out there, you can also access Dr. Master’s blog as well as the detailed scientific discussions published by the weather service.
Closing
If you are a weather watcher, then a third-party weather app is a must have compared to the stock weather apps provided on smartphones. Even if you are not that interested in the nuances of the weather, one of these apps may be helpful for the notifications and warnings they can provide when bad weather is headed your way.
Do you have a favorite weather app that did not make our list? Let us know in the comments.
Come comment on this article: Best weather apps [2015]
Apple Store Goes Down Ahead of Expected iPod Refresh
The Apple Online Store was taken offline momentarily ago ahead of an expected refresh to the iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle lineup of portable media players. The sixth-generation iPod touch will likely feature a 64-bit processor, new colors and other hardware improvements, while the iPod nano and iPod shuffle are expected to be released in new colors only.
iPods discovered in unreleased colors (left) and Apple Store down (right)
iPods in unreleased colors were first spotted in iTunes 12.2 earlier this month, including a darker blue for the iPod touch, a new gold color for the iPod nano and a brighter pink color for the iPod shuffle. MacRumors subsequently discovered a full lineup of six new colors for the iPod touch, nano and shuffle hidden within iTunes resource files, including silver, space gray, red, bright pink, deep blue and light gold.
AIVAnet 