Dear Veronica: Is tech rejection our future?
This week, we kick things off with the poll results from last week’s episode. You guys had some strong feelings about kids and cursing!
Next, my friend and Sword & Laser co-host Tom Merritt (of Daily Tech News Show) weighs in on a question about the anti-technology generation. Will our future spawn reject technology fully, or embrace it even more completely?
And hey, if you feel like you’re a little too plugged-in, I share my tips for logging off. Just make sure you watch this video before you do! Send your questions to me veronica@engadget.com or on Twitter using the hashtag #DearVeronica. See you next week!
Filed under: Apple
What it’s like to use Samsung’s Tizen-based 4K TV (in a non-4K world)
It’s not easy getting a massive 65-inch TV inside a Brooklyn apartment. But, oh, is it worth the trouble. In this case, I’m talking about the Samsung JU6500, a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) smart TV powered by the company’s newly minted, homegrown Tizen OS. Unless you were dead-set on Android TV, the set comes with most everything you would want in 2015: support for Ultra High-Definition media, access to entertainment apps and an actually reasonable price point. Although it’s listed at $2,800, you can get one for around $2,100 from retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, Adorama and Samsung’s own site. Unfortunately for the company, its JU6500 seems expensive compared to Vizio’s cheap 4K series — which makes the buying decision harder for people who want a UHD TV.
Beyond that, the JU6500 delivers stunning picture quality, with bright colors, deep blacks and true whites, while a contrast enhancer gives you a sense of depth when you’re looking at the LED display (think: a bit like 3D). Additionally, there’s a quad-core processor, 120Hz refresh rate, four HDMI inputs, three USB ports, Bluetooth, Ethernet, WiFi and DTS Premium Sound 5.1. At 2.5 inches thick and 60.6 pounds (with the stand), it’s relatively thin and light too, but then again, most high-end TVs are nowadays. You’ll also find video and music apps, an upscaling feature that takes 720p and 1080p content to near-4K resolution and PlayStation Now, Sony’s game-streaming service. What you won’t see here, however, is a 3D mode; Samsung says that’s an omission it made to keep the cost down.
Running down the spec sheet, Samsung’s JU6500 easily stands out as a top-of-the-line TV. That’s because it is. Watching movies and shows and playing video games on it is a pleasure; everything looks and sounds crisp; totally immersive. I’m not just talking about enjoying 4K content, either, which is obviously one of the main strengths of this TV. To give you an example, I started watching HBO’s The Wire again, and it’s as if I had never seen the show before — the remastering helps, naturally, but I also watched it on my 42-inch, 1080p TV and the experience wasn’t as enjoyable. The same goes for gaming on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Wii U; graphics look incredible on everything from FIFA 15 to Battlefield Hardline, Titanfall and Mario Kart 8.
One of the few times I felt disappointed was while using PlayStation Now. Granted that wasn’t the TV’s fault. Even though I have internet speeds capable of handling the streaming service, the visuals from PlayStation 3 games don’t cut it anymore. This is particularly true on a 65-inch device, where you can easily notice just about every dropped frame — and that happens often on PlayStation Now. If you’re willing to deal with this, you can still have plenty of fun playing old-school titles, including Batman: Arkham City and the Uncharted series. The TV’s streaming functionality also extends to smartphones, since Samsung lets you pair it with some handsets for AirPlay-esque features.
It’s also worth noting that, since the day I’ve had it (close to a month now), the JU6500 has lost its cool on me a few times. In more than a couple of occasions, it froze as I tried to stream a 4K movie via Amazon Instant Video. The same happened while I was browsing Samsung’s smart TV app store, becoming unresponsive and requiring a hard reboot (read: disconnecting the power and plugging it back in). Sure, bringing it back to life isn’t hard, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that with a $2,000-plus, high-end TV.
For the most part, though, the JU6500 presents a seamless experience, and that’s thanks to the work Samsung’s done on Tizen OS. The menu system is simple and straightforward, allowing you to quickly find any setting you may want to change, like your picture and sound modes as well as network connectivity and power options. On the big screen, Tizen OS relies on a card-based system that never lets you feel lost as you’re browsing the menu. Say you end up jumping into the wrong option; you can easily get back to the previous window by simply clicking the left arrow. If you’ve ever used a TV (smart or otherwise) with a tedious menu, then you’ll definitely appreciate this.
Speaking of Amazon Instant Video, you’re going to need it if you want to get the most out of this (or any) 4K TV. At the moment, that’s one of the few applications actually offering UHD content, and even then, its selection is quite limited. The others are Netflix and M-Go, a video app developed in part by Samsung, both of which have a small library of 4K movies and TV shows to stream and buy or rent, respectively. Amazon does deliver its latest original series in 4K (Bosch, Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle and Alpha House), but Prime members also get access to some movies at no cost. Netflix’s 4K programming, on the other hand, includes House of Cards and Breaking Bad, as well as films like Philadelphia, Jerry Maguire and The Smurfs 2.
Want to buy movies or TV episodes instead? Don’t fret — Amazon has you covered there as well. But do keep in mind they won’t be cheap and that, again, you won’t have many options to choose from. For example, one of my UHD purchases was Pineapple Express, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco — which costs $25, whereas the Blu-ray is $10. Still, you get what you pay for. In general, there are too many details in the 4K picture quality that can’t be ignored, such as a facial pore on Franco’s face you wouldn’t normally see in the 1080p version. Here, it’s exposed for your viewing pleasure. That’s not to say 1080p video doesn’t display well on this UHD TV; the upscaling feature works great across the board, like when you’re watching Blu-rays or streaming content from non-4K apps such as HBO Go or Hulu Plus.
Ultimately, what holds back the JU6500 isn’t its hardware or software, but rather the shortage of Ultra High-Def content currently available. The good news is that, if you spend the money on it right now, you’re setting yourself up for the future — everyone’s working hard to make 4K a reality, so it’s only a matter of time before the technology becomes the norm.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Last Chance: Choose Your Own Android Phablet Giveaway
It’s time to leave the kid’s table and upgrade to something a bit formidable. With today’s Choose Your Own Android Phablet Giveaway, we’re giving you the chance to step up to the major leagues.
One winner will choose between a Google Nexus 6, LG G4, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, OnePlus Two or an LG G Flex 2. All brand new and ready to impress anyone who might feast their eyes upon it. One of these phone/tablet hybrids is already be calling your name. Can you hear it?
There’s no purchase necessary and no complicated forms to fill out. All you’ll have to do is visit our giveaway page and submit an entry for your chance to take home a free big-boy toy. It’s as easy as that. Plus, sharing with your friends via social media gains you more entries. Good luck!
Check this deal out, and many others at deals.androidguys.com!
The post Last Chance: Choose Your Own Android Phablet Giveaway appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Unique Widgets app review
I don’t think I’m the only one that sometimes gets bored of their current screen setup and puts some effort into sprucing it up. I mean this is Android after all, we are fortunate to have the openness and ability to do so.
Specifically, I’ve recently been wanting to add a nice-looking, customized clock/weather widget and have stumbled upon Unique Widgets, by 6thSolution. Having had a joy playing around with all the different options, I want to rundown how it could fulfill your itch to tinker and express yourself.
Features
Upon opening the Unique Widgets app, you’re welcomed with weather information. Scroll to the right for more details.
Swiping from the left of the main page presents you all that the app offers.
The theme store is a database of different types of clock and weather images to use in your widgets. They’re all free, so not sure why it’s called a ‘store’. It is important to note that there are a whole lot more clock themes than there are weather. I’m not sure how often 6thSolution plans to update the lists.
There’s even a nice-looking and informative battery monitor.
All the extras thrown into the Unique Widgets app are great looking and have a Material Design-esque feel. However, I feel like everyone has their own solutions for weather and battery statuses, and I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort. But it certainly doesn’t hurt anything.
Usability
Unique Widgets isn’t meant to be over-complicated. To set a widget, go into the Widget Center of the app or do it the old-fashioned way, through your system’s widget menu. Essentially the options are clock-only, weather-only, a variety of different clock and weather formats, and a power widget.
When you choose a format, you’re taken to the widget customization area. You then swift through what aspect of the widget you want to customize. I’ve labeled them below:
On the top left corner you have a randomizer, if you’re feeling lucky. Once you’re done with your modifications, simply click on the check mark to place the widget.
Customization
The magic of the app is how much customization it allows of little details in the widgets.
Here’s an example of me throwing random stuff on the screen:
On the layout section, I like the multitude of combinations. However, the level of customization doesn’t reach to let you play around with the widget’s layout manually. The clock and weather appearances have loads of options, due to the theme store. I love that there is simple and advanced sub-menus in the color palette section. There are 28 different predefined color combinations. If you don’t like a particular color, just click on ‘Advance’ and change it.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Unique Widgets offers a range of eye-candy to fit into the current theme you’re looking for, and which compliments Material Design nicely. And the fact that there’s a theme store means that the library of options can grow.
Unique Widgets goes for $2.39 on the Play Store, check it out via the link below.
The post Unique Widgets app review appeared first on AndroidGuys.
MacRumors and Aspyr Giveaway: Get a Free Copy of ‘Civilization V: Campaign Edition’ for Mac
Most of our giveaways have focused on hardware products, but this week, we’ve partnered with Aspyr to set up a special one-of-a-kind giveaway. We’ve teamed up to offer our MacRumors readers a free copy of the ultra popular game Civilization V: Campaign Edition, which normally retails for $29.
We’ve created a dedicated page for the giveaway. Head over there to get a promotion code for Civilization V: Campaign Edition that can then be redeemed within the Mac App Store. The promotion is open to readers worldwide.
For those of you unfamiliar with Civilization V, it’s a turn-based strategy game that lets players lead a civilization to world domination through time, waging wars, discovering technologies, trading with friendly nations, and interacting with some of the world’s most powerful historical leaders. Civilization V: Campaign Edition includes the base game, the Babylon Civilization Pack with Nebuchadnezzar II, plus the Mongols Civilization and Scenario Pack.
We’re providing each of our readers with one promo code apiece, and codes will be available through July 31 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time or until all codes have been claimed. Codes will expire on August 4, so make sure to enter your promo code in the Mac App Store before then. Visit the giveaway page.
Apple Watch Captured Estimated 75% Smartwatch Market Share in Launch Quarter
The latest data from research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the Apple Watch captured 75.5% global smartwatch market share during its launch quarter, trailed by Samsung’s estimated 7.5% market share.
Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple sold 4 million Apple Watches in the second quarter of 2015, while runner-up Samsung sold an estimated 400,000 smartwatches during the three-month period ending June 30.
Many analysts have adjusted their Apple Watch sales estimates following the company’s earnings report on Tuesday, with the consensus now ranging between 2.2 million and 3 million units sold, so Strategy Analytics’s 4 million estimate seems overly high. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Apple Watch has become the best-selling smartwatch since its release.
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “We estimate Apple Watch shipped 4.0 million units and captured a dominant 75 percent smartwatch marketshare worldwide in Q2 2015. Apple Watch launched in sixteen major countries and saw decent take-up from iPhone loyalists in the United States and elsewhere. Apple Watch has clearly raised the bar for the global smartwatch industry. The ball is now in the court of rivals, like Samsung, to respond.”
The launch of the Apple Watch helped the overall smartwatch market grow an estimated 457% annually to reach a record 5.3 million units in the second quarter of 2015. Strategy Analytics reports that smartwatch shipments were higher in this quarter than throughout all of 2014, when Samsung led the market and an estimated 4.6 million smartwatches were shipped globally.
Samsung held a commanding 73.6% global market share in the smartwatch market in the year-ago quarter, but the South Korean electronics maker now trails the Apple Watch by a significant margin. Apple Watch is currently available in the United States and eighteen other countries, and the wrist-worn device is set to launch in New Zealand, Russia and Turkey on July 31.
Apple and Samsung together accounted for 8 in 10 smartwatches sold, similar to the two-horse race between the rival tech companies in the smartphone market. Strategy Analytics estimates that other manufacturers shipped a combined 900,000 smartwatches during the second quarter of 2015 for 17% market share, down from 26.4% market share in the year-ago quarter despite selling 600,000 more smartwatches.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple Watch sales “exceeded expectations” during the company’s third quarter earnings report on Tuesday, but stopped short of providing any specific sales figures. Cook’s only comment was that Apple Watch sales during its first nine weeks of availability were higher than sales of the original iPad and iPhone when those devices first became available for sale.
Microsoft Introduces ‘Send’ iOS App for Quick, ‘In-and-Out Email’
Microsoft today announced “Send,” a new app premiering exclusively on iOS that aims to give customers the simplicity of a text-message conversation in the guise of a professional e-mail experience. Specifically, the app will let users send quick, snappy responses to co-workers “without a subject line or formal email constructs.”
Microsoft hopes that the app acts as a bridge between the texting and e-mail culture that can become murky when needing to reach someone quickly, but are lacking the person’s phone number and wanting to avoid filtering through an e-mail app for an old thread. Send isn’t for in-depth dives into an inbox, either, the app choosing to show only the messages created and sent within the app itself, sticking to its mission statement of a more threaded, iMessage-like experience.
While tools like text messaging and IM are great for short messages, you often don’t have your co-worker’s cell phone number or an IM app on your work phone. And we’ve heard loud and clear from people at work, they want all their communications available in Outlook—even if they send them from other apps. This is where Send comes in! Send gives you the simple, quick text message-like experience while allowing you to reach all co-workers and have all of your communications in Outlook for reference later.
If a user connects the app to an Office 365 School or Business account, they’ll be able to pick up conversations anywhere thanks to cloud sync and Outlook. All emails sent and received within Send are also promised to comply with the various email compliance policies of companies around the country, with Microsoft promising that the messages “are treated like any other work email.”
The app is available today in the United States and Canada, but only for iOS. Microsoft promises the text-message-meets-email experience of Send is “coming soon” to Windows Phone and Android phones. The company also encourages people to provide feedback on the app during YamJam on Tuesday July 28 from 9 AM to 10 AM PDT, by following the instructions at the bottom of the Send blog post.
Send [Direct Link] is available to download for free in the App Store today.
This is the ASUS ZenFone 2E, AT&T’s latest GoPhone device
AT&T has revealed that the ASUS ZenFone 2E will be joining GoPhone, its line up of prepaid smartphones. The device has a price point of $119, with AT&T’s prepaid plans starting at $45 per month for unlimited talk, text, and 1.5GB of data.
The ASUS ZenFone 2E features a 5-inch IPS HD display, a dual-core Intel Atom CPU, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, and a 2,500mAh battery. AT&T says users should be able to get 20 hours of talk time and up to 8 hours of stand by time out of this device.
The device can be purchased at brick-and-mortar stores Walmart and Target for $119. It should arrive at AT&T locations on July 24, with availability at Best Buy starting on August 2.
Prepaid devices have been in the spotlight lately, with the LG Tribute 2 and Tribute Duo landing on Sprint Prepaid and Virgin Mobile earlier this week. The LG G Stylo, LG Tribute 2, and Volt 2 also recently landed on another Sprint subsidiary, Boost Mobile.
Prepaid phones are an economical option for those that can’t afford the higher rates that come with flagship devices and full-fledged data plans. However, prepaid devices have never been that great in terms of hardware, but the selection is slowly getting better with more impressive devices on the horizon.
source: Asus
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Enterprise Edition of Google Glass beefing up for the workplace
As Google moves to reposition they next version of Google Glass to be primarily used for business and enterprise purposes, reports indicate the Glass team is beefing up the device to be a little more business friendly and more rugged to handle the stress of a workplace environment. Despite some of these changes, the overall form factor will stay much the same as the Explorer Edition with a prism located above the right eye and the electronics hanging on the right temple.
New to the next “Enterprise Edition” will be hinges for the temples so the device can be folded up like normal eyewear. This includes both the plain left temple as well as the right temple and all of the electronics located there. This should make it a little easier to keep the device close to a worker who could more easily stow it in a case, including a hard case, when not immediately needed.
Overall the materials and fit are getting beefed up. This should help protect it from bumps and drops that may occur in the workplace. Google appears to have worked on addressing some of the openings that existed in the first version of Glass, making them smaller or sealing them up altogether to improve water resistance.
Reports also indicate Google plans to ship the device with a larger prism to make it a little easier for users to view the screen. The new version is also expected to come with an Intel Atom processor providing better performance, possibly better battery life, and better heat management. An improvement in any of these areas would address some of the shortcomings of the original Glass devices.
The new Enterprise Edition of Google Glass is expected to only be available through Glass for Work partners with no retail option being available for general consumers. A device from Google recently passed through the FCC which many think was the new version of Glass, so it may not be much longer before we see reports of the next generation of Glass starting to show up.
source: 9to5Google
Come comment on this article: Enterprise Edition of Google Glass beefing up for the workplace
Google clarifies the changes to Google+ Photos
You have probably had to download the new Photos application recently if you’ve fancied browsing through your backed up pictures, but it seems that the change over from the old Google+ Photos system has caused a little confusion. Anil Sabharwal, the head of Google Photos, has taken to Google+ to clear up any misconceptions.
Although Google will be shutting down Google+ Photos, the features that users are familiar with in Google+ will continue to function as before. Users will still be able to share, comment on, and +1 photos and video. Media already backed up with the service will also remain unaffected by the change, and can be found in the Photo’s tab on your Profile page.
“The private photo management component of Google+, which includes backup, editing, creations, private album management (album management for shared content is still available on Google+), and sharing to other apps, is being replaced by Google Photos”
Most of the changes are being made to the back end, in a move which is designed to consolidate photo backups into a single system on Google’s end, rather than having two features that perform virtually the same functions. Essentially, backups, editing, and album management will be replaced by Google Photos, but shared content will still be available through Google+.
This is good news for Google+ Photo users who want to continue to use the features that they are familiar with, but will allow Google to make the necessary changes to improve and maintain its photo backup system.
AIVAnet 