Galaxy Note 5 case photos reveal dimensions and features
Just in case you haven’t had enough Samsung Galaxy leaks, we have another for your curiosity’s pleasure. And this one is the most revealing yet. MobileFun was kind to post a few different angles of the highly anticipated Note 5, provided by a portfolio from case makers Rearth.
I’m hoping I haven’t just caused too much head shaking from Note fans. By this image, it does appear that we have a sealed backing. This means that Samsung is taking a more S6-design approach and killing the Note line for power users. A fellow AG member, and Note fan, has recently shared his strong opinion on the matter.
Okay, now that we’re past that, let’s talk about design features that we’re seeing.
We have a familiar curved frame from the top, along with SIM try and microphone placements. But do you notice something missing? The S6 had an IR blaster right in the middle. There was one on the Note 4.
The bottom of the Note 5 is pretty crowded. We can see a headphone jack, charging port, speaker, and stylus. Power and volume button placements match that of the S6.
This image shows an interesting design cue:
It appears that the back of the device tapers down on the sides, like the glass on the S6 Edge. I don’t see this adding to anything other than aesthetic appeal, but this may anger people. On the S6 Edge, grip was compromised by the thin edges. It could be justified by the curving display and functionality. On the Note 5, it may be that you’re losing griping area purely for looks.
How are you feeling about the Note 5? Are you glad Samsung is running with the S6 design or do you wish they stuck with the roots?
The post Galaxy Note 5 case photos reveal dimensions and features appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in Green Emerald now available on Vodafone UK
Vodafone UK has revealed that the Green Emerald variant of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is now available to buy on-contract. Samsung revealed new colour options for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in early May, but they’ve only been available in select markets.
Vodafone’s Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the same internally–the only differentiating factor is the change in colour.
If you’re interested, Vodafone’s plans start at £39/month on a 24-month contract with 1GB of data and a £29 down payment for the 32GB model.
Anyone picking up the Green Emerald Galaxy S6 Edge? Does it intrigue you? Sound off in the comments below!
source: Vodafone
via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in Green Emerald now available on Vodafone UK
Intel Skylake Processors: Up to 20% Performance Boost, 41% Faster Graphics and 30% Longer Battery Life
Less than two weeks before Intel announces new desktop Skylake processors, likely to be used in future Macs, at the Gamescom trade show in Germany on August 5, FanlessTech has leaked an Intel slide deck that offers a closer look at some of the performance enhancements the next-generation processors will deliver for both desktop computers and notebooks.
The leaked slides reveal that Skylake processors will provide a 10%-20% CPU performance boost in single and multi-threaded applications, with lower power consumption, and 30% faster Intel HD integrated graphics performance on average compared to current-generation Broadwell processors. The improved energy efficiency will also result in up to 30% longer battery life.
The specific performance improvements to the four main Skylake families are outlined below based on preliminary data, with the MacBook model appropriate for each chip listed in parentheses:
– Y-Series (MacBook): Up to 17% faster CPU, up to 41% faster Intel HD graphics, up to 1.4 hours longer battery life
– U-Series (MacBook Air): Up to 10% faster CPU, up to 34% faster Intel HD graphics, up to 1.4 hours longer battery life
– H-Series (MacBook Pro): Up to 11% faster CPU, up to 16% faster Intel HD graphics, up to 80% lower silicon power
– S-Series (iMac): Up to 11% faster CPU, up to 28% faster Intel HD graphics, 22% lower TDP (thermal design power)
Apple refreshed the MacBook Air and 13″ Retina MacBook Pro with the latest Broadwell processors in March, but the refreshed 15″ Retina MacBook Pro released in May remains powered by two-year-old Haswell architecture due to the lack of quad-core Broadwell processors appropriate for the notebook at the time.
Given that Intel announced a trio of Core i7 processors appropriate for the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro just weeks later, and both the iMac and Mac mini still have Haswell processors, it is plausible that Apple has chosen to skip Broadwell processors entirely and release Skylake-based Macs in late 2015 or early 2016 — and the jump from Haswell to Skylake would deliver an even higher performance boost.
Taiwanese blog DigiTimes, which has a hit-and-miss track record at reporting on Apple’s upcoming product plans, says that Intel is planning to launch 18 new Skylake processors for notebooks in the fourth quarter, starting in October. The mid-range and high-end processors could be used in the next-generation 12-inch MacBook, MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro.
Apple Pay Rival CurrentC Launching in Limited Trial Next Month as Exclusivity Expires
The Merchant Customer Exchange’s contactless payment system, CurrentC, is gearing up for a limited trial run next month in the stores of the companies that began backing MCX in 2012, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, according to an unnamed source speaking with Bloomberg.
The service is backed by a large roster of retailers, from Sears to Wendy’s, who support the platform as a way to avoid losing integral shopping data to an increasingly competitive market thanks to the likes of Apple and Google.
CurrentC is different from Apple Pay however, using barcodes and RFID scanners in place of NFC terminals Apple took advantage of with Apple Pay. As Bloomberg points out, it also has a major hurdle regarding the signing of deals with major credit card companies, something it has yet to do.
While MCX is getting closer to releasing its app, there are plenty of hurdles. It hasn’t signed deals with major credit-card companies like Visa to use bank-issued card accounts within the app. That means a shopper wouldn’t be able to use, say, a Visa debit card from JPMorgan Chase & Co. This can be done with competing products like Apple Pay. Instead, users of MCX’s app will be limited to private-label store cards, like Target’s REDcard, or they’ll have to give MCX their checking-account details.
Also worrisome for MCX is the three-year exclusivity contract each retailer signed when the company began talks of the CurrentC system back in 2012. Those contracts — which prohibited partnering with other mobile payment services — begin to end next month, alongside CurrentC’s soft launch in August. The company has already felt the weight of this, as Best Buy announced back in April it would begin supporting Apple Pay within its mobile app, with in-store support gearing up for later in 2015.
Not long after, MCX’s CEO at the time, Dekkers Davidson, left the company, with a spokeswoman telling press that Davidson’s exit had nothing to do with the announcement made by Best Buy days before. Payments security analyst Julie Conroy spoke on the subject to Bloomberg, reiterating on the public’s trust issues with the company following a hack last year and stating simply, “I’m increasingly skeptical of their chance to really make a dent.”
Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.4 million vehicles after remote hack
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will patch 1.4 million US vehicles following the reveal of a hacking method by Wired. The “voluntary safety recall” — which it seems will come in the form of a USB dongle — applies to vehicles equipped with 8.4-inch touchscreen in-car-entertainment systems. Affected cars include Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee SUVs, Dodge Ram pickups and many others. If you’re concerned your vehicle may be affected, you can see the full list here.
FCA is obviously acting fast to patch the problem, and it’s clear why. As Wired details, the hack makes it possible to “kill” the engine, remotely activate or disable the brakes, and keep tabs on a vehicle’s location. Full steering control is currently being worked on. The party responsible for the hack revealed it would “publish a portion of their exploit” openly on the web, timed to coincide with the Black Hat security conference in August.
Although the company clearly accepts that the issues are serious, it notes that it’s “unaware of any injuries related to software exploitation, nor is it aware of any related complaints, warranty claims or accidents – independent of the media demonstration.” It adds that it’s “conducting this campaign out of an abundance of caution.”
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Watson will assess your personality based on your writing
Turns out IBM’s Watson can not only critique your writing, but use it to assess your personality, too. The supercomputer has a service called “Personality Insights” that can analyze your traits from written text. It needs at least 100 words of your own writing in either English or Spanish to generate a report, as well as guess your needs and values. For instance, I plugged in a diary entry into the service’s demo website, and the service declared me “social, generous and imperturbable,” assertive and with little regard for tradition. As you might have guessed, though, results change depending on the piece you use: Watson declared me as “inner-directed and skeptical” when I plugged in one of my Engadget pieces.
One way to make sure the results are as accurate as possible, according to the service’s documentation, is to use the longest and most personal piece you have. Don’t expect it to be 100 percent spot on, though — and try not to be insulted if Watson thinks you need a bit more self-discipline.
[Image credit: Atomic Taco/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
Source: IBM Watson Personality Insights, Demo
The best in-ear headphones under $40
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read the full article here.
If you’re looking for the best in-ear headphones on a budget, get the Brainwavz Delta With In-Line Microphone. After 32 hours of research on hundreds of in-ear headphones priced at $40 or under, seriously considering 179 models, and testing 68 with our panel of audio experts, we found the Brainwavz Deltas are the best for the money. Our panel unanimously voted them the best-sounding of all those tested in this category, plus they fit comfortably in most ears and are a steal at $22. They sound better than the Apple EarPods, so if you’re looking to upgrade or replace those or want something decent and inexpensive, these are your best bet.
How did we choose what to test?
After researching existing professional reviews, we looked at user reviews online to see what real people had liked and what had come out since our last post.
We then brought in a panel of audio professionals and musicians who were asked to listen and give their top picks. From there we took into account price and features, and in the end, chose a winner.
Our pick
What made the Brainwavz Delta so fantastic? One panelist summed it up best: “These are the only headphones under $25 that don’t sound like cheap headphones.” The highs are clear with good detail, the bass is well-formed (with a slight bump in just the right area to add a lively kick to the beat), and the mids have a richness or lush, non-tinny sound and a sense of depth of space that is uncommon in this price range. Translation: Every kind of music sounds good on them. They also have an optional one-button remote and mic, so you can take calls and pull up Siri, and they fit various ear sizes and shapes.
Runner-up (still fantastic)
Our runner-up was our previous winner, the Panasonic RP-TCM 125 “Ergo Fit.” They have a nice overall balance with airy, mellow highs and present-but-not-dominating bass. All of our panelists put them among their top picks. They sound just as good listening to acoustic guitar as they do hip-hop and rock. They don’t have the detail and depth of the Brainwavz, but for $14, they’re really great. The TCM-125 have a single-button remote and mic and come in a variety of colors, too.
Bass-lover’s option
Bass lovers should check out the Sol Republic Jax. While these headphones aren’t for everyone (or every kind of music), they are great for rock, pop and hip-hop. Our resident bass-head adored them and said they were his personal favorite. The bass is intense and can verge on the edge of sloppy in music that requires detail (so jazz, classical and folk lovers will want to skip these), but if you like to rock, these are for you. They have single- and three-button remote headphone options as well.
Non-sealed in-ears (“earbuds”)
If you absolutely need non-sealed in-ears (i.e. “earbuds”) for more situational awareness, the best we could find was the Sennheiser MX365. They sound better than the Apple EarPods, but they have scratchy foam pads and don’t sound anywhere near as good as our top picks. However, if non-sealed is something you need, the MX365 is your best bet.
Wrapping it up
Just because you don’t have a huge budget doesn’t mean you have to be satisfied with poor sound. The Brainwavz Deltas are more affordable than a new pair of Apple EarPods, sound better than anything else in this price range (including the EarPods), and can take calls and skip songs with the optional mic. Plus, at less than $25, if they go missing, get chewed up by your dog or get run through the laundry, you won’t cry yourself to sleep at night when you need to replace them.
This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video
Vodafone’s SIM-only plans now come with more data
Vodafone rejigged its subsidised handset contracts just a couple of months ago, and today it’s decided to upgrade the rest of its pay-monthly plans with beefier data allowances. Well, quite a few of them anyway. The basic 12-month, SIM-only plan still only offers 250MB of data for £9.50 per month, but now includes 4G connectivity as standard. For £14 per month, however, you now get 1GB of data instead of 500MB; similarly, £17 per month entitles you to 2GB instead of 1GB, and the £22 per month tariff now offers 4GB of data, up from 3GB. There’s no movement on the pricier £27, £32 and £40 per month 12-month, SIM-only tariffs, though, which still come with 6GB, 10GB and 20GB allowances, respectively.
Vodafone’s 30-day, SIM-only plans have been revised, too. The £11.50 tier now comes with 4G as standard, but you still only get 250MB to play with. For £16, you now get 1GB instead of 500MB, and the data allowance for the £19 option has also doubled to 2GB. Spend £24, and you’ll now receive 4GB of data instead of 3GB, and a brand new £29 tier with a 6GB allowance has been introduced as part of the refresh. Vodafone has also simplified its data-only tariffs, and there are now only three 30-day and 12-month plans available where there used to be four. Spending £10 per month still grants you 1GB of data, but the 3GB tier is now a quid cheaper at £15 per month. As of today, the £21 5GB and £26 8GB plans are no longer available, as they’ve been scrapped to make way for the new 10GB data-only offering at £20 per month.
Source: Vodafone
US Treasury’s intelligence network was susceptible to cyberattacks
Yet another government agency was found to have substandard cybersecurity measures in place after an internal audit — worse, it exposed the organization’s intelligence network to attacks. According to a late 2014 audit report obtained by Reuters, around 29 percent of the devices that connect to the US Treasury’s Foreign Intelligence Network doesn’t meet federal cybersecurity standards. Some of those are Windows computers that weren’t properly configured, preventing the IT division from updating them on time and making sure they were secure. The country’s spy agencies tap into that network to add info they want to share with each other and assess and detect international threats to America’s economy. They also use it to keep track of what their peers know about militant groups and the effect of sanctions against organizations and countries like Iran and Russia.
Unlike what happened to the Office of Personnel Management, though, it seems like the auditors spotted the vulnerability before any hacker managed to advantage of it. The report that Reuters got didn’t mention an attack or even hint that the network suffered a security breach, at least. It did say, however, that the agency was already patching up the security hole and was going to be finished by April 2015 (remember, the report was from 2014). That was corroborated by one of the agency’s officials, who told Reuters that “since the release of the audit, Treasury has remedied this matter.”
If you recall, OPM was attacked not once but twice in the past year. The hackers stole up to 20 million past and present federal workers’ (even hopefuls who applied for positions but never got in) sensitive info, including SSNs and family history. It eventually led to the resignation of OPM director Katherine Archuleta who was severely criticized for her lack of tech and security experience.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Misc
Source: Reuters
You can play Half-Life on your smartwatch, just about
Technology has come a long way in the past decade or so but there are still limitations, as Dave Bennett found out while trying to run Half-Life on his first generation LG G Watch. While the beloved game surprisingly actually boots up and runs, it’s not exactly the sort of experience that will keep you entertained on the bus ride home.
Aside from trying to control the game with your finger covering the entire 1.65-inch screen, the frame rate is also apparently rather hit and miss. It can range anywhere from a moderately smooth 30fps to a 2fps slide show. The game is also prone to crashing, but that shouldn’t be surprising. There’s only so much that can be accomplished with a low power Snapdragon 400 SoC and 512MB of RAM.
To get the game up and running, Bennett makes use of the SDLash app, which can be used to emulate old titles that run on Valve’s Source Engine. If you want to try it out for yourself, just following the steps in the source link.
While this is not really a viable way to replay a classic, getting Half-Life to run on Android Wear at all seems like an accomplishment in itself.
AIVAnet 