Xiaomi unveils ultra thin 9.9mm 48-inch Mi TV 2S
Xiaomi has just unveiled its Mi TV 2S, the latest model in the company’s growing Mi TV range. This new 48-inch version sits between the company’s first 49-inch TV and the 40-inch model released earlier in the year.
The Mi TV 2S is a large 48-inch TV which is capable of 60Hz 4K content decode through its HDMI 2.0a ports. The TV boats a sleek looking design with a 9.9mm super thin aluminum frame. At the launch presentation, the company also boasted about superior clarity, color and contrast compared to some TVs from rival manufacturers.
Xiaomi’s latest TV is powered by a quad-core MStar 6A928 SoC, 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. The Mi TV 2S also comes with Xiaomi’s Android 5.0 based MIUI and a load of additional content from providers including Youku, BesTV, PPTV, and others.
As we have come to expect from Xiaomi, pricing is as competitive as ever. Mi TV 2S prices begin at Rs. 2,999 ($480) for the standard edition, while the cinema edition costs a little more at Rs. 3,999 ($645). The Mi TV 2S will be available in a wide selection of colors, including pink, blue, green and gold.
At the launch event, Xiaomi also launched a new water purifier, which complements the company’s air purifier designed for the Chinese market.
California orders Uber to pay a $7.3 million fine
Uber can’t leave its troubles at the door, so to speak, not when it’s facing an issue in its own home. The California Public Utilities Commission has slapped the ride-sharing company with a $7.3 million fine and ordered its suspension in the state, after it failed to comply with the agency’s reporting requirements. When the state legalized Uber and similar services back in 2013, one of its conditions is the submission of detailed reports to make sure drivers accept passengers regardless of their conditions or locations. Unfortunately, Uber turned in incomplete data for 2014 and has been refusing to show CPUC the information it requires for the past few months.
The missing figures include the number of passengers who requested vehicles that can accommodate wheelchairs or animals and the number of times those requests were granted. Uber also failed to submit a list of ride requests based on ZIP codes and how many of those were fulfilled, as well as info on drivers who committed violations.
Company spokesperson Eva Behrend told LA Times that they will launch an appeal, and the court’s decision after that process (which can take months) will determine whether Uber really has to pay up and go through temporary suspension. “Uber has already provided substantial amounts of data to the California Public Utilities Commission, information we have provided elsewhere with no complaints,” she said, adding that “[g]oing further risks compromising the privacy of individual riders as well as driver-partners.”
While Uber’s existence in its home state is in jeopardy, it’s making headway in Mexico City, where the local government has published a legal framework for ride-sharing services. Still, Uber didn’t get everything it wanted: Mexico City has decided that all vehicles used for ride-sharing should cost at least 200,000 pesos ($12,660). Just last week, the company announced that driver-partners in the region would only need to spend 150,000 pesos ($9,500) in all to get started.
[Image credit: afagen/Flickr]
Filed under: Transportation
Europe’s investigating Qualcomm’s mobile chip dominance
While Qualcomm enjoys a healthy hold over the mobile chip industry, regulators are wondering whether the US company has achieved its dominance in a fair manner. The company has already paid $975 million to escape an investigation into its monopolistic practises in China, but now the European Commission (EC) is on its case, today announcing it has opened two antitrust probes into the company.
According to the EC, one investigation will ask if the company offered “financial incentives” to order its wireless chipsets. The second will focus on whether Qualcomm sold its 3G chips well below cost price so competitors couldn’t get close to matching it.
“We were informed that the European Commission has taken the procedural step of “initiating proceedings” against Qualcomm with regard to the two ongoing investigations into Qualcomm’s sale of chipsets for mobile devices,” says a Qualcomm spokesperson. “This step allows investigators to gather additional facts, but it represents neither an expression by the Commission on the merits of the case nor an accusation against the Company. While we were disappointed to hear this, we have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the Commission, and we continue to believe that any concerns are without merit.”
Today’s announcement is the Commission’s latest investigation into how tech companies operate in Europe. Apple and Amazon have both been accused of negotiating favorable tax deals with Ireland and Luxembourg, respectively. While Qualcomm will be forced to comply with the regulator, antitrust probes can take years. If the chip maker is found guilty, it could face fines of up to 10 percent of yearly revenue and be forced to amend the way it conducts business across the continent.
[Image credit: Nathan Rupert, Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Europa
Ofcom invites suggestions on how to handle BT and Openreach
When Ofcom announced its “Strategic Review of Digital Communications,” the last of which forced BT to create Openreach, Sky and TalkTalk immediately came forward calling for both businesses to be split up once and for all. Today, the regulator has published a discussion document for the review which details the different approaches now under consideration. Nothing has been left off the table, it seems — they include keeping the current model, strengthening the controls that keep BT and Openreach’s relationship in check, substantial market deregulation and, finally, complete separation.
Discussing the last option, Ofcom said: “This has the potential to deliver benefits, since it would address BT’s underlying incentive to discriminate against competitors, and enable a simplified regulatory framework. Ofcom is now calling for feedback from businesses, public bodies and policy makers about the options and how they would affect the UK.
Sky, unsurprisingly, is supporting Ofcom’s decision to scrutinise the BT-Openreach situation: “It is welcome news that Ofcom is putting the future of Openreach at the centre of its review,” Mai Fyfield, Sky’s Chief Strategy Officer said. “For too long, consumers and businesses have been suffering because the existing structure does not deliver the innovation, competition and quality of service that they need.” Sky has already been calling for Ofcom to upgrade the case to a “market investigation reference” with the Competition and Markets Authority, which could, depending on the outcome, also lead to a forced separation of BT and Openreach. Ofcom hasn’t indicated that it’ll do this, however, so we’ll just have to wait for the review’s findings to be published at the end of the year.
[Image Credit: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet
Source: Ofcom
China’s Huawei gets the green-light to manufacture handsets in India
More and more reports are appearing about Huawei‘s alleged partnership with Google to build one of the next Nexus smartphones, and how its Honor 7 handset reached 9 million pre-orders in just one week. On a less sexy note though, the company is also busy expanding its base of operations in India. The Chinese handset maker applied for a manufacturing license in India 19 months ago, and now we have news that despite national security concerns, security clearance has been awarded to Huawei.
While Huawei already had R&D operations as well as a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, under the terms of the agreement, Huawei had to export everything produced there. Thanks to receiving the security clearance though, Huawei will now be able to sell its Indian-manufactured handsets in India.
Allan Wang, the president of Huawei’s consumer business group in India, told Reuters that “We (Huawei) aim to become a top 3 brand in India within 3 years.”
Huawei isn’t the only Chinese company looking to invest in India; Foxconn, the company that assembles Apple’s iPhone, also plans on opening 10-12 facilities that will provide around 1 million jobs.
India has around 975 million mobile phone subscriptions, of which around 150 million subscribers are using internet-friendly smartphones. That’s a number that is set to grow by 26% annually over the next 4 years according to a recent HSBC report. It’s easy to see why any company, whether it’s Chinese or not, would want a piece of that pie.
It seems that besides having a fast-growing mobile market, India will soon have a booming market in manufacturing handsets as well.
Source: Reuters
Via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: China’s Huawei gets the green-light to manufacture handsets in India
ZTE is ready for Axon with their new phone
ZTE USA, which has been around for years, hasn’t really had a phone that they could call a contender in the Android market. Their Android phones up to this point have all been geared towards the budget crowd. This, of course, is not a bad place to be. However, they also have aspirations to compete in the much more competitive high-end arena.
ZTE went through thousands of surveys and focus groups to determine what the American public was looking for in their new phone. What they found out was that we want premium features for a not so premium price. Of course, I could have told them that and saved them thousands of dollars and man hours. I mean, who wouldn’t want that right?
Enter the ZTE Axon Pro
The Axon Pro will be the first smartphone to go on sale in the U.S. equipped with Hi-Fi sound. With 2 dedicated audio chipsets, the sound reproduction should feel just like the real thing, giving you the sense of atmosphere where the music was originally played, the depth from where the sounds came from, and the goodness of balanced harmonics.”
You’ll also be able to record in HiFi as well. The dual audio processors will help to reduce wind noise, and dual microphones with auto level controllers and long-distance voice pickup will help you to capture even the slightest of sounds from up to 20 feet away.
Other Axon specs include
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3,000 mAh Battery
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Quick-charge 2.0
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B2/B4/B5/B12/B17/B29/B30, LTE IR B7/B3/B1/B13, USM/HSPA 850/1700/1900/2100 MHz, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz,
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5.5″ CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon) TFT LCD
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Resolution: 2560 x1440 WQHD, PPI 534
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Sharp, Gorilla Glass Gen 3.0
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Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
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32 GB ROM
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4 GB RAM
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Made from aluminum
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Rear-Facing Camera Dual lens 13MP, 2MP, dual LED Flash, 4K HD
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Front-Facing Camera 8MP, 88 degree wide-angle, 1080p HD resolution
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Video Capture 4K HD resolution at 30 FPS
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2.0 GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
Stock Android
The phone will run stock Android 5.1.1 and ZTE promises “…a clean Android experience with the addition of only a few pre-loaded apps that look out for your health.” This is great news to the users of heavily skinned and bloatware laden premium handsets.
On sale
The ZTE Axon Pro pre-order just went live on their website for $449.98 and it includes JBL E-13 in-ear headphones. You can also find it on Newegg and eBay. What do you think? Is this phone on your radar? Let us know in the comments.
The post ZTE is ready for Axon with their new phone appeared first on AndroidGuys.
International authority assault gets ‘Dendroid’ malware coder arrested
As hard as it is to hunt down hackers, the FBI and other agencies continue their fight against malicious software developers and digital attackers. The latest major operation was a raid on a criminal-focused forum known as Darkode, a network with the main purpose of sharing, buying and selling tools for cybernetic crimes.
This mission extended across multiple countries, including “Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States”.
We are most interested in one specific member of this criminal network – Morgan C. Culbertson. He caught our attention because he happens to be the only Android-focused arrested member in the list. This man is famous for being the creator of Dendroid, a malware program with the ability of remotely accessing and controlling your device, hence allowing the hacker to steal information and data from Android phones.
Morgan C. Culbertson, aka Android, 20, of Pittsburgh, is charged by criminal information with conspiring to send malicious code. He is accused of designing Dendroid, a coded malware intended to remotely access, control, and steal data from Google Android cellphones. The malware was allegedly offered for sale on Darkode.
Here’s the real kicker: Morgan is only 20 years old, which would make him a very young coder at the time of creating Dendroid, last year (if only he used his skills to improve the Android ecosystem). In addition to arresting Culbertson, the FBI and other international agencies conducted searches and arrests on 70 Darkode members. 12 of these were American, including Morgan C. Culbertson.
The FBI and DOJ are probably not done yet, though. This community is said to consist of 250-300 members. It was a very exclusive clique, for obvious reasons. The website was password protected and the only way users could join was by being referred by a current member and going through a detailed screening process.
Modern criminals are not only in the streets, they are also online. As always, the best way to stay secure is by making smart choices. Try not to download apps from suspicious or unknown sources, and don’t fall for deceiving tricks. There are other ways to make sure you are secure, though. That WiFi Protector VPN lifetime subscription is looking much more enticing now, isn’t it?
HTC One M9+ launches across Europe
The HTC One M9+ has been going around the world for some time. It was first launched in Asia last April, and we even saw it come to the USA via major retailers, but our friends from Europe have been missing out on the action. Today HTC Europe blesses its fans with great news, letting them now the HTC One M9+ is finally being launched across the continent.
HTC One M9+ specs
- 5.2-inch Super LCD 3 2560x1440p display
- 2.2 GHz octa-core MediaTek X 10 Helio processor
- 3 GB of RAM
- 32 GB of internal storage
- Duo camera (20 MP + 2.1 MP
- 4 MP UltraPixel front-facing camera
- 2840 mAh battery
- 151 x 72 x 9.6 mm, 168 grams
The HTC One M9+ may look similar to the flagship HTC One M9, but inside they are actually quite different. For starters, the processors are worlds apart. The One M9 uses a Snapdragon 810, while this phone carries a MediaTek X10 Helio. MediaTek is not exactly known for making the best chips, but they went above our expectations when we reviewed this handset. This is, after all, one of MediaTek’s best SoCs.
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It worked perfectly with regular usage, though we did notice a dip in performance when gaming. Quite a bummer, but I like to think this is more than about a single phone. MediaTek has been doing wonders, and are starting to grow by entering the high-end market. HTC taking a leap of faith on the company is a victory, and it says much about MediaTek, a processor manufacturer I personally believe we will be seeing a lot from in the future… even in the USA.
Another major difference is the choice of cameras. The One M9+ comes with that dual-camera set up we saw on the One M8. This technology proved to be unsuccessful attracting the masses, but we know some of you still loved the effects this set-up made possible, such as blurring out the background in your images. I must say I impressed a friend or two with it.
We can’t forget about the display! This is likely one of the things you will be most excited about. This handset sports a 5.2-inch QHD (2560x1440p) display, which is a huge upgrade in terms of resolution, when compared to the M9’s 1080p panel. Oh, and if you are a fan of fingerprint readers, the One M9+ has one of those too.
Aside from these changes, the HTC One M9+ is pretty much the same as the HTC One M9, which is definitely a good thing. This new smartphone benefits from the stunning metal design and unbeatable build quality HTC users have grown to love so much.
Pricing and availability
Sadly, we can’t tell you much about the HTC One M9+’s price and release dates in Europe, as this will be based on a market-by-market basis. The phone currently costs about $700 in the USA, though. We can’t imagine pricing will differ too much on your side of the world.
How many of our European readers are signing up for an HTC One M9+? Make sure to read our full review on the phone to get all the details before you fork out all that cash!
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HTC reaches past China, brings the tweaked One M9+ to Europe
Remember when HTC released a shiny new flagship, and then kinda-sorta outdid itself by releasing a much cooler version just a month later? At the time, CEO Cher Wang said the company had no plans to bring that very updated device — the One M9+ — to European or North American shores, but that’s officially no longer the case. HTC representatives just confirmed that the flagship will hit Europe, though at time of writing, we haven’t heard exactly which markets will get their metaphorical hands on the thing. Expect that to change really shortly.
In case your working memory isn’t what it used to be, the M9+ is different from its run-of-the-mill cousin in a few crucial ways. It packs a 5.2-inch Super LCD3 screen running at 2,560 x 1,440 instead of the original 5-inch 1080p panel, for one, and the 20-megapixel rear camera is joined by a smaller secondary shooter that enables those classic Duo camera shenanigans. The biggest change, though, is one you might not pick up on at first glance — HTC swapped out Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 for one of MediaTek’s 64-bit octa-core Helio chipsets with 3GB of RAM. Throw in a fingerprint sensor that bisects of the phone’s BoomSound speaker grilles and you’ve arguably got the phone the original M9 should’ve been in the first place. Now, what do we have to do to get these things in the States?
Filed under: Mobile
Company plans to turn NYC’s trash cans into WiFi hotspots
NYC agreed to convert old payphones into hotspots back in 2014, and now a Massachusetts company called BigBelly wants to add connectivity to its smart trash cans, as well. BigBelly has applied for a grant from the Mayor’s Office to be able to turn hundreds of its products into hotspots specifically for undeserved neighborhoods. It’s been making high-tech solar-powered trash cans and recycling containers, which can detect if the garbage is too smelly, notify trash collectors and even compress their contents if they’re near capacity, for a long time. The company tested its first two hotspot containers last winter in New York, measuring their activity and signal quality for a few hours per day.
BigBelly’s hotspot trash cans will have speeds that reach 50 to 75 megabits per second — enough to run a small business, according to Jeremy Schneider of Downtown Alliance, which helped the company conduct its initial test. It also helps that the containers are on ground level, so their signals won’t be affected by skyscrapers. The company said its garbage cans can display public announcements and alerts in addition to providing free internet. Chances are they’ll serve as digital billboards, as well, just like NYC’s payphone-hotspots, since they need money to continue running. BigBelly plans to conduct more tests in the near future, and if it gets the government’s support, it aims to begin equipping containers with WiFi connections as soon as this fall.
[Image credit: BigBelly]
Filed under: Misc
Via: Huffington Post
Source: BigBelly (Facebook)
AIVAnet 