The thirteenth ‘Angry Birds’ game is ‘Angry Birds 2’
It might have the number two in its name, but don’t be fooled: the new Angry Birds game is just the latest in a seemingly endless trickle of apps featuring Rovio’s feathered friends. We’ve seen Angry Birds interpretations of Star Wars, Transformers and even Mario Kart — but today the company is back with “the first sequel” to the original. You’re still flinging colorful birds at pigs, but the gameplay has been tweaked with new multi-stage levels, spells and boss piggie battles. Rovio has been having a tough time of late, so it’s no doubt hoping that this app is the one to recapture the first game’s runaway success.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Angry Birds 2 (iOS), (Android)
Sony Q1 profits surge, despite making a loss on smartphones
Sony has just released its financial results for Q1 2015, which has seen the company’s profit jump by a huge 39 percent compared with the previous year. However, Sony’s mobile division fared less well, with sales falling by 16 percent year-on-year.
Starting with the good news, overall quarterly revenue reached $14.5 billion, remaining virtually unchanged from the year before at only -0.1 percent. Thanks to the company’s major restructuring program, this resulted in a 39 percent increase in profits, up to $780 million for the quarter.
That isn’t so say that all of the company’s divisions all performed equally or remained stagnant over the past year though. The majority of Sony’s additional revenue came from its growing music and gaming divisions, which saw income jump by 173 and 350 percent respectively.
Sony’s image sensor business was also another big winner, with income reaching $244 million, up a huge 164 percent year over year. Sony has seen increasing demand for its high-quality image sensors not only for use in flagship smartphones, but also from lower-cost Chinese brands looking to one-up their competitors. Increasing demand for high quality front cameras for smartphones is also boosting revenue.
Sony’s latest mobile products:
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Sony’s mobile division is a different matter though. Sales slumped by 16 percent YoY, resulting in a net loss of $184 million, an even greater loss than the company’s movie business. Sony suggests that the decline comes as a result of trying to improve profitability rather than pursuing scale, but I have a suspicion that it’s more to do with the company’s product line-up.
The new Xperia Z3+ flagship, or Z4 if you prefer, is another minor upgrade to the Xperia Z range, which probably leaves the average consumer scratching their head as to what’s changed. The company has also been caught out at the low and mid tiers of the market, where hardware specifications and price points have become substantially more competitive in the past twelve months or so. New releases like the Xperia M4 Aqua just don’t offer the same value for money as Sony’s competitors.
The Xperia Z3+ may be a fine phone, but is it a worthwhile upgrade over the Z3 or even the Z2?
Sony now expects that its full-year loss for the mobile division will reach a substantial 60 billion yen ($480 million), which is worse than the 39 billion yen ($310 million) loss that it anticipated back in April.
It seems clear that Sony needs to overhaul its smartphone strategy if it hopes to return the division to a profit. Perhaps the future is in flying drones or resorting to a more stock-like Android experience?
Samsung shipments dropped in Q2, “mounting challenges” expected for the rest of the year
Samsung announced its financial results for Q2 2015, and the news is worrying when it comes to the mobile segment.
Samsung Electronics accrued total revenues of 48.54 trillion won ($41.5 billion) in the quarter that ended on June 30, a slight increase over the previous quarter, but more than 7 percent lower than Q2 2014. Operating profit grew significantly over Q1 2015, from 5.98 trillion won ($5.1 billion) to 6.9 trillion won ($5.9 billion), but profit is still down 4 percent from the same quarter last year.
These are the company’s overall results, including the IT & mobile, consumer electronics, semiconductor, and display divisions.
The situation is less rosy if we look at the results of the flagship mobile unit. Profit increased only marginally, from 2.74 trillion won ($2.34 billion) in Q1 to 2.76 trillion won ($2.36 billion) in Q2 2015.
Despite the launch of the well-received Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, profit took a 37.6 percent plunge compared to Q2 2014.
Like in the previous quarter, strong sales in the memory chips and SoC business helped offset the decline in the mobile unit.
Samsung’s official announcement contains some clues of the reasons the mobile business is struggling. Samsung reported “increased shipments” of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, but shipments dropped overall because of “declining shipments of older middle- to low-end models.” This shouldn’t be a surprise: Chinese players have been aggressively launching affordable mid-rangers, making Samsung’s products seem overpriced and underpowered.
Samsung also blamed Galaxy S6 Edge supply difficulties (whose popularity reportedly took the company by surprise), but claimed the issues are now solved.
The company warned of “mounting challenges” for the second half of the year, with a “difficult business environment” expected to stint the growth of the mobile business. To keep sales strong, Samsung will “adjust” the price of the Galaxy S6 and release new premium devices (the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus are coming August 13).
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Samsung may not return to growth anytime soon. The industry has become too competitive, with full-on flagship phones launching at $400 and solid entry-level devices for less than $100. Samsung is still benefiting from its brand, market awareness, and distribution, but more and more consumers realize that cheaper devices from new players (or even established ones like Motorola) are a better deal. For now, the erosion is relatively slow, but the stories of former market leaders like Nokia, HTC, or BlackBerry suggest it could turn into crumbling pretty fast. That’s not to say Samsung’s days are numbered – the company is deeply embedded in the mobile landscape, and even if its market share diminishes, it can continue to reap billions off its component business.
Sony teases new phone to launch on August 3rd
Sony has just released a teaser hinting that a new smartphone will be heading our way on August 3rd. Playing to one of Sony’s strengths, it seems that the phone will feature some new high-end camera technology, which is capable of capturing split-second photos.
We are quite possibly looking at the first Sony smartphone to make use of the company’s high-end Exmor RS IMX230 image sensor. The IMX230 was announced last November and features the same 21 megapixel resolution as Sony’s other high resolution mobile sensors.
The major new feature is the inclusion of 192 point phase detection autofocus (PDAF), which can track objects with high accuracy for fast and accurate focusing. The sensor is also capable of capturing 30fps 4K footage and 120fps slow motion video at 720p. Some of this may have something to do with the teaser’s wording?
Focus closely now, a new way to capture split-second photos is coming. 03.08.15 #Xperia pic.twitter.com/VVE21DKLyk
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) July 30, 2015
Unlike laser autofocus technology that relies on additional hardware, PDAF uses a number of pixels embedded into the image sensor to detect the phase of light reaching the sensor, from which it can calculate the distance to an object. PDAF isn’t entirely new to smartphones, but the IMX230 could be best mobile implementation of the technology to date.
This new Sony handset wouldn’t be the first smartphone on the market to use this sensor though. The component has already found its way into a few flagship smartphones this year, including the Huawei Honor 7 and the new Moto X Style and Play handsets. The Xperia Z3 and Z3+ used Sony’s older IMX220. Sony also has a 16MP version, the IMX234, which was used in the LG G4’s camera.
Anyway, we should probably wait for the official announcement before getting anymore ahead of ourselves. We don’t have any other clues about the smartphone yet. Fortunately, August 3rd isn’t far away.
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Android 5.0.2 update locks out competitor keyboards
Samsung’s business orientated Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet received its Android 5.0.2 update in mid-July after a long wait to much fanfare. Unfortunately, one major feature has been broken during the update process. Non-Samsung Bluetooth keyboards or mouses are not functioning with the tablet anymore. The main keyboard users are complaining about not working is the Logitech Keyboard Pro case but after personally testing generic brand keyboards and mouses, neither the generic or Logitech brands have been able to function properly after the update. Users of Samsung branded hardware are reporting that they are having no issues using the keyboard or mouse.
The devices are able to pair to the Note Pro 12.2, but upon attempting to operate the hardware, it simply does not function. After reaching out to Samsung, we have not heard back, but Logitech did say that they are aware of the issue and are trying to fix the problem. From their end they are saying that it looks like the driver was not included in the recent update pushed out by Samsung which would mean that Samsung would have to release a patch in order to fix this huge error.
Tech forums are rampant with business users and personal users alike who are upset that their $120+ Logitech keyboard no longer functions with their tablet. This is just one of the many complaints that have risen after the update earlier in July. One must wonder how Samsung missed such an important feature which is critical for its business users for their daily use and what type of priority Samsung is giving to correct the problem.
Do you have a Galaxy Note Pro 12.2? If so what type of problems have you experienced since the update? Does your Bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse function? What brand are they? Comment and let us know.
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Google walks us through Android M’s promising Auto Backup for Apps feature
Android M is bringing a selection of new features and changes to our mobile OS of choice later this year. One of the less instantly noticeable, yet perhaps most useful additions is the new automatic app data backup feature, which Google has recently been talking about in greater detail.
The idea is simple, backup and retain all of your app data automatically, so that you can restore all of your old details and settings, should you need to perform a factory reset or when you move over to a new device. Custom ROM enthusiasts are probably used to performing this type of thing manually, but having an automatic system baked into the OS is going to be far more convenient.
The “Auto Backup for Apps” feature, as Google calls it, has been introduced with the latest version of the Android M Developer preview. App developers can automatically begin using the system by rebuilding their app with version 23 of the SDK. There is also an opt out feature for developers to use, to prevent storing things like sensitive user data off device.
Apps are limited to 25MB of backup data and are synced to a user’s Google Account. The data is stored with a user’s Google Drive account, but doesn’t eat into their available storage. Interestingly, side-loaded apps and even apps installed from third party stores can also make use of the backup service, as it is not tied in directly with Google Play.
Developers and enthusiasts keen to learn more about the way the feature works should check out the video below. There are also further details and coding examples available over at the Android Developer Blog.
Virgin Media’s superfast broadband network heads to Leeds
After breaking ground in its first UK city last month, Virgin Media has chosen its the next location for its £3 billion broadband expansion: Leeds. The company confirmed today that it’s investing £40 million to deliver superfast broadband, TV and landline services to 80,000 homes and businesses in and around the city. Virgin Media says that people living in Middleton (around 11,000 homes) will be the first to receive 152Mbps broadband, but will then prioritise its rollout based on demand for its services.
Once work in Manchester and Leeds is completed, Virgin Media can connect almost a quarter of a million new customers to its network. Through Openreach, BT already covers 80 percent of the UK with fibre connections, so the cable provider definitely has its work cut out. That said, with help from parent company Liberty Global, “Project Lightning” will boost its reach by around a third and bring its services to four million more British homes and businesses by 2020.
Amazon snaps up former ‘Top Gear’ trio for new motoring show
Amazon has announced that it’s signed a deal with ousted Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond for a new motoring show. The stars of the popular BBC franchise left the program earlier this year when Clarkson was fired as a consequence of punching a producer. Almost instantly, rumors of the trio launching a rival with another broadcaster spread, with Netflix the surprise front-runner.
It’s a big deal for Amazon, since it’s able to bloody the nose of its most immediate rival and is likely to have a mass-market hit on its hands. After all, Top Gear is, or was, the world’s most watched factual program with a global audience of roughly 350 million people per year. If even only a small proportion of those pay to join Prime, then it’ll still make the company some very serious bank. It’s not the first time that Amazon has stepped in to “save” a BBC show either, since it’s previously bankrolled two seasons of Ripper Street after it was cancelled.
I’m very excited to announce that Hammond, May and I have signed a deal with .@AmazonVideo
– Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 30, 2015
In addition to the presenting trio, producer Andy Wilman, arguably the chief creative force behind the show’s resurgence, is also on board for the new production. If you’re not in a country where Prime is available, don’t worry just yet, as the Wall Street Journal believes that Amazon will license the shows to local broadcasters. Still, there’s plenty of time for Jeff Bezos and co. to expand the service’s reach, since the first of three seasons won’t start airing until 2016.
A photo posted by Amazon Instant Video UK (@amazonvideouk) on Jul 30, 2015 at 2:57am PDT
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Transportation, HD, Amazon
Via: WSJ
Source: Amazon
Angry Birds 2 launches for Android
For the first time in six years, Rovio has launched a sequel to its incredibly popular Angry Birds title, which incidentally surpassed 500,000,000 downloads last year. The new game goes by the name of Angry Birds 2 and bundles a plethora of new levels, characters and tournaments for us to enjoy.
Check it out in the gameplay video below:
If you like the look of Angry Birds 2 and would like to install it on your Android-powered smartphone or tablet to see if its just as addictive at predecessor, hit the download link below. Alternatively, you can scan the QR code to initiate the installation process immediately.
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Google’s Project Loon will provide Internet access for the whole of Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan government has taken to its official website to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Google to provide the entire country with Internet access using its Project Loon program.
If you’re unfamiliar with the project, it’s a scheme set up by the search engine giant, which aims to supply Internet connectivity to country’s that aren’t in a financial situation to configure the service by using helium-filled balloons as opposed to Internet masts.
“The entire Sri Lankan island – every village from (southern) Dondra to (northern) Point Pedro – will be covered with affordable high speed Internet using Google Loon’s balloon technology,” explained the Asian country’s foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera.
Google is expected to furnish local service providers with access to the balloons by March 2016, which should enable them to improve the quality of their Internet service and reduce their operational costs, thus making it cheaper for Sri Lankan residents to access the Web.
Source: News.LK
Come comment on this article: Google’s Project Loon will provide Internet access for the whole of Sri Lanka
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