Chilean telecom leaks Moto X Sport and 3rd gen Moto G
Chilean tech blog Pisapapeles recently obtained information from a reliable source within Chilean telecom Entel, that leaks a new variant of the Moto X and the next generation Moto G.
The new variant of the Moto X is called the Moto X Sport and boasts the following specs.
- 5.2″ Screen (current generation: 5.2″)
- 1.5 GHz quad-core processor (current generation: 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor)
- 16MP rear facing camera (current generation: 13MP)
- 5MP front facing camera (current generation: 2MP)
Moto G spec leaks
- 5″ Screen (current generation: 5″)
- 1.4 GHz quad-core processor (current generation: 1.2 GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor)
- 13MP rear facing camera (current generation: 8MP)
- 5MP front facing camera (current generation: 2MP)
While the Moto G’s specs seem like a natural evolution, it’s unclear why the Moto X Sport would change to a slower processor. It could be a misprint, carrier speculation, or just wrong information. What do you think? Is this legit? Sound off in the comments.
The post Chilean telecom leaks Moto X Sport and 3rd gen Moto G appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Facebook reportedly has a music streaming service in the works, too
If you think the playing field for music streaming services is already quite crowded, we may need to make room for one more. Music Ally reports that Facebook is working on a subscription service of its own, after recent reports tied the social network to record labels through ad-supported music videos. While that video-driven project may resemble something more akin to Vevo, the report says that Facebook is in fact eying audio streaming, joining the likes of Apple, Rdio, Spotify and others. The folks in Menlo Park are said to be focused on getting the video platform off the ground first — in the coming months, apparently — but an all-audio version is in the plans for the future. Facebook could go the route it did with Instagram or WhatsApp, opting to purchase an established service rather than build its own. A smaller subscription-based company could potentially be nabbed for less than Zuckerberg & Co. spent on the photo or chat software. Apple certainly thought that was a solid approach.
[Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: Business Insider
Source: Music Ally
Samsung may be #1 in the USA, but they are still losing!
Despite Samsung’s recent onslaught of bad fortune, the latest smartphone data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech puts the popular phone maker back in the #1 spot in the USA. This is good news for Sammy, as they have finally taken back the crown they once held so dearly. The sad news is that chances are no one is celebrating in Samsung’s Korean head quarters. Even though Samsung is winning, they are still losing!
The report states the Android operating system continues to grow its market share when taking a look at the three months of the year ending in May 2015. Android now holds 64.9% of the US smartphone market, showing a 2.8% increase over last year. The real question is whether this is, in large, thanks to Samsung or not.
The Galaxy phone maker is reported to have regained the market lead in the US with an increase from 52% (3 months ending in April) to 55% (three months ending in May). This means they were able to retake 3% of the market in just one month, mostly thanks to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The Galaxy S6 went on to become one of the best-selling smartphones in the US after the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5.
How is Samsung losing?
Here’s where things get interesting: Samsung also improved their year-over-year statistics, with market share only down by 0.5%, as opposed to 2014’s 1.6% during the same period of time. According to these numbers, Samsung is still losing sales… they are just losing them slower.
Regardless, these changes don’t seem significant enough to place Samsung in a victorious state. A big factor is that Apple is beginning to lose sales as the iPhone 6 hype starts to die down. Meanwhile, Samsung’s flagship device is brand new and should probably be doing much better. The real numbers will come once we compare both devices’ statistics on equal terms. Keep in mind the Galaxy S6 is still the third most sold smartphone in the USA, not the first.
It could be argued that Apple numbers are going down thanks to Samsung’s awesome smartphones, which offer an improved build quality, stunning design, an insane camera and top-notch performance. The phone is a beast, but we can’t give Samsung all the credit for taking down Apple; LG has managed to nearly double its market share year-over-year, which is helping the cause. Now that is an impressive statistic!
Not to mention, Samsung continues to report more quarterly profit drops, with Q2 2015 expected to be the 7th in a row (wow!) Not even their best smartphone ever was able to take them out of this whole they are digging themselves into.
Why is this? These matters are complex and no one can give you a straight explanation as to why Samsung keeps spiraling down. Some say it has to do with Samsung’s supply not being able to meet customer demand. That may be a factor, but we also have to consider Samsung’s phones haven’t exactly been meeting consumer expectations either.
Previous Galaxy smartphones performed great, but the build quality was horrendous. Samsung went back to the drawing board after realizing a change was due. They wanted to improve their strategy and create a Galaxy S6 worthy of consumer envy. This thing had to be powerful and well-built, and they sure accomplished it. The Samsung Galaxy S6 really is amazing in many ways, but it’s still not the hero Samsung was looking for, nor the one we deserved.
I believe Samsung is still trying way too hard to compete with Apple, as opposed to placing more attention on what their customers want. One of the main reasons why Samsung critics stuck to Galaxy phones was that these devices continued to support expandable storage and removable batteries. It was what differentiated them, yet the Samsung Galaxy S6 got rid of both features. And chances are the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will do the same.
There are good arguments to the exclusion of these, something we make sure to mention in our opinion piece regarding the Note 5’s lack of microSD support. My gripe with this whole issue is more about the lack of a removable battery. Have you used a Samsung Galaxy S6? Its battery life is disgusting! The thing seriously won’t last me half a day. And now I can’t even swap batteries when one dies? One day I said “forget this” and just stopped using it.
If Samsung was going to improve the build quality by sacrificing battery life (or the removable battery), we would have liked it to be a sizable battery, at least. This is why so many are finding refuge in LG’s latest smartphone, the G4. It offers a huge removable battery, great performance and a design that is also amazing. In a different way, but it’s amazing.
The real question is whether the Galaxy S6 will continue to sell as well as it has. And if all my beliefs on Samsung’s decline are right, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 won’t really help much, as the latest rumors suggest the it will pretty much be a larger Galaxy S6 with a stylus.
Like I said above… Samsung may be #1, but they are still losing. Their numbers are still going down, their new devices have flaws they don’t plan on changing and the awesome improvements pale against the sacrifices Samsung had to take. But tell us, guys. Would you agree with me that Samsung made some bad decisions? What factors would you credit their decline to? Sound off in the comments and let us know whether you agree or disagree with me.
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Self-driving taxis may be the key to cutting greenhouse gases
You may think that self-driving cars are mostly useful for reducing accident rates and freeing your time, but they might just help save the environment, too. Berkeley Lab researchers have published a study determining that switching the transportation grid to autonomous electric taxis would cut greenhouse gas emissions as much as 90 percent by 2030. While the clean EV powerplants would play a large part, the switch away from privately-owned cars that would make nearly as much of a difference. A big key would be “right-sizing” trips — since you’d usually just need a tiny car to get around, you could avoid getting into a big vehicle until it’s necessary. The base data doesn’t even include some of the efficiencies that are inherent to robotic cars, like optimized routes and closely-packed traffic that cuts wind resistance.
Of course, this assumes ideal conditions. It’d require a wholesale infrastructure switch in just 15 years, which isn’t terribly likely when both EV and autonomous technologies are just getting started. This also assumes that everyone cooperates — even if you don’t mind giving up control, there would be plenty of professional drivers losing their jobs. However, scientists are quick to add that even a modest switch could have a tangible impact. If self-driving taxis made up 5 percent of 2030’s estimated car sales (about 800,000 machines), they’d cut carbon dioxide missions by up to 2.4 million tons per year. In other words, every little bit could help.
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Via: EurekAlert, Good
Source: Berkeley Lab, Nature
Spotify tells iOS users how to avoid iTunes charges and pay less
Spotify isn’t happy that its iOS customers have to pay an additional $3 for a premium subscription if they make the purchase through the App Store. That’s why it’s planning to send them instructions on how to apply for a subscription straight from the company’s website. The Verge got its hands on a copy of the letter, wherein Spotify made clear that “the normal Premium price is only $9.99, but Apple charges 30 percent on all payments made through iTunes.” That ups the total to $12.99, which is only $2 away from Apple Music’s six-person family plan. That email, if you haven’t gotten it yet, contains links that make it easy to cancel Spotify’s auto-renew on iTunes and redirect you to the service’s website. You’ll have to wait until your current month ends before you can subscribe again, but after you do, you won’t have to pay $12.99 again.
As Bloomberg notes, Apple doesn’t allow links within apps that allow people to make purchases from external websites. That’s likely what prompted the streaming service to decide on sending an email blast instead of adding a PSA inside the app. The publication also points out that Apple only adds $$$ on top of goods or services if it doesn’t have a competing product. For instance, you apparently don’t have to pay extra if you buy a plane ticket through United Airlines’ iPhone app. Since Cupertino’s new Music streaming service has a lot of competitors in addition to Spotify, it’s facing antitrust investigations in a couple of states.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Apple
Via: Bloomberg
Source: The Verge
Spotify tells iOS users how to avoid iTunes charges and pay less
Spotify isn’t happy that its iOS customers have to pay an additional $3 for a premium subscription if they make the purchase through the App Store. That’s why it’s planning to send them instructions on how to apply for a subscription straight from the company’s website. The Verge got its hands on a copy of the letter, wherein Spotify made clear that “the normal Premium price is only $9.99, but Apple charges 30 percent on all payments made through iTunes.” That ups the total to $12.99, which is only $2 away from Apple Music’s six-person family plan. That email, if you haven’t gotten it yet, contains links that make it easy to cancel Spotify’s auto-renew on iTunes and redirect you to the service’s website. You’ll have to wait until your current month ends before you can subscribe again, but after you do, you won’t have to pay $12.99 again.
As Bloomberg notes, Apple doesn’t allow links within apps that allow people to make purchases from external websites. That’s likely what prompted the streaming service to decide on sending an email blast instead of adding a PSA inside the app. The publication also points out that Apple only adds $$$ on top of goods or services if it doesn’t have a competing product. For instance, you apparently don’t have to pay extra if you buy a plane ticket through United Airlines’ iPhone app. Since Cupertino’s new Music streaming service has a lot of competitors in addition to Spotify, it’s facing antitrust investigations in a couple of states.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Apple
Via: Bloomberg
Source: The Verge
LG officially announces its mid-range LG G4 Beat smartphone
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It was inevitable that LG was going to announce a mid-range version of its flagship LG G4, and that device has been made official today as the LG G4 Beat. If you can imagine a slightly smaller, slightly less powerful version of the LG G4, and you’ve pretty much got the LG G4 Beat – headlining specs for the device include an octacore Snapdragon 615 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display and a 8MP rear camera that inherits LG’s nifty camera features like Color Spectrum Sensor and Laser Auto Focus.
Of course, the device was never meant to turn too many heads, but it is a decent offering at the mid-range, and it does have the added incentive of sharing the LG G4’s unique looks and design. Unfortunately, LG Beat devices of old have often been just a tad too expensive to truly be competitive with the likes of the Moto G, but we’ll see what the pricing is like when the device is actually available. LG says to expect the LG G4 Beat in Europe and Latin America this month with Canada, India, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and others to join at a later date.
The full list of specifications for the LG G4 Beat are:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 615 Processor
- Display: 5.2-inch Full HD IPS LCD (1920 x 1080, 423ppi)
- Memory: 8GB eMMC ROM / 1.5GB RAM
- Camera: Rear 8MP LDAF (13MP in Latin America) / Front 5MP
- Battery: 2,300mAh (removable)
- Operating System: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
- Size: 142.7 x 72.6 x 9.85mm
- Weight: 139g
- Network: 4G LTE / HSPA+ 42.2Mbps (3G)
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / A-GPS / Glonass / USB 2.0
- Colors: Metallic Silver / Ceramic White / Shiny Gold
- Other: In-Cell Touch / Color Spectrum Sensor / Gesture Interval Shot / Full HD 1080p Video
What do you think about the LG G4 Beat? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Press Release
LG G4 BEAT DELIVERS PREMIUM DESIGN,
SUPERIOR FEATURES IN A MID-TIER PACKAGE
Advanced Display, Advanced Camera and Striking Design Come
Together to Create an Exceptional Phone Without the Exceptional PriceSEOUL, July 9, 2015 ― LG Electronics (LG) officially unveiled its newest variant of its widely praised LG G4 flagship smartphone. The LG G4 Beat1 retains the best features and functions of the LG G4, delivering value without compromising performance or usability. The LG G4 Beat will make its debut this month in key markets in Europe and Latin America, including France, Germany and Brazil before rolling out globally in markets such as Canada, India, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey, among others.
The LG G4 Beat comes with a 5.2-inch Full HD IPS Display, which is clearer, sharper and more responsive than anything offered by LG before in this category. A powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 615 processor running eight cores at 1.5GHz with integrated 4G LTE delivers an optimal balance of power, performance and battery life.
LG G4 Beat’s camera features are equally as impressive as the hardware. On the back is a 8MP camera 2, supported by LG’s exclusive Color Spectrum Sensor and Laser Auto Focus. Manual Mode, one of the most acclaimed features in the G4, allows full creative control over every detail in each shot. LG also enhanced the 5MP front-facing shooter with Gesture Interval Shot to allow users to take four consecutive selfies with a single hand gesture, increasing the odds of capturing that perfect shot.
“Too often, mid-tier phones sacrifice overall usability in order to include that one killer feature,” said Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Our goal with the LG G4 Beat was to create a phone that was not only well- balanced in terms of display, camera, performance and design but delivered terrific value and satisfaction.”
Highlights and Features of the LG G4 Beat are:
- High Performance Multimedia made possible by a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 615 Processor with Octa-Core performance and speed, which can handle Full HD 1080p playback at 60fps and capture at 30fps.
- Color Spectrum Sensor to measure the exact RGB and infrared values of ambient light and objects, resulting in colors that are truer to nature.
- Manual Mode to give users fine control over every detail of a shot, including shutter speed, ISO, exposure and white balance.
- Gesture Interval Shot improves on the original Gesture Shot by increasing the chance of getting that perfect shot even under challenging conditions.
Prices and details of availability will be announced locally at the time of launch.
The post LG officially announces its mid-range LG G4 Beat smartphone appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Cyanogen growing – hires Qualcomm and Amazon key engineers
Cyanogen’s goal is to “put a bullet through Google’s head” and “take Android away from them”. Can they make it? It seems very unlikely at this point, but one thing is for sure – they continue to race to the top and now they have a couple key industry leaders helping them reach their goals.
The creators of the most popular Android ROM (CyanogenMod) have just hired a couple high-profile engineers from Amazon and Qualcomm. The first is former Amazon engineering leader Stephen Lawler, who will come in as Senior Vice President of Engineering. The second new Cyanogen employee would be Qualcomm’s engineering lead Karthick Iyer, who would take his rightful position at Cyanogen as the new Vice President of Global Systems.
With companies like Foxconn, Qualcomm, Twitter and many others pumping millions into Cyanogen, there is no doubt the company is on the rise. Their strategy is to continue their global expansion and platform growth, which was the main reason for hiring such talented industry personalities.
“Our focus continues to be evolving the Android platform and driving innovation in mobile computing. Signals, services and systems are at the heart of building an evolved computing platform. Both Lawler and Iyer respectively are world class leaders in these areas, each having scaled some of the most successful computing and services platforms. Lawler brings a wealth of technical leadership in mobile, mapping, location, search, and cloud services. Iyer has deep expertise in end-to-end Android development. Both understand how to optimally scale engineering organizations.” -Kirt McMaster, Co-founder and CEO of Cyanogen Inc.
The company recently lost an important partner – OnePlus. This is not the end of Cyanogen in the Asian market, though. They aim to team up with “bigger Chinese vendors”. Who will they be? We are not sure yet, but CEO Kirt McMaster touts it as a loss for OnePlus, as opposed to bad news for the ROM maker.
We are going to see much more from Cyanogen in the future, even if they may not accomplish their goal to overthrow the tyrannical Google presence and make Android a much more open ecosystem without limitations. Both new hires have extensive experience in the industry and have worked on huge projects. They are certainly that important puzzle piece in Cyanogen’s future plans.
What do you think about Cyanogen’s ambitions? Can they really take on Google?
A twenty-year industry veteran, Lawler joins Cyanogen from Amazon where he was most recently a Vice President. Before that, he spent 15 years at Microsoft in key senior roles including CTO of Bing Maps, GM of Software Development for Bing Maps, Bing Mobile, Local Search, MSN and Virtual Earth.
Iyer has held ever increasing engineering responsibilities at Qualcomm Inc. for the past 18 years. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Engineering where he led a global team that designed, developed and commercialized Android solutions at the chipset level. There, he built and led a top-notch global Android organization that successfully enabled the shipments of over 1 billion Android smartphones.
“Our focus continues to be evolving the Android platform and driving innovation in mobile computing,” said Kirt McMaster, Co-founder and CEO of Cyanogen Inc. “Signals, services and systems are at the heart of building an evolved computing platform. Both Lawler and Iyer respectively are world class leaders in these areas, each having scaled some of the most successful computing and services platforms. Lawler brings a wealth of technical leadership in mobile, mapping, location, search, and cloud services. Iyer has deep expertise in end-to-end Android development. Both understand how to optimally scale engineering organizations.”
With offices in Palo Alto, Seattle and Lisbon, the company’s expansion plans include opening offices in China, India and Europe. Through its open source CyanogenMod and commercial distribution Cyanogen OS, it has a global user footprint in 190 countries.
About Cyanogen Inc.
Cyanogen is reimagining mobile computing, giving power to the people to customize their mobile device and content experiences. The CYANOGEN operating system is built on Android and known for its revolutionary personalization features, intuitive interface, speed, improved battery life, and enhanced security. With a rapidly growing global user base and a vibrant community of developers, we’re intelligently connecting smartphone and tablet consumers to people, apps, and things they love. For more information, visit Cyanogen’s website <http://www.cyngn.com>, Google+ <https://plus.google.com/+cyngn/posts>, Twitter <https://twitter.com/cyngn>, and Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/officialcyngn>.
Reddit mods explain why they shut the site down
It turns out that if you suddenly fire a valuable member of the community, that community will get very angry at you. Reddit CEO Ellen Pao learned that the hard way late last week when it abruptly dismissed Victoria Taylor, the company’s former director of talent who was instrumental in popularizing the site’s “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) feature. A slew of subreddits, mostly run by volunteer moderators, went private in protest of the firing over the weekend as a result. Pao eventually posted an apology for the lack of communication and promised to improve things going forward. But in an op-ed posted today in the New York Times, those same volunteer moderators said that the apology was not enough.
The primary reason for taking those sites down temporarily, according to the subreddit moderators, was to protest how Reddit’s management changes are seemingly done without consideration for the community. When Taylor was terminated, for example, apparently a scheduled AMA had to be abruptly cancelled, causing the team of moderators to panic and shut down that particular subreddit to figure things out. That, however, caused other subreddits to shut down as a show of support. This, they say, was just an example of how valuable Taylor was as a communicator and how disruptive it was to dismiss her. As for the “miscommunication” apology, the op-ed authors responded thusly:
“Miscommunication implies there was any communication at all or any kind of real planning in place to compensate for the loss, when in reality the moderators and AMA guests were left stranded. Though company leaders have apologized publicly, they still have not fully explained the decision.”
Further, they said that Taylor’s termination is just a recent example of how Reddit is disregarding not only the site’s business but also the community at large. The two op-ed authors, Brian Lynch and Courtnie Swearingen, work full-time as attorneys but also commit hours of their free time to moderating Reddit forums. In closing, they said:
“Pay attention to the user base. Users are not simply a screaming mob. They are actually asking for reasonable support, and as moderators, we are trying very hard to do what we can to make those changes happen.”
Filed under: Internet
Source: New York Times
South Park is staying on the air and on Hulu through 2019
Looks like we’ll be watching the kids from everybody’s favorite quiet mountain town will be continuing their shenanigans for at least another three years — huzzah! Comedy Central announced that South Park creators Matt Smith and Trey Parker have reached a deal to extend the cultural touchstone series by another three years and 30 episodes (that’s in addition to the two remaining years on the shows current contract). Additionally, South Park Digital Studios (Parker and Smith’s joint venture with Viacom) announced a separate deal with Hulu that will see the series remain on the streaming service until 2020.
Not only has @SouthPark been extended by 3 seasons and 30 episodes, so has its record-breaking deal with #hulu. pic.twitter.com/5ZaDjUYc51
– hulu (@hulu) July 8, 2015
The Hollywood Reporter claims Hulu — already in tight with Viacom to stream Showtime as an add-on — paid a record-breaking $192 million for that honor. Plus, Comedy Central will offer a 50/50 split its take from the Hulu deal with Parker and Stone which, as THR points out, is one of the few instances where a digital streaming deal will help underwrite current production costs. We saw a similar setup with Netflix and AMC for The Killing, while CBS snagged a deal with Amazon for Under the Dome and Extant before those shows ever went on the air. The show’s 19th season premieres on Wednesday, September 16.
Source: Comedy Central
AIVAnet 