Star Trek Communicator released as Bluetooth handset and speaker (OMG!)
Any Star Trek fan will remember the famous Communicator. This fictional device gave us a glimpse of what the future of mobile technology would be like, but the creators of Star Trek: The Original Series probably never imagined that we would surpass their technology so quickly. Regardless, it’s every geek’s dream to be able to hold one of these Communicators and actually be able to contact others, even if they may not be in a starship orbiting the planet.
Get ready to spend some serious cash on a Bluetooth handset and speaker, guys. Many of you will pull out these $150 dollars without even thinking about it. It no longer matters if its a justifiable price or not, even I have to have this thing!
The Wand Company has built an official replica of the iconic Star Trek Communicator and launched it during the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con. They used structured-light 3D scanning to ensure this replica is molded to perfection. It is literally the same one you saw Captain Kirk and his crew flip open hundreds of times. It makes matters even more exciting to learn this is no typical replica; it is a pretty awesome gadget, to be honest. Sure, it’s a bit over-priced, but it is awesome that you can actually do something with it, unlike with most other replicas.
The Communicator replica works as a Bluetooth handset you can connect to your smartphone and answer calls through. It also serves as an external speaker for listening to your audio. And yes, it is wireless and has its own rechargeable battery, which you can juice up with the included wireless charging stand.
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The Star Trek Communicator is worth $149.95 and you can pre-order it now! Comic-Con attendees will be able to test it first-hand if they head over to ThinkGeek’s booth (#3351). Just in case you happen to be around my hometown.
Seriously, I wasn’t going to go to Comic-Con this year, but I will find a way to get in there and check this out! Who is signing up?
Action Launcher 3.5 puts your beloved Android apps in the search bar
The ubiquitous search box widget at the top of your Android mobile device is getting some new tricks. Chris Lacy, creator of the Action Launcher app, announced the release of Action Launcher 3.5 on Tuesday. The new version builds on AL 3.0, which allowed users to match the widget’s color to their background theme (as well as the app drawer) or scroll through an alphabetical app list accessible from the home screen. The app also features slick shortcuts for both folders and widgets called covers and shutters, respectively. And with the release of AL 3.5, users can fully customize the search box by incorporating apps, shortcuts and even menu groups directly into the bar itself.
“I’m very happy with how the Quickbar has turned out,” Lacy wrote on a Google+ post. “It may not look like it, but this feature was an absolutely mammoth design and engineering undertaking.” And from the looks of this update, why stick with Google’s stock launcher?
Source: Google Plus
The next ‘Star Wars Anthology’ flick is a Han Solo prequel
Get ready to add another big Star Wars date to your calendar. On May 25th, 2018, Disney is planning another standalone flick in the universe, this time focusing on Han Solo’s early days — before he ran into Luke, Leia and the rest. It’s going to be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the pair responsible for the excellent The Lego Movie, with writing handled by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan. Lawrence wrote and directed Raiders of the Lost Ark, and was a co-writer for Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and the next main Stars Wars flick, The Force Awakens, while his son Jon has written for movies and TV shows including Freaks and Geeks and Dawson’s Creek. The first standalone Star Wars movie, Rogue One, is due in December 2016, with Episode VIII and BB-8 following in May 2017.
[Image credit: Steve Parsons/PA Archive]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Star Wars
NASA prepares its Jupiter probe for arrival
It’s been a long time in coming, but NASA’s Juno probe is finally close to reaching Jupiter. NASA reports that the spacecraft is “on track” to arrive on July 4th, 2016 (how American!), and that the ground crew is tweaking the flight plan to at once give Juno more time and complete tasks ahead of schedule. The ship’s initial orbit is splitting into two in order to test instruments before the science gathering starts. Also, it’ll take 14 days to complete an orbit rather than the originally planned 11. That will extend the mission from 15 months to 20, but it should both get basic mapping data sooner (8 orbits instead of 15) and offer more leeway in case the Jovian world’s magnetism and radiation create havoc. Hopefully, all this extra work will ensure that scientists understand not just the beginnings of Jupiter and the Solar System, but also the behavior of gas giants around alien stars.
[Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
Filed under: Science
Source: NASA JPL
Getting high: LG straps a LG G4 to a drone and takes some awesome footage
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LG sure knows how to make a promo video – after sending their last flagship, the LG G3 into an active volcano to help advertise the camera and its laser focus, LG has tried to one-up themselves this year by strapping their new LG G4 to a drone and taking video while airborne. The effect is… well, check out the results for yourself:
Drones are all the rage right now, so it’s a smart move on LG’s behalf to make use of that burgeoning market space as a marketing canvas. As for the LG G4’s camera, there’s definitely beauty to what was captured, but we can’t exactly say that it’s all down to the camera. LG intended for this video to advertise its new optical image stabilization, and for the most part, it actually does a pretty amazing job, but it’s clear that the juddering of the drone was sufficient to overcome this feature at times. Still, it’s a cool ad, and we wish some of the other manufacturers were a bit creative like this sometimes with advertising relatively real-life scenarios – because we all own drones, right?
What do you think about LG’s latest LG G4 promo video? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: YouTube (LG) via Phone Arena
The post Getting high: LG straps a LG G4 to a drone and takes some awesome footage appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Galaxy Note 5 probably won’t be equipped with a microSD card slot
Hopefully you weren’t holding out for Samsung to change course on their lack of a microSD card in flagship devices. The Galaxy S6 doesn’t have one, and it doesn’t look like the Note 5 will, either. According to a recent report from SamMobile, Samsung probably won’t be using expandable storage on the Note 5, in part due to the newer technology that they’re using for internal storage.
The Galaxy S6 uses UFS 2.0, which you might have heard about when the device was announced. UFS 2.0 is quite a bit faster than eMMC 5.0 storage that’s found in pretty much all other smartphones, even beating out some of the fastest SD cards on the market. One of the drawbacks to this faster tech, though, is that the memory controller that Samsung has to use can’t handle both internal storage and an SD card. It’s pretty clear that Samsung thinks that the faster speed of UFS 2.0 and better performance is a worthwhile trade-off.
As a side note, the 3D render of the Note 5 that we saw the other day lacked any type of slot for a microSD card, so this report just confirms those small details.
Anyone with a Galaxy S6 missing their expandable storage? I’m personally using a 64 GB GS6, and so far I’ve made the transition pretty painlessly. Some power users might have to adjust their usage habits to accommodate the change, but it’s not like Samsung is the only OEM doing this. Nexus devices no longer use SD cards, although HTC and LG have brought them back to their flagship devices.
source: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: Galaxy Note 5 probably won’t be equipped with a microSD card slot
Sprint to begin selling the budget-friendly Galaxy Grand Prime on July 10th
Sprint will soon add Samsung’s affordable Galaxy Grand Prime to their smartphone lineup on July 10th. The device will be available for $240, which you can purchase without a contract, with 24 $10 monthly payments with Sprint EasyPay, or for $29.99 on a two-year contract after a $50 rebate. Not bad pricing.
The Galaxy Grand Prime sports a 5-inch screen with a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It ships with Android 5.1 and several of Samsung’s more popular software additions, including Ultra Power Saving Mode and still has a microSD card.
It’s not flagship smartphone, but if you’re on a budget, the Grand Prime might be a good choice for you.
source: Sprint
Come comment on this article: Sprint to begin selling the budget-friendly Galaxy Grand Prime on July 10th
Special ‘Destiny’ PS4 is another expensive bundle option
If you’re a hardcore Destiny fan, it’s been a rough couple weeks. First, Bungie announced the game’s next big expansion, then it revealed some of its content would be exclusive to a pricey $80 collector’s edition — even if you already owned the base game. There was anger, rebellion, Red Bull product tie-ins (no, really) and, eventually, a mea culpa that made the exclusive content available to everyone as separate DLC. Huzzah! Now Destiny players can get everything without buying content twice. Well, unless they want the limited edition Destiny PlayStation 4 — then they’re screwed again.
Okay, technically the Destiny: The Taken King PS4 bundle is already the complete package — buyers get a copy of Destiny, both of its initial expansions (The Dark Below and House of Wolves) and The Taken King, plus a digital upgrade to the collector’s edition and its formerly-exclusive content. As far as the game is concerned, that’s everything — but completionist collectors are still missing out on the physical aspects of The Taken King Collector’s Edition, including the set’s steel-book case, replica Strange Coin, modified Treasure Island Book and physical relics and artifacts.
A nitpick? Absolutely. An outrage? Not at all. A problem for Destiny super-fans who want all the collectibles and a 500GB custom white and silver PS4 emblazoned with a golden guardian’s crest? Oh yeah. Still, if you have to have everything (or just want a special PS4) this bundle will be available on September 15th.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Plex’s Xbox One update brings music, playlists and more
There are a host of new features coming to Plex’s Xbox One app. In addition to the standard fare of navigation tweaks, added SmartGlass functionality and bug fixes, the media organizer/caster now allows users to play music through their Xbone. Plex also now offers playlist support for both songs and videos. Plus, there’s no longer need to convert videos either, the service can play back video in Xbox’s native MKV file format. But arguably the coolest new feature is that you’ll finally get real, honest-to-goodness trailers prior to watching your films. It’s as close to the theater experience you can get without having to pay for IMAX and stale popcorn.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Microsoft
Source: Plex
Samsung Galaxy J2 leaked specs hint at super affordable handset
Samsung launched the Galaxy J1 affordable handset only about half a year ago, but the way the industry moves we are sure they are well underway to releasing a successor. In fact, we know they are, as rumors of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy J2 have just started to surface. Unlike most other tech murmurs, the information obtained on this device is quite extensive!
SamMobile quotes some anonymous sources who claim the device will come with a 4.5-inch TFT LCD display with an 800x480p resolution. Internals are said to pack a 1.2 GHz Samsung Exynos 3475 quad-core processor (32-bit), 1.5 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. Other hardware includes a 5 MP rear camera, a 2 MP shooter in the front and a 2000 mAh battery, all smashed together in a 136 x 69 x 8.3 mm phone running Android 5.1.1.
This is quite an upgrade over the Samsung Galaxy J1, its direct predecessor. That phone only had a 4.3-inch display, 512 MB of RAM and a 1850 mAh battery. This leaves us wondering if the Galaxy J2 will be as affordable the J1. Direct successors usually are priced similarly to previous iterations, but the Galaxy J2 sure doesn’t seem like a $115-dollar phone, which happens to be the Galaxy J1’s price.
We also saw the Samsung Galaxy J5 and J7 launching last month, but those are in a whole other realm. They sport much better specs and even feature front-facing flashes. We wouldn’t expect the same treatment for the Galaxy J2.
No details on pricing and availability are provided yet, so we can only assume. Sammy will probably announce this new phone relatively soon and for a very reasonable price, though. We assume the phone will launch mostly in emerging markets like India, other Asian countries and some parts of Latin America.
Are any of you interested in buying a mid-range phone like the Samsung Galaxy J2? It seems like a good little gadget for a very casual user, but I wouldn’t exactly recommend it to everyone.
AIVAnet 