Mid-range HTC Desire 728 leaks in photos, shows off dual front facing speakers
HTC’s upcoming budget-friendly Desire 728 has leaked in photos showing pretty much every look and angle of the device. It’s fairly in line with HTC’s mid-range lineup, including the plastic body and dual front facing speakers. The bezels on the device are a little smaller than what we’re used to seeing, though, even though it does have those signature BoomSound speakers, so maybe HTC is trying to figure out a way to include great sound without making a device too tall and unwieldy. Other than that, though, the Desire 728 looks like a solid phone, just without anything particularly exciting about the design.
Specs are likely to include a 1.3 GHz MediaTek processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage plus a microSD card slot, a 13 megapixel camera, and a 2,800 mAh battery. The screen looks like a 720p 5.5-inch display, so despite the smaller bezels this definitely won’t be a small phone by any stretch.
We probably won’t ever see this one outside of China, but it should give us a glimpse at where HTC is going with their newer iterations of Desire phones.
source: Anzhuo
via: Phone Arena
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AT&T bundling wireless service with DirecTV and U-verse packages
Now that AT&T officially owns DirecTV they’re quickly integrating wireless service and television bundles into packages for their consumers. These plans combine TV service through either U-Verse or DirecTV on a single bill with AT&T wireless service and give the customer a $10 discount for keeping everything on one combined bill. A four line, 10 GB plan that normally runs $160 will be $200 when combined with a DirecTV Select package that’s typically $50 by itself, for example. $10 per month isn’t huge, but if you were planning on having DirecTV and AT&T, might as well take advantage of the discount.
The wording isn’t completely clear if you’ll have to have a minimum number of lines on your account to be eligible for the combined billing discount, which might be a dealbreaker for some, but AT&T will probably get all of this clarified once the new feeling wears off.
If you really want to go all-in with AT&T, they’ll also throw in U-verse internet in their “All-Included” plans for a little extra per month.
A major selling point with this partnership is that AT&T customers can view DirecTV programming on eligible devices wherever they are, even before the TV service installation has been completed. It uses the DirecTV app, and AT&T is pushing this in more than 2,000 retail locations. They didn’t waste any time in getting the ball rolling with this one.
source: AT&T
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iPhone Battery With 1715 mAh Capacity Possibly Destined for ‘iPhone 6s’ or ‘6c’ Appears
French site Nowhereelse.fr last week shared a photo [Google Translate] of a battery appearing very similar to an iPhone battery and labeled as being from Apple’s usual supplier, but the battery’s capacity of 1715 mAh leaves questions as to whether the battery is intended for the upcoming “iPhone 6s” or a smaller “iPhone 6c” that has reportedly been delayed or canceled.
The battery’s 1715 mAh capacity is lower than the 1810 mAh capacity of the iPhone 6 battery, indicating Apple would have to have increased power efficiency of the device for the “S” generation in order to achieve the same battery life as its predecessor. Given the consistent overall design of the iPhone 6 and 6s, it is unclear why Apple would reduce the battery capacity at all, unless other changes such as a thicker display panel needed for Force Touch support are reducing the internal volume available for the battery in the iPhone 6s.
Another option is that this battery is for Apple’s rumored “iPhone 6c”, which was reportedly a new 4-inch iPhone Apple had under development but which appeared to have been canceled or delayed earlier this year after supply chain evidence dried up. The battery in today’s photo carries a manufacturing date of March 2015, so it does come from the timeframe when iPhone 6c claims were still circulating, although its capacity is higher than that of fellow 4-inch devices such as the iPhone 5s (1558 mAh) and iPhone 5c (1510 mAh).
One argument in favor of this being an iPhone 6s battery is the connector seen on the part, which appears essentially identical to the one seen on the iPhone 6 and distinct from that used on other iPhone models such as the 5s and 5c, but it is otherwise difficult to say what device this battery was planned for.
With roughly a month to go before the expected unveiling of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, part leaks are rapidly accelerating. Many of them will not reveal much given the similarities between the two generation’s designs, but some subtle differences such as those on the display assembly may hint at changes for the upcoming device.
(Thanks, Ryan)
Xiaomi retakes top spot in China – Report
Xiaomi has retaken the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market ahead of rivals, both domestic and international according to reports from two analyst firms. If accurate, the reports mean that Xiaomi has replaced Apple atop the pile, with the Cupertino company dropping to third and Chinese conglomerate Huawei taking second place.
Analyst firm Canalys’ report that Xiaomi shipped 15.9 percent of all smartphones in China during Q2 2015 with Apple dropping to third and Huawei taking second place with 15.7 percent of shipments. Huawei’s growth is interesting as it was spurred by 48 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in sales of (sub-brand) Honor smartphones.
Xiaomi/Huawei in video:
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Naturally, all analyst data is open for interpretation but a separate report from Counterpoint Research corroborates that Xiaomi has retaken the top spot. Counterpoint suggest that Xiaomi took first place with 15.8 percent market share, ahead of Huawei (15.4 percent) and Apple (12.2 percent). Counterpoint then placed Vivo in fourth on 8.1 percent (250 percent year-on-year growth) with Samsung coming in fifth.
Apple’s decline is only likely to be temporary with both analyst firms recognising that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are no longer new to market and are expected to be replaced in just over a month’s time. Given that Apple’s smartphones continue to perform well – even better than Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge which launched during Q2 – any new devices are likely to challenge new devices expected from Samsung, Huawei and LG (amongst others) later this year.
Samsung’s strategy of introducing new, much slimmer smartphones first in China doesn’t seem to be paying off as increased competition from Xiaomi and Huawei is attacking the company’s portfolio. While Samsung struggles in the increasingly-competitive market, Xiaomi has bounced back after a couple of uninspiring launches – the Mi Note and Redmi 2 were the top devices in the quarter – and Huawei’s Honor brand continues to offer impressive devices (like the Honor 7) at an affordable price.
Featured: Young guns: 10 up and coming phone brands out of China
In a statement to TechCrunch, Canalys analyst Jingwen Wang, said:
“Apple and Samsung have both increased their sales activities in the China market, expanding rapidly in channel coverage through flagship stores and small to medium size phone retailers respectively. Xiaomi is under immense pressure to maintain its top position in the quarters to come,”
The Chinese market – which is the world’s largest for smartphones – continues to very slowly grow and has seen most manufacturers target the country as a source of new revenues and adoption. For Samsung, the lack of success of its current strategy may see the company adopt an alternative approach for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus while rumoured Huawei devices including the Huawei Nexus could provide a stern challenge for Xiaomi later this year.
Fujifilm’s X-T1 flagship camera gets an infrared edition
No, this isn’t the next flagship camera you’ve been waiting on from Fujifilm — but this doesn’t mean some of you won’t be interested in it. The company today announced the X-T1 IR, a new edition of its high-end shooter featuring infrared technology, which captures details that aren’t normally visible to the human eye. On the outside, Fujifilm’s new camera looks identical to the original X-T1, with the two main changes being internal. While the X-T1 IR also features a 16.3-megapixels APS-C X-Trans CMOS II unit, its sensor’s Standard IR cut filter was removed and an anti-reflective coating has been applied to it. Other than that, the remaing specs are the same: there’s an EXR Processor II, a max ISO range of 25,600 and a weather-resistant shell, to mention a few.
Fujifilm says this would be a useful tool for people who investigate crime scenes, provide healthcare diagnostics or are involved in other similar scientific and technical fields. If that’s you, the X-T1 IR can be yours in October for $1,700 (body-only).
[Deal] TigerVPN Lite can protect your browsing for only $29
Few things can start the week off right. A good cup of coffee, a traffic-less commute to work, and a good deal. Well we can only hope that everyone had the first two already, while AndroidGuys is here to provide the third. Today’s Deal of the Day aims to bring you some protection while browsing the web.
TigerVPN Lite tries to bring a safer internet, one of which that will protect you from those hackers who attempt to get all your information. With a TigerVPN subscription, you get the following:
- Provides top-notch security
- Encrypts all your browsing w/ a 256bit SSL encryption
- Includes 10Gbps servers optimized to limit latency globally
- Offers access to 15 nodes (of the 61 available) covering 41 countries & 5 continents
- Doesn’t limit your data; plus bandwidth health detection maintains performance at peak times
- Includes easy-to-use mobile apps
- Allows for a choice in encryption protocol – PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, etc.
Normally priced at $790, you can get TigerVPN Lite for only $29. This really is a great deal for anyone who’s been interested in getting a VPN for safer and more private browsing. If you’re interested in picking up this great deal, head over to the AndroidGuys deal page, provided by Stack Commerce, and grab TigerVPN today.
You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals page. Backed by Stack Commerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!
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Statistexts app review
The average person sends over 3,000 text messages per month. That’s a lot of information being sent in a short amount of time. Whether you are letting your parents know that you are going to be late or breaking up with your significant other over a text message (yes, that did escalate quite fast), the advent of texting has made it easy to communicate with one another with nothing more than a simple line of text.
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With so much information on your device, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to see some data that would allow you to see how long it usually takes you to respond to a message? Turn that around and it would be nice to see how long it takes your friend Jim to reply to all of your crazy late night messages. Well, if you said yes to either one of those scenarios, then Statistexts is going to find a happy home on your Android device.
Design
Design
The design of the app is very simple and straightforward. No fancy graphics or distracting animations. Statistexts instead opts for a nice dark theme with colors that complement one another and make using it easy on the eyes.
When you first open up the app you are greeted with two buttons, one in the middle and one on the bottom right. The one in the middle is the main button which starts the apps data analyzing algorithms. The one on the bottom right is the menu button though it only has one setting, clear stored data. This way you can use the app and then delete all the information afterward, for those that don’t like to have too much information about them lying about.
Functionality
Functionality
After you click on the aptly named “Load Texts” button on front page of app, you will be greeted with a plethora of information that will give you an insight into various aspects of your texting life. From the average response time of each contact, the amount of messages sent to them to the average amount of words they use, Statistics is a cornucopia of information.
After loading up the app, it quickly showed me the number of messages that I had received and sent. It then allowed me to sort through the information using a variety of filters. To name a few; Sort by fastest response, slowest response, most positive, least positive, and most messages. While most of these made sense and we could easily see how the information could be retrieved from our messages, it was not quite clear how the app determined the positivity and negativity percentage. We assume it compares the text in the messages to a database of positive and negative words, whatever those might be.
Statistexts also allows you to click on a specific contact to be able to all of the collected data about that contact in one page. One of our favorite being the ability to see when they are most likely to respond to your message. Nothing groundbreaking but that’s the beauty of Statistexts. It does a simple task of giving you information regarding your contacts and it does it beautifully.
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
As we said before, Statistexts does not do anything revolutionary or groundbreaking. It takes data that is already accessible to you and just organized it is a way that is both visually appealing and easy to read. Now you can know how long it takes your friends to reply to you without you having to actually go in the app and figure that information out on your own. Information mind you that would take hours if done by hand while Statistexts does that and more in a matter of seconds. Statistexts is a fantastic, well-designed app that anyone who treasures information should download.
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Samsung agrees to compensation for employees that contracted cancer
After admitting that it didn’t do enough to prevent illnesses and deaths of workers at its Korean semiconductor plants, Samsung has launched a new fund to put things right. Reuters reports that the company has set aside 100 billion won ($85.8 million) to compensate employees after it was revealed that hazardous working conditions had caused workers to contract leukemia and other incurable diseases.
Korean activist group Sharps recorded more than 200 individual cases of workers falling ill after working at one of Samsung’s factories. According to the organization, around 70 percent of them have died. The company has also reported fatalities following gas leaks at separate chip plants. Not long after its most recent accident, Samsung CEO Kwon Oh-hyun went on record to issue an official apology. “We should have settled the issue earlier,” he admitted. “We are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology.”
While the fund will go some way to appease workers and the affected families, it will also help pay for an external company to audit its health and safety processes, finance research and develop experts to reduce the chances of workers being exposed to dangerous conditions in the first place.
Filed under: Cellphones, Samsung
Source: Reuters
Amazon limits Prime sharing benefits to one other adult
For a long while, Amazon would let you share some of your Prime perks with four other people of any age — handy if your roommates need to get an order in a hurry. However, it looks like the internet shopping pioneer is clamping down. A quiet rule change on July 31st has limited Prime sharing to one other adult as part of an “Amazon Household.” Moreover, that other grown-up has to use the original member’s credit card. That’s fine if you’re sharing it with a significant other, but lousy for anyone else.
The good news? The changes don’t appear to be retroactive, so you should keep your sharing benefits as long as you don’t shake things up. With that said, it’s clear that Amazon wants to wring out as many extra Prime subscriptions as possible. That’s not entirely surprising — Amazon is still loading Prime with an ever-greater number of high-speed delivery and streaming media services, and the only real way to keep up the revenue per service is to get more subscribers.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin]
Via: AFTVnews, Liliputing, Geek
Source: Amazon
Amazon Fire TV Stick goes on sale for $24 – today only
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is already the value leader in the streaming world at it’s full retail price of $39, but today you can one for $24 with free in-store pickup at Kmart and at Sears. The purchase is also eligible for 240 Shop Your Way points. Best Buy also has it on sale, but for $24.99 with free in-store pickup as well.
The Fire TV Stick was featured in an article I wrote on how to turn the Fire TV Stick into the Ultimate Media Center. There are some great ideas on things that you can use your Fire TV Stick for.
According SlickDeals, this is a 1 day only opportunity. The last time they were this cheap was during Amazon’s Prime Day sale and only for 1 hour. So, get em while their hot.
What do you think? Are you planning to pick one up? Let us know in the comments below.
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