Check out the official announcement videos for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus
Samsung has just taken the wraps off the new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus at its Unpacked event just hours ago. Both devices feature big 5.7-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD displays, a mostly-glass design and many other notable enhancements that will likely be welcomed by consumers.
Samsung has just published the official introduction videos for both handsets, showing off some of their unique features. The first intro video walks through the Note 5’s new and improved S Pen and note taking features, curved back plate for a more comfortable in-hand feel, and some of the new multitasking software features. The second introduction video gives us a good look at the S6 Edge Plus’ new features that take advantage of the larger edge display.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
Want to learn more about these two new smartphones? We’ve got you covered! Head to the links below to get a closer look, and be sure to tell us what you think about the handsets in the comments below.
Apple’s Marc Newson Believes Automotive Design is Lacking Progress
The Wall Street Journal has published an in-depth profile of industrial designer Marc Newson, a longtime friend of Apple design chief Jonathan Ive who joined the Cupertino-based company in September 2014. The interview touches upon a number of topics, ranging from Newson’s creative process and design philosophies to his favorite artists and fashion designers.
Apple designers Marc Newson (left) and Jonathan Ive (right) via Vanity Fair
Just months after reports claimed Apple is actively researching and developing an electric and possibly self-driving vehicle, Newson added fuel to those rumors by referring to the automotive industry as one of his design pet-peeves. The designer said that while cars used to encapsulate “everything that was good about progress,” the industry is now “at the bottom of a trough.”
My design pet-peeve is: the automotive industry. There were moments when cars somehow encapsulated everything that was good about progress. But right now we’re at the bottom of a trough.
Newson’s comments certainly do not imply that Apple is working on a vehicle, but it is clear that multiple executives at the Cupertino-based company are car enthusiasts. Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue joined Ferrari’s Board of Directors in November 2012, while Ive has owned several luxury vehicles ranging from Aston Martins and Fiats to Bentleys and Land Rovers.
Jonathan Ive’s previous Aston Martin DB9 supercar
The New Yorker also reflected on how Newson and Ive are “car guys” in February:
He and Newson are car guys, and they feel disappointed with most modern cars; each summer, they attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where vintage sports cars are exhibited and raced in the South of England. “There are some shocking cars on the road,” Ive said. “One person’s car is another person’s scenery.” To his right was a silver sedan with a jutting lower lip. Ive said, quietly, “For example.” As the disgraced car fell behind, I asked Ive to critique its design: “It is baffling, isn’t it? It’s just nothing, isn’t it? It’s just insipid.” He declined to name the model, muttering, “I don’t know, I don’t want to offend.” (Toyota Echo.)
It was reported in February that Apple has hundreds of employees, including former Tesla, Ford and GM engineers, working on an electric vehicle at a top-secret research lab possibly located in the Sunnyvale area. The much-rumored initiative, known internally as “Project Titan,” likely remains in the early stages of research and development, with Bloomberg reporting that Apple hopes to begin production in 2020.
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge+ can have apps pinned to its curve
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ is finally official, and with that comes tailor-made features for its curved design. One of those is Apps Edge, which lets users create up to five shortcuts for frequently used apps, offering quick access to them directly from the edge of the screen. It’s worth noting that a Samsung patent for Apps Edge was spotted last month; a similar feature was also found on the Galaxy Note Edge, though the same can’t be said for the newer Galaxy S6 Edge. At the moment, this appears to only be for the S6 Edge+, but we reached out to Samsung to find out if S6 Edge owners can expect to get it as well.
Filed under:
Samsung
Tags: Samsung, SamsungUnpacked, samsungunpacked2015, Unpacked, Unpacked2015
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 gets a keyboard cover
Those rumors that Samsung would launch an oddball keyboard add-on? They’re true. The Korean tech firm has unveiled a Keyboard Cover for the Galaxy Note 5 that, as the name suggests, gives you both a case and a hardware keyboard for those times when you need to punch out long messages. Samsung is shy on details, but it looks like the screen adapts to the keyboard. There are conventional navigation buttons to replace the capacitive ones you’ve lost, as well. We can’t imagine too many Note 5 owners picking this up (part of the point is that big screen), but it could hit the spot if you’re jonesing for a BlackBerry-like experience on an Android phone.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Samsung
Tags: accessories, android, galaxynote5, keyboard, keyboardcover, mobilepostcross, peripherals, samsung, samsungunpacked2015, smartphone
Samsung teases round Gear S2 smartwatch
Samsung has dropped a surprise at its Unpacked 2015 event by showing off a new Gear S2 smartwatch. The model appears to be a far cry from the original Gear S, however. Samsung has upped the style quotient considerably with a round watch face, metal body and new user interface. Given the naming convention (it lacks the “Galaxy” moniker that generally denotes Android), it likely runs on Samsung’s Tizen OS rather than Android Wear, like the original Gear S. Slideshow-312495
Another clear sign that this is not an Android Wear devices is the new UI design, which consists of a circle of apps arranged around the face. Samsung actually teased a round watch back in February, but that device did appear to be an Android Wear model. All we saw today was a quick glimpse of the hardware and watch face, but Samsung promised the Gear S2 would get a full reveal at IFA next month in Berlin.
Filed under:
Wearables, Samsung
Tags: Galaxy Gear S2, samsung, SamsungUnpacked2015, smartwatch, Smartwatches
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 isn’t coming to the UK
At Samsung’s big Unpacked event today, the company unveiled two new flagship phones: the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5. But, as we’ve learned, only one of them is headed to the UK. The S6 Edge+ — a super-sized version of Samsung’s curved-screen beauty — will be up for preorder on August 18th, before its official launch on September 4th. No pricing information is available just yet, but one way or another, all the major carriers have effectively confirmed they’ll be ranging it, so no great surprises there. What is pretty surprising, though, is Samsung’s decision not to release the new Note 5 over here. In fact, S Pen diehards across Europe will be saddened to hear the Note 5 is only slated to launch in the US and Asia — at least for now, anyway. Samsung told us that it hasn’t ruled out a European release entirely, but it certainly isn’t happening this year. As to the reason? Samsung hasn’t volunteered one yet, but we’ll let you know if/when we manage to track one down.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Tags: galaxynote5, galaxys6edgeplus, mobilepostcross, samsung
Drone reports by airplane pilots nearly triple over 2014
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may have loosened up its drone rules, but it’ll come down hard on any pilots caught operating them near manned aircraft. The agency said that drone sightings by commercial and private pilots are up nearly triple so far this year from all of 2014, with 275 sightings in June and July alone. One of the more notorious incidents involved a drone operating over a forest fire, forcing water-bomber pilots to the ground. That in turn caused the fire to spread to a freeway, burning several vehicles.
Earlier this year, the FAA made it easier to get commercial drone permits for things like filming, and models like DJI’s Phantom 3 are some of the hottest commodities out there. The agency is educating pilots of those craft with its “Know Before You Fly” campaign, and is promoting the National Interagency Fire Center’s similar “If You Fly, We Can’t” drive.
If you think it’s nearly impossible to catch a drone pilot, there’s another drone for that.
The FAA brought out a stick, however. It said it’s “working closely with the law enforcement community to identify and investigate unauthorized unmanned operations,” adding it has “dozens of open enforcement cases.” Meanwhile, California’s fire service is offering a $75,000 reward for the drone pilots who stymied forest fire-fighting operations. And if you think it’s nearly impossible to catch a drone pilot, there’s another drone for that.
Filed under:
Robots, Transportation
Source:
FAA
Tags: airplanes, drones, FAA, near-miss, pilots, sightings
Best email clients [2015]
Among the most common tasks done with a phone or tablet is sending and receiving emails. Items are going to and from your email account throughout the day, so managing them can be difficult depending upon the email client used. We’re all Google fans around here, but let’s face it, sometimes the Gmail app pre-installed on our devices doesn’t meet all of our needs.
Some options found in the Play Store aim to make your email smarter and more efficient, while others take a more organized and administrative approach, including neat tools like a built-in calendar or file browser. Whatever your needs might be, Android has an email client for you.
Mailbox
Mailbox by Dropbox aims to make email “light, fast, and mobile-friendly.” It has a lot of the same functions as Inbox by Gmail; however, it’s unique in that it organizes your individual emails in an instant messenger-like format. Not only that, but Mailbox is smart. It will try and learn your swipes and snoozes and try to automate some of those actions. Surprisingly, it works really well.
Mailbox’s entire goal is to make sure your inbox stays clean, and it does so better than most competitors. Besides functionality, it has a gorgeous user interface that slides around smoother than anything else you’ll find. The only real downside is that Mailbox isn’t very user-friendly as it’ll take a brand new user a few minutes to figure out how everything works.
Yahoo Mail
Yahoo hasn’t offered the best mail client in the past but things have gotten much better since Marissa Mayer took over as CEO. It sets out to be quick and easy to use by getting rid of clutter and putting your emails at the forefront. Yahoo does this by hiding most of the app’s functions until you actually select an email and want to get rid of it or put it somewhere else.
The email client remains unique by having a built-in web browser and a personalized news feed. While it doesn’t add any value to your email, it’s neat functionality especially if you’re trying to quickly grab a link for a friend without being forced to leave the app.
Inbox by Gmail
Inbox by Gmail is another email client created by Google, tasked with keeping things more organized and efficient, something that Gmail hasn’t been able to accomplish very well through its topic-based organization system. Inbox takes Gmail’s topic-based organization and improves on it tenfold by adding in new categories like Finance and Purchases.
It also lets you quickly and easily archive messages or set reminders to read certain emails at a later time. All in all, Inbox by Gmail aims to make your inbox more efficient and seamless than it has been in the past. And it does that very well with stunning design.
Gmail
Gmail is the application that usually comes preloaded on most Android devices. It’s another great email client, however, it’s not the best option for keeping multiple accounts separated and well organized. It features Google’s new Material Design guidelines, making it one of the more elegant offerings out there.
Like other solutions, Gmail lets you connect up to a Google or Google Apps accounts, Yahoo, Outlook, IMAP, POP, and more. That said, you can virtually use any email service with Gmail, and it’s quite easy to setup. Unfortunately, Gmail doesn’t have a built-in calendar or file manager; you have to use a few separate applications for that. In that way, it doesn’t function well as an all-in-one service, but it is fantastic for just your personal email.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft has put together a phenomenal mobile all-in-one email client with Outlook. Not only does it prioritize all of your important emails, but it also features a built-calendar, file browser, and all of your contacts for better organization. You have access to everything you might ever need to send just about any email, whether that be scheduling an event or meeting, sending off an important PDF email to your team, and so on.
Outlook offers a surprisingly seamless and efficient system for managing email. One of the best things about it is how well it keeps your personal email separated from other business-related email accounts you might manage. It also connects with just about any service you’ve signed up for, whether that be Google, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange, and more.
Boxer
Boxer works much the same as any other email client out there. You have your standard email features — integration with most email services, basic organization abilities with snooze, archive, delete options, and so on.
What makes Boxer unique is its instant auto response feature. You can add emails to a to-do list for better organization, and you can even “like” emails so the sender sees you’ve acknowledged it but either aren’t going to send a response or will send one later. Boxer has a lot of capabilities including integration with cloud services and even the popular note-taking application Evernote.
Wrap Up
There are a lot of different options out there as far as email clients go. There’s something for everyone out there, whether you’re the everyday user or managing multiple email accounts for business.
Most of the options listed are free and can be tested out to see if it’s something you really want to switch over to.
Come comment on this article: Best email clients [2015]
Samsung finally makes the Galaxy Note 5 official, sports 4 GB of RAM and a refined design
After months of rumoring and speculation, Samsung has finally taken the wraps off of their 2015 Galaxy Note device. The announcement came a little earlier in the year than usual, probably to beat the iPhone 6S to market, but I think most people will be happy to get their hands on this thing as soon as possible.
Much of the hardware on the Galaxy Note 5 is the same as on the Galaxy S6. You’ll find the same Exynos processor and an identical camera, although the RAM has been bumped up to 4 GB over the S6’s 3 GB. There’s still no removable back, so no SD card or replaceable battery, but the Note 5 will come standard with 32 GB of storage. Samsung will be offering a 64 GB variant as well, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to find a 128 GB version this time around.
Screen resolution mirrors what’s on the S6, and the 5.7-inch display is identical in size to what we’ve seen on the Note 4 and Note 3 in the past couple years. Fortunately, Samsung has done a lot of work in the design department, so you’ll find that the Note 5 is considerably slimmer and lighter than previous models. The back of the device is curved, making holding the phablet much easier, too.
The S-Pen is getting a handful of new features, and the actual design of the pen has finally been improved, too. There won’t be an auto-ejecting S-Pen like we’ve seen in some rumors, but the bottom of the pen can be clicked and slightly extended, making it easier to pull it out of the phone instead of scraping it with your fingernails. The software and functionality has picked up some new tricks, including a quick app launcher for the pen and a way to quickly jot down notes while the Note’s screen is off.
The underlying OS is exactly what you’d expect. You’ll find Android 5.1 running the show, with Samsung’s typical TouchWiz overlay. They haven’t added a ton of new functionality from the S6, but there are a few new things to play with in the software.
The Note 5 should officially be available on August 21st of this year, beating the new iPhone by several weeks and historically coming out way before than other Note phones.
Come comment on this article: Samsung finally makes the Galaxy Note 5 official, sports 4 GB of RAM and a refined design
Samsung announces Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+ for August 21
As per the norm, all major wireless providers will offer the plus-sized handsets
As if we might have expected anything else, Samsung today formally revealed its annual Galaxy Note smartphone. Set to arrive in just over a week’s time, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the 2015 take on the larger flagship experience. Additionally, Samsung also revealed the successor/sibling to its curved-edge Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge with the Galaxy S6 Edge+.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
If you’re looking for a revolution, you won’t find it here. The specs change little from last year’s iteration, making the Note 5 a simple evolution. Indeed, the hardware is much like that found in the Galaxy S6 launched earlier this year.
Powered by Android 5.1, the Galaxy Note 5 packs a 5.7-inch display at 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution (518ppi). Although it’s the same size screen as that found in last year’s model, the overall size of the devices has been trimmed down a shade.
In terms of processing power, this year’s model employs Samsung’s own octa-core Exynos chip; four cores at 2.1GHz and four cores running at 1.5GHz. To bolster performance, the Note 5 uses 4GB RAM, up from 3GB in last year’s model.
Storage capacities are a somewhat of a bummer; only 32GB and 64GB options are available and there’s no microSD expansion slot.
Battery has been dropped down to 3000mAh for this generation so we’re interested in seeing what sort of impact that has in usage. Betting on a cord-free future, the phone comes equipped with fast, wireless charging; Samsung promises a 0-100% charge in two hours.
As for cameras, the Galaxy Note 5 offers up a 16-megapixel f/1.9 sensor on the rear with a host of software enhancement modes. Around front we find a 5-megapixel shooter which should be more than enough for selfies.
Like it did for the Galaxy S6, Samsung has opted for the metal and glass approach in this year’s plus-sized phone. While it looks great and has a premium feel, it trades off removable batteries and external storage. As to whether that matters to the average user base, that varies per person.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 also includes the digital fingerprint scanner that’s found in the Galaxy S6. What’s more, there’s also a heart rate sensor on the rear of the device.
Because this is a “Note” model we’re dealing with, you’ll, of course, find an S-Pen digital stylus. And, keeping with its own tradition, Samsung has improved this year’s version yet again.
This time around the stylus has a unique click-in release mechanism. Software has been given a punch up here with enhanced Air Command, PDF markup, and other little touches. Another cool feature we’re keen to try is the Instant Memo which lets users jot notes on the screen even when the display is otherwise turned off.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will be sold in black and white options through Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular. Pricing has not been disclosed so expect your service providers to disclose their own respective costs. Pre-orders begin today.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
Save for the omission of an S Pen digital stylus, specifications for the S6 Edge+ is largely identical to the Note 5. That is, more specifically, in terms of the hardware details that comprise the internals.
The key feature of the S6 Edge+ is its curved 5.7-inch display. In short, if you like the idea of the Galaxy S6 Edge but simply want something larger, then this is the device for you.
Like the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ will be launched across the major wireless providers on August 21. Pricing is not defined yet so expect separate announcements in short order. Pre-orders start today at 3PM.
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