iPhone 6S might sport animated wallpapers like Apple Watch
Yet another feature that’s been on Android for years might be finally making its way to the iPhone: animated wallpapers! Specifically, Apple is reportedly planning to bring over the elegant “Motion” Apple Watch faces to the iPhone 6S, according to 9to5Mac. So far, those Apple Watch screens include things like swimming jellyfish, blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies that pop up when you check the time. For the iPhone 6S, sources say Apple is working on animated screens featuring koi fish swimming around a pond and moving smoke. The big difference between Apple’s approach and what we’ve seen on Android so far: It sounds like it’s focusing on just animating lock screens. That should add for a cool effect when you wake up your phone, but without eating up battery life like a moving wallpaper on your home screen.
While the sources say Apple might end up nixing the feature before the iPhone 6S launch, a purported iPhone 6S box also prominently showed a koi fish. So there’s a good chance it’s actually going to happen. If Apple does go down the animated wallpaper route, though, it’ll be interesting to see if it tries to justify keeping the feature only on the iPhone 6S. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, after all, should be powerful enough for this.
Additionally, 9to5Mac reports that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will feature upgraded cameras, shifting from 8-megapixel sensors to 12 megapixels, plus flash on the front-facing camera. The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will also be the first iPhones to offer 4K video recording, the site says.
Source:
9to5Mac
Tags: apple, iPhone6S, wallpapers
Apple’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus event takes off on September 9th
It’s that time of year again. Apple’s next iPhone event will take place on September 9th at 10AM PT, live at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. This is expected to be the unveiling of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which are reported to have animated wallpapers, 4K video capabilities, upgraded 12-megapixel cameras and front-facing flash, among other new features. We may even see something about force-touch iPhones. The event invite is light on details, as usual, but features the tease, “Hey Siri, give us a hint.” So, of course, we asked Siri and have posted its responses below.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Handhelds, Peripherals, Apple
Tags: apple, iphone6s, iPhone6SPlus
Google: EU is ‘wrong as a matter of fact, law, and economics’
Google officially responded to charges levelled by the European Commission that it unfairly favored its own products over its competition and abused its market dominance to crowd out potential rivals. The EC began poking around back in 2010 so this isn’t the first time that Google has had to publicly defended its position. “Economic data spanning more than a decade, an array of documents and statements from complainants all confirm that product search is robustly competitive,” Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, wrote in the Google Europe blog.
He continued:
Showing ads based on structured data provided by merchants demonstrably improves ad quality and makes it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for. We show these ad groups where we’ve always shown ads — to the right and at the top of organic results — and we use specialized algorithms to maximize their relevance for users. Data from users and advertisers confirms they like these formats. That’s not “favoring” — that’s giving our customers and advertisers what they find most useful.
Walker also took exception with the EC’s proposed remedy, which would require Google show ads sourced from other companies in its own advertising spaces at the top and right of the natural search results. Google faces a maximum fine of €6 billion should the EC determine it has been operating a monopoly.
[Image Credit: Associated Press]
Via:
Reuters
Source:
Google Policy Europe
Tags: antitrust, EuropeanCommission, europeanunion, google, lawsuiots, legal, search
Lara Croft GO from Square Enix is now available
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
Lara Croft is a very iconic female gaming character. She was bad ass and the titles brought action mixed with puzzles to new heights. One phenomenal aspect of the Tomb Raider/Lara Croft series is that it can be adapted to a variety of gaming styles. Many titles brought the 3rd person perspective while others were more of a top down view. The last mobile iteration was a traditional endless runner, Lara Croft: Relic Run and Square even brought the original title from Playstation, Tomb Raider, as well. Today Square Enix has launched the highly anticipated puzzle adventure, Lara Croft GO.
The title takes queues from Hitman GO where all your actions and decisions take careful planning on a fixed path. You control Lara by swiping the direction you want her to move. You aren’t hindered by a move counter, but you will 75 puzzles to solve over 5 chapters. Each chapter brings Lara to a new location that offers up new challenges and puzzles to solve. Don’t forget about the relics and the outfits for Lara too. For puzzle adventure gamers, and fans of Lara Croft titles, the $4.99 price tag doesn’t seem outlandish. Square does include some in-app purchase options, but they don’t seem to be forced upon you in order to progress in the game and run from $1.99 – $4.99 per item.
Head to the Play Store and pull out those Opinion Reward dollars and get to it.
Lara Croft GO in the Play Store
The post Lara Croft GO from Square Enix is now available appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
NVIDIA SHIELD set-top box is now available in the Google Store
The NVIDIA SHIELD set-top box has made its way to the Google Store. Starting today, users will be able to buy the new console for $199.
The NVIDIA SHIELD set-top box is a gaming console with Google’s Android TV software built right in. Users can stream their favorite content directly to their TV with no wires. In addition, users can cast the screen of their Android device to the TV for easier screen mirroring. The console comes with loads of entertainment and a selection of apps that is growing by the week. Since Google partnered with Nvidia to make this console, users get unlimited access to some of Google’s Play services such as Movies and TV, Play Music and YouTube. But that’s not all! It includes a built-in gaming console built for heavy gaming with high quality graphics. Users will get a remote control included in the set for seamless gaming and control.
The console supports 4K content and can be purchased via the Google Store for only $199. Shield will come with 16GB on memory, and if you need more, Shield Pro includes 500GB of storage. Users will need an HDMI output and a wireless internet connection to set up. Hurry before quantity runs out!
Source: Google Store
Come comment on this article: NVIDIA SHIELD set-top box is now available in the Google Store
Acer announces two smartphones coming to U.S. market
Acer has announced two of their smartphones will be coming to the U.S. market. The devices include the Acer Liquid Jade Z and the Acer Liquid Z410. Both smartphones will support 4G data speeds and come in thin, light form factors that Acer hopes will attract buyers.
The Acer Liquid Jade Z is equipped with a 1.5GHz MediaTek processor and a 2300mAh battery powering a 5-inch IPS display. Acer used Gorilla Glass 3 for the device and used Zero Air Gap technology to reduce screen glare. The Liquid Jade Z gets a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front facing camera. The Liquid Jade Z will be offered with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory for $229 or it can be upgraded to 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage for $249.
The other device Acer is bringing to the U.S., the Liquid Z410, comes with a 4.5-inch IPS display, a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing camera. Acer has equipped the Liquid Z410 with their QuickTouch technology so the device can be controlled with one finger using a variety of letter shaped swipes. The Liquid Z410 will retail for $129 for a 1GB RAM/8GB memory version or $149 for an upgrade to 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
Both devices will come equipped with Android 4.4. The Liquid Jade Z will be available in charcoal grey and Acer says the device is now available at “leading retailers.” The Liquid Z410 will go on sale in September and will be available in dark brown.
Come comment on this article: Acer announces two smartphones coming to U.S. market
Camera360 gets updated to version 7.0, gets new Inspiration and Discovery modes
Camera360 has been updated to version 7.0, making it a great option for someone looking to replace the default camera app on their device. The new update fine tunes the photo shooting experience, but the biggest new features are the Inspiration and Discovery modes in the app.
The Inspiration section of the interface does exactly what it sounds like; shows things that are meant to inspire photography. This can be different images or objects, and is meant to give some insight into what goes into some photos. On the other side of that, the Discovery section is where users can discover other photos, including things like movie photos or posters.
If you don’t care about the superfluous sharing and discovering, the good news is that Camera360 has had its interface tweaked and refined, so anyone that’s only using it to shoot photos should still be pretty happy with this update.
Come comment on this article: Camera360 gets updated to version 7.0, gets new Inspiration and Discovery modes
ZTE plans to showcase new Axon flagship smartphone, other devices at IFA 2015
ZTE has announced they plan to showcase products from four product lines at IFA 2015. ZTE’s CEO Adam Zeng says the company hopes to show “our global commitment to product longevity and will see us rollout more products from our four core product lines across markets worldwide.” Headlining the charge will be the ZTE Axon smartphone which will be the company’s new flagship device intended for global markets.
Along with the new Axon smartphone, ZTE will also have their Blade V6 smartphone, which the company says is their thinnest device in the Blade series, on display along with with several devices from their nubia line. Although it has been on the market for a while, ZTE also plans to bring their Spro 2 Smart Projector to the event to help increase interest in the device.
ZTE is bringing along professional photographer Ed Kashi to IFA 2015 for an invite-only press breakfast where he will discuss the future of mobile photography. Representative from ZTE will be on hand to explain how the company’s strategy will be rolling out for their new product portfolio. ZTE is also planning a “ZTE Fun Day” on September 6th. Along with games and social media activities, ZTE has lined up Culcha Candela and Albert N’Sanda to provide entertainment for guests.
source: ZTE
Come comment on this article: ZTE plans to showcase new Axon flagship smartphone, other devices at IFA 2015
Moto 360 update with interactive watch faces is now rolling out
A couple of weeks ago, Google announced a new update to Android Wear that allows for interactive watch faces, Google Translate integration, and more. For those with a Moto 360, the wait is over as Motorola is rolling the update out to you currently.
If you want the update make sure your watch is at least at 80% battery, then you can go to Settings>About>System Updates. It should take about 15-20 minutes to update. If you don’t receive the update today, Motorola says you should get it in the next few days. For a list of interactive watch faces after you receive the update, head here.
The new features are outlined by Motorola:
“Interactive Watch Faces
Interactive watch faces make it easier to stay connected. With just a tap on your watch face, you can change its design, reveal more information, or even launch a specific app.
You can download interactive watch faces from Play Store. To set up, touch and hold on the current watch face, then scroll left/right to select the one you just downloaded. You can also select it from the Android Wear phone app.
Together Watch Face
Two Android Wear users can stay close throughout the day by turning their entire watch face into a space for sharing. Once you’ve paired your watch face with a partner’s, you’ll be able to share things like photos and emojis, and more.
To set up, touch and hold on the current watch face, then scroll left/right to find the Together watch face. You can also select it from the Android Wear phone app.
Google Translate for Wear
Translate a conversation into any of the 44 available languages, then flip your wrist to show the translation to someone else. When they respond in their own language, flip your wrist back, and you’ll see in a translation of what they’ve just said.
The watch must be connected to a phone with internet access via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Weather Microapp
Shows current weather conditions and four-day forecast for your current location. To open the weather microapp, swipe left on the watch face, then scroll down and tap Weather.
Privacy improvement for notifications
Your notifications won’t show in full screen until the watch is oriented in a way that only you can see it. This feature prevents others from reading an incoming notification when your watch screen is pointed away from you.
Bug Fixes
A variety of system optimizations to improve performance and stability.”
Source: Motorola Global Customer Help
The post Moto 360 update with interactive watch faces is now rolling out appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Huawei Honor 7 review
Huawei, like quite a few other Chinese OEMs, is well known for bringing to market smartphones with impressive specifications and features, while keeping it budget-friendly, which is a key aspect of Huawei’s relatively new Honor series of smartphones. Honor 7, the latest addition to the Honor line retains everything that was great about its predecessors, but in a more refined package. Does this device manage to stand out in this highly-competitive segment? We find out, in this in-depth review of the Huawei Honor 7!
Design
While the Huawei Honor 7, with its angular look, features a very similar design language to its predecessors, there is a departure as far as build material is concerned, from a mostly glass construction to a unibody metallic design. The metal backing comes with a ceramic-coated finish, which not only allows for a great feel in the hand, but also slightly helps counter the slipperiness of the metal. With a thickness of 8.5 mm and weighing just below 160 grams, the device also feels very solid and substantial in the hand, and the use of metal certainly makes it feel more durable than its predecessors. With its 5.2-inch display and thin bezels along the sides, the Honor 7 allows for easy one-handed use and makes for a very comfortable handling experience.
Looking around the device, the volume rocker and the power button are found on the right side of the device, while there is a SmartKey button to the right (more about it below), and all buttons are very responsive, easy to press, and offer a good amount of tactile feedback. The power button is placed within comfortable reach, and comes with a slightly textured surface that makes it easy to distinguish between the power button and the volume rocker. The device also comes with a double tap to wake feature, so you won’t have to reach for the power button too often though. Above the SmartKey button is the dual-SIM card tray, with one of the SIM slots also doubling as a microSD card slot.
Up top is the headphone jack and the IR blaster, and at the bottom is the microUSB port, flanked by two grills, giving the appearance of a dual speaker setup, even though it is actually only a single speaker on the left side. Above the display is a speaker grill which also houses a notification LED, and there is also an 8 MP front-facing camera with a flash. On the back is the 20 MP camera sensor, coupled with a dual tone LED flash, with the setup looking quite similar to what is seen with the HTC One M9, and there is also a fingerprint sensor below the camera.
Display
The Huawei Honor 7 comes with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, resulting in a pixel density of 424 ppi. Huawei claims that this display features a 1500:1 high contrast ratio and an 85% color saturation rate, making for crisp and clear text and vibrant colors. Viewing angles are good, and it also gets very bright, allowing for comfortable outdoor visibility. While Quad HD is all the rage, the Full HD resolution with this size is more than enough, and no one will have any complaints with regards to the viewing experience.
Performance
Under the hood, the Huawei Honor 7 packs an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 processor, clocked at 2.2 GHz, and backed by the Mali-T628 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. Performance is as smooth as expected from this Huawei-made processing package, and very rarely will there be any signs of stutter or lag. Moving through the various elements of the UI is smooth, and opening, closing, and switching between applications is also fast and snappy. The device also handles gaming pretty well, save for the most graphically-intensive games, where you will notice dropped frames and slow load times. While the device gets the job done for the most part, if you’re looking for a fantastic gaming experience, this may not be the phone for you.
#gallery-2
margin: auto;
#gallery-2 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 25%;
#gallery-2 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-2 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
Hardware
The Honor 7 comes with 16 GB or 64 GB of internal storage, and this can be expanded by another 128 GB via microSD card. Keep in mind though that the second SIM slot also functions as the microSD card slot, so you’ll have to make a choice between expandable storage or dual-SIM capabilities. The device comes with a standard suite of connectivity options, as well as NFC, and while it does feature 4G LTE support, it will be a good idea to check for compatibility with your local network carrier first.
As mentioned, there is a fingerprint scanner on the back, placed within easy reach of your index finger. This touch-type finger scanner is definitely one of the fastest I’ve used, and found it to be faster than the Samsung Galaxy S6 scanner. The scanner is also very accurate and rarely failed to read the fingerprint. Its placement on the back means that you won’t be able to easily unlock the phone while it’s kept on a table however, and users will have to depend on a PIN unlock in this case.
This sensor is not just a fingerprint scanner either, but also supports swipe gestures. A swipe down pulls down the notification panel, a swipe up opens up the recent apps screen, and a tap makes it function like a back button. These gestures are very handy to use, and I found myself relying on them when using the phone. Granted, since it lies within reach of the index finger, the opportunity for an accidental tap or swipe does arise, but the gestures were useful enough to make it worth learning to rest your index finger at a slightly different position. Of course, you can disable these gestures if accidental touches become a significant issue.
Another great addition with the Honor 7 is the SmartKey button found on the left side, with functionality similar to what is available with the Active button of the Galaxy S6 Active. You can set up this button to launch up to three different applications or commands, requiring either a single click, a double click, or a long press of the button. This proved to be incredibly useful, and as we expressed during the full review of the Galaxy S6 Active, we hope that this feature makes its way over to more and more upcoming smartphones.
While the microUSB port at the bottom is flanked by two speaker grills, this is only for aesthetic purposes, as the left side is the one that houses a single speaker unit. While this placement is better than if the speaker was on the back, the quality of the speaker itself is unfortunately below average. It doesn’t get loud enough to be heard even in slightly noisy environments, the audio sounds a bit muffled, and it is also very easy to cover up the speaker when holding the device in the landscape orientation.
As far as the battery is concerned, the Honor 7 packs a non-removable 3,100 mAh unit, that allows for excellent battery life, with up to five and a half hours of screen on-time during a typical day that involved watching videos, lots of internet browsing, responding to messages, and taking pictures. If you do run out of battery, you can take advantage of the device’s fast charging capabilities, with the device being charged to 50% in just 30 minutes.
Camera
The Huawei Honor 7 comes with a 20 MP rear camera with a dual LED flash and an f/2.0 aperture, along with a front-facing 8 MP unit, with an f/2.4 aperture. As far as the camera application is concerned, there are some nice features available to enhance the shots you can take like super night mode, panorama, slow motion, a food mode to make pictures of food look more appetizing, and more. The camera is also capable of light painting, so you can leave the camera on a tripod for a few seconds to let it capture all the light, resulting in some creative shots. It is also very easy to take a picture, with a long press of the volume down button enough to quickly launch the camera and take a shot.
As far as image quality is concerned, the camera is capable of taking some really good shots with a good amount of detail and saturated colors. That is mostly in well-lit environments however, and as the lighting conditions deteriorate, some amount of grain starts to show up, detail is lost, and colors begin to lack vibrancy. This is true for most smartphone cameras however, and low-light shots with this device are actually quite good. Video quality is unfortunately disappointing, with poor dynamic range and the tendency to overexpose, resulting in you having to continuously tap on the viewfinder to adjust the exposure and focus.
When it comes to the 8 MP front-facing camera with a wide angle lens, it is coupled with a flash, which is more of a dimly lit flashlight, but can be good to let a little bit of light into the shot. The quality of shots possible with the front camera is also impressive, with nice colors and lots of detail, but as expected, some graininess is seen in poorly-lit environments. With features like beauty mode to take advantage of, the selfie lover will not be disappointed by the quality of the this front-facing camera.
Software
The Honor 7 is running Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with the latest version of Huawei’s Emotion UI on top, but you will be hard-pressed to find any Material Design elements in this user interface. In fact, the influence of iOS in this UI is obvious, starting from the lack of an app drawer, leaving users dependent on folders to keep things organized, to the blurred background effect when opening a folder, as well as the ability to pull up a control center of sorts with a swipe up from the bottom, which houses shortcuts to apps like the flashlight and camera.
#gallery-3
margin: auto;
#gallery-3 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 25%;
#gallery-3 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-3 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
There are some useful shortcuts and features available that make navigating around the UI much quicker, including the swipe gestures using the fingerprint scanner, the ability to take a screenshot with a double tap of your knuckles on the screen, and the ability to draw out areas to crop. You can also play around with the on-screen navigation keys, by switching the back and recent apps keys or by adding a fourth button for bringing down the notification panel.
#gallery-4
margin: auto;
#gallery-4 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 25%;
#gallery-4 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-4 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
The notification panel is chopped up into sections – Shortcuts and Notifications. Although it would have been nice to have these two sections combined, the notifications section is quite nice with a little timeline on the left side keeping your notifications very organized. There is also a theme engine available to change the look and feel of the UI to better suit your liking. While Huawei’s take on Android is certainly different from the traditional software experience and can take some getting used to, it is very sleek and is designed very well.
Specifications
| Display | 5.2-inch IPS LCD Full HD, 424 ppi |
| Processor | 2.2 GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 processor Mali-T628 GPU |
| RAM | 3 GB |
| Storage | 16/64 GB expandable up to 128GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.0 GPS+GLONASS NFC IR blaster USB 2.0 |
| Camera | 20 MP rear camera with dual LED flash 8 MP front camera with flash |
| Software | Emotion UI 3.1, Android 5.0 Lollipop |
| Battery | 3,100mAh, non-removable |
| Dimensions | 143.2 x 71.9 x 8.5 mm 157 grams |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
The Huawei Honor 7 is priced at $400 in markets where it is officially available for the 64 GB iteration, and can be found on Amazon with a price point of close to $500, with color options including silver and black.
So there you have it for this in-depth look at the Huawei Honor 7! Overall, the Honor 7 is a really good phone, with its beautiful display, impressive battery life, a fantastic fingerprint scanner, and good camera. Performance is smooth and snappy for the most part, save for the most graphically-intensive of games, and while the Huawei’s take on Android can take some getting used to, the slew of shortcuts and gestures available enable a good experience. There are some really good options available out there in this price range though, such as the top version of the ASUS Zenfone 2, the Axon Phone by ZTE, and the Moto X Play, which you might want to consider instead.
AIVAnet 