Samsung Pay beta begins rolling out in the US
Although not scheduled to officially launch in the US until late September, Samsung has begun accepting applications for users to beta test its Samsung Pay mobile payment system in the country.
Before being accepted onto the program, you need to pass a little checklist of things. First, you will need a smartphone that is compatible with Samsung Pay. Either the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ or Note 5 will do. You will need an active Samsung account too.
Potential applicants will also need a supported card from either Bank of America, MasterCard, Visa or US Bank. Samsung Pay is also only compatible with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular networks for now, Verizon customers will have to wait a little longer. If you meet all of the above criteria and agree to Samsung’s terms and conditions, head on over to the beta invite website and plonk down your email address.
Learn more: Video demo: here’s how Samsung Pay will work in stores
Samsung Pay is already apparently off to a strong start in South Korea, with over 80,000 credit and check cards registered with the service already. Support for a wide range of card readers is being citing as one of the reasons for such a quick early adoption rate. We will have to wait and see if the service proves as popular in the US.
The full US release date for Samsung Pay is currently scheduled for September 28th.
Evernote is killing off its Food application for Android and iOS
Earlier today, Evernote took to its official blog to announce its Food application support will stop for both Android and iOS as of Wednesday, September 30.
For those unaware, Food was released back in 2011 and allowed users to surf the web for their favorite recipes and save them to the app. They also had the facility to take snaps of their food and preserve them, too.
“As of September 30th, we’ll no longer support Evernote Food for iOS and Android,” the company stated in a blog post, then when on to say:
“This means the apps will no longer be available for download and we won’t be making any further updates to them. It also means that features within the apps, including sync with the Evernote service, will no longer work.”
Evernote claims that its core app and Web Clipper are both capable of carrying out Food’s tasks, rendering the dedicated application useless — so, as a result, has decided to pull it from production.
Are you disappointed with Evernote’s decision to kill of its Food app? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Source: Evernote
Come comment on this article: Evernote is killing off its Food application for Android and iOS
Amazon is the next US streaming video service to launch in Japan
Amazon isn’t about to let Netflix launch in Japan without making a move of its own. The American internet giant has announced plans to bring Prime Video to the island nation this September, including its worldwide original shows (such as Mozart in the Jungle) as well as Japan-specific content. Sounds exactly like what you’d expect for a regional expansion, wouldn’t it? You may think differently when you see how little Japanese residents will pay, however. They’ll get Prime Video as part of their existing Prime subscription, which costs a mere ¥3,900 per year ($32) — that’s a bargain when many Americans are paying three times as much for largely the same thing. That rock-bottom pricing might be necessary, though, as being a US streaming powerhouse is no guarantee of success across the Pacific.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Amazon
Source:
Amazon.co.jp (translated)
Tags: amazon, amazonprimeinstantvideo, amazonprimevideo, hdpostcross, internet, japan, PrimeInstantVideo, streaming
LG introduces the LG Rolly Keyboard, a “full-size keyboard for pockets”
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Let’s be real – no matter how good on-screen keyboards get, they’re still no match for a physical keyboard. For people who do lots of typing, there’s no substitute, and LG has just launched a new product that it hopes will make these people happy: the LG Rolly Keyboard. Despite its unusual name, the Rolly Keyboard is actually a pretty cool piece of kit, giving you a full-size keyboard that is wireless (via Bluetooth) and with one AAA battery last 3 months without a change. However, the Rolly Keyboard’s best party trick is the ability to be rolled up into a stick to be transported – perhaps not quite in a pocket as LG says, but pretty close.
LG isn’t just going to stop with the Rolly Keyboard, however. As LG’s VP of Innovative Personal Devices, Seo Young-jae, says:
“LG Rolly Keyboard is just one of the many premium input devices we’ll be unveiling in the coming months as we expand our accessories offerings.”
If it’s more products like the Rolly Keyboard, keep it coming LG. LG says that the Rolly Keyboard will be available in the US in September and availability in Latin America, Europe and Asia will follow in Q4 this year – no word on pricing however.
What do you think about the LG Rolly Keyboard?
The post LG introduces the LG Rolly Keyboard, a “full-size keyboard for pockets” appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Obi Worldphone SF1 and SJ1.5 launched by former Apple CEO – super unique and affordable
Any sub-$200 smartphone worth its salt must come from a Chinese company, right? Former Apple CEO John Sculley is trying to change that perspective by co-founding Obi, a Silicon Valley-based company that has just announced a couple devices that will definitely turn heads and keep wallets healthy. These new handsets are the Obi Worldphone SF1 and SJ1.5.
The phones, which seem to be named after Bay Area cities San Francisco and San Jose, are outstanding. Not only because they are priced at $199 and $129, relatively, but also because they happen to look very unique. I happen to think they are gorgeous, but that is a very subjective matter. At the very least we can all agree that the design is definitely different.
And while Obi is definitely being generous on the price, the company is not skimping out on hardware. The Obi Worldphone SF1 comes with a 5-inch 1080p display, Android 5.0.2, a 1.5 GHz octa-coreQualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, an Adreno 405 GPU, 2-3 GB of RAM, 16-32 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front shooter, dual SIM capabilities and a generous 3000 mAh battery. For $200, that sounds like a steal!
Now, what can we expect from the even cheaper Obi Worldphone SJ1.5? The $129 device is not too shabby, either! It has a 5-inch 720p display, Android 5.1 Lollipop, a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6580 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, an 8 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front-facing shooter, dual SIM capabilities and also a 3000 mAh battery.
If you are not impressed by those prices and specs coming from a US-based company, I don’t what anyone can do to grab your attention. Thinking of buying it? Here is where things get a bit tricky, at least for us USA residents. Though the company is American, there is no mention of a USA release! It’s obvious these phones are meant for emerging markets, and those are the areas Obi seems to be focusing on.
Both smartphones have an initial launch set in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, Turkey and India. I mean, the phones are named after California cities; we have to get some love, right? We will have to wait and see. For now, just keep it tuned to this company. I can see it going big pretty soon!
Would you buy one of these?
Samsung starts rolling out the Android 5.1.1 OTA for the International variant of the Galaxy Note 4
Samsung has now starting rolling out the long-awaited Android 5.1.1 update to all International variants of the Galaxy Note 4. The upgrade was initially detected in Poland and bundles all the performance and security improvements you’d expect to find in Lollipop, alongside a patch for the open-source operating system’s Stagefright vulnerability.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a complete changelog for this update just yet, but we do know that the majority of changes are aimed at performance, battery life and overall user experience. Although, some users have encountered a severe lag issue when multitasking after upgrading to the new version.
As is the norm, the update is being rolled out in stages, but if you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that it’s ready for your device to hit your unit, you could always search for the upgrade manually. To do so, open the Settings app, scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”, hit “System Updates”, then select “Check for updates”.
Alternatively, you can download the update via Samsung Kies. If you’re not entirely sure how to do that, check out our comprehensive guide.
Come comment on this article: Samsung starts rolling out the Android 5.1.1 OTA for the International variant of the Galaxy Note 4
Former Apple CEO’s company, Obi Worldphone, makes smartphones with priority on design
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There was a time when Steve Jobs wasn’t the CEO of Apple – John Sculley was. Nowadays, Sculley has started a new company to make smartphones called Obi Worldphone, which he says is a “design-led company”. Their mission statement: to make beautiful, unique mid-range smartphones that won’t break the bank. Their latest smartphones, SF1 and SJ1.5, appear to tick all the boxes – the internals include parts that are familiar to everyone yet the SF1 comes out at $199 USD for a 2GB version, or $249 USD for the 3GB verison and the SJ1.5 comes even cheaper at $129 USD.
The SF1 will feature a Snapdragon 615 and flash for its front and rear cameras. What’s most interesting about the SF1 isn’t even its reinforced fibreglass body, but its slightly raised 5-inch display. The SJ1.5 on the other hand has a MediaTek processor and will come with 16GB storage. Both devices will come with a version of Android that is heavily customized to Obi’s liking.
With the rise of OnePlus in recent years, we like the idea of these smaller ’boutique’ companies trying their hand at making a smartphone because it seems like you need to be free of corporate strictures to really innovate or make things cheaply these days. Looking forward to seeing if Obi Worldphone can make it big.
What do you think about Obi Worldphone’s devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Obi Worldphone via engadget
The post Former Apple CEO’s company, Obi Worldphone, makes smartphones with priority on design appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Microsoft renders for flagship Lumia phones leaked online
If you’ve been wanting to see the two high-end Windows phones Microsoft has been developing, then you don’t have to wait until the official launch. Evleaks has posted the renders for both devices on Twitter: the larger, cyan one with a 5.7-inch screen is known as codename Cityman, while the black phone with a 5.2-inch screen is Talkman. They’re expected to have Quad HD displays, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and 5-megapixel front shooters. Cityman might be powered by an eight-core ship, while its smaller sibling might be equipped with a six-core processor.
According to The Verge, they might also support USB Type-C as well as Qi wireless charging. Evleaks tweeted out the renders as a response to another image showing a Cityman connected to a peripheral that will allow it to support Microsoft’s new Continuum feature. Based on what we’ve seen earlier this year, Continuum can turn phones into teensy Windows computers. These devices could be launched at an upcoming Microsoft event this October — we’ll keep you updated with all the pertinent info, especially when you’ll be able to buy them.
.@bdsams I see your Cityman, and raise you a Talkman (top to bottom) pic.twitter.com/u9rACR4CeX
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 27, 2015
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
Source:
evleaks (Twitter)
Tags: cityman, lumia, microsoft, mobilepostcross, nokia, talkman
LG Rolly wireless keyboard folds into a stick you can fit in any pocket
The mobile accessory market is booming and LG sure doesn’t want to stay at the bench. The Korean manufacturer has been hard at work and today they are announcing one of the most interesting wireless keyboards we have seen in a while. The LG Rolly is a pretty awesome contraption with a mechanism that allows it to be… well, rolled into what looks like a long stick (or thin burrito).
The benefit of such an accessory is that it fits in any pocket and can be easily carried anywhere. To make matters even more convenient, a stand for mobile devices also folds out of it, making it easy to prop up any tablet and start typing away.
OK, so those aspects of the device are pretty awesome, but we know what most of you are thinking: that thing looks tiny! And it is, but LG promises a reasonably good typing experience. They claim its comfort is hard to beat, as “its 17 mm key pitch is nearly as generous as the 18 mm key pitch found on most desktop keyboards”. The arms are said to be “sturdy” and the keyboard feedback is unlike those cheap silicone keyboards. And while the product looks rather flimsy, LG claims the Rolly will handle a drop or two thanks to the durable polycarbonate and ABS plastic it touts.
Don’t let the keyboard’s basic look fool you, either; this thing is pretty feature-full. It can connect to two devices at once, and you can switch between them with a simple key press. As you can see in the video (embedded below), the LG Rolly can also auto-connect to any device, and it turns off when not in use, so as to save battery. And while we are on the topic, let us remind you battery life shouldn’t really be a problem. The LG Rolly runs off a single AAA battery, which lasts up to 3 months with normal usage.
Interested? I sure am. Sadly, we have no idea about pricing just yet. What we do know is that it launches in the US this September. Other key markets in Latin America, Europe and Asia will follow “in the fourth quarter”. The LG Rolly will be showcased at IFA, so we’ll try to give you a quick look at it from the show floor! Who is buying?
‘Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’ hits PCs on November 19th
If you’re determined to play Assassin’s Creed Syndicate on your sweet PC gaming rig, you’re going to have to wait a while longer than everyone else. Ubisoft has announced that the Windows version of its Victorian stealth action game will arrive on November 19th, or nearly a month after the console edition’s October 23rd debut. This is to make sure PC players get a “stable, optimized” version of Syndicate right from the start, the developer says — clearly, Ubisoft is still feeling the sting of Unity‘s botched launch.
The move isn’t all that alarming if you know Ubisoft well. You see, the company has a history of delaying PC versions, whether it’s due to copy protection or just the added complexity of testing a wider range of hardware. While this isn’t technically a delay (the company had warned that the Windows copy would come later), it’s clear that the creators were anticipating some snags. Still, we’ll take a later release if it avoids the high-profile fiascoes that often come with rushing out PC games at the same time as their console counterparts.
Filed under:
Gaming
Source:
Ubiblog
Tags: assassinscreed, assassinscreedsyndicate, gaming, pc, ubisoft, windows
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