HTC Vive won’t ship until Q1 2016
The HTC Vive is the lovechild of phone maker HTC and gaming giant Valve that aims to bring VR into the home in an affordable and easy to use way. Many have tapped it as one of the most promising upcoming offerings in the growing VR space which includes well known names like Oculus. Unfortunately it looks like most people won’t be able to get their hands on the Vive until Q1 2016. Today at PAX Prime expo, Valve released a statement saying that “HTC will offer the first commercial Vive units via a limited quantity of community and developer systems” later this year, “with larger quantities shipping in calendar Q1 2016.”
Announced in March, developer units have been around since May and it’s disappointing that we won’t see mass shipment of units this year but if HTC and Valve need the extra time to get it right, then that’s exactly what they should do. VR is something that can be incredibly powerful but hasn’t taken off yet due to no-one really getting it right. We’ve seen a lot of promising new technologies recently either take longer to get off the ground or never get there at all due to a premature launch.
Pushing back the release until Q1 2016 will mean that the Vive will release about the same time as the Oculus (Q1 2016) and Sony’s Project Morpheus (first half of 2016). It will be interesting to see who can take hold of the market.
Who do you think has the most promising offering? The Vive from HTC and Valve, the Facebook backed Oculus or Sony’s Project Morpheus? Let us know in the comments who you’re keeping your eye on.
Source: The Verge
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Vine helps everyone add pro-level music to their videos
After pushing out updates that focus on making its visuals better, Vine (for iOS and Android) is getting a major upgrade that introduces a bunch of new music features. The one that sounds most useful for creators, especially if you need a bit of help to quickly edit tracks for posting, is “Snap to Beat.” Once you switch it on, the app can find the perfect part of the song to create a never-ending music loop with. You can, however, disable it anytime to add sound effects or to customize your BGM. In case you want to use a popular song, though, just click the app’s music note icon to access a new scrollable Featured Tracks section full of well-known singles you can add straight to your six-second videos.
Note that you can also tap the music note icon on somebody else’s Vine if you want to get the title and other details of the song it used. Finally, people hoping to gain fame through the Twitter-owned service would be happy to know that it has teamed up with Billboard, as well. The app’s users are now included in the Social 50 chart, which ranks the most active music-focused social media accounts — that means it’s time to get off the couch, record some video clips and get to posting.
https://vine.co/v/ejVEEEm71ar/embed/postcard
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile
Source:
Vine, Music on Vine
Tags: app, mobilepostcross, music, vine
Tencent’s kids smartwatch is both cute and connected
While there are already a handful of connected wearables for kids in the market, here’s one with a more complete set of features. Courtesy of Chinese tech giant Tencent, this QQ Watch comes with a 1.12-inch 128 x 128 OLED screen, IP65 ruggedness, an SOS call button and its very own 2G radio. More importantly, though, the tracking functionality uses GPS, WiFi and cellular triangulation simultaneously for higher accuracy. There’s even a 0.3-megapixel camera on board, and since the watch can be hooked up to WeChat, lost kids can send photos to their parents as an extra clue for locating them. Battery life? It’s good for up to five days, apparently, after which you can charge up the watch with its magnetic connector. There’s no word on the pricing just yet, but a company rep said it’ll be “very affordable,” and it’ll launch in China in October, followed by global rollout before end of the year.
Tags: children, china, kid, location, monitor, monitoring, qqwatch, smartwatch, tencent, tracking, watch, wechat
You can download the default Moto X Style wallpaper here!
If you’re eagerly awaiting the release of the Moto X Style, we have something to whet your appetite. Thanks to a system dump published online earlier today, we were able to extract the official wallpaper that will come pre-loaded on the handset — so now you can download and set it as the background on your current device to tide you over.
Hit the break for the full-sized image.
Come comment on this article: You can download the default Moto X Style wallpaper here!
Verizon launches mid-range Desire 626 for $192
Verizon has just launched HTC’s latest mid-range smartphone, the Desire 626, in the United States. The handset is available to purchase from the carrier for $192 up front or for $8 per month on a 24-month contact.
For those in need of a quick recap of its specifications, the Desire 626 packs a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.1GHz Snapdragon 210 quad-core chipset, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP front-facing shooter and a 2,000mAh battery.
The Desire 626 runs the latest build of Android 5.1 Lollipop straight out of the box, skinned with HTC’s Sense 7 custom user interface, which provides users with access to a plethora of exclusive features, including BlinkFeed.
Check out the handset’s promotional images in the gallery below:
If you’re based in the United States, like the sound of the Desire 626 and would like to pick one up from Verizon — hit the source link below.
Source: Verizon
Come comment on this article: Verizon launches mid-range Desire 626 for $192
LG launches metallic Gold and Titanium Black variants of the G4 in India
After a successful launch of the leather and ceramic white variants of the G4 in India earlier this year, LG has today released two metallic colorways of the handset in the region — Gold and Titanium Black.
As you’d expect, the new hues retain the same diamond shaped pattern on the backplate of the device and are manufactured from the same plastic as previous versions.
The internals of the new models remain identical to all other versions of the G4, meaning these handsets pack a 5.5-inch QHD display, a Snapdragon 808 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 16MP rear-facing camera and a 3,000mAh removable battery.
Pricing of the device hasn’t changed, either — so you’ll be able to pick up either the Gold or Titanium Black G4 for a rather hefty INR 40,000 ($605).
Come comment on this article: LG launches metallic Gold and Titanium Black variants of the G4 in India
HTC Vive will see a staggered launch with ship dates rolling into Q1 2016
When HTC announced its Vive back at MWC, it invariably turned as many heads as it did make people scratch them. The Taiwanese OEM, a long time staple of the mobile world, was announcing a virtual reality headset. Even more shocking, the product was a partnership with Valve. It was, and has been, assumed that HTC’s first foray would be shipping this year.
It seems there is a slight change in plans however, as The Verge has learned that this will be true for only some customers. Interestingly enough, it is Valve that has done the talking here, specifically in a press release detailing its’ upcoming PAX Prime Expo plans:
HTC will offer the first commercial Vive units via a limited quantity of community and developer systems (later this year) with larger quantities shipping in calendar Q1 2016.
It remains to be seen just how the roll-out will take place; will customers be chosen based on their reservation/order timing, or will the entire affair be of a totally random nature? For reference, Developer units have been available for many months now and are actually free at that.
Terrible timing?
As The Verge has pointed out, the first half of 2016 will see not one, but two different consumer VR products release: Facebook’s Oculus Rift (Q1) and Sony’s Project Morpheus (Q1 or Q2). Despite our own Joshua Vergara having extremely positive things to say about the Vive when he tested it out at MWC, the presence of intense, direct competition is definitely not a good thing when your product first releases.
Facebook has an extraordinary amount of market value, and while Valve does as well -among computer fans- HTC on the other hand has unfortunately relapsed into a what is likely to be a protracted period of poor financial performance.
The presence of Sony doesn’t make things any easier, nor does it help that the company has been involved with interactive entertainment for decades now. HTC on the other hand, is essentially experimenting with a totally new, foreign concept.
What’s in store for when it’s “in stores”
Given the plight HTC is facing, should the Vive fare well it will certainly bring good tidings to the beleaguered OEM. Still, the success of the product is largely dependent on whatever software or “killer apps” that can be produced to “win” the VR wars. Valve is certainly going to bring an exceptional amount of resources, but will it be enough to match wits with the financial resources of Facebook or the gaming prowess of Sony? Will VR actually take off this time, or will 2016 bring with it a resurgence of the failed attempt and bombastic rumors that defined the 90’s?
At the very least, Amazon’s recent tidings might serve as a warning for HTC to attempt any future “creative projects” though at this point, anything’s possible.
Are you interested in the HTC Vive? What about the competition? Do you think VR has a real shot this time around and allow users to enter the world of Johnny Mnemonic? Drop us a comment!
NYC cabs will test app-based system to challenge Uber
Around 7,000 NYC cabs are currently beta testing a new e-hail app called Arro, which the industry hopes can help it get back the customers it’s lost to Uber. Arro isn’t the first hailing app for cabs — it actually works quite similarly to Uber — but the startup believes it can do better than its predecessors. Why? Because; (a) it doesn’t have surge pricing, meaning you’ll just have to pay whatever shows up on the meter, and (b) it has a partnership with Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT). That’s the company that controls the video screens and payment systems in about half of the 20,000 green and yellow cabs in the city.
When you launch the app to call a cab, a driver nearby sees your name and location on his TV screen, and you’ll be sent his name and medallion number, in turn. Since the app saves your credit card details just like Uber does, you can also use it to pay the fare and tip the cabbie. The system will be active in all CMT cabs by the time the service officially launches in about two weeks. Arro is also currently working to forge a partnership with VeriFone Systems, the company that controls the screens and payment systems in the other half of NYC’s taxis.
While Arro will only work in NYC on launch, the startup plans to expand its services to San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago and Boston in the near future. If you’re in NYC, you can go to Arro’s website to request an invitation, so you can download it (for either iOS or Android devices) and see if it really can give Uber a run for its money.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/134727465?byline=0&portrait=0
Via:
Crain’s New York
Source:
Arro
Tags: app, arro, mobilepostcross, NycTaxi, uber
Huawei’s Honor 7 will sell direct to consumers in Europe
Huawei is bringing the Honor 7 to Europe today. The phone can now be purchased from the Chinese company’s new online store. Anyone in the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, or Switzerland can get one.
You will also get free shipping on purchases over £69.99 or €99.99. The cost of the Honor 7 is £209.99 for a limited time with use of the coupon code “H7BRAVE40UK” before August 31.
Anywhere other than the UK, the price is €349.99, however, the coupon code “H7BRAVE50EU” will save you €50 off as long as it’s used before August 31. Also, there is no shipping date currently, and only pre-order listed.
Source: PR Newswire, vMall
Via: GSMarena
Come comment on this article: Huawei’s Honor 7 will sell direct to consumers in Europe
Honor 7 and Cheetah Mobile announce a partnership to enhance the user experience
With the launch of the Huawei Honor 7 in Europe today, Cheetah Mobile, the leading developer of mission-critical mobile utility applications, announced a partnership with the Honor 7. The partnership is said to “enhance the user experience through software and communication services”.
Cheetah Mobile makes critical applications such as Clean Master, CM Security, Battery Doctor and Duba Anti-virus. It has approximately 494 million mobile monthly active users.
Liudan, Chief Strategic Official and Vice President of Honor said:
“Honor is a brand created for digital natives and we are working to build an ecosystem which fosters a more enjoyable and convenient mobile-internet world for the next generation. Cheetah Mobile shares the same vision,”
Clean Master will keep the Honor 7 running smoothly by letting users take control of how much space apps are using. As apps are downloaded and updated, over time, useless files start to build up. Clean Master will delete all the useless files, giving back users all that wasted space.
Source: PR Newswire
Come comment on this article: Honor 7 and Cheetah Mobile announce a partnership to enhance the user experience
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