Omate’s pricey ring vibrates just for your beloved
While Apple, Olio and Opening Ceremony are already tinkering with premium materials in the smartwatch space, other wearable devices haven’t received just as much love. But today, Omate and French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro launched the Ungaro ring, a simple notification wearable that ranges from $500 to a whopping $2,000. Why the premium? For one, the Italy-made ring is plated with either 18K gold or silver, and there are five options for the gemstone: blue topaz, opalite, onyx, sapphire and ruby. As for the “smart” part, this ring links to your phone — iOS first, Android due Q1 2016 — over Bluetooth LE, and will only vibrate when you receive a call or text message from your one and only selected contact. The tiny battery inside lasts up to five days.
Admittedly, this isn’t the first vibrating ring on the market. The summer collection of the Ringly is now available for pre-order, going from a more affordable $195 to $260, but it also benefits from a multi-color LED to indicate which app is pinging you. The Ungaro ring’s approach, on the other hand, is intentionally simple: no LED, and vibrates for just one contact. If you can stomach the premium prices for this perfume bottle-inspired ring, then keep an eye out for it at Richline Group’s retail partners this November.
Filed under:
Wearables
Tags: emanuel ungaro, EmanuelUngaro, omate, Richline, RichlineGroup, ring, smartring, ungaro, wearable
Watch live as two ISS Cosmonauts perform a spacewalk
With only a bit of fabric preventing certain death, spacewalks are one of the most thrilling and dangerous jobs (among many) that ISS astronauts and cosmonauts do. You’ll be able to watch one (here or in the video below) shortly as Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko exit the Russian Pirs airlock. Their goal is to make it easier for ISS occupants do future spacewalks by installing so-called “gap spanners,” a type of soft handrail. The duo will also photograph “Expose-R,” a NASA experiment testing how biological samples like seeds, bacteria and ferns tolerate space, a stepping-stone towards future Mars missions. The whole thing will take about six hours, but it kicks off soon at 10:14 EDT.
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
Filed under:
Science
Via:
Space.com
Source:
NASA (Ustream)
Tags: cosmonauts, expose-R, International Space Station, ISS, NASA, spacewalk
NFL highlights return to your Twitter feed this season
If you enjoy seeing NFL highlights in your Twitter feed on Sundays (and Mondays, Thursdays and some Saturdays, too), you can rest easy as those clips are staying put. The 140-character social network signed a new two-year deal with the NFL that’ll bring even more action from the gridiron as part of its focus on live-event coverage. Twitter was already working with the National Football League with deals in 2013 and 2014, but this will be the first multi-year agreement between the two. If you’ll recall, the league also has deals in place with Facebook and YouTube for highlight clips, so there’s more than one place to follow along. Twitter also rolled out curated timelines last season to provide a dedicated feed for the team(s) or game(s) that you’re most interested in without the clutter of your main timeline.
[Image credit: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images]
Filed under:
Internet
Source:
Re/code
Tags: football, highlights, internet, nfl, social, twitter, video
American Express Introduces Apple Pay Support for Corporate Cards in the United States
American Express today announced that the company is the first to introduce corporate credit card support with Apple Pay. The new addition will let customers pay at locations and within apps that support the contactless payments service with an eligible American Express corporate credit card.
“Businesses today are going digital, and American Express is at the forefront of digital innovation, helping companies to streamline their payments systems and simplify their processes,” said Greg Keeley, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Payments, American Express. “We continue to invest and expand digital offerings for our corporate customers in ways that maximize security and enhance the user experience.”
All corporate cards that will work with Apple Pay include: American Express Corporate Green Card; American Express Corporate Gold Card; American Express Corporate Platinum Card; American Express Corporate Centurion Card; American Express/Business Extra Corporate Card; and the American Express Corporate Defined Expense Program Corporate Card. Apple Pay has been expanding ever since its launch last October, with more retailers and financial institutions debuting support for the service as time goes on.
‘iPhone 6s’ and iPhone 6 Displays Compared in New Video
MacManiack, a reseller of iPhone, iPad, and Mac parts and accessories, has shared a new video that compares a purported “iPhone 6s” display with an existing iPhone 6 display. The side-by-side comparison reveals that the displays are very similar overall, with identical dimensions and the same placement of the FaceTime camera and proximity sensor, but the front panels do have some notable differences.
The alleged “iPhone 6s” display has a new connector in the top-left corner that supports multiple rumors claiming the next-generation smartphone will be equipped with pressure-sensitive Force Touch technology. The “iPhone 6s” display also has slightly redesigned flex connectors, Touch ID is integrated in the LCD and digitizer connector, and the protective plate on the back of the LCD is glued in place.
As the launch of the so-called “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus” inches closer, multiple components for the upcoming smartphones have leaked from within the supply chain. Chinese phone repair company GeekBar shared three photos of an identical looking “iPhone 6s” display assembly last week, while photos of the device’s purported rear shell, logic board, battery, and more parts have also surfaced.
4.7-inch Alcatel IDOL 3 hitting US and Canada shores this week
Alcatel, in order to cater to the crowd that prefers smaller devices, will launch a 4.7-inch model of the IDOL 3. This is quite a step down from the IDOL 3, which features a gargantuan 5.5-inch panel.
This new device will sport a 4.7-inch TFT 720p display, a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, LTE connectivity, a 2,000mAh battery, and Android 5.0.2.
If you’re interested in getting a peak on what the IDOL 3 is all about, check out our review on the original device.
Alcatel will launch this version of the IDOL 3 on Amazon in the United States and Canada on Friday. It will be available in Alcatel stores and on Amazon for $179.99, whereas the original model sells for $249.
Come comment on this article: 4.7-inch Alcatel IDOL 3 hitting US and Canada shores this week
New mid- and entry-level tier chips from Qualcomm announced
Qualcomm has announced some updates to their mid-level and entry-level chips. The Snapdragon 412 and the Snapdragon 212 will replace their predecessors which were announced close to a year ago and will power a large number of smartphones that will be hitting the market. Although watching chip manufacturers push the bounds with their top-tier chips used in premium smartphones is exciting, the rest of the lineup is important to the industry as these will be the “bread and butter” products powering the majority of smartphones and gives us a look at what the base will be for smartphone performance.
For this latest round of updates, the primary difference is some updated speeds. The processor speed for both chips has been pushed up by 200MHz, to 1.4GHz for the Snapdragon 412 and 1.3GHz for the Snapdragon 212.
The Snapdragon 412 will be capable of supporting cameras up to 13MP resolution as well as both full HD video capture and playback. The Snapdragon 412 will also support Quick Charge 2.0.
The Snapdragon 212 continues as a 32-bit processor solution and supports most standards, similar to the Snapdragon 412. The Snapdragon 212 supports full HD capture but not playback and is limited to only supporting cameras of up to 8MP resolution.
Qualcomm will continue to produce these chips using a 28nm manufacturing process. Devices built with these new chips should be hitting the market soon.
Come comment on this article: New mid- and entry-level tier chips from Qualcomm announced
IDOL 3 4.7 coming to the US & Canada this week
The IDOL 3 with its 5.5″screen is one of the best budget flagships you can buy right now, but for some people, the size may be too big. If you remember the original announcement of the IDOL 3, you know that this phone comes in two sizes, 5.5″ and 4.7″. This Friday, August 14, the smaller IDOL 3 is making its way to the US and Canada for a low $179.99 price tag.
The display is not the only difference in these two phones. The 4.7″ IDOL 3 has a resolution of only 720p instead of 1080p. It also comes with a Snapdragon 410, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera all running on Android 5.0.2 and powered by a 2000mAh battery.
One thing that everyone should be thankful for is the fact that this smaller IDOL 3 still comes with the same dual, front-facing speakers we praised in our review of the 5.5″ IDOL 3. These JBL powered speakers sounded like they belonged on a phone triple the price, and we are hoping to find the same fantastic sound on its smaller twin.
For those of you wondering about the security of this phone, it comes with an out-of-the-box update that includes Google’s Stagefright security patch.
While you are waiting for the IDOL 3 4.7 to be up for sale, you can check out our review on the 5.5″ IDOL 3. When this smaller version becomes available, you can grab it at Alcatel OneTouch’s US site or their Canadian site, as well as on Amazon.
Do you think the IDOL 3 4.7 will be your next smartphone? Tell us in the comments!
The post IDOL 3 4.7 coming to the US & Canada this week appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HTC “worthless” – Tech giant trading below cash
HTC, one of the biggest Android OEMs on the planet is essentially worthless. The company has taken a massive hit, losing 60% of its stock’s value. Currently the troubled tech giant has more cash on hand than the value of it’s stock which means investors think that the assets the company owns are essentially worthless. HTC’s assets are not only physical things like factories, building and their current stock of products but also their brand which has taken a huge hit in the last year.
HTC had NT47.2 billion cash on hand and their market price has fallen to NT47 billion ($1.5 billion). This counts as a 60% drop in the company’s value this year and almost 10% since June. HTC had been valued as high as NT900 billion in 2011 about two years before the release of the release of the redesigned HTC One M7.
Since then a series of strange advertising choices, small evolutionary changes in their flagship devices and changes at the top of the company have signaled to investors that the path forward for HTC is going to be rocky, if there is one at all. In the third quarter, HTC is forecasting sales as low as 48% below analyst estimates.
In the early days of Android, HTC was the best selling brand in the United States. Google thought so much of the company that they’ve partnered with them on several projects including the Nexus One in 2010 and Nexus 9 in 2014. But after the failure of the One, Butterfly and Desire lines to gain any traction in globally, HTC now sits in peril. It should be no surprise that they’re in trouble right now.
They bet big on the HTC One M9 which many people have seen as a step back from the HTC One M8 and sales back that up. Many tech sites have panned the camera as a regression and the processor, a Snapdragon 810, as reason to avoid the newest flagship. In a day when one failed launch can significantly hurt you, the consequences loom large.
Source: Bloomberg
The post HTC “worthless” – Tech giant trading below cash appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Deal: 50 percent off PNY memory cards on Amazon
Expandable microSD memory may still be a sought-after feature, despite some OEMs dropping support with their recent phones, but it can be rather expensive to bulk your phone up with lots of additional storage. Fortunately, Amazon’s Deal of the Day is offering around 50 percent off a selection of PNY memory cards.
At the least expensive end, you can grab a 16GB PNY microSD card for just $6.99, a saving of $13 or 65 percent off the regular retail price of $19.99. If you are looking for a larger 128GB card to save movies and a big music collection on, then you can grab a high performance 60MB/sec card for $51.99, a saving of 48 percent. There are 32 and 64GB class 10 cards available too at similar discounts.
While you’re at it, the deal also includes full size SD cards for your other gadgets. PNY also has a selection of discounted USB sticks with capacities ranging from 16GB to 258GB included in the deal, with up to 78 percent of the RRP. Remember, you can connect USB flash drives up to most Android phones and tablets using a simple powered OTG cable.
You can find the full range of deals by clicking the button below:
AIVAnet 