ZTE Axon Elite quick look: what’s the difference?
ZTE’s latest flagship smartphone is making its way to many other markets after a successful launch in the USA and China. The biggest focus is on Europe, but the Chinese manufacturer wants to be clear that this is a global release. But why are they now calling it the ZTE Axon Elite? Yes, it’s essentially the same phone, but it does come with a few particular changes.
Customers will be able to handle the same beautifully built device and enjoy nearly identical specifications. Below the 5.5-inch 1080p display you can find a Snapdragon 810 processor, 4G LTE antennas and a set of dual cameras for depth perception. The main camera touts a 13 MP sensor, and the front-facing shooter sports 8 MP of pure fun. From there, we also have a 3000 mAh battery, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD cards.
That is all old news, though. What we want to focus on is the main additions that make this an “Elite” smartphone. One of the main differences will be found in the aesthetics. The back now touts leather-like designs on the top and bottom parts of the handset. I suppose that gives it a bit of a more executive look, but I also can’t deny these elements look out of place in a phone that is meant to be mostly metallic.
In addition, the ZTE Axon Elite adds a fingerprint reader to the back, as well as the eye scanner and voice commands. These can all be used to unlock your smartphone, giving you plenty of options and secure ways to access your data. These all seem to work well, but I did find some issues with the eye scanning and voice command technology. These were not really huge slowdowns, though. The main problem with voice commands is that you can’t really use it in loud environments, and it was quite noisy at the show floor. Also, I had trouble having the phone scan my eyes with my glasses on. Take them off for a second and it all works seamlessly, though.
In short: The ZTE Axon Elite is pretty much a slightly better version of an already awesome phone. Of course, you can always check out our ZTE Axon review to learn more about our full experience with the US iteration. Otherwise, keep it tuned to Android Authority and let us know what you think of the Axon Elite. Do you wish these extra features came to the ZTE Axon?
‘Borderlands’ is the latest backwards compatible game on Xbox One
Even if you spent $399 on the ultra-crazy edition of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection there was a pretty gaping hole in it. No, I’m not talking about what that purchase did to your bank account, I mean the anthology’s distinct lack of the series’ first game. Well, for Xbox One owners that’s changing because the Vault Hunters’ first trip to Pandora was recently added to the list of Xbox 360 games playable on Microsoft’s newest console — something that was teased back at E3 this year. Folks in the Dashboard Preview Program can start playing right now, of course, but everyone else who got stuck on Dr. Ned’s zombie island (Microsoft says all save files, add-on content and achievements will transfer over) have to wait until the feature launches to the public this November. You still had a few lunar side-quests left to finish for Handsome Jack in the meantime anyhow, right?
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source:
Xbox Wire
Tags: 2kgames, backwardscompatibility, borderlands, borderlandsthehandsomecollection, claptrap, gaming, gearboxsoftware, handsomejack, hd, hdpostcross, xbox, xbox360
Sphero BB-8 Star Wars robot: “the drone you were looking for”, but tiny
Sphero just revealed their brand new BB-8 robot, a tiny replica of the droid being used in the next Star Wars movie. It is truly the cutest little tech gadget we have seen in a long time, and it will drive fans of the franchise completely nuts. I have personally never been so eager to spend $149 on a toy!
Remember the second Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? We caught a glimpse of a tiny robot that happened to look very much like an overgrown Sphero robot (otherwise known as the ball thingie you can control with your phone) with a head on top of it. It turns out it actually was pretty much a large Sphero, as the company later revealed they were responsible for the making of this intriguing character.
The head has its own set of wheels and uses them to stay on top of the sphere. Just like any other Sphero toy, the BB-8 android can be controlled with your smartphone, but it goes far beyond that type of basic functionality.
This little guy is as smart as these toys get. The BB-8 can learn as you interact more with it. The BB-8 can literally recognize your voice and react to it. In addition, users can set it on patrol mode and tell it to follow a certain route. Not enough features? There’s also a messaging mode, which would allow you to create, send and receive digital holographic messages using your phone’s camera.
All of this fun won’t come cheap, though. As we mentioned above, the Sphero BB-8 will cost $149. We are not sure when you will be able to buy it, but you can register to get notifications straight from Sphero’s website. Who is buying one? Maybe later on they can make a bigger one. Now, that would be interesting.
Samsung’s rumoured 18.4-inch tablet is likely the Samsung Galaxy View
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A few weeks ago, we heard about a tablet that Samsung was rumoured to be working on that had a 18.4-inch display – to put that in perspective, that’s about the size of the computer monitor that’s sitting on your desk. Well, Samsung has teased a tablet at its IFA 2015 press conference, and while the device wasn’t detailed at all besides getting the name the Samsung Galaxy View, we’ve got a pretty good feeling that this will turn out to be the 18.4-inch tablet we’ve been hearing about.
One of the few things we can make out in the images we’ve seen is that the Galaxy View has a kickstand – this isn’t something that is terribly necessary for the average 8-10-inch tablet, but for a 18.4-inch one, it will be pretty much mandatory. The other details we have heard about the device are that it has a 1920×1080 resolution and has hardware specs that include an Exynos 7580 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, microSD slot and 5,700mAh. Nothing too impressive, but we suspect this is a device more for the home and classroom than for anything too performance intensive.
What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy View? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Phone Arena
The post Samsung’s rumoured 18.4-inch tablet is likely the Samsung Galaxy View appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
‘Borderlands’ is the latest backwards compatible game on Xbox One
Even if you spent $399 on the ultra-crazy edition of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection there was a pretty gaping hole in it. No, I’m not talking about what that purchase did to your bank account, I mean the anthology’s distinct lack of the series’ first game. Well, for Xbox One owners that’s changing because the Vault Hunters’ first trip to Pandora was recently added to the list of Xbox 360 games playable on Microsoft’s newest console — something that was teased back at E3 this year. Folks in the Dashboard Preview Program can start playing right now, of course, but everyone else who got stuck on Dr. Ned’s zombie island (Microsoft says all save files, add-on content and achievements will transfer over) have to wait until the feature launches to the public this November. You still had a few lunar side-quests left to finish for Handsome Jack in the meantime anyhow, right?
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source:
Xbox Wire
Tags: 2kgames, backwardscompatibility, borderlands, borderlandsthehandsomecollection, claptrap, gaming, gearboxsoftware, handsomejack, hd, hdpostcross, xbox, xbox360
Facebook-owned WhatsApp reaches 900 million monthly active users
WhatsApp has grown tremendously from the time Facebook acquired it in 2014 for $19 billion. The messaging app’s founder, Jan Koum, has just announced on Facebook that the service has reached 900 million monthly active users (MAU). That means it has gained 100 million new ones in less than five months since Koum celebrated reaching 800 million subscribers in April. That number isn’t too far off from its parent company’s either, which announced 1.49 billion MAUs as of June this year. In comparison, Facebook’s own Messenger app reached 700 million MAUs in June, mostly due to its split from the social network’s main application. Considering the app has been installed at least a billion times on Android, the new user count isn’t that surprising. We just hope its continued success doesn’t lead to even more divorces in Italy.
WhatsApp now has 900 million monthly active users.
Posted by Jan Koum on Thursday, September 3, 2015
[Image credit: pestoverde/Flickr]
Filed under:
Misc, Mobile, Facebook
Source:
Jan Koum (Facebook)
Tags: facebook, mobilepostcross, whatsapp
AIVAnet 