Apple Accepting Red Cross Donations Through iTunes to Support Migration Crisis
Apple has added a banner to its website that allows customers to donate to the American Red Cross through the iTunes Store to support the refugee and migration crisis across the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. The donation tiers available include $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200.
The entire proceeds from donations, which are processed as a regular iTunes Store transaction, are sent to the American Red Cross.
Note: Due to the nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Of course ‘Ghost In The Shell’ is getting its own VR movie
Ghost In the Shell’s protagonist often looks like she’s wearing a VR headset, so why not give the Major her own feature? Tying into a free-to-play first-person shooter and a new movie, Production I.G also setup a spherical theater to project a short teaser movie. With a 3D effect delivered through red-and-green glasses, it meant we could get some degree of immersion without a headset — and the line to see it wasn’t an utter nightmare. What you can see above was our wide-eyed view without the 3D effect. The full feature, which will arrive this winter, will play in 360-degrees, with a demo version set to go out on Oculus Share before it his retail on both Android and iOS for 480 yen (roughly four dollars) — although there’s no indication as to how long the animation will run for. While half the appeal is in the panoramic view of existential musings, digital brains and fights with tanks, we’re hoping the studio will offer up a teaser trailer in ole-fashioned flat 2D soon and we’ll embed it when we can. Slideshow-321714
Sprint activates ‘Open World’ international plan in 33 new places
Sprint is expanding the reach of its “Open World” roaming add-on to 33 more locations beyond Latin America. Open World, the Now Network’s answer to T-Mo’s “Mobile without Borders,” is now active in France, several Caribbean islands, Gibraltar, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tonga, among many other locations you can see on its official website. The free add-on comes with calls and texts to Canada and Mexico and will work within those countries in addition to a number of Latin American nations. It also offers 1GB of high-speed data for subscribers travelling within these eligible locations. Note that it’s only available to certain LTE/GSM handsets, though, including the upcoming iPhone 6s.
[Image credit: JeepersMedia/Flickr]
Source: Sprint (1), (2)
China wants US tech firms to sign a ‘pledge of compliance’
Operating a business in numerous countries can be like trying to navigate a minefield of legal clauses and regulatory paperwork, and China is looking to impose another policy on US technology companies: a pledge of compliance to protect security and user data.
The head of China’s Cyberspace Administration, Lu Wei, is to hold a summit with a number of US technology companies in Seattle, where he is expected to press companies operating in China to sign off on a new security pledge.
According to the document, companies will promise not to harm China’s national security and to store all Chinese user data within the country. These are similar conditions to the NSA’s PRISM agreement. Furthermore, companies would not be allow to move user data to other sites without the express permission of the user or approval from authorities. Much of the pledge’s contents are also directed at preserving user privacy and data security, stating that companies should respect the user’s rights to knowledge, control and choice regarding their data.
However, there are some more sinister sounding terms included too. Systems must be deemed “secure and controllable” to operate within China. Companies must also make their data and products open to state and third party supervision to prove compliance, so there will be some level of state oversight and/or possible a “backdoor” option to gain access to encrypted data stored within the country, as some industry sources have suggested. Some are also concerned that the ambiguous supervision could leave US industry secrets and intellectual property open to theft or exploitation.
On balance, the pledge isn’t actually too different from many of the requirements imposed on foreign companies in many countries, including the UK and the US. However, tensions between the US and China regarding data privacy, industrial secrets and hacking allegations certainly makes the situation rather heated. If you want, you can read the pledge here. It’s actually rather short.
Android One arrives in Spain and Portugal in the form of the Aquaris A4.5
If you’ve wondered what has happened with Google’s Android One initiative, wonder no more because Spain and Portugal are the next countries to join the program. Spanish handset maker, bq, is manufacturing the new Android One device on offer, which is called the Aquaris A4.5.
It runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out of the box like you would expect from an Android One handset, with firmware updates guaranteed for 24 months from when the device is launched.
Internally, the Aquaris A4.5 shares many of the same features that are consistent throughout the various Android One handsets.
Specifications
- Quantum Color+ 4.5-Inch IPS display with 540 x 960 resolution (244ppi)
- MediaTek MT6735M Quad-core (4 cores @ 1GHz)
- Mali T720P MP1 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB Internal storage (10.5GB usable)
- MicroSD support (up to 64GB)
- 8MP Rear camera with dual flash and autofocus
- 5MP Front camera with flash
- Dual micro-SIM
- 2G/3G/4G(LTE) connectivity
- Bluetooth 4.0/GPS/WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Notification LED/Double Tap/
- Battery: 2,470mAh
- Dimensions: 131.77 x 63.48 x 8.75mm
- Weight: 115 grams
The Aquaris A4.5 can be ordered directly from bq’s online store for €169.90 in Spain and €179.90 in Portugal, with each handset coming with a 3-month subscription to Google Play Music and a frankly staggering 5-year guarantee. What do you think of the Aquaris A4.5? Is it cheap enough to appeal to its target market?
Source: bq
Via: AndroidPolice
Come comment on this article: Android One arrives in Spain and Portugal in the form of the Aquaris A4.5
New Chromecast said to be coming this month, looking rounder than before
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For the longest time it seemed like Google was content with its media-streaming Chromecast just the way it was, but a new report suggests that a new Chromecast is just around the corner, and it looks… different. Spotted in what appear to be internal images from Google, the new Chromecast appears to be more bulbous than the current dongle, which kind of looks a bit weird, but no doubt allows for better Wi-Fi connectivity, which is something I think we can all get excited for.
Other interesting tidbits from this report include the possibility that the new Chromecast will have the ability to plug into a sound system via a cord, which can be useful in certain situations. The report also says that this new dongle will be announced at the Google event rumoured to be happening on September 29th – while we still have no official word on whether this event is happening, the announcement of two Nexus smartphones, a Nexus Player, and now a Chromecast will need to come at some point and a big event would seem like the logical forum for this. We’ll have to see if this ends up going down, but all we’re hoping is that Google keep the cost of the new Chromecast down like its predecessor’s.
What do you think about the new Chromecast? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: 9to5google via engadget
The post New Chromecast said to be coming this month, looking rounder than before appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Samsung opens up S Health fitness app to all devices with Android 4.4+
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Samsung has never been particularly well known for playing nicely with devices that don’t start with the name “Samsung”, so this year has been a real surprise for all Android fans. After announcing that their new smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S2, would be compatible with all devices with Android 4.4+ and 1.5GB RAM, the Korean manufacturer has just opened up its S Health fitness app for all devices with Android 4.4+ also. It’s an interesting move, and likely comes on the tail of disappointing sales for its flagship devices – no doubt the idea is to try and get people to jump on the Samsung bandwagon somehow which will hopefully get them to consider a Samsung device when they upgrade.
If you’re wondering how good the S Health app is, it’s got all your fitness tracking tools which record steps, your intake of calories and even how much sunlight you’ve gotten. Some of the more useful features that other fitness apps lack are graphs that plot out your recent performance and tips that help you keep progressing towards a better lifestyle. And, it’s free – so if your fitness app isn’t quite what you want it to be, perhaps try S Health; Play Store link is below:
http://playboard.me/widgets/pb-app-box/1/pb_load_app_box.jsWhat do you think about the S Health fitness app? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Phandroid
The post Samsung opens up S Health fitness app to all devices with Android 4.4+ appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Xiaomi Mi 4c to support micro-USB with an adapter
The launch of the Xiaomi Mi 4c may only be a few days away, but that hasn’t stopped the details coming forth. The latest image, see below, reaffirms rumors than the handset will feature a USB Type-C socket and also suggests that the smartphone will ship with a little micro-USB converter included as standard.
The Xiaomi Mi 4c was rumored to feature a USB Type-C connection back when alleged images of the handset’s box appeared in China. However, as the connection standard is quite new, most consumers will probably end up requiring adaptor cables to connect their new Mi 4c up to their laptops, etc. Including an adapter in the box is great, as customers can keep on using their old cables to charge the phone and transfer data between gadgets.
Other rumored specifications for the Mi 4c include a 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 808 SoC, 2GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel rear camera, 5 megapixel front camera, 16GB of internal storage, and 3,080mAh battery. There have also been mutterings about a 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory option too.
The Xiaomi Mi 4c is scheduled to appear at a launch event on September 22nd. Many are hoping that the new handset will be released in a range of countries around the world and won’t just be limited to China.
Android One is coming to Europe, starting in Spain and Portugal
One year after its launch in Asia, the Android One program is expanding to Europe.
The first European countries where Android One devices will be sold are Spain and Portugal, where local phone maker BQ will offer the Aquaris A4.5 for €169.9 and €179.9 respectively.
As a second generation Android One smartphone, the Aquaris A4.5 is a notch above the barebones devices the program was initially known for. Don’t expect anything spectacular though, this is still a budget phone through and through. Features include a 4.5-inch 540 x 960 display (245 ppi), a quad-core MT6735M processor from MediaTek, 16 GB of internal storage (10.5 GB free), 1GB of RAM, a 2470 mAh battery, a 8MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, and LTE.
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The Aquaris A4.5 runs Lollipop 5.1 and Google offers two years of guaranteed updates. In addition, BQ promises a very generous 5-year warranty for the hardware, as well as dedicated support.
Check out the BQ Aquaris A4.5 in the Spanish and Portuguese BQ stores.
At roughly $200, the Aquaris A4.5 is significantly more expensive than Google’s initial promise to offer a quality Android experience for under $100. To be fair, the price is still very good for the European market, and still cheaper than the $260 price tag of the Turkish Android One smartphone (higher tariffs in Turkey may explain that). That said, if you don’t need a pure vanilla Android experience and guaranteed updates, the 3rd generation Moto G offers better specs at a comparable price.
Android One is now available in Southeast Asia, Turkey, and several African countries. With the program’s arrival to Europe, Google seems open to experimenting with Android One in mature markets that are less sensitive to price. For now there is no indication that Android One phones will launch in other European countries (or even North America), but this first step is definitely a positive sign.
As for India, Google admitted that the first batch of Android One phones hasn’t lived up to expectations, and suggested the next generation could be even cheaper, with a “sweet spot” in the Rs. 2,000-3,000 ($30-$47)range.
The Windows 10 Xbox app is getting a preview program, too
Microsoft is launching a Preview Program for its Windows 10 Xbox app, similar to what it has on the Xbox One console. The Xbox Beta app will let fans “provide early input on features and enhancements coming to the Xbox app on Windows 10, helping us shape the product based on fan feedback,” according to Xbox Wire. That’s not as exciting as previewing early games, of course, but the Windows 10 Xbox One companion app has gradually become pretty handy, especially if you’re into features like online gaming, achievements and console streaming.
Speaking of features, there are a bunch of new ones for the Xbox app, including the much-requested console text entry. That lets you use the Xbox one app from a PC to input text into your console when you’re, say, searching for a game (below). Other additions include real-time friends list presence, letting you see if a friend is available to play or has fallen asleep in front of the TV (talking to you, Lawler). You’ll also get real-time activity feeds and game progress comparisons, so you can see how far you’ve progressed next to a nemesis. Those features are all available now, but the Windows 10 Xbox Beta app will arrive a bit later in the month.
Source: Xbox Wire
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