New Sony Xperia Z5 ad demonstrates the abilities of SteadyShot stabilization
Sony yesterday released a new ad on its YouTube channel demonstrating the abilities of the Xperia Z5’s SteadyShot stabilization. The ad aims to highlight just how well the camera is above in quality compared to its competitors.
The new ad demonstrates SteadyShot Stabilization on the Xperia Z5 both turned on and off. The purpose is to showcase how much the stabilization features improves the quality of photo and video over not having it on at all. As you’ll see in the ad below, the differences are staggering.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Paired with the Sony Xperia Z5’s 23-megapixel camera, consumers will be able to truly create beautiful content with Sony’s latest flagship device. But just remember, don’t plan on taking any underwater shots, otherwise, Sony will invalidate your warranty on the device.
Anyone plan on picking one up?
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Google confirms it’s expanding its self-driving car project to Austin, Texas
Google today confirmed that it’s bringing its self-driving car project to the streets of Austin, Texas. This news comes not long after the search giant named a big automotive executive to head up the driverless car project by the end of the month.
From Google:
We’re excited for this next step and look forward to learning even more as we drive around town with our test drivers on board. If you see us on the road and have any feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out at www.google.com/selfdrivingcar.
Google earlier this summer brought modified Lexus SUVs toting its self-driving technology to Austin, Texas, and today it confirmed that it’s expanding the full project to Austin, Texas. Hopefully it won’t be long before Google expands the project to states where the winter months can be quite rough, really putting Google’s driverless cars to the test.
source: +SelfDrivingCar (Google+)
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Deal: Unlocked 32GB Samsung Galaxy Note 5 from eBay for just $590
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 is one heck of a smartphone, but buying it outright will cost you a pretty penny. And since it just recently came to market, it might be some time before we see the phone get a major discount from carrier stores or other retailers. So if you’re looking to purchase a new, unlocked Note 5 without breaking the bank, there’s a deal going on through eBay that may be able to save you some cash.
Right now, you can purchase an unlocked 32GB Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (N920i) in Black for only $589.99. This device is brand new and comes in its original packaging. It’s factory unlocked and should work with GSM mobile carriers in the United States, such as AT&T and T-Mobile.
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As a refresher, the Galaxy Note 5 comes with a big 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, an Exynos 7420 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage. It also boasts one of the best cameras available on a smartphone to date, and is absolutely great for multitasking, gaming and much more. Even though it may not be the phone for power users anymore, it’s still one of the best mobile devices out there right now. Be sure to check out our full review for all of the details.
Interested in this deal? If so, head to the eBay link below for more information.
Apple win in appeals court ruling may force Samsung to change one of its products
In May 2014, a jury decided that monetary damages were ample compensation for Samsung’s infringement of three Apple patents. However, this Thursday a US appeals court ruled that monetary compensation wasn’t enough, and that Apple should be able to “exclude competitors from using one’s property rights.”
Originally, the lower courts required Apple to show that these infringing features in question were the main reason why consumers purchased these devices in the first place. Two of the three judges in the appeals said that it should have only been necessary to prove that Apple lost sales because Samsung’s products contained the California company’s patented features.
The court explains:
Apple does not need to establish that these features are the reason customers bought Samsung phones instead of Apple phones — it is enough that Apple has shown that these features were related to infringement and were important to customers when they were examining their phone choices.
After vacating the district court’s original decision, the appeals court returned the case to the lower court for reconsideration. This ruling may mean that Samsung will have to change some infringing aspects of their tablets and smartphones. However, Samsung says that only one of its current devices is using one of the patented features discussed by this case, so overall, Samsung may not be taking a big loss after all.
In response to this ruling, Samsung released a statement that reads:
We want to reassure our millions of loyal customers that all of our flagship smartphones, which are wanted and loved by American consumers, will remain for sale and available for customer service support in the US. For decades, we have invested heavily in developing revolutionary innovations in the mobile industry. We look forward to continue to provide American consumers with a wide choice of groundbreaking products that they have come to expect from the Samsung brand.
Some major tech companies like Google, Facebook, eBay, and Hewlett-Packard expressed concern in July that a ruling in favor of Apple might have “significant detrimental consequences for the continued development of useful modern technologies,” and would give Apple unfair leverage for its own gain.
The patented technologies Apple claims were stolen by Samsung include swipe-to-unlock capabilities, automatic spelling correction, and the ability to tap phone numbers in emails to dial them.
Leaked D-Link code-signing key could make malware look legit
When your company is known for making wireless routers, network switches and home security cameras, leaking your code-signing private keys yourself is the last thing you want to do. Back in February, that’s exactly what D-Link did, accidentally leaving a valid key visible in its open-source firmware. If found by an attacker, the key could have be used to make malware can pass as official software from D-Link — malware that wouldn’t trigger security warnings when installed to Windows or OS X machines.
That’s bad, but luckily would-be attackers would have had to stumble across the key weeks ago — the leaked certificate expired earlier this month. Still, that means software created using the key between February and September is still valid. D-Link says it’s issuing more firmware updates in the near future to address the issue
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Tweakers
Google’s codebase is ludicrously huge for good reason
Google’s codebase — the programming instructions that run every one of its services from Gmail to Slides — span a whopping 2 billion lines of code that stretch across 1 billion files and require 86 terabytes of storage, according to Google engineering manager Rachel Potvin. She recently disclosed those figures at the @Scale engineering conference. She also noted that this massive collection of data is mirrored and continually updated in ten data centers peppered around the globe. “Not only is the size of the repository increasing,” Potvin explained during her lecture, “but the rate of change is also increasing. This is an exponential curve.”
There’s a solid reason behind keeping all that code in a single, monolithic base: it makes updating everything much easier. That’s because the codebase is available to 95 percent of Google’s engineers and changing any line of code in one service updates that same line of code in any other service that shares it. Some 15 million lines of code in 250,000 thousand of those files are modified weekly. “When you start a new project,” Potvin told WIRED, “you have a wealth of libraries already available to you. Almost everything has already been done.”
Via: BGR
Source: Wired
Are Altice, other cable operators targeting T-Mobile?
This past week at a conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs, the chairman of French telecom company Altice noted the cable operator needed to look into owning a mobile network. Many see Patrick Drahi’s comments as an indication that Altice may be interested in scooping up T-Mobile as part of a strategy to offer a “quad play” to consumers. Altice is not the only company interested in T-Mobile, or other wireless carriers, as an interesting M&A drama starts to unfold.
Financial analysts are starting to increase their price targets on companies like T-Mobile. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk recently pushed his estimate for T-Mobile from $42 to $50 as he believes “T-Mobile could be a primary acquisition target of cable operators.”
Interest in wireless carrier and cable operator combos is increasing after the successful acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T. At the same time, the cable industry in experiencing a consolidation of its own, like the recent acquisition announcement of Time Warner by Charter. While companies like Altice may want to take a longer “wait and see” while they explore possibilities, the limited number of wireless carriers and cable consolidation is going to put pressure on them to move sooner rather than later.
Even as a company like Altice slowly starts to eye a carrier like T-Mobile, partly due to a belief that prices are too high, the wireless carriers are successfully improving their business model to increase revenues and thus, put upward pressure on their price. T-Mobile’s John Legere has suggested in the past, in connection with rumors of a Comcast acquisition, that it makes sense for wireless carriers and cable operators to join together. Even though the wireless carriers may be open to new business combinations, their success may prove to be a double-edged sword for any companies that hesitate.
If Altice is not ready to make a move for T-Mobile, other companies like Comcast may not wait around. For T-Mobile, a merger or acquisition with someone with a larger footprint in the U.S. would make more sense.
source: Fierce Wireless
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Verizon reportedly showing interest in the Dish Network Spectrum
Recently T-Mobile has been showing high interest with Dish Network. Today, Verizon’s CEO Lowell McAdam stated that the company might be interested in making a wholesale arrangement with the popular television provider but is not interested in buying the whole company.
Allegedly, big read would supply its wireless service for Dish’s Network spectrum. Recently, Dish has been working on a new band to use with its AWS-4 spectrum along with AWS-1 and AWS-3 airwaves and is scheduled to be official in December. Therefore by partnering up with Verizon, Dish will be able to use the carrier’s wireless service and Verizon will receive some of the company’s spectrum. Sounds like a good trade. Except for the fact that Verizon doesn’t want to buy the whole Dish network.
T-Mobile is getting ready to close a deal with Dish merging the two companies. If Verizon wants to seal a deal they might want to hurry before its competitor T-Mobile announces its official merge with Dish. Dish has some important decisions to make. We’ll see how this plays out.
Source: FierceWireless
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Android Pay officially hits the Play Store
Android Pay is one of the most anticipated features that Google is bringing to its Android operating system this year. And now it’s officially in the Play Store for users to download.
Users no longer need to download an apk because the new payment service is live in the Play Store. If you already have Google Wallet installed, there is no need to wait for an update, just search Android Pay in the search box and hit download. The Android Pay app will replace your old Wallet application on your device. However, if you use Google Wallet, a separate newly designed app is also available to download.
Android Pay will allow users to pay with their NFC enabled device to NFC enabled payment terminals located at over 1 Million merchants. The experience is made to be easy and fast. This is Google’s next approach to replace our wallet. In addition, users will soon be able to add loyalty cards and gift cards right inside the app. If you have an Android Pay capable device, you can download it at the link down below.
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Latest Humble Weekly Bundle gets you the $300 app design suite GameMaker: Studio Android for $12
Aspiring game designers rejoice! The Humble Bundle team is offering GameMaker: Studio Android, a software suite normally valued between $300 and $400, for the astounding price of $12.
This is not your grandfather’s game design suite either. GameMaker Android was used to create the hit games Hotline Miami and Risk of Rain. It’s a powerful set of game design tools that aims to help creative-minded people who don’t have programming expertise make the games currently burning away in their imagination.
To sweeten the deal, this Humble Weekly Bundle also comes with nearly a dozen games that are packaged with their source code. This is an invaluable resource for someone looking to learn how games are made, because they will be able to dissect these already-completed games to see what makes them tick. If you’ve ever been interested in making your own Android games but never really had the funds to jump in, you have until Thursday, September 24, 2015 to act!
That’s right. Like all Humble Bundle deals, this is a limited time offer.
You should be aware, however, that just because GameMaker: Studio Android doesn’t require you to be fluent in a programming language, that doesn’t mean the learning curve for creating a game with it isn’t steep. Some previous programming experience is recommended, even if you just tinkered around with your TI-83’s basic programming abilities.
For the bold and the daring who have game-making fire in their hearts but no previous programming experience, it’s still possible to see forward motion with GameMaker. There are copious tutorials and help documents available online for GameMaker, so this might be a good opportunity for you to cut your teeth on game design.
This may be an interesting development for the Google Play Store. It’s possible that this sale may open the doors for a slew of hungry game designers eager to unleash their brilliant ideas on the public… or we might see a flood of crudely designed My First Games. Either way, the Google Play Store’s $25 fee to create a developer account should keep the least serious designers at bay.
So whether you’re interested in creating a 2D, top-down RPG or a stylishly rendered, 3D action adventure, the financial bar for beginning production on your own Android game is now set much lower. At $12 for the GameMaker kit and $25 for the developer account, you could feasibly develop and release a professional-quality game with an initial investment of only $37 dollars.
With a cost of entry that low, what’s holding you back? What the mobile gaming world has been missing is your blockbuster idea, so get out there and turn it into reality! The “I can’t afford the startup cost” excuse just got a whole lot flimsier.
AIVAnet 