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23
Sep

Samsung Pay sees $30 million in accumulated transaction volume in its first month available in South Korea


samsung_pay_logo_unpacked_2015_TA

Samsung revealed for its first month of availability in South Korea, Samsung Pay has already seen $30 million in accumulated transaction volume. Those are some massive numbers when you consider that paying via your smartphone hasn’t seen much popularity.

Samsung Pay is set to see some even bigger numbers in the next month, as the service will launch in the United States on September 28, just a day before Google’s event in San Francisco where the search giant will no doubt speak about Android Pay with its upcoming Nexus devices. Availability in the United Kingdom, Spain, and China will follow soon after the US launch.

Samsung said the company has already processed a whopping 1.5 million transactions, and Samsung Pay already has 36% of active users, with 10% of those users using the service on a daily basis.

Keep in mind that, for the time being, Samsung Pay is only available on a select few Samsung devices, including the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Gear S2 smartwatch when it launches at a later date.

Anyone excited for Samsung Pay?

SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES A SUCCESSFUL PAYMENT LAUNCH IN SOUTH KOREA WITH $30 MILLION IN ACCUMULATED TRANSACTION VOLUME IN FIRST MONTH

London, UK – 23rd September, 2015 – Today, Samsung announced that Samsung Pay is off to a successful start in South Korea with more than $30 million in accumulated transaction volume one month since it first launched. Samsung Pay’s biggest advantage is its wide acceptance among merchants in South Korea with more than 1.5 million total transactions to date. Usage of the mobile payment service has surged, recording approximately 36 percent active users in its first month with about 10 percent using Samsung Pay daily.

“Although the details on Samsung Pay usage are constantly being updated, the response we’ve received so far has been beyond our expectations,” said Injong Rhee, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics and global head of Samsung Pay. “We knew Samsung Pay would be a game-changer in the mobile payments industry and now with the user data, we are seeing the greater impact it is having on consumer behaviour and on the lifestyle of our customers.”

Samsung Pay in South Korea also introduced several value-added services including:

  • Payments that support select integrated circuit (IC) readers
  • Online payments using a Samsung Card (credit and debit)
  • Advanced ATM cash withdrawal transactions using a Woori bank account
  • Transportation services and loyalty card memberships coming soon…

Samsung Pay is scheduled to launch in the United States on the 28th September, with plans to bring the service to the U.K., Spain and China soon. Samsung Pay is currently available on the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and Note 5 devices, and it is the first payment solution that is simple, secure and accepted almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card. Samsung Pay will also support NFC technology on Samsung Gear S2 in select countries after the device launches.

Come comment on this article: Samsung Pay sees $30 million in accumulated transaction volume in its first month available in South Korea

23
Sep

Leaked image of the HTC One A9 appears


Android Smartphones_HTC One A9_image leak_large bezel_092315As most of you know, there have been many rumors and leaks associated with HTC’s upcoming One A9 handset. Originally, the handset was rumored to boost flagship type specifications, but recent leaks have indicated a mid-range handset. Today, we received our first glimpse of the upcoming handset and boy does it have a bezel.

According to recent leaks, the HTC One A9 will include an all-new fingerprint scanner built inside a home button mounted on the front side of the handset. The leaked picture above shows a super large bezel on the bottom of the display unlike many HTC smartphones we’ve seen before. One could infer that this is due to the addition of the integrated fingerprint scanner. In addition, rather than having the company’s logo at the top of handset, HTC apparently thought it was a better idea to put it above the home button, making the bezel even larger.

The handset is expected to launch in November, but we could see details announced at HTC’s upcoming press event scheduled for September 29. This is the same day Google is holding their Nexus event. Obviously, the HTC One A9 is aimed at functionality over style, and one could assume the handset to have a low price tag time come launch day. We should find out more in the coming week.

Source: No Where Else
Via: Droid-Life

Come comment on this article: Leaked image of the HTC One A9 appears

23
Sep

Watch the first trailer for ‘The Angry Birds Movie’


Yes, folks, it’s all happening. The first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie has arrived. Directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly (both first timers), and written by Jon Vitty (The Simpsons), the animated film seems to focus on the origin story of why these famous birds are, well, angry. Red, perhaps the most popular character, is voiced by Jason Sudeikis, while Danny McBride does the honors for Bomb — you know, the black bird who likes to blow up. The rest of the cast is made up by other well-known stars, including Bill Hader, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage. Interestingly enough, The Angry Birds Movie is now slated to hit theaters in May 2016, a couple of months earlier than originally announced.

Source: Angry Birds (YouTube)

23
Sep

Spotify creates playlists based on what your friends have in common


Spotify Mixmates comparing two artists

It’s tough to create a playlist that your friend or partner will enjoy just as much as you do, especially if your tastes don’t quite sync up. How are you going to reconcile your fondness for tender folk music with your pal’s addiction to drum-and-bass? Spotify thinks it has an answer. Its Mixmates website crafts playlists based on both your favorite artist and that of your buddy, creating Kevin Bacon-like degrees of separation from song to song. If you like the resulting mishmash, you can save the playlist for posterity.

I found it very simple to use and generally on the mark, although the length and quality of the playlist is undoubtedly going to vary wildly based on how much you have in common. Compare two dance music legends (I tried Above & Beyond and Underworld) and you’ll get a short-but-sweet playlist of classic electronic tracks — there’s no real challenge there. Try to pit polka versus techno, however, and you’ll get a gigantic playlist with styles that are all over the map (like Lawrence Welk, Cece Peniston and Danny Tenaglia, among many others). It’s doubtful that Mixmates will create the perfect background music for a house party, then, but it’s smart enough that you might find some shared selections.

Source: Spotify Mixmates

23
Sep

Facebook’s 360-degree videos bring immersive content to your News Feed


Always trying new things to improve your News Feed browsing, Facebook now supports more immersive videos. The social network announced that 360 video will begin rolling out to that portion of the site today. Right now, they’re only viewable on the web and Android with support for iOS “in the coming months.” The more immersive videos on Facebook work similarly to what you’ve probably seen on YouTube. As the footage plays, you can use your cursor to click and move around the video on the desktop. With a mobile device, you can use your finger to navigate around the visuals or you can simply move the device itself to change perspective. This new addition also paves the way for VR content to hit the News Feed when devices like the Oculus Rift and PS VR head to consumers.

There are a number of companies already pushing footage to Facebook as part of the new initiative, including Star Wars, Discovery, VICE, GoPro, Saturday Night Live and LeBron James & Uninterrupted. As you might expect, that first entry from Disney and LucasFilm is a 360-degree promo for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And yes, we’ve embedded it down below for easy access. Facebook says the new videos aren’t just for publishers, as you’ll be able to post your multi-angle footage as well — so long as you have a multi-camera rig to proper capture it, of course.

Source: Facebook

23
Sep

Kids prefer to play games on mobile devices over consoles


Candy Crush Game Maker King Announces IPO to List in New York

You may have fond memories of playing games on the family TV as a kid, but the next generation might not feel the same way. The NPD Group has published a report showing that more 2- to 17-year-olds in the US are playing games on phones and tablets (63 percent) than on consoles (60 percent). That may not sound like a big gap, but it was only two years ago that consoles captured 67 percent of young eyeballs. They’re playing more often on those mobile devices, too, at an average 6 hours per week. And sorry, PC gamers, your platform of choice isn’t as popular as it once was. Computer gaming has fallen from a heady 67 percent adoption back in 2013 to 45 percent today.

The analysts don’t have a firm explanation for the shift, but they believe that this most likely reflects the parents’ own shift away from PCs and toward mobile gear. When your folks are more likely to have a phone or tablet hanging around than a speedy gaming desktop, you’re going to play on those smaller screens. We’d add that mobile tech has advantages for kids tired of fighting for time on the family computer or TV — children can play Minecraft while the grown-ups check out Facebook and Netflix, and they’re not stuck playing at home. While it’s doubtful that consoles and PCs will fall completely out of favor among the younger crowd, they don’t make as much sense as they did a few years ago.

[Image credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Source: CNET

23
Sep

Netflix knows the episodes that make you binge-watch the series


According to the research, here are the average global episodes where members got hooked: (PRNewsFoto/Netflix, Inc.)

Viewers were hooked on to Breaking Bad long before Walter White became Heisenberg. According to a Netflix data analysis, the second episode, where Walt and Jesse flipped a coin to see who would kill Krazy 8, turned viewers into fans. The on-demand video streaming site has scanned global streaming data across 25 massively popular shows (including House of Cards, Dexter, Mad Men, Sense8 and more) to zone in on the “hooked episode”, when 70 of the viewers who watched that episode went on the finish the entire season. While viewers are often pulled into the plot of a show early on in its inaugural season, the exact “hooked” episodes vary from show to show.

Contrary to popular belief, the pilot of a show doesn’t spell doom or success right away. “Given the precious nature of primetime slots on traditional TV, a series pilot is arguably the most important point in the life of the show,” Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix, said in a statement. “However, in our research of more than 20 shows across 16 markets, we found that no one was ever hooked on the pilot. This gives us confidence that giving our members all episodes at once is more aligned with how fans are made.”

This global research that pulled data from 16 countries, including US, UK, Brazil, Australia to name a few, seems to validate the site’s “all at once” motto. But according to the WSJ, the findings that pin-point when viewers bail on a series haven’t been disclosed.

[Image credit: Netflix, Inc]

23
Sep

3 Minute Games is bringing its text-based adventure game Lifeline 2 to Android


Lifeline 2 AA

3 Minute Games had a hit on their hands with Lifeline, the addictive text-based adventure game that launched on Android not more than a few months ago. The game follows around Taylor, a human that’s been stranded on a foreign planet in need of your help. Once Taylor presents a situation to you, it’s your job to respond by selecting the option you think will guide him to safety. It’s a super casual title that’s incredibly addictive.

If you enjoyed the first game, you’ll be happy to hear that 3 Minute Games is working on Lifeline 2 for Android. It’s called Lifeline 2: Bloodline, and it’s actually already launched on iOS. The developer says that an Android version is in the works, and it should be coming soon.

As for Lifeline 2, it will feature a storyline that’s almost twice as long as the original. In this game you’ll follow around Arika, a young woman on a quest to avenge her parents and rescue her long-lost brother. As Arika travels to complete her quest, she’ll send you notifications throughout the day as they happen to her. If you don’t feel like playing at that moment, you can catch up later when you’re free. And just like in Lifeline, you’ll be able to rewind the story to a particular point if you’d like to try a certain section over again.

No exact release date has been given quite yet, but we’ll let you know once we get more information. While we wait, though, you should definitely consider trying out Lifeline. It’s available for just $0.99 in the Play Store.

Download Lifeline from Google Play

23
Sep

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S7 will have two variants too


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Barely a month after launching two high profile smartphones – the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5 – Samsung is already working on the next generation of Galaxy S series devices. According to SamMobile, the Korean giants will launch two variants of the Galaxy S7, including one with a dual-edge curved display and the other with a normal screen – just like their predecessor.

Samsung has codenamed its upcoming flagship, ‘Project Lucky,’ for internal purposes, while the two variants with model numbers, SM-G930 (regular display) and SM-G935 (curved display) are being called Hero and Hero2. It is not only the display that will differentiate there variants, they will be powered by different processors as well. One version will run on Samsung’s own Exynos 8890 chipset, while the other will house Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC. Earlier we had reported that the S7 will come in two size variants as well.

As for the camera sensor, Samsung is still in a testing phase as the company is working on prototypes with a 20-megapixel ISOCELL sensor and dual-camera sensors. Even the upcoming Galaxy flagship is likely to feature Universal Flash Storage 2.0 (UFS 2.0) just like the current Galaxy S6. Two Galaxy S7 models had earlier appeared on Geekbench with 3GB of RAM and 4GB of RAM.

According to the report, the Galaxy S7 will be launched in Korea, Canada, Europe, China and the US. While there is no word on the handset’s launch in other countries, but it is likely that Samsung won’t overlook its existing markets. In the US, Samsung has Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, At&T, Verizon etc. on board while Bell Mobility is going to be Samsung’s official partner in Canada. In Korea, the handset can be bought from KT, LG Uplus and SKTelecom. We are expecting to see the new Galaxy flagship as early as December 2015.

Source: SamMobile

Come comment on this article: Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S7 will have two variants too

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23
Sep

Nusiki: A new music social network that needs more optimization (app review)


Nusiki is a new music social network, with functionality similar to Facebook and Twitter. We’ve seen this before with the likes of Last.fm and MySpace that have been around for years.

In this review, let’s find out if Nusiki’s features are enough to make you consider switching.

Setup

Because it’s a social network, the app requires you to create an account in order to use it after you download and install it from Google Play.

This is quite simple, however. You have three options: signing up with Facebook, Twitter, or an email address.

Features

You will be met with a Facebook-like feed after you sign in. As such, each post can be liked, commented on, or shared.

An example of a feed in Nusiki

Listen to the music within posts by tapping on the song’s title or image caption.

To control playback, use the player at the bottom. Swipe up from the player to maximize it. This will reveal the YouTube video if available, the seek time, as well as the like, comment, and share controls.

Nusiki's music player

At the top of this feed is a shuffle mode. This allows you to switch between reverse chronological and random order.

Swipe from the left to reveal a sidebar or press the icon at the top left. From here, you are able to view notifications, respond to private messages, change account settings, invite friends, and give feedback. There’s also an explore option which brings up a feed of music of users you have not followed.

A Nusiki profile

Your account follows specific users by default. To change who you’re following, swipe from the left to reveal the sidebar and tap on your profile information in order to go to your profile. Click “Following” under your username and unselect users using the icons on the right.

Tap the search button at the top right to look for music, users, and hashtags.

Adding a song in Nusiki

Nusiki shows promise as a social network stream for music, but partly due to the fact that it is new, Nusiki needs some improvements.

The app requires more optimization because the interface commonly hangs, especially when bringing it to the foreground or sending it to the background. Music will often lag, skip back a second or so, or pause itself.

There also is an inconsistency with the music player where you can either swipe up on or tap the panel to maximize it, but you can only tap on the panel to minimize it.

You cannot listen to songs you find through the search menu. Therefore, the service isn’t the best for previewing what songs sound like. Also, you can’t perform a search on the feed itself.

I found one fault with the setup, and that was the lack of Google account integration. I believe adding this makes sense since it is present in many other apps like it, and hopefully, it will be added in the future.

While I prefer darker themes, Nusiki should consider adding a lighter one for those who prefer them and for situations where there is a lot of direct sunlight.

What We Liked

  • Potentially endless music
  • Social interaction
  • The ability to shuffle music
  • You don’t need to follow users in order to listen to songs
  • Private messaging
  • Option to make profile private

Room for Improvement

  • Only posted songs can be listened to
  • App interface lags after startup
  • Transitions from foreground and background cause playback to lag, to go back slightly, and/or to stop
  • Playback lags after transitions in between songs
  • Inconsistency with swiping the music player
  • Inability to search through feed
  • Setup should include Google account integration
  • Needs to provide a lighter theme

Even networks such as Facebook and Twitter that are not primarily focused on music are competing with the service. They have tens to hundreds of millions of users more whom many share artists and songs with others.

The exposure they provide currently exceeds Nusiki’s specialty because, ultimately, people will not move to another network unless they know their family, friends, and associates are going to use it.

Nusiki (Playboard) | Nusiki (Play Store)

The post Nusiki: A new music social network that needs more optimization (app review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.

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