Samsung crashes the iPhone 6S launch in London with the Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge+
Consumers flocked to Apple’s Regent Street store in London to be some of the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. However, Samsung was there ready to hand out information packages on the Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge+.
One thing’s for sure, Samsung worked hard to announce and release the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ ahead of Apple’s year iPhone release. As the old maxim goes, “the early bird gets the worm!” And in this case, Samsung’s doing everything it can to take advantage of that.
Android Central was able to get some stills of Samsung’s aggressive marketing tactics on the streets. Just head over to the link below to see Samsung in action!
via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Samsung crashes the iPhone 6S launch in London with the Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge+
In his own words: BlackBerry CEO John Chen explains why his company’s Priv is all about Android
The mysterious BlackBerry Priv nee BlackBerry Venice nee BlackBerry Slider is a curious creation: unveiled roughly half a year ago at MWC, it was assumed to be a new product for the company’s homegrown OS. Whether a later change or an all-along intention, the device leaked somewhat later under the working title “Venice” and was depicted as clearly running on Android. In recent weeks, we had an exclusive hands on expose and shortlay after a full-on video was leaked, along with a possible final name: Priv. Today it all became official. Still, the product is only half the story, for the real tale to tell is that of the behind-the-scenes scenario that led to launch such a creation.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen took to CNBC earlier today to personally scribe a piece on his company’s dramatic new decision. He first addressed the daring new device itself, stating that, “With Priv, our commitment is to continue to provide confidence that your privacy and productivity come first. In today’s hectic world, where cyber threats are real for everyone, BlackBerry is making sure that our products invoke this mantra that your privacy is your privilege.”
He continues, touching a bit on the nostalgia that so many hold dear to this day: “Priv will be the solution for smartphone users who are learning daily of the lack of privacy they have on their current devices. Priv will be the answer for former BlackBerry users who miss the physical keyboard but needed apps. And, we’re responding to current — and prospective — BlackBerry users who need it all: choice, innovation, security, privacy and productivity.”
Despite the fact that the Android enthusiast, if not tech community at large, is inevitable well aware of the major change at hand, Mr. Chen then addressed those presumably more allied within the BlackBerry community: “There will be a camp that reacts to this news with surprise, while others will see how, over the past two years, we’ve laid the groundwork to make this possible. It began with honing in on our DNA of security, privacy and productivity, and then bringing that heritage and continued innovation to other operating systems.”
As expected, he formally addressed the issue of why the company would pull an “about face” and expand to a platform that, while supportive of Android app side-loading in recent years, was still largely seen as a “competitor”, at least in a sense: “Launching an Android device is a tremendous new market opportunity as we continue our focus on building a cross-platform strategy. It’s a terrific proposition for dedicated Android users who are seeking greater productivity and powerful privacy features. And we are advancing our own platform, redefining the expectations of mobility in today’s age of risk and cybercrime so that we can serve customers even better. ”
Perhaps the issue of greatest importance to fans of BlackBerry itself however, was just what will happen to the company’s internal OS: would it be phased out as Nokia did with Symbian, or will it remain in play for the future: “I want to be clear: fans of BlackBerry’s workhorse BlackBerry 10 smartphones can continue to depend on us, and we appreciate their commitment. We will be releasing new updates of this powerful OS in the upcoming year. There is continued demand for our flagship BlackBerry 10 devices like BlackBerry Passport and Classic by consumers, enterprises and regulated industries. These devices — combined with our network — offer peerless security and productivity advantages. They’re not going away.”
Mr. Chen then ended his piece with a very optimistic, confident closing: “For nearly two years now, I’ve been telling you how we would transform the iconic BlackBerry brand into a true software powerhouse. We’re doing this by integrating our strength in building the most secure software and network and embedding it into a one-of-a-kind form factor. BlackBerry is a new company. We have new life. And we plan to continue to surprise our customers and the industry. This is just the latest move along that path.”
Acute Analysis
Mr. Chen’s piece largely confirms what had been either rumored, leaked, or assumed for some time now, however his alluding to the fact that BlackBerry would continue to support and (presumably) create and manufacture new “internal” hardware should offer a sign of relief to those users who are still wholly committed and invested in the BlackBerry universe and unwilling to go full-Android. With that said however, an almost paradoxical question arises: If BlackBerry is going to be making Android devices that support its secure services and business-related software platform, why would anyone need to purchase traditional BB10 hardware?
If BlackBerry is going to be making Android devices that support its secure services and business-related software platform, why would anyone need to purchase traditional BB10 hardware?
Therein lies a rather curious problem for the company: if the Priv takes off, along with the various other devices rumored to be arriving on Android in the future, what motivation would there truly be to continue development of BlackBerry’s own OS? Android has unlimitedly more applications and is managed by Google, thus BlackBerry need not expend additional resources on BB10 and its potential follow-ups. Android already has BlackBerry Messenger. Despite the cheerful, ambitious nature of Mr. Chen’s words, it’s the company’s own OS development team that is probably feeling the heat more than ever before. Whereas there may have been a general fear of layoff due to declining company revenue in recent times, their jobs are arguably on the line now that the Android “invader” is perched to take control.
One might also want to notice that Mr. Chen’s piece made no mention whatsoever of the company’s frightening fiscal performance as of late. Specifically, BlackBerry announced revenues of $490 million in Q2 FY2016, a little over half the same period last year. Clearly he intends the Priv to be the panacea for this malady, however even the slightest mention of such performance might cast a shadow on the potential and relevance of the device in question, though it would most certainly highlight the sheer significance at this stage.
Wrap Up
Without a doubt, BlackBerry is a new company. The partnership with Android is, in an of itself, a fantastic opportunity for future success. The fact that the first product of such a partnership is going to be a device as eye-catching and unique as the Priv only makes the icing that much sweeter. Instead of getting a re-branded Passport or BlackBerry Classic, the company is offering a slider with dual curved edges (and presumably an OLED display to allow it) that sets it apart from basically any typical Android device. Even the T9-input “feature phone” type devices that continue to crop up in Japan, China, Korea and select other Asian territories are lacking a full-on keyboard.
It’s truly curious to consider just what BlackBerry would be like today had its founding fathers not decided to resign, arguably far later than many would have preferred as is. Whatever the case may be however, the Priv looks to be the gateway to the company’s path for progress, and in return, Android’s true advancement into the secure workplace scenario.
(function ()
var opst = document.createElement(‘script’);
var os_host = document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https:” : “http:”;
opst.type = ‘text/javascript’;
opst.async = true;
opst.src = os_host + ‘//’ + ‘www.opinionstage.com/polls/2296952/embed.js’;
(document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0] ());
(function ()
var opst = document.createElement(‘script’);
var os_host = document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https:” : “http:”;
opst.type = ‘text/javascript’;
opst.async = true;
opst.src = os_host + ‘//’ + ‘www.opinionstage.com/polls/2296953/embed.js’;
(document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0] ());
T-Mobile rolling out Samsung Pay update for the Galaxy Note 5 in the US
T-Mobile is currently rolling out an over-the-air update weighing just 30MB to all its carrier-branded variants of the Galaxy Note 5 located in the United States. This upgrade brings a newer version of Samsung Pay to to the handset in readiness for the service’s official launch on Wednesday, September 28.
As usual, the update is being rolled out in stages, but if you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that it’s ready for your device to hit your unit, you could always search for the upgrade manually. To do so, open the Settings app, scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”, hit “System Updates”, then select “Check for updates”.
Come comment on this article: T-Mobile rolling out Samsung Pay update for the Galaxy Note 5 in the US
BlackBerry confirms Priv in earnings report
BlackBerry this week confirmed it will release an Android-powered sliding smartphone under the name of Priv. The long rumored and ballyhooed device was mentioned as part of the company’s most recent earnings report.
Due by the “end of the calendar year”, the handset is expected to offer top-notch security and privacy as well as all the of standard benefits of Android.
“In combination with BlackBerry’s efforts to support Android for Work on the BES12 platform, the new device will offer best in class security for enterprise customers. BlackBerry expects the device to be available late in the calendar year in major markets in-store and online, and will release further details in the coming weeks.“
This marks the first time BlackBerry has turned to another platform for its smartphones. It’s not clear whether it plans to use Android for future models, but we wouldn’t rule it out.
I’d like to see BlackBerry hardware (yes, even physical keyboards still have a place in this world) and its enterprise software and security combined with Android. Samsung and other handset makers have hedged bets with other software platforms to varying degrees of success; why can’t BlackBerry do the same?
The post BlackBerry confirms Priv in earnings report appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Netflix now lets iPhone and iPad users sign up via its app
If you want to watch Netflix without setting down your iPhone or iPad, you can now purchase a subscription directly from the app and pay using iTunes. The streaming company amusingly revealed the news using via a clip from Orange is the New Black (below) that shows inmates Crazy Eyes and Taystee trying to figure out Siri. Netflix has had iOS apps for over five years, but until now, you’ve needed to purchase a subscription over the web or on an Apple TV device. As Variety points out, Netflix may have avoided in-app buys due to the steep 30 percent fee charged by Apple.
The time was ripe for Netflix to jump in, however, as rivals like Hulu and HBO Now let users make such purchases on iOS. Reports suggest that Apple reduced its take from 30 percent to 15 percent for those companies, provided users sign up on Apple TV. It won’t matter to you, however, as you’ll still pay $9.99 (£5.99 in the UK) whether you purchase a subscription on the iOS app or the web. Other services, like Spotify actually cost more ($12.99 versus $9.99 for Spotify Premium) over iTunes. In fact, the FTC launched an inquiry to ensure that Apple’s not breaking any anti-trust laws by making it difficult to for rivals to compete against its $9.99 Music service.
Sprint to pay $1.2 million over six-month 911 outage
The FCC has slapped Sprint with a $1.2 million fine after it discovered that the network failed to properly handle 911 calls from people with hearing difficulties. The company was found to be neglecting the Captioned Telephone Service, which effectively provides closed-captions for emergency calls. Unfortunately, Sprint, along with the firms that provide the technology, let the system fall over for nearly six months. Anyone trying to make a 911 call between March and September in 2014 using the offering would have been blocked from getting through. Even worse, however, is that Sprint still collected its FCC subsidy that’s handed out to maintain the service and prevent it from being a financial burden on the carriers.
It’s not been a good few years for US mobile networks and the emergency calling system, which seems to fall over on a regular basis. T-Mobile was forced to cough up $17.5 million for letting 911 calls go unheeded for three hours, putting around 50 million people at risk. Then there’s Verizon, which had to pay $3.4 million after 750,000 California residents were left without access for six hours. Like in those cases, Sprint has pledged to pay back the money that it wasn’t entitled to and, you know, try not to endanger the lives of vulnerable people in the future.
Via: The Register, The Hill
Source: FCC
Netflix’s next original is Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’
The rumors were true: Charlie Brooker’s renowned Black Mirror is headed to Netflix as its next original. The company confirmed today that it has commissioned 12 new episodes of the dystopian drama series, with Brooker and Annabel Jones, who produced the first seven episodes, continuing to spearhead development of the show. Brooker has already begun writing the new chapters, which will be shot later this year.
Like all “Originals,” Black Mirror will debut in all Netflix-supporting countries, but in an odd twist, plans for a UK launch have yet to be decided. In Britain, the series originated on Channel 4 and the broadcaster was rumored to be in negotiations to sign up more Black Mirror episodes following its Christmas special featuring Jon Hamm. Netflix isn’t new to the series either — it’s already bagged US streaming rights for the existing instalments.
“It’s all very exciting — a whole new bunch of Black Mirror episodes on the most fitting platform imaginable. Netflix connects us with a global audience so that we can create bigger, stranger, more international and diverse stories than before, whilst maintaining that ‘Black Mirror’ feel. I just hope none of these new story ideas come true,” says Brooker with a subtle reference to recent government events in the UK.
Netflix says the “premiere date and episode rollout” will be shared “at a later date.” With that phrasing, it appears Black Mirror won’t be available to binge-watch the day it becomes available and suggests broadcasters will influence when it’s aired.
Source: Netflix
Epic Games’ new shooter is virtual reality’s killer gaming app
“Everybody wants to be Neo.” That’s how Nick Whiting, lead programmer at Epic Games, describes the main thrust behind Bullet Train, the developer’s recently announced virtual reality shooter for the Oculus Rift. What Whiting’s referring to, of course, is “bullet time” — that slow-motion technique made famous by the Matrix films. It’s a core part of the gameplay in Bullet Train, which has the player madly teleporting (in slo-mo) around a train station and assassinating wave after wave of masked enemies with an assortment of available weapons. That I greatly enjoyed the demo, playable at Oculus’ Connect 2 conference in Los Angeles, is not only a testament to how transformative Oculus’ Touch controllers will be to VR, but also to how well Whiting and his partner Nick Donaldson understand VR design. It’s also major coup when it comes to winning over a certain segment of the gaming population: I simply don’t like shooters; I like this shooter very much.
“You’re badass,” says Whiting of Bullet Train’s irresistible appeal. “You can’t die. You can grab bullets out of the air and throw them back. You can throw guns at people, and then teleport back and shoot the guy next to them.” He’s not exaggerating, either. While the gameplay is frenetic, it never becomes overwhelming, or worse, nauseating, which is a common pitfall for some early VR experiences. That smoothness is owed, in large part, to Donaldson’s own susceptibility to motion sickness and the predominant use of teleportation in the game.
“I’m super, super sensitive to [motion sickness],” he says. “I’m very aware of it and very conscious of trying to make that a comfortable experience.”
Whereas many VR experiences rely on a controller’s thumbsticks to move the player around the virtual space (and increase the risk of nausea), Bullet Train confines player movement to a small area and, instead, relies on teleports for most of the navigation. It works so well with the Touch controllers that, shortly after a very brief introductory training, I found myself jumping back and forth between different vantage points in the train station, flailing for whatever weapons were nearby without any worry. The teleports also incorporate a subtle fade to white effect, which Whiting says helps to make the constant transitions less jarring.
While Bullet Train’s obvious draw is its familiar shooting mechanic, it’s the ability to interact with the environment that’ll really have early VR adopters immersed in the experience. “We built this very physical world and then you can’t ask people to not play with it,” says Donaldson. Indeed, there are subtle elements, like the ability to cock a gun and actually feel it click into place with the Touch’s haptic feedback, that make interaction in the VR world all the more intuitive. Donaldson says that even a few businessmen, who’ve tried the demo and failed to grasp the most basic VR tasks, had no problem picking up a gun and shooting it.
“We made it so that it hits the [player’s] expectations rather than a more accurate physical simulation of it,” says Whiting of the current demo’s design. “We had an accurate physics setup, and it’s not very fun because people aren’t assassins going through and shooting a bunch of people in a train station. … You’re playing to the expectation rather than the reality of it.”
“We’re not interested in making other [VR] experiences anymore.”
Nick Whiting, Epic Games
Much of the success of Epic’s Bullet Train demo comes down to its use of Touch. Both Whiting and Donaldson were given early access to Oculus’ novel input solution and after experimenting with some early gameplay prototypes, decided to do what they knew best: build a shooter. “Not many people have done really good shooting because these Touch controls are so new. There haven’t been many opportunities for people to just totally nail it,” says Donaldson.
In fact, the experience working with Touch on Bullet Train’s been so exceptional that both Whiting and Donaldson agree there’s no going back to any other form of VR game design.
“This is the first time where you’re in a virtual reality world and you’re interacting in a way that makes sense to you, ” says Whiting. “…We’re not interested in making other experiences anymore.”
The BBC is making an iPlayer app just for kids
When the BBC announced a new children’s service called iPlay, many people were quick to call it an “iPlayer for kids.” That description isn’t entirely inaccurate, as it will include some of the broadcaster’s child-friendly programming — but that’s on top of educational and creativity tools, as well as content produced by other “trusted organisations.” It’s an important point of differentiation, because the BBC announced today that it’s also working on a dedicated children’s version of iPlayer. Details are scarce, but the BBC says it’ll be a standalone app that makes it easier for little ones to find their favourite CBBC and CBeebies shows, as well as discover news ones “in a safe environment designed just for them.” The move is hardly surprising — Netflix and YouTube have already released child-friendly versions of their video streaming services, and Sky plans to do the same early next year. iPlayer is incredibly popular in the UK, and essentially free too — whenever the littles ones are starting to get restless, this could be an indispensable app for parents.
[Image Credit: Getty Images/Johner RF]
Source: BBC
It’s official: Android-powered BlackBerry Priv (Venice) coming this year
BlackBerry announced today that its first Android-powered device, the BlackBerry Priv, is coming by the end of the year.
The announcement, part of BlackBerry’s quarterly results report for Q2 FY 2016, comes after a flurry of leaks, including an extensive hands-on look we brought you last week.
BlackBerry Priv, formerly known by its internal codename, Venice, is BlackBerry’s first foray into Android, which the Canadian company tried – and ultimately failed – to fight off with its own operating system, BlackBerry 10.
“Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform,” said BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen. The device promises “best in class security for enterprise customers,” as part of the company’s “heritage and core mission of protecting our customers’ privacy.”
The Priv will become available late this year in “major markets in-store and online.” More details, including the price and exact availability details will be revealed in the next few weeks.
The oddly named Priv can be viewed as a last-ditch effort to stay in the loss-making handset business. BlackBerry announced revenues of $490 million in Q2 FY2016, a little over half the same period last year. In the past, John Chen implied that he won’t hesitate to abandon the handset operations, and in this context, adopting Android appears to be one last desperate measure. That said, BlackBerry won’t ditch its own OS, with a major update announced for March.
For more on the exciting BlackBerry Venice Priv, read our rumor roundup. Let us know your thoughts!
AIVAnet 