HTC One A9 will be launched with Android 6.0 and Sense 7
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With the financial troubles front and centre at HTC, all eyes are on the next device that the Taiwanese manufacturer releases. Word on the street is that this device will be announced at an event booked on September 29th, and that device will be the HTC One A9, or as some know it, the Hima or Aero. While we’re expecting all manner of power on the inside of the device, we’ve heard about the software side of things thanks to serial HTC leaker, LlabTooFeR. According to LlabTooFeR, the HTC One A9 will be launched with Android 6.0 and Sense 7, which makes a bit of sense seeing as Google is expected to be announcing its new devices that same day and releasing Android 6.0 Marshmallow into the wild.
Hima_Aero will run Android 6.0 and Sense 7 GP on the launch…
— LlabTooFeR (@LlabTooFeR) September 14, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWith that in mind, we should probably take this news with a grain of salt – it’s been suggested that the device being announced could also be the HTC Butterfly 3, which holds slightly more water seeing as its only been 6 months since the One M9 was released. Then again, they could be the same device. All the same, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was announced a few weeks early, so I feel like anything could happen at this point.
What do you think about the fact the HTC One A9 will be launched with Android 6.0 and Sense 7? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via Phones Review
The post HTC One A9 will be launched with Android 6.0 and Sense 7 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Barclaycard to launch NFC payments on Android ahead of Apple Pay
Since Apple Pay launched in the UK, several banks have been dragging their heels when it comes to supporting the contactless payment platform. Lloyds and Halifax begun a gradual roll-out just last week, casting renewed shade on Barclays, which appears to be more interested in its bPay gear (and jacket) than throwing iPhone and Apple Watch users a bone. The banking giant said some time ago it’ll eventually play nice with Apple Pay, but it’s decided in the interim to turn its attention to Android users. Its credit card arm, Barclaycard, announced today that from November, its Android app will begin supporting NFC payments. These payments won’t be limited to the (recently raised) £30 contactless cap, too, with transactions of up to £100 allowed with PIN authentication (similar to Apple Pay).
Additional features coming to the updated Barclaycard app include a direct line to the customer call centre to report a lost, stolen or damaged card, and receive an “instant card replacement.” A new, virtual card will be added to your app so you can begin using it straight away, while you wait for the physical counterpart to turn up in the post.
As Barclaycard now has a contactless payment system in place for Android users, it might decide to forego support for platforms like Samsung Pay and Android Pay when they come to the UK in the near future, preferring to go it alone instead. Barclays continues to show a vested interest in contactless payments, but on its own terms. It’s only a matter of time before Apple Pay becomes part of the equation (Barclaycards are supported in the US, after all), but Barclays isn’t rushing to draft a middleman in just yet — especially one that’s expecting a cut.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Via:
Press Association (Yahoo! News)
Source:
Barclaycard
Tags: apple, applepay, barclaycard, barclays, ContactlessPayment, MobilePayments, mobilepostcross, nfc, NfcPayments
‘Let’s Encrypt’ project issues its first free certificate
Last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation along with Mozilla and Cisco launched an initiative called “Let’s Encrypt” that promised to hand out free certificates anyone can use. Today, the team has released its first one — it’s only available to beta testers for now, but everyone can see it in action on the group’s website. The project aims to make HTTPS implementation easier for website and online shop owners, in order to ensure the safety of customers’ data. According to the EFF, participants can forget “muddling through complicated programming to set up encryption on a website, or yearly fees.” The team did mention when the project launched that all users have to do to use the free certificate is to run a program.
Folks who want to participate in the beta testing phase can sign up and submit their domains for consideration. Major browsers still don’t recognize Let’s Encrypt’s certificate as a trusted authority, though, so beta testers will have to do much more than “run a program.” Thankfully, the team’s already working with Google (for Chrome), Mozilla (for Firefox), Apple (for Safari) and Microsoft (for Edge) to make that happen. If all goes well, the certificate will be available for everyone to use on the week of November 16th, 2015.
[Image credit: Jorg Greuel]
Filed under:
Misc
Source:
Let’s Encrypt, EFF
Tags: encryptioncertificate, letsencrypt, security
Barclaycard to launch NFC payments on Android ahead of Apple Pay
Since Apple Pay launched in the UK, several banks have been dragging their heels when it comes to supporting the contactless payment platform. Lloyds and Halifax begun a gradual roll-out just last week, casting renewed shade on Barclays, which appears to be more interested in its bPay gear (and jacket) than throwing iPhone and Apple Watch users a bone. The banking giant said some time ago it’ll eventually play nice with Apple Pay, but it’s decided in the interim to turn its attention to Android users. Its credit card arm, Barclaycard, announced today that from November, its Android app will begin supporting NFC payments. These payments won’t be limited to the (recently raised) £30 contactless cap, too, with transactions of up to £100 allowed with PIN authentication (similar to Apple Pay).
Additional features coming to the updated Barclaycard app include a direct line to the customer call centre to report a lost, stolen or damaged card, and receive an “instant card replacement.” A new, virtual card will be added to your app so you can begin using it straight away, while you wait for the physical counterpart to turn up in the post.
As Barclaycard now has a contactless payment system in place for Android users, it might decide to forego support for platforms like Samsung Pay and Android Pay when they come to the UK in the near future, preferring to go it alone instead. Barclays continues to show a vested interest in contactless payments, but on its own terms. It’s only a matter of time before Apple Pay becomes part of the equation (Barclaycards are supported in the US, after all), but Barclays isn’t rushing to draft a middleman in just yet — especially one that’s expecting a cut.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Via:
Press Association (Yahoo! News)
Source:
Barclaycard
Tags: apple, applepay, barclaycard, barclays, ContactlessPayment, MobilePayments, mobilepostcross, nfc, NfcPayments
Google told to unbundle apps from Android in Russia
Another country isn’t too happy with Google, this time Russia is accusing the search giant of breaching its anti-trust regulations, as it gains an unfair competitive advantage from the pre-installed Google products bundled in with Android phones and tablets. The situation arose after the Yandex search engine, a Russian internet company, complained to regulators about Google back in February.
The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service found that Android unfairly favours Google services and accuses Google of abusing its dominant position in the smartphone and tablet markets. It would rather that phones simply shipped with the Google Play Store, leaving users free to choose the rest of their apps. The body will be issuing detailed instructions to Google about how to proceed within the next 10 days.
“We welcome the positive ruling of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which took up this complex case and, having examined the evidence, recognised a violation on the part of Google … We believe the FAS’s decision will serve to restore competition on the market.” – Yandex
Yandex seems to already be a winner following the announcement, as the company’s stock leapt up by around 10 percent. According to Bloomberg, Yandex’s search results have fallen to 50 percent of traffic this year, while Google’s climbed to 42 percent. Yandex clearly doesn’t like the extra competition.
Google has not issued a reply yet, stating only that it will study the case and plan its next move once it receives demands from the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service. Google is likely looking at another costly and lengthy legal battle.
Russia is not the only one upset with Google’s dominant market position lately. The tech company is also under investigation by the European Commission regarding its Android OS and pre-installed services. Google is also fighting a similar anti-trust case in Europe over alleged preferential shopping search results.
Sony’s Project Morpheus is now ‘PlayStation VR’
Sony’s Project Morpheus VR system has a new, more obvious name: PlayStation VR. The announcement came today at the company’s Tokyo Game Show press conference, but that’s about the only new information Sony was willing to part with. Explaining the change, PlayStation product business president Masayasu Ito says “The name ‘PlayStation VR’ not only directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation that allows players to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual world of a game, but it also reflects our hopes that we want our users to feel a sense of familiarity as they enjoy this amazing experience.” He adds that the hardware itself will continue to be refined in the coming months, and that Sony is working closely with 3rd parties and in-house studios to ensure there are actually some games for the thing when it launches. There’s still no official release date for the headset, which is due for release at some point in early 2016.
Filed under:
Gaming
Tags: PlaystationVR, ProjectMorpheus, VirtualReality
PlayStation 4 is getting a price cut in Japan
If you were holding off on a price drop before buying a PlayStation 4, I hope you’re living in Japan. Sony just announced that its latest home console is getting a price cut to 35,000 yen (around $300) in the region, starting October 1st. You might be asking how this affects everyone else. Well, for starters this is a Sony sanctioned price cut and this is the first official one for the PS4. With the upcoming Paris Games Week (that Sony’s pledged to be at in a big way) this could very well signal a price drop in Europe. And then we have the upcoming PlayStation Experience show in the United States later this year, which could see the asking price drop domestically too.
We didn’t get any new info on how the system is selling worldwide, but this coupled with the official name for Project Morpheus PlayStation VR is at least something from the otherwise lackluster pre-Tokyo Game Show keynote.
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Tags: gaming, hd, hdpostcross, japan, playstation, playstation4, pricecut, pricedrop, sony, tgs2015
Sony debuts new DualShock 4 hues, colorful hard drive covers
If you already own a PlayStation 4 but want to add a little bit more flair to your console, Sony’s Tokyo Game Show press conference has delivered some good news. First up are new hard drive panels, which let you add a touch of colour to your console with a variety of yellow, gold, pink, yellow, light blue, red and purple plates. Sony introduced us to the idea of swappable faces when it debuted its Project Skylight beta back in December 2014, but its latest accessories focus on solid colors more than game tie-ins.
If you’re happy with your console but could spring for a new controller, Sony’s delivered on that front too. It’s unveiled four new models, which come in Gold, Silver, Steel Black, and transparent Crystal. Both the controllers and the hard drive panels will launch in Japan ahead of the holiday season on November 6th. Sony says the plates will cost 2,500 yen each ($21/£14), and the new DualShock 4 pads will retail for 6,480 yen ($54/£35). The company has confirmed that the gold and silver controllers will make their way west first, but hasn’t said when we can expect them. It’s likely we won’t have to wait long until they all become available.
Source:
Sony
Tags: dualshock, dualshock4, hdpostcross, playstation 4, playstation4, ps4, sony
Huawei Nexus shows up in benchmarks with Snapdragon 810 processor
A leaked GeekBench report has emerged online for Huawei’s upcoming Nexus smartphone, which is rumored to launch in just two weeks time. The benchmark reveals that the handset is set to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM on board, and will run the latest build of Android 6.0 Marshmallow straight out of the box.
Other notable specifications include a QHD display of either 5.5-inches or 5.7-inches, an Adreno 420 GPU, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE capabilities, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1 (LE), USB Type-C for fast-charging and a fingerprint scanner.
Check out the full list of benchmark test results in the image below:
Source: MyDrivers
Come comment on this article: Huawei Nexus shows up in benchmarks with Snapdragon 810 processor
Deal: HTC selling the 16 GB Nexus 9 for $239.40, 32 GB version only $287.40 (US-only)
Trying to get yourself a brand new Nexus 9 tablet? You are looking to spend $399 to $479… that is, unless you buy it straight from HTC. The Taiwanese manufacturer just went nuts and started selling the Google tablet at amazingly reduced prices. You can now grab the 16 GB version for only $239.40, while the 32 GB iteration will go for $287.40.
Those are some very sweet deals, considering the prices these tablets usually go for. This would be only for the WiFi versions, though. There’s currently no discount on the LTE-enabled pads. Now, do keep in mind there is one significant caveat – the website states “all purchases must be billed and shipped to a valid mailing address in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia only.” Pretty straight forward.
All things considered, the Nexus 9 is a very nifty tablet to have. It managed to get a 9/10 in our review, which places it well above many other competitors. And even though its an aging device, it continues to hold its own pretty well.
The Nexus 9 packs a Tegra K1 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 8.9 2048x1536p display, an 8 MP rear camera, a 1.6 MP front shooter and a 6700 mAh battery. It’s certainly no weakling, and at this price point it happens to be a very good deal too. Just make sure you act fast if you want to jump in on this deal, because we are not sure how long it will stick around. Are any of you signing up?!
Buy the Nexus 9 from HTC’s website!
AIVAnet 