Engadget UK giveaway: win a Galaxy Note 5 courtesy of Bitdefender
Samung’s Galaxy Note 5 isn’t officially available in the UK — not yet, anyway — but nonetheless, we’ve got a cheeky import to send the way of one lucky reader this week. The 32GB, Black Sapphire model comes courtesy of our friends at Bitdefender, who are celebrating the recent launch of their new Mobile Security and Antivirus suite for Android. The app uses Bitdefender’s constantly updated, cloud-based antivirus services to keep your device malware-free, and allows you lock individual apps with passcodes for an extra layer of protection from idle hands. Alongside several anti-theft tools, the app also offers secure web browsing, a breakdown of app permissions that may be cause for concern, and Android Wear integration that alerts your smartwatch when you stray an uncomfortable distance from your phone. And whoever wins the Galaxy Note 5 this week will also get a full year’s subscription to Bitdefender Mobile Security and Antivirus for free. As always, you can enter the competition up to three times via the Rafflecopter widget below, though we’d ask you give the rules a quick once-over first.
Source: Bitdefender
Egypt hunts for hidden pyramid chambers with cosmic rays
Egyptologists, rejoice. A new project was launched on the weekend with the goal of scanning Egypt’s pyramids to find secrets about how they were built, and even discover hidden rooms and chambers. The project is headed by Egypt’s antiquity ministry, which is heading a team of experts from Japan, France and Canada. The aim is to use infrared scanners and rare, esoteric cosmic ray detectors to map the interior of several pyramids, including the Pyramids of Cheops and Chephren at Giza. The team said it may also use the same technique to prove (or disprove) a theory that the legendary Queen Nefertiti is buried in a chamber next to Tutankhamun.
Source: AFP
Kangaroo is a portable, phone-sized Windows 10 desktop
As convenient as a PC-on-a-stick may be, it’s typically saddled with some major limits: you rarely have more than one port, and you always have to plug into a power source. InFocus (yes, the projector company) thinks it has a better idea, though. Its new Kangaroo PC gives you a battery-powered Windows 10 desktop that’s about as small as a smartphone — you can pull it out of your pocket, connect peripherals and start working for up to four hours. You can even connect to an iPad if you’re bent on a completely portable setup. Also, InFocus takes a clever approach to expansion: there’s an included dock with HDMI and two USB ports, and there are promises of more add-ons in the future.
Via: BGR
Source: InFocus, PR Newswire
Google patents new road safety feature for Android Wear devices
Google has just filed for a patent on a brand new piece of technology it hopes will improve road safety. According to the information included in the documentation filed at the USPTO, the system will enable smartwatches to detect whether you’re a driver or passenger in a vehicle, so that it can disable certain notifications and functionality to ensure that all drivers are using their Android Wear devices responsibly on the road.
The overall concept is pretty simple. First and foremost, GPS is used to detect whether the wearable is in a moving vehicle. Next, a proprietary piece of software is used to connect to the sensors within the smartwatch to identify whether it is on the wrist of a driver or passenger by observing key movements associated with driving a car, such as the turning of a steering wheel. Finally, if the algorithm determines that the wearer is operating a vehicle, functions like texting and web browsing are immobilized.
As with many patents, it’s entirely possible that this development will never see the light of day, but I, personally, feel it’s a great idea and hope it makes its way onto our Android Wear devices in the not-too-distant future.
Source: USPTO
Come comment on this article: Google patents new road safety feature for Android Wear devices
HTC’s now rolling out the Lollipop update for the Desire 820 in Asia
HTC is in the midst of rolling out its second major update to the Asian variant of the Desire 820. The upgrade brings the latest version of Lollipop to the handset, together with a multitude of much-needed bug fixes and stability improvements.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Android 5.0 Lollipop update
- Lock screen and Notification: New Lollipop UI style with enhanced privacy features
- Recent apps; Supporting multiple pages
- Addition of search function within settings
To see if the update is ready for your device head into Settings, scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”, hit “System Updates”, then select “Check for updates”. Alternatively, you can wait until you receive a push notification prompting you to install the upgrade.
Via: Twitter
Come comment on this article: HTC’s now rolling out the Lollipop update for the Desire 820 in Asia
Apple Begins Accepting Online Orders for New Apple TV
In line with the target date announced by Tim Cook last week, Apple is now allowing customers to place online orders for the new Apple TV set-top box. The new Apple TV is available with either 32 GB of storage for $149 or 64 GB for $199, and orders will begin shipping to customers later this week, with the earliest deliveries being set for October 30 for those who opt for one-day shipping.
Alongside the box itself, Apple is also selling extra Siri Remotes for $79 and Remote Loop wrist straps for $12.99. Two-year AppleCare coverage is also available for $29.
The new Apple TV brings a number of improvements in both hardware and the user experience, led by a full App Store with support for third-party apps and a new touch-based remote that supports Siri-based controls in select countries. Universal search allows users to find available content across different services, and Apple intends to open this feature up to developers to allow their content to be included.
On the hardware side, the new Apple TV includes an A8 chip with 2 GB of RAM, supporting up to 1080p video at 60 frames per second. The new remote for the Apple TV includes a glass touchpad as well as an accelerometer and a gyroscope that allow it to serve a game controller. Third-party Bluetooth controllers are also supported.
Trumpit really goes above the lock screen after major update
Trumpit, the lock screen photo messenger that exited beta in August, is ready for its next major update. Now the app actually goes above the lock screen full-time in an effort to bring messages to users with great speed. Entire conversations full of images and text can happen without ever unlocking your phone.
By fully implementing lock screen chat, Trumpit lets users keep connected with each other without breaking their attention from whatever they are currently more focused on. Entering a pass or pattern plus loading up the text or chat client might seem like a quick action by istelf, but when you’re doing something that requires focus, this turns into an eternity. Instead of going through that process, Trumpit puts the picture or chat right on the lock screen and gives users the ability to reply, love, forward, edit, or respond with a photo of their own.
Come comment on this article: Trumpit really goes above the lock screen after major update
Apple to Open First Retail Store in Singapore in Late 2016
The Pure Group today announced that its Pure Fitness gym located at Knightsbridge, a four-storey luxury shopping center in Singapore, will be closing on December 15, 2015 to make space for the first Apple Store in the country opening late 2016, per Tech in Asia and multiple Singaporean news outlets.
Pure Fitness is located at 270 Orchard Road in Singapore (Google Maps)
Pure Fitness will reportedly be one of several tenants relocating to allow for the upcoming Apple Store at 270 Orchard Road, an upscale area in the city center. The gym sent customers a similar notice that confirms it “will be handing back space to the landlord to make way for the opening of Singapore’s first Apple store later in 2016.”
Apple does not have an official retail presence in Singapore, a large city-state and country south of Malaysia in Southeast Asia, but the Apple Online Store and dozens of Apple Authorized Resellers operate in the region. The closest physical Apple Stores are located several hours away in Australia and Hong Kong.
Samsung Pay has more than 1 million users in South Korea
It would be fair to say that Samsung’s mobile payments system, imaginatively named Samsung Pay, is doing pretty well for itself. Samsung Pay first launched in Korea, and more recently in the United States at the tail-end of August, and the Korean electronics giant has recently announced that more than 1 million people have used the service in its homeland in the two months since its official launch.
According to Samsung, Samsung Pay accounts for more than 100,000 transactions every day, with a financial value of 2 billion won ($1.8million) daily. Since its launch, Samsung Pay has been responsible for more than 100 billion won ($88 million) in transactions.
$88 million may not sound like much when you think of the billions in profit that a company like Samsung generates, but if you think, Samsung Pay is only compatible with a very select number of handsets, namely the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and Note 5. Much like a snowball, as more compatible handsets become available in the coming months, more and more transactions will be made using the service.
Source: BusinessKorea
Come comment on this article: Samsung Pay has more than 1 million users in South Korea
Samsung Pay crosses 1 million users
Samsung’s mobile payment solution is increasing in popularity in the company’s home market, with Samsung reporting that Samsung Pay has now crossed 1 million users in the two months since it launched in Korea.
Samsung Pay handsets:
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According to the company, the increase in users has seen average daily payments exceed 100,000 and users find that Samsung Pay is the perfect way to settle small bills in convenience and/or department stores, supermarkets and restaurants. The increase in daily transactions has also seen an increase in average payments per day from $705,000 (800 million won) to $1.8 million (2 billion won) and cumulative payments exceeding 100 billion won ($88 million).
Mobile payments is proving to be a fast-growing category, with Samsung joining the likes of Apple and Google getting involved in m-commerce. Apple Pay was arguably the first mainstream mobile payment solution and Samsung closely followed, although it’s taken several months to launch. With its new Android Marshmallow OS, Google has sought to make Android Pay a big challenger in the market and while we’re yet to see a mass rollout, it’s likely to be in the very near future.
Where Samsung Pay has the potential to be better than its competition is in its technology; while all m-payment solutions support payments via NFC – which replicates the experience of using a contactless payment card – Samsung Pay is the only to support MST (Magnetic Security Transmission), which allows it to be used at almost all retailers. Using Apple Pay or Android Pay requires retailers to support contactless payments but MST means Samsung Pay can be used with any retailer who supports either NFC or swipe cards.
At the moment, Samsung pay can be used for both, offline and online payments (using a Samsung card), as well as Cash withdrawals at Woori Bank ATMs. Samsung plans to extend the functionality of Samsung Pay by adding support for membership and transport cards before the end of this year. We’re yet to see how well Samsung Pay does outside of its home market but it’s likely that Samsung will launch its global rollout in the coming months.
AIVAnet 