Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT’s Tangible Media Group created clothes and shoes partially made of living bacteria that react to sweat by opening small vents in the garment. A new Kickstarter for a drone would use your phone as the camera. And anyone who has had to wait out the confined space torture of having an MRI scan done should be into this news: The first full-body PET scanner is being built. PET scans can also reveal how your body works rather than just images like a MRI, so this is great news for imaging technology in general.
Last month, HTC launched its latest mid range dual-SIM smartphone, the Desire 728G, in China, and now it looks like that the company is gearing up to launch the handset in India. Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom states that the 728G will be up for grabs for Rs. 17,990 ($275) in both White and Grey colorways.
The Desire 728G packs a 5.5-inch HD display, a 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 64-bit processor, a Mali-T760 GPU, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable internal storage, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP selfie shooter and a 2,800mAh non-removable battery.
If you’re based in India, like the sound of the Desire 728G and would like to find out more about the procedure of picking one up from Mahesh Telecom if and when it launches in the region– hit the source link below.
Calling abroad can be an expensive hobby, especially from a mobile phone, but UK carrier, EE, has announced some new options for its customers in the form of its new international calling packs and add-ons that will bring down the price of calling friends and loved ones living overseas down to as little as 1p a minute.
There are four options to choose from, so let’s take a look at what the various options bring to the table.
International Extra Pack:
Only available in the first 3 months of your contract
500 minutes to friends and family on landline or mobile numbers in 100 countries for £20 a month, making the calls just 4p per minute
Once enabled, the pack stays active for the length of your contract, so if you have 21 months remaining on your contract, that’s 21 x £10 monthly payments.
The 100 countries includes a good selection of countries, including South Africa, India, Pakistan, the USA, and Japan.
Can call 5 numbers per month
International Extra Add-on – is the same as the pack except for two differences:
Only 250 minutes to call landlines and mobiles, making the calls 8p per minute.
It’s a recurring add-in which can be removed or added at any time, still £20 per month.
International pack:
1,000 minutes to call friends and family overseas for just £10 a month – making the calls just 1p per minute
Call landlines and mobiles in 50 countries, including South Africa, the USA, India, and Germany
The pack stays activated for the life of your contract, so if you have 21 months remaining on your plan, that would be 21 x £10
Can call 5 numbers per month
The International Add-on offers the same as the pack, other than:
Calls being limited to 500 minutes – making the calls 2p per minute
The ability to activate or remove the add-on as you wish.
Considering the options, the International Pack would appear to offer the best value for money at £10 per month, so long as your friends and loved ones live in one of the 50 eligible countries. You can’t really argue with 1p per minute, unless there’s a free option.
EE customers who take out one of the plans before December 9 will receive a 50% bump in allowances, which means 750 minutes for the International Extra, and 1,500 minutes for the International Pack.
What do you think of EE’s offerings? Let us know which method you use to call abroad in the comments below.
Press release:
30 October 2015
New Price Packs and Add-ons give EE pay monthly mobile and SIM only customers greater convenience and value when making international calls on the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network
International Packs and Add-ons allow EE mobile customers to make calls to the most popular international destinations from the UK, with callings charges equating to as little as 1p per minute
EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, today launched new international calling Packs and Add-ons that represent market-leading value for customers making international calls on the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network[1].
EE’s new international calling Packs and Add-ons, International and International Extra, offer greater convenience and value for customers making frequent calls to friends, family and colleagues living and working abroad.
The international calling Packs allow customers to make calls to both international mobiles and landlines (maximum of five numbers per month), rather than landlines only. International Pack customers can make international calls direct from their handset, with no need for additional apps, calling cards, or extra SIMs.
The new International and International Extra Packs provide:
International: 1,000 minutes to up to five numbers in 50 countries for £10 per month
International Extra: 500 minutes to up to five numbers in 100 countries for £20 per month
Both Packs are available to new and upgrading customers in the first three months of their plan and customers will need to keep the Packs for a minimum term, the length of which will depend on whether they are on a handset or SIM only plan.
With EE’s market-leading international calling Packs, customers will be able to call some of the most popular international calling destinations, including Australia, India, Ireland, France, China and USA, with calls equating to as little as just 1p per minute to landlines and mobiles.
In addition, to celebrate the launch any customer who takes one of the International Packs before December the 9th 2015 will benefit from an additional 50% allowance per month. International Pack customers will get 1,500 minutes per month and International Extra Pack customers will receive 750 minutes per month
International and international extra ‘Add-ons’ are also available, which can be added or removed at any time, for customers who prefer greater flexibility or are in the middle of their plan.
The new International and International Extra Add-ons provide:
International: 500 minutes to up to five numbers in 50 countries for £10 per month
International Extra: 250 minutes to up to five numbers in 100 countries for £20 per month
We always knew Nintendo‘s first foray into smartphones would be a bit weird at first, but this is definitely a bit weirder than we were expecting. Announced at a briefing for Nintendo’s investors, it was revealed that Nintendo and DeNA‘s first (of five) mobile game will be called Miitomo – yes, the “Mii” in “Miitomo” refers to the 3D caricatures that Nintendo uses as your personal avatars. There wasn’t a whole lot revealed about Miitomo, and certainly no gameplay details, but it was said that the game will be free-to-play and will feature in-app purchases – because that always goes well.
However, the biggest news about Miitomo is that it won’t be releasing in 2015 as promised – the game will be delayed till March 2016 because, in the words of Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima, they need more time to “promote and explain” the game, a process that will begin probably in the new year. Kimishima also said that the following four Nintendo/DeNA games would be more standard pay-to-play games and it’s been suggested Nintendo will use more recognizable IP for those games.
What do you think about Nintendo’s first mobile game, Miitomo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The BlackBerry Priv, BlackBerry‘s very first Android smartphone, has been getting plenty of airtime the last couple of weeks. While we know quite a lot about the device already, we seem to learn something new about the device with each passing day – the latest learning comes in the form of a BlackBerry Priv feature overview video that BlackBerry posted on its YouTube channel earlier this week. The video walks us through much of the Priv’s primary features and actually spends very little time harping on about the device’s privacy features – take a look for yourself:
While privacy only gets a bit of a mention in the video, we do get a look at the DTEK app which appears to be always monitoring the security status of your phone and takes a look at the permissions that each app has. Other notable new features that we have really seen before include pop-up widgets which is a quick way of getting a widget up without cluttering your homescreen up – pretty neat. BlackBerry is no doubt hoping this video changes your mind about the Priv, making it worth your $699 USD – we’re still not so sure, but we have to admit it sure does look feature packed.
What do you think about the BlackBerry Priv feature overview? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
What’s the difference between a good and bad selfie? A neural network artificial intelligence, trained on a diet of over two million selfies, apparently knows. First, the important findings: good selfies involve being a woman — and one that’s tilting their head. A small forehead and longer hair are good points too. Filters help, as do borders. For men, while they didn’t rank in the AI’s top 100 (ugh, bias!), the bot advises that you show your full head and shoulders. Longer hairstyles (and ones combed upwards) don’t hurt mens’ chances either. Its creator, Andrej Karpathy, who has worked with Google Research and DeepMind, explains that it’s a convoluted neural network which does the image recognizing and, er, judging. You can judge yourself (for yourself) using the network’s Twitter bot (61.7 percent here), or read on for how it learned to do all that.
A Nier sequel was one of the last things we expected to see at E3 this year — which is why it was such a surprise when Square Enix showed off a proof-of-concept trailer for an upcoming PS4 sequel. Today, the company gives us something more substantial: the game’s full name (Nier: Automata), a new gameplay trailer focusing on Platinum Games’ combat engine and a bit of backstory.
Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled its largest device yet, the Galaxy View and today, the company has revealed the larger-than-life tablet will launch in the US on November 6th and will set you back $599 for the Wi-Fi only model. There will also be a model with LTE sold at a later date and past history would suggest that AT&T is the most likely carrier to snap this up.
The Galaxy View is being dubbed as the ultimate entertainment device and is somewhat portable, despite the large 18.4-inch Full HD display. The tablet comes equipped with a video-centric UI that brings on demand video to your fingertips from a range of preloaded and downloadable providers. The majority of the price tag is for this entertainment pack, with the rest of the specs mid-range at the very best.
Under the hood, the Galaxy View is powered by a 1.86GHz octa-core Exynos 7580 processor, 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage that can be expanded using a microSD card. The Galaxy View runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with a custom video interface that’s designed specifically for the big display.
What do you think of the Galaxy View and are you going to buy one? Let us know your views guys and check out our Galaxy View hands on above.
LG has announced that its LG V10 “ultra-smartphone” is to begin shipping in key markets this week. Specifically, the US, China and Hong Kong first, with the rest of the world to follow shortly.
A number of US carriers are already offering the handset through their online stores this week, and T-Mobile has stated that the V10 will appear in its physical shops today. The phone should arrive at AT&T stores by November 6th. Remember, US customers looking to pick up the LG V10 can also claim a selection of free goodies from LG if they buy before November 15th, including a 200GB microSD card.
Following this rollout wave, the LG V10 is scheduled to arrive in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East throughout the fourth quarter of 2015, so anytime over the next couple of months. Unfortunately, specific dates for each territory have not been given.
The LG V10 is already on sale in South Korea, but the handset’s reception has not been as positive as expected. The V10 failed to break into the top 10 most sold devices during its opening week in the country, which is not a good sign for a phone’s début. Given the poor looking financial state of LG’s high-end smartphone business this year, the company will be banking on a stronger global reception for the V10 if it hopes to see a return to last year’s strong market growth.
LG V10 “ULTRA-SMARTPHONE” TO BEGIN SHIPPING IN KEY MARKETS WORLDWIDE
LG’s First V Series Phone Delivers Enhanced Multimedia Capabilities and More
SEOUL, Oct. 30, 2015 ― The LG V10, the newest smartphone from LG Electronics (LG) developed with creativity in mind, will begin to reach customers worldwide starting this week. The “ultra-smartphone” will make its debut in the United States, China and Hong Kong, followed by key markets in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States throughout the fourth quarter.
LG’s first V Series smartphone was designed to provide a rich multimedia experience for today’s socially savvy consumers. The LG V10 offers distinctive new features such as a Second Screen, Dual Front Cameras and Manual Video Mode to make both consumption and creation of multimedia content as seamless as possible. Featuring LG’s signature removable battery (3,000mAh) and microSD card slot, the LG V10 has the distinction of being the first smartphone to meet SanDisk’s guidelines for Extreme Photo-Imaging Capabilities (EPIC) to distinguish exceptional photography and video experiences in smartphones.
As an advanced multimedia smartphone, audio quality was also given top priority consideration. The V10 plays back high-definition music via its 32 bit Hi-Fi DAC by ESS Technology, a first in a mobile device. It accomplishes this by up sampling standard-definition audio files to 32 bit Hi-Fi format. The supplied Quad Beat 3 earphones were developed in partnership with AKG Acoustics, the European manufacturer of high-end headphones, microphones and audio systems for professionals. With the latest version of LG’s Quad Beat earphones, the V10 users can enjoy richer low sounds and clearer high sounds.
Other notable highlights of the LG V10 include:
Second Screen, an “always-on” display above the main 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display, enhances the V10’s productiveness without impacting battery life
Dual Front Cameras with two separate lenses can capture standard 80 degree selfies or undistorted wide angle shots of 120 degrees
Manual Video Mode creates professional-quality videos by adjusting options such as shutter speed, frame rate, ISO, white balance and focus even while recording
Resilient Dura Guard frame composed of SAE grade 316L stainless steel and Dura Skin firmly secures the display to protect the phone from hard bumps and tumbles
Earlier this fall, LG embarked on a partnership with actor, writer and director, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his Emmy Award winning production company HitRECord to support the development of creative content. The innovative collaboration builds upon LG’s ambition to celebrate and support creators across the world. Specifically, the efforts include the creation of a television commercial in the United States and a short film focused on the In-Between Moments which “happen all throughout the day and can be beautiful, or spontaneous, or fleeting ― but they give life its texture.”
“Designed from the ground up primarily as a multimedia smartphone, the LG V10 is the ultimate device for the sharing ecosystem,” said Juno Cho, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Consumers have been waiting for a true multimedia device that doesn’t cut corners. With the V10, we hope to show what smartphones are truly capable of.”
Prices and availability dates will be announced locally.
Following Sony’s release of the Xperia Z5 and the Z5 Compact earlier this month, the Japanese manufacturer has today started rolling out a much-needed stability update for its flagship and its scaled down sibling. Unfortunately, the upgrade doesn’t bring much in terms of added functionality to the handsets, but it does transport a handful of essential bug fixes, as well as a patch for the Stagefright vulnerability exploit.
Users who have already installed the update are reporting that it also enhances camera performance, improves the on board heat management system and makes the fingerprint sensor a little more accurate. Although, we can’t vouch for the credibility of these changes seeing as they weren’t detailed in the changelog and we haven’t received the upgrade on our Xperia Z5 yet.
As is the norm, this update is being distributed in stages across several regions. To see if it’s 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 update.
What’s the difference between a good and bad selfie? A neural network artificial intelligence, trained on a diet of over two million selfies, apparently knows. First, the important findings: good selfies involve being a woman — and one that’s tilting their head. A small forehead and longer hair are good points too. Filters help, as do borders. For men, while they didn’t rank in the AI’s top 100 (ugh, bias!), the bot advises that you show your full head and shoulders. Longer hairstyles (and ones combed upwards) don’t hurt mens’ chances either. Its creator, Andrej Karpathy, who has worked with Google Research and DeepMind, explains that it’s a convoluted neural network which does the image recognizing and, er, judging. You can judge yourself (for yourself) using the network’s Twitter bot (61.7 percent here), or read on for how it learned to do all that.
AIVAnet 