LG rumored to be working on a versatile ‘G Pay’ service
Mobile payment ecosystems have hit the mainstream this year, with the launch of Apple Pay and Samsung Pay bringing the feature to new markets and customers. According to insiders and a couple of trademark applications, electronics manufacturer LG may be preparing to launch its own mobile payment system under the title ‘LG G Pay’.
LG has applied for G Pay trademarks in both South Korea and the US, suggesting that a global launch may be on the cards. Given the naming strategy used by current mobile payment technologies in the market, it’s a pretty safe bet that this is the name that LG is planning to use for its own rumored payment service. Sources also state that LG Electronics Director Kim Jong Hoon confirmed that the company plans to enter the payment business, back at a reporters conference for the V10 smartphone on October 1st.
“Applying for trademark in foreign country indicates that it will start its business in detail. It shared and gathered information about South Korean mobile payment technologies with couple card companies.” – anonymous source in financial industry
Samsung Pay is seen as the leading mobile payment platform in terms of technology, due to its support for commonly used magnetic strip readers as well as NFC payment methods. According to industry insiders, LG’s technology will be more versatile than any other technology on the market right now, although exact details about which technologies LG’s system will support have not been disclosed.
“LG is working hard to secure versatility that surpasses current mobile payment methods.” – source familiar with LG Electronics
Not only would a move into mobile payments help keep LG competitive with some of its biggest rivals in the smartphone market, but it would also allow the company to capitalize on the lucrative, growing mobile payment market. It is not clear exactly when LG will make an official detailed announcement about its plans, but here’s hoping that it will come before the end of 2015.
Netflix and Marvel release a first peek at ‘Daredevil’ season two
Netflix’s second Marvel series, Jessica Jones, doesn’t arrive until November 20th, but it’s already teasing the next round of Daredevil. Season one was well received earlier this year, and this past weekend the cast dropped by New York Comic-Con for a panel and to meet with fans. You can check out the half-hour panel discussion embedded after the break, as well as a trailer that recaps season one and gives us glimpses at new characters Elektra and Frank Castle. Daredevil season two on Netflix is headed our way in 2016, along with a new series for Luke Cage.
His work is far from finished. #Daredevil https://t.co/bRUUiWpPqD
— Daredevil (@Daredevil) October 13, 2015
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Source: Marvel (YouTube), Daredevil (Twitter)
Ghost Push malware can root devices and install unwanted apps – here is the fix
A common rule of thumb is that those who stick with the Google Play Store are safe from malware and other dangers. This is mostly the case, but once in a blue moon we get some exceptions. Such is the case for Ghost Push, a trojan malware that hides itself inside popular apps and has managed to make its way to official app markets (yes, this includes our beloved Play Store).
This malicious code was discovered by Cheetah Mobile on September 18th. Things spread quickly and the malware managed to infect 900,000 devices, which really is a significant number. This includes smartphones and tablets from many markets and manufacturers. We can thank the quick proliferation to the nature of the software. Aside from bypassing security measures established by the Google Play Store and other markets, Ghost Push was able to obtain full root and control smartphones and tablets at its fullest. This also made it nearly impossible to get rid of.
Some of the infected apps include bogus versions of Calculator, Smart Touch, Assistive Touch, Talking Tom 3, Easy Locker, Privacy Lock and others.
After earning full control over a device, the Chinese hackers running the operation would push app installations without the user’s consent… and they weren’t free apps. Cheetah Mobile estimates that Ghost Push made this criminal ring about $4.05 million per day.
There’s not much to worry about now, as all of these malicious apps were quickly taken down from the Google Play Store, but some of you may have already been affected. As we mentioned above, this is a very nasty virus that sticks to your phones internals. Most anti-virus software won’t even work, but Cheetah Mobile has created a specialized tool to kill Ghost Push.
The app is also good at detecting the malware, so you should run it if you have been noticing any weird activity on your smartphone, or if you happen to have downloaded one of the listed apps.
Download Ghost Push Trojan Killer from the Google Play Store
This just goes to show you that we should always be careful of what we do with our smartphones. Sometimes even the Google Play Store is not safe, so try to be careful where you grab your apps from. Always make sure it comes from the official developer and no red flags are up. Have any of you been affected? The stats show the USA had its fair share of infected gadgets.
AOSP Marshmallow resources and binaries added to Sony’s Open Device program
Sony has just uploaded Android 6.0 Marshmallow AOSP resources and binaries to its Open Device program, allowing developers to build their own custom ROMs based on the latest version of Android for a range of Sony phones.
Sony has made its latest round of resources available to all of its Qualcomm devices that were built from 2014 onwards. So, this includes the Xperia Z3, Z3+, Z2, Z4 Tablet, and a selection of mid-range phones like the Xperia T3. The company may have only just released its Xperia Z5 into the hands of customers but binaries are available for Sony’s latest flagship too.
Recent Sony phones:
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The Sony Open Device program also includes device configuration and build guides for eager developers, along with the software binaries. The AOSP resources can be patched up and maintained by the community through GitHub. You can check out all of the available resources here.
Although a number of Sony devices have early Android 6.0 resources ready for download, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Sony will be officially updating all of these handsets to Marshmallow. The company has not announced any update plans yet. However, it shouldn’t be too long before the custom ROM community can put something together.
The company behind Relish wireless broadband makes a big loss
Relish’s dream to connect London homes with wireless broadband, rather than traditional landlines, could be in trouble. UK Broadband, the company behind the service, has reported losses of £37.5 million for 2014 — almost four times what it was the year before. To make matters worse, turnover slipped from roughly £2 million to £1.5 million over the same period. Relish was launched in June 2014 as a simpler, but capable broadband alternative to the likes of BT, Sky and Virgin Media. Instead of copper and fibre cables, the company relies on 4G connections to deliver the internet to its customers. The advantages are plentiful — you don’t need to pay for a landline, and because Relish’s network is already up and running, you don’t need an engineer to install anything. Once you’ve signed up, a router is sent round within the next working day and you can instantly get online. The concept is similar to the mobile broadband packages offered by EE, Three and other UK carriers, although here there are no restrictive data allowances. So what’s gone wrong?
Well, it should be noted that the figures filed by UK Broadband aren’t just for Relish. The company also offers consultancy services and the “provision of wireless solutions,” including design and the supplying of equipment, for instance. Even so, it’s evident that Relish hasn’t been a runaway success. At least, not in the six months following its launch, anyway. The company has been pushing its offering with ads on the Tube, but Relish still doesn’t feel like a household name. There’s also something of a stigma attached to wireless broadband at the moment. Adopters often tell stories of slow or unreliable connections, similar to those experienced on their phone. Relish promises “up to 50Mbps” speeds, but that’s also dependent on you being inside their catchment area. The company is focused solely on London, but its network doesn’t cover every household — to find out if you’re eligible, you’ll need to submit your postcode into its coverage checker first.
Home broadband is still a messy quagmire in the UK, but traditional ISPs are pushing hard to improve speeds and coverage. Relish is an intriguing competitor, and could appeal to Londoners who move a lot and just want a decent, easy to cancel broadband package. Early demand appears to have been low though. Relish hasn’t failed just yet — business could have picked up in 2015 — but this is a worrying sign from the company.
Via: ISPreview, The Telegraph
Source: Companies House
YouTube trains its thumbnailer to generate better images
Since a YouTube video’s thumbnail could convince or deter viewers from hitting play, we’re sure a lot of creators would love the website’s new and improved automatic thumbnailer. According to the Google Research Blog’s announcement post, the website analyzes videos you upload at one frame per second and scores each frame based on their quality. The generator will then display images that scored high enough during analysis. But, how exactly does YouTube’s algorithm know how to score images? Apparently, by training it to recognize between good and bad photos.
YouTube’s developers fed its deep neural network with examples: they used typically well-constructed custom thumbnails uploaded by creators to represent good/high-quality ones, while the bad/low-quality samples were just random screen captures. Based on the comparison images the YT team posted, the upgraded algorithm successfully learned from the process and can pinpoint HQ photos. Thankfully, the generator’s now live, so you can try it out for yourself and see if that’s really the case.
Source: Google Research
ComEd wants to put a million smart thermostats in Illinois homes
ComEd, the largest power provider in Illinois, wants to give its customers a hand in switching over to smart thermostats like those from Nest and Ecobee. The idea is to get a million of them installed within the next five years, according to The Washington Post. The utilities company is offering $120 rebates to its customers who buy the gizmos and the Environmental Protection Agency tells WaPo that it’s the “largest effort of its kind” in the country. ComEd likens the push to switch to the connected thermostats to the not-that-long-ago transition to compact fluorescent bulbs in terms of energy savings. Should the program be a success, it could drop total carbon dioxide emissions in the state by 709,000 metric tons and save folks up to $131 per year on their gas and electricity bills.
Source: The Washington Post
DoubleTwist’s CloudPlayer can stream to Android Wear and Auto
DoubleTwist’s CloudPlayer can already pull and stream media from Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive accounts, but now it works on AllPlay speakers, Android smartwatches and Auto. Yep, you’ll be able to stream your tunes in your car, on your wrist and in your home or office… depending on where you store your non-smartphone Android hardware. With AllPlay support it also means you can now use CloudPlayer on Chromecast Audio, Apple TV or an AllPlay speaker. These are all great reasons to give doubleTwist’s media player a shot — unless you’re already busy with one of the (many) other options available.
Source: doubleTwist
Get this Bluetooth adapter with Google Now integration
A few months ago I had the opportunity to review a Bluetooth car adapter and I left the review thinking that it was the best thing since sliced cheese. Mostly in part, because my 2011 Honda Odyssey did not come with Bluetooth from the factory. The iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter has given me a new frame of reference and has made me reconsider my initial rating.
iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter overview
The iClever Himbox Bluetooth car adapter is a versatile adapter that adds Bluetooth to your vehicle or any other device with an auxiliary audio input. While it is geared towards being an adapter for your vehicle, there are clever little features that make it compatible with other devices as well. The first feature is that the power adapter for the Himbox is USB based. If you so desired, you could detach the USB cable from the vehicle power adapter and plug it into another USB power source. This will allow you to take the adapter out of the car and into your office or home.
One added bonus is the magnetic control unit. There is a metal base that sticks to your dash so that you can easily attach the magnetic control unit, but if you were to connect it to a home receiver unit you could stick it to the metal sides of the receiver or anything else that’s metal.
There is also, of course, a male auxiliary cable that will plug into a female 3.5mm jack. This is how your music will be output to whatever system that you are interfacing with.
The control unit features 3 lighted buttons. Forward, reverse, and the main control unit, which also happens to be the star of the show. A simple press of the button will answer a call, hang up a call, and pause or play your music, but if you hold the button down for a few seconds then something magical will happen that I will explain in a moment.
iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter setup
The steps to get your iClever Himbox BT receiver connected to your vehicle are fairly simple.
- Connect the USB cable to the included power adapter
- Plug the power adapter into the vehicle’s accessory power port
- Peel the paper cover off of the adhesive tape attached to the metal base plate
- Affix the metal base plate in the desired area or your dash
- Attach the magnetic control unit to the metal base plate
- Connect the 3.5mm auxiliary cable to the vehicle’s auxiliary port
- Turn the vehicle on and select the audio source to auxiliary
- From your phone search for Bluetooth devices and select HB01 Plus
- Follow any prompts on your phone
Now you are connected and ready to go.
iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter usage
Now to the part that you actually wanted to read, Android Auto functionality. I should clarify something. There is no screen unless you have your phone mounted to the dash or windshield somewhere. Even then, the screen will not show the Android Auto interface. Having said that, you can use all the voice commands available within Android Auto as long as you have Google Now installed on your device.
When you hold the control button down for a few seconds, Google Now will initiate. Once you hear the Google beep, you can issue it any command from Play music to navigate me to the nearest Wally World. You can also compose and send SMS messages. About the only thing you can’t do is listen to received SMS messages. I found that this was my favorite feature of the iClever Himbox BT adapter.
Not to be outshined by voice commands, the Himbox sound quality really is superb. In part, this is due to the Bluetooth 4.0 and the Apt-X codec support. The high notes sound amazingly clear and the lower base notes were able to play with no distortion. There was also little to none latency issues. The music streamed at the same time it played on my phone.
It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, though. When there is no music playing or active call, the speakers would emit a whine that would increase and decrease with the engine’s RPMs. Also, the buttons used to skip the song would sometimes produce delayed results, but it’s possible that it could have been my phone. My LG Tone headphones will sometimes do the same thing. I can’t be sure.
What we liked
- Audio quality
- Google Now integration
- Flexibility
What could be better
- Button backlights could be brighter
- Engine whine was annoying
- Button delay
iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter summary
If you don’t already have Bluetooth in your car, or you just want to add Google Now functionality, this is a great device. Who am I kidding? It’s a great device if you want to add Bluetooth audio to anything. You can even add it to your parents old 1970’s receiver unit with a 3.5mm to RCA jack adapter and a USB wall outlet.
If you’re interested, you purchase the iClever Himbox Bluetooth adapter for a limited time at $29.99 with free shipping for Amazon Prime customers. The regular price is $69.99.
What do you think? Are you considering this for your vehicle?
The post Get this Bluetooth adapter with Google Now integration appeared first on AndroidGuys.
OPPO R7s to be unveiled on October 18th: bigger battery, larger screen and more
OPPO is working hard to move up in the world of tech, and its latest devices truly show it. The OPPO R7, R7 Plus, R7 Lite and Mirror 5 are all great choices, but the family is welcoming a new member come October 18th.
The manufacturer has revealed a new handset is to be unveiled at Dubai’s GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) come next Sunday. It is said to go under the OPPO R7s moniker and will improve upon current devices by featuring “a bigger display, a larger screen and double the storage space of the R7”. All of this while keeping the same awesome metal build and camera.
Not much else of the device is revealed, but previous rumors have suggested the phone will come with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a 13 MP rear camera, an 8 MP front shooter and a whopping 4100 mAh battery. That sounds like quite an amazing smartphone, but keep in mind these specs come from rumors alone. You shouldn’t hold your breath on them.
OPPO is also taking the chance to tell us they will be going all out at this event. There will be advertising on their partnership with FC Barcelona, as well as all their current devices, including the R7s.
What do you guys think? Are any of you interested in a phone like the OPPO R7s? Big screens, large batteries and more storage… doesn’t sound bad at all!
Videos of other awesome OPPO devices
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AIVAnet 