Apple Predicted to Launch A9-Based 4-Inch iPhone in Early 2016, iPhone 7 Plus to Carry 3 GB of RAM
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining his expectations for Apple’s 2016 iPhone launches, including several interesting tidbits about the upcoming devices.
First, Kuo believes Apple still has a new 4-inch iPhone in the works that “resembles an upgraded iPhone 5s”. The device is said to be targeted for launch in the first half of next year and will come equipped with an A9 processor.
As there is still demand for a 4-inch iPhone, we believe Apple will upgrade this product line. Because the iPhone 5s is more popular than the iPhone 5c, we think Apple is likely to launch an upgraded iPhone 5s. We predict Apple will mass-produce this new 4-inch iPhone in 1H16 with metal casings. In order to make the current iOS 9 or next-generation iOS 10 run smoothly, Apple may adopt an A9 chip for this new phone.
Kuo believes this new 4-inch iPhone will not include 3D Touch support as part of an effort to keep it differentiated from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. He also projects Apple could ship 20-30 million units of this new iPhone through the end of 2016.
Looking ahead to the next full refresh with the iPhone 7, Kuo expects the usual third-quarter launch in 2016 with an unsurprising upgrade to a new A10 chip to offer increased performance. He does, however, believe Apple will opt to differentiate between the two sizes of the iPhone 7 when it comes to RAM, with the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 carrying the same 2 GB seen in current iPhones while the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus will include 3 GB of RAM for performance reasons.
Kuo believes major winners for the 2016 iPhone cycle include Foxconn, which he expects will be the exclusive supplier for the new 4-inch iPhone, and TSMC, which he expects will be the sole provider of the A9 chip used in that phone as well as the A10 chip used in the iPhone 7.
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MPAA filed lawsuits in Canada and NZ to shut down movie pirates
The MPAA can and will hunt pirates down wherever they are, it seems. According to TorrentFreak, the association sued three popcorntime.io developers in Canada earlier in October, accusing them of “various copyright infringing acts.” Since then, it has successfully obtained an injunction, which ordered the website’s shutdown. If you’ve never heard of the service before, it’s a website that streams pirated movies, which even works with Chromecasts and AirPlay-enabled devices. It’s not the only Popcorn Time version available on the internet, but it’s the most popular fork of the original app that also shuttered because of the MPAA back in 2014.
Via: The New York Times
Source: TorrentFreak, Variety
With eBay, users will be able to vote for Black Friday deals
Yes, standing in line for hours and blasting through doors to get the hottest deals can be fun if you do it once or twice. I would say it’s one of those experience everyone has to live through, but once the hype is over we need to find an alternative to brick and mortar stores. Smarter Black Friday shoppers have opted to go online. And the numbers show it, as an IBM report says there was a significant jump in online sales.
It was the first time mobile devices outpaced PCs for online browsing. Thanksgiving mobile traffic accounted for 52.1% of all online traffic! And 49.6 of all web activity was related to Black Friday, which would be a 25% over 2013. We are getting ready to wrap the year up and this can only mean one thing – more and more people are getting ready for those sweet online deals and we are sure eBay is getting a big piece of the cake.
The popular retailer is making things a bit more interesting this year, though. Their campaign is titled “Wish Bigger”, and it is all about exceeding customer expectations with the best deals online. Whether that holds true or not is yet to be seen, but we do know the shopping experience with eBay will at least be more fun this Thanksgiving weekend.
eBay is testing a new system this time around. They call it the “Wish Bigger Wishbone”, and it will pretty much have people voting on a couple deals, which will be placed on each side of the wishbone over at ebay-wish-bigger.com.
The event will be held on November 26th from 4 PM to 10 PM (EST). Items with the most votes over the course of an hour will be released to shoppers in limited quantities. Of course, this is aside from the usual offers, which eBay claims will include up to 30% discounts on name-grand electronics.
How do you guys feel about something like this? Personally, I feel like we need to stop being so focused on Black Friday and spend more time with our families during Thanksgiving. But this doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of some good online deals! And eBay is making it a fun, involving activity. Maybe you could ask your family to help you vote for that hot deal you want to score!
Larry Page will no longer have any say over Google’s operations in China, leaves decisions up to Sundar Pichai
Since Google split off as a subsidiary of Alphabet, Larry Page took over as CEO of Alphabet and handed the reigns of Google to Sundar Pichai. This means that while Page is still technically higher up the ladder than Pichai, he’s not making any decisions about Google’s business moves going forward, especially over how the company is handling their operations in China.
Google has had a turbulent ride with China and the Chinese government, and after pulling their Play Services in 2010, they’ve been working on getting back into the mix with a Chinese-friendly Google Play Store. Android still holds a pretty strong market share in the country, so obviously the company wouldn’t want to just abandon that and let smaller OEMs continue to use Android with no competition, but Larry Page won’t be the one making decisions there.
While Page isn’t calling the shots directly, he’s still in an advisory position to Pichai to decide what to do going forward. However, Alphabet wants its subsidiaries to make their own decisions about products and what countries to operate in, and that’s what we’re going to see happen.
source: Business Insider
Come comment on this article: Larry Page will no longer have any say over Google’s operations in China, leaves decisions up to Sundar Pichai
Larry Page will no longer have any say over Google’s operations in China, leaves decisions up to Sundar Pichai
Since Google split off as a subsidiary of Alphabet, Larry Page took over as CEO of Alphabet and handed the reigns of Google to Sundar Pichai. This means that while Page is still technically higher up the ladder than Pichai, he’s not making any decisions about Google’s business moves going forward, especially over how the company is handling their operations in China.
Google has had a turbulent ride with China and the Chinese government, and after pulling their Play Services in 2010, they’ve been working on getting back into the mix with a Chinese-friendly Google Play Store. Android still holds a pretty strong market share in the country, so obviously the company wouldn’t want to just abandon that and let smaller OEMs continue to use Android with no competition, but Larry Page won’t be the one making decisions there.
While Page isn’t calling the shots directly, he’s still in an advisory position to Pichai to decide what to do going forward. However, Alphabet wants its subsidiaries to make their own decisions about products and what countries to operate in, and that’s what we’re going to see happen.
source: Business Insider
Come comment on this article: Larry Page will no longer have any say over Google’s operations in China, leaves decisions up to Sundar Pichai
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the star in Ariana Grande’s new music video
Ariana Grande has a new hit song called “Focus,” and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 is the star of the show in the music video.
Only seconds into the video, the Galaxy Note 5 makes an appearance. One could obviously infer that Samsung paid the artist big bucks for this because it’s not everyday you see smartphone features shown off in a famous artist’s music video. During the video, pop star Ariana Grande shows off some of the capabilities of Samsung’s new S Pen, such as the ability to take notes even when the screen is powered off. This is clearly a feature that Samsung is very proud of. Is this what it’s going to take to sell handsets? I’m not so sure that people will purchase the handset just from seeing it in Grande’s hands, but who knows. You can watch the music video of Ariana Grande’s new tune “Focus” down below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the star in Ariana Grande’s new music video
Google rolls out Android Pay update 1.1 with minor bug fixes
Google has just released an update for Android Pay that fixes certain bugs users have experienced while using the app. The update also makes it easier for users to know whether their bank supports Android Pay or not, and addresses an issue where users were not allowed to access their loyalty cards without having a payment card linked to the app.
You can now access a menu that will let you know which banks are currently supported by the service. Not a lot of banks are supported yet, however we expect that number to increase to encourage more users to use the app.
In addition, some users have complained that after setting up Android Pay on a first device, their loyalty and membership cards would not show up on the app from another device with Android Pay unless a payment card was associated with it. Loyalty and membership cards were suppose to show in the app regardless if a payment card is added on or not. Google has fortunately fixed this issue with the Android Pay v1.1 update. In case the update hasn’t been pushed out to your device yet, you can grab the APK from the link below and manually install it.
Via: Android Police (APK Download)
Come comment on this article: Google rolls out Android Pay update 1.1 with minor bug fixes
iOS 9 Adoption Jumps to 66 Percent After iOS 9.1 Emoji Update
Since launching in September alongside the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, iOS 9 has seen its adoption rate grow to 66 percent of active iOS devices, according to numbers on the Apple Developer Support page. Two weeks ago, iOS 9 adoption sat at 61 percent.
After 24 hours, iOS 9 adoption was in line with the adoption rate of iOS 8. However, in late September Apple announced that the newest version of iOS had the fastest adoption ever and was on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other version of the mobile operating system. iOS 8 only achieved a 64 percent adoption rate by December 23 and a 68 percent adoption rate by January 7, ending up with a high of 87 percent on the eve of iOS 9’s launch.
Apple released the first major update to iOS 9 two weeks ago with iOS 9.1, which featured a slew of brand-new emojis. Since that update, iOS 9 adoption has grown by 5 percent. Earlier today Apple seeded the second beta for iOS 9.2, the second major update to its newest mobile operating system.
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FreedomPop to launch its first phone in 2016, thanks to funding from Intel
FreedomPop, the budget-friendly wireless service provider, has announced its plans to introduce the first smartphone designed specifically to work on its network, thanks to a new deal with Intel. The device will be optimized for Wi-Fi use and will be powered by Intel’s cost-effective SoFIA Atom x3 processors. These will allow the device to take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots over cellular data connections wherever possible, even when when performing simple tasks like texting and calling. Similar to that of Google’s Project Fi, the upcoming FreedomPop phone will be able to seamlessly switch between cellular networks and Wi-Fi hotspots. Engadget reports that when it does connect to mobile data, however, it will supposedly be free.
See also: Intel unveils Atom x3, x5 and x7 SoCs for mobile
“We’ve upended the mobile market with free text, data, and voice services for any U.S. mobile user, and now we’ve formed a strategic alliance with Intel to bring cutting-edge, yet affordable, devices to consumers,” said FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols. “Intel’s investment shows the considerable opportunity we have to bring more mobile choice and value to consumers.”
Details on the phone itself – pricing, release date, which manufacturer will make the hardware – have yet to be revealed. We do know that it will launch sometime in 2016, and Stokols says the device will probably launch for somewhere under $200. He also says the goal with this new device is to bring as many high specs as possible while keeping the price down. Oh, and we also know that it will run Android, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything regarding this new device.
Uber carpooling experiment helps you commute between cities
Ridesharing services already have carpooling services that let you share a ride with strangers, but they’re designed for typical commuting distances, not the city-to-city jaunts that can define commutes in places like the San Francisco Bay Area. That’s where Uber hopes it can make a difference. It just launched a trial run for Pool to SF, an option that gets you from South Bay cities to San Francisco in the morning. You’ll usually pay between $20 to $26, but that’s potentially much cheaper than the fuel and parking costs you’d face with your own vehicle. If you have a friend tagging along, you can slap on another $10 and divvy up the fare later on.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Uber Newsroom
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