Samsung Galaxy S7 to launch in March, report says
Samsung’s rumored and upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S7, is rumored to hit stores in March 2016, according to a new report from China Mobile. This further confirms last week’s report from the Wall Street Journal, where the publication noted that that Galaxy S7 could be available some time in March.
Considering that the Galaxy S6 launched around the same time in 2015, we could see Samsung announce its next flagship device in February, around the time Mobile World Congress is supposed to take place.
Samsung’s Galaxy S7 has been the subject of many rumors, with some reports saying that it could be the first device to sport the Snapdragon 820 in 2016. Other reports indicate that Google and Samsung have been working closely to make the TouchWiz interface cleaner and more fluent.
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[Deal] Get a free Samsung TV from Best Buy with a purchase of a select Galaxy smartphone
A deal that began with just Sprint has now been extended to Verizon and AT&T subscribers through Best Buy. For a limited time, with a purchase of a select Samsung smartphone you can get a 32-inch Samsung LED HDTV totally free of charge.
Now what’s a deal without some terms and conditions. First off, there only a few smartphones that are eligible for the offering. They include the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6. Buyers must activate the handset on one of the supported carriers with either a 2 year deal or via installment payments.
The deal is valid through January 2, 2016 and has limited quantity available, so hurry up before they’re all gone!
[Best Buy]
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You can share your iPhone 6s’ Live Photos on Facebook
Live Photos on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are supposed to add a dash of life to your memories, but what good are they if you can’t share them with your Facebook friends? You might not have that problem after today. Facebook’s iOS app now lets you share those animated snapshots on the social network. While viewers will need a device running iOS 9 to see the effect, this could give your friends one more reason to check out your baby pictures. Be prepared to wait a little while to try this, however. Only a “small percentage’ of users can try Live Photos right now, and the wider roll out will continue into the new year.
Source: App Store
Stratos is going out of business
According to TechCrunch, the Stratos Card company is going out of business barely half a year after launching the product. The Stratos, which was meant to replace a customer’s various debit, credit and loyalty cards, promised to be “100 percent compatible” with US payment systems and point of sale machines. Over the past few weeks, the company reportedly stopped replying to social media and customer service requests. What’s more, they’ve also placed their Ann Arbor-based HQ up for sale.
Source: TechCrunch
Bandai Namco sends its anime-inspired games west in 2016
Bandai Namco, the studio responsible for Dark Souls and Tekken, will expand some of its franchises in the western world with new installments in the Tales of, God Eater and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series. Tales of Berseria is a Japanese role-playing game starring a young woman named Velvet, whose left hand has special, demonic powers; it’s confirmed for PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam across the Americas and Europe. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven is a PS4-exclusive, two-on-two brawler starring characters from that franchise’s anime and manga storylines.
God Eater: Resurrection and God Eater 2: Rage Burst make their way west in the summer for PS4, Vita and PC. These are monster-battling action-RPGs set in an apocalyptic, alien-infested future, all with a decidedly anime twist. A new One Piece game, subtitled Burning Blood, hits PC via Steam, PS4, Vita and Xbox One next year as well. Last up, Bandai Namco has a Vita-only offering: Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs-Force, due in 2016. The new Mobile Suit Gundam features the series’ traditional two-on-two battles, plus it adds larger team battles.
This engine saves gas by shutting down most of its cylinders
The V8 Denali I’m about to drive isn’t known for its fuel economy. But the huge GMC SUV isn’t your usual over-sized grocery-getter. It’s outfitted with Tula’s engine optimizing Dynamic Skip Fire technology that reduces the amount of cylinders running at any moment to boost energy savings. So while all eight of them are firing when I take off from a stop light, once I’m at cruising speeds, the car settles into firing an average of two cylinders.
Reducing the amount of cylinders to save gas isn’t new. What is new is how Tula is pulling it off. Current solutions reduce the cylinders by half. A V8 goes down to four. A V6 shuts down to three cylinders. The main reason for this is because of balance issues. If less than half are running consistently, the engine block would begin to whip back and forth. No one wants to drive a car with an engine that’s about to rip itself out of the vehicle.
Tula’s Dynamic Skip Fire technology works on the same principle, but instead of using pre-determined cylinders, the company’s control unit dynamically selects which ones to fire at any moment based on the needs of driving situation. So instead of just shutting down half the cylinders, it can shut down seven of the eight at any one time by moving the firing cylinder around the engine therefore stifling the balance issue.
While driving the Denali the fuel savings averaged about 18 percent using the Tula technology with Delphi hardware. Delphi is an investor in the company but the system will work with components from other manufacturers and is expected to be in production vehicles by 2020. The company is already working on a four cylinder version and while the results may not be as dramatic as the V8, if coupled with a plug-in hybrid get ready for another boost to the fuel efficiency of cars.
New ‘Apple Museum’ in Prague Shows Off Largest Private Collection of Apple Products
A newly opened Apple Museum in Prague is showing off the largest private collection of Apple products, housing Macs, iOS devices, and other Apple paraphernalia from 1976 to 2012. The museum opened its doors last Thursday, and an inside look has been shared on Imgur.
Located in a renovated historical building, the exterior windows of the Apple Museum are decorated with quotes from Steve Jobs, artistic product arrangements, and one popular quote of unknown origin.
Three apples changed the world. The first tempted Eve, the second inspired Newton, and the third was offered to the world half eaten by Steve Jobs.
Included is an Apple Lisa, which is one of 100,000 made, an Apple II, and several other older Mac and NeXT Computer products. One section displays a range of printers Apple produced, while another houses iterations of the PowerMac and iMac and a third includes different iBook, PowerBook, and MacBook models.
Little known Apple accessories like the Apple camera are on display, and there’s an entire section dedicated to the complete iPod family, including the special edition Beatles box set sold in 2008 for $795. Each version of the iPhone and iPad, starting with the original 2007 and 2010 models, is also shown off on dedicated tables in order of release.
Miscellaneous products, papers, contracts, and other small odds and ends from Steve Jobs’ time at Apple, NeXT Computer, and Pixar are available at the museum, as are mementos from his early life, including a high school yearbook. The full assortment of images is available on Imgur and is well worth checking out for those who won’t be able to visit the museum in person.
According to the Prague Post, there are more than 12,000 meters of computer cabling installed in the museum, which students from the Czech Technical University helped assemble. Also on the site is a bistro that includes all raw vegan foods, in honor of Steve Jobs’ preferred diet, and there’s an interactive space for children.
Tickets for the Apple Museum are available from the Apple Museum website for 11 euros. The site also includes details about the creation of the museum, the history of Apple, and will offer a 3D tour, information on Steve Jobs’ diet, and products to purchase in the future.
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Astropad App Updated With Support for iPad Pro, Apple Pencil
Astropad, the app designed to turn the iPad or iPhone into a graphics tablet for the Mac, was today updated with support for Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil accessory.
For those unfamiliar with Astropad, it works alongside an accompanying Mac app to mirror the Mac’s display to the iPad, allowing the iPad’s touch screen and controls to be used for editing photos and creating art in Mac apps like Lightroom and Photoshop.
With today’s update, Astropad has been optimized for the large screen of the iPad Pro, and it’s gained features specifically implemented for the Apple Pencil. There’s advanced stroke tuning to remote stray points for better stroke quality, tilt support for more accurate brush simulation, and a custom pressure curve designed with the Apple Pencil in mind.
For all users, latency has been reduced, especially for Macs with dual graphics cards, and image quality has been improved.
Astropad Graphics Tablet can be downloaded from the App Store for $19.99. [Direct Link]
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Facebook for iOS Gaining Support for iPhone 6s Live Photos Starting Today
Starting today, some Facebook users will be able to view Live Photos in their Facebook feeds using the Facebook for iOS app, reports TechCrunch. Introduced with the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, Live Photos are motion-enabled images that capture the moments just before and after a photo is taken.
Facebook plans to gradually roll out support for Live Photos, so while some Facebook app users will be able to post and view Live Photos as of this morning, others will not have access to Live Photos support until the beginning of 2016.
According to TechCrunch, uploading a Live Photo is done in the same way as uploading a regular photo, but there will be an option to choose whether to upload an image as a Live Photo or a regular photo during the uploading process. In a Facebook feed, Live Photos are denoted by a set of concentric circles and can be pressed to play.
You’ll have to tap that box manually with each Live Photo, and with good reason: once enabled on your iPhone, Live Photos are created with little to no thought on your part. It’s easy to forget the feature is even on. Add in the fact that Live Photos include 1.5 seconds of video and audio from before/after the instant you hit that shutter button, and it’s easy to imagine a scenario where you unwittingly capture something you… maybe don’t want to make public. By making it opt-in with each photo, there’s less of a chance you’ll accidentally upload stuff you forgot was even there.
While only the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus can take live photos, all iOS devices running iOS 9 can view them in the Facebook app. All iPhones from the iPhone 4s on are capable of supporting iOS 9.
Facebook is the second major social network to implement support for Live Photos. Tumblr added support two weeks ago.
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OnePlus starts pushing out OxygenOS 2.2 update for the OnePlus 2
OnePlus is in the midst of rolling out yet another update to its flagship smartphone of 2015, the OnePlus 2. This upgrade carries Version 2.2 of OxygenOS to the handset, which bundles a number of much-needed bug fixes and security patches, along with a gorgeous new festive wallpaper pack, which is guaranteed to keep you in the Christmas spirit.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Fixed dual SIM preference selection issues in settings
- Added NTFS and exFAT support for OTG
- Fixed Google Camera photo-sphere and panorama bugs
- Screen temperature can now be adjusted from quick settings
- Added hide search bar option in launcher settings
- Security patches
- Holiday wallpapers
- General bug fixes and optimizations
As is the norm, this upgrade is being rolled out in stages. 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.
Source: OnePlus
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