60 Minutes Airs ‘Inside Apple’ Special Providing Close Look at Company
60 Minutes on Sunday aired an Inside Apple special with correspondent Charlie Rose that included interviews with a number of Apple’s senior executives alongside closer looks at Apple’s secretive design studio, camera lab, mock next-generation Apple Store and under construction Campus 2 project.
Watch “Inside Apple, Part One” (Image: CBS)
Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed a wide range of topics with Rose, starting with the legacy of co-founder Steve Jobs. “This is Steve’s company,” said Cook. “This is still Steve’s company. It was born that way, it’s still that way. And so his spirit I think will always be the DNA of this company.”
Rose then accompanied Apple design chief Jony Ive for a rare look inside Apple’s secretive design studio, where a team of 22 designers work on the future of Apple products. Apple covered many of the desks to ensure Rose could not see what the company is working on next.
Ive explained how he prototyped the Apple Watch, beginning with a sketch of the watch casing transformed into a 3-dimensional electronic blueprint sent to a high-precision CNC machine for milling. The watch casing is then sanded and polished by hand by veteran craftsmen at Apple.
Rose and Ive inside Apple’s secretive design studio (Image: CBS)
The design chief also reflected on the complex engineering process that was required to create Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook, including working with Apple’s head of hardware engineering Dan Riccio to create the custom-shaped terraced battery that fits inside the notebook’s ultra-thin enclosure.
The segment revealed that Apple senior director Graham Townsend leads a team of 800 engineers and specialists working on the iPhone’s camera. Townsend showed Rose a micro suspension system that stabilizes the camera when its owner’s hand shakes, and explained how Apple engineers calibrate the camera. Read more 
Check out these BB-8 inspired ringtones
The Force Awakens broke all box office records this weekend. Millions of people tuned in to see Rey, Finn, and Han Solo battle the First Order, but at least for me, one of the best characters was the little BB-8.
The spunky, adorable droid stole many scenes, and in many cases, it was more memorable than its human costars. And that’s very impressive, for what’s essentially a robotic ball that only expressed itself through a bunch of beeps and whistles and a handful of basic movements.
If you too fell in love with BB-8, you can now use some of its electronic chirps as ringtones. David Sparks over at MacSparky.com created a collection of short ringtones based on audio snippets of BB-8 that are available online.
David formatted the ringtones in the iOS-specific .m4r format, so if you want to use them as ringtones on Android, you will need to modify them first. Don’t worry, you just need to change the extension of the files from .m4r to .m4a. After that, transfer them to your smartphone through your method of choice and enjoy.
Being just a few seconds long, these BB-8 ringtones are ideal for message notifications. Download them from here (again, don’t forget to change the extension to .m4a!).
So, have you seen The Force Awakens? Impressions? No spoilers please!
Report: LG Nuclun 2 SoC heading to the V10’s successor, not the G5
LG has reportedly begun work on its second in-house mobile application processor, which could reduce the company’s dependence on Qualcomm’s mobile chips and help set LG up as a rival to Samsung. However, the chip may not end up in LG’s main 2016 flagship.
The custom chip is expected to appear in commercial products next year and the latest sources state that the chip will be similarly as powerful as Huawei Silicon’s new Kirin 950 SoC. This suggests that the LG Nuclun 2 will be based on ARM Cortex-A72 and A53 CPU cores and rumors point to TSMC’s 16nm FinFET process for manufacturing. However, the expected H2 2016 launch time frame suggests that the chip won’t be ready in time for the LG G5.
Furthermore, the latest source claims that LG doesn’t think this chip is going to be quite powerful enough for its flagship LG G5 that will appear in the first half of next year. Instead, the Nuclun 2 might début in LG’s successor to the V10, which will likely hit shelves in the second half of 2016.
While the CPU rumors certainly sound powerful enough for a flagship smartphone, it may be that the GPU or RAM configuration in LG’s chip doesn’t quite match up with Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship Snapdragon 820 mobile SoC, which LG will presumably be looking to use. Furthermore, LG may not be willing to take a risk on using its mostly unknown Nuclun brand of chips in its main flagship smartphone.
LG’s Nuclun 2 SoC is still being kept tightly under wraps for now, so we should probably sit tight for some official details before making too many assumptions.
ZTE Axon Mini Premium Edition review
ZTE launched its Axon flagship smartphone earlier this year. The device has a 5.5 inch display and a Snapdragon 810 processor. At the same time ZTE also mentioned that it had a “mini” version in the pipeline. Then back in October we got our first official details of the 5.2 inch Axon Mini. Now the phone is available to buy from AliExpress for $389.60. I got hold of one a few days ago and I have been testing it out, this is what I discovered.
Read more:
Design
The design of the ZTE Axon Mini Premium Edition is certainly striking. Not only do you get the Axon’s triangle moire design at the top and the bottom of the device, but the phone comes in gold or silver, quite different to the run-of-the-mill black or white. Like its bigger siblings, the Axon Mini was designed with help from Teague, the design house which worked on the design of the Xbox and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. There is also another connection to the 787 in that the chassis of the phone is made from Boeing 787 aviation standard aluminium titanium alloy.
The phone has the “Mini” moniker because it is a smaller version of the 5.5 inch Axon, however I am sure some people will comment on its size. On the front of the device is its 5.2 inch Full HD display, along with the front facing camera and the triangle moire design for the earpiece and the front facing speaker at the bottom.
On the back of the phone is the camera and flash (separated by more triangles), the fingerprint reader and the ZTE logo. The back cover is non-removable and seems to be made of plastic. However it is painted using a metallic paint to try and make it match the metal on the front. At the top and bottom of the back cover is some stitched faux-leather, also sprayed with the same metallic paint.
Going around the phone, on the left is the volume rocker, while the power button and SIM tray are on the right. The micro USB port is on the bottom and the headphone jack on the top.
Overall the phone is easy to hold and it feels like a 5 inch phone in the hand. In fact, it is only 3.5mm taller than a OnePlus X, and actually shorter than the 5 inch HTC One M9. However, the spray painted back cover is very smooth and it might be considered slippery if you don’t grab the sides of the phone.
Display
The 5.2 inch AMOLED display on the Axon Mini is crisp and vibrant. It has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 and a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which gives a pixel density of 423 PPI. The glass is said to be “2.5D’, however it is hard to see any curvature at the edge of the screen.
The display is everything you would expect from an AMOLED screen, deep blacks and bright colors. It has good color reproduction, great viewing angles and high levels of contrast when needed. Overall it is a pleasure to use.
Performance
The bigger 5.5 inch Axon uses a 2.0 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. For this smaller version ZTE has stuck with Qualcomm but this time opted for the Snapdragon 616. The 616 is also an octa-core processor but this time using eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores, the four fastest of which are clocked at 1.5GHz. On board the chip is also the Qualcomm Adreno 405 GPU, which supports OpenGL ES 3.1, and support for LPDDR3 memory. Talking of memory, the Axon Mini Premium Edition comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, with the option of adding another 128GB via microSD card.
With 8 cores and a reasonable GPU you aren’t going to be pulling out your hair waiting for the phone to react.
We can look at performance in two ways, first what do the benchmarks tell us, second what are the perceived levels of performance. The latter is subjective, while the former is objective. Starting with how does the device feels, well it feels good. With 8 cores and a reasonable GPU you aren’t going to be pulling out your hair waiting for the phone to react. The UI is fast and responsive as is the multitasking, mainly due to the 3GB of RAM. What this shows is that all modern day processors are more than capable of giving a smooth overall experience, including the Snapdragon 616.
When I put the phone side by side with the OnePlus X and the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, to test web browsing, the Axon mini performs well. For loading and rendering web pages it is basically the same as the OnePlus X and was only ever a second or two behind, if at all. The Z5 always finished displaying the pages first, in every test, a testament to the speed of the Snapdragon 820.
ZTE has added quite a bit of extra value with the pressure-sensitive display, the fingerprint reader and the high-end audio.
However, when it comes to benchmarks the story is a little different. Using Mozilla’s Javascript benchmark, Kraken, the Axon Mini completed the test run in 12,428ms, which is slower than the MediaTek Helio X10, found in the Redmi Note 2, and the Kirin 935 found in the Huawei Mate S, both of which are also Cortex-A53 based octa-core processors. The main reason is the clock speed, the MediaTek and the Huawei processors are clocked at over 2.0 GHz.
This pattern is repeated for GeekBench and CPU Prime Benchmark. The single-core test result for Geekbench was 709 and the multi-core was 2989. To put that into context the single-core score for the Huawei Mate S (Kirin 935) is 954 and 3915 for the multi-core test. Likewise the OnePlus X scores 921 and 2409 respectively.
For CPU Prime Benchmark the Axon Mini scored 10,858 compared to 11,963 for the 32-bit Snapdragon 801 powered OnePlus X and 16,084 for the Redmi Note 2.
One area where the Axon Mini seems to do well is in 3D gaming. The phone manages a score of 58.9 frames per second on Epic Citadel in High Performance mode and 57.6 fps in High Quality mode. It only starts to falter when moving to Ultra High Quality mode where it only manages 31.8 fps.
Although the Axon Mini is slower than phones like the OnePlus X, the Redmi Note 2 or the Huawei Mate S, it isn’t the slowest phone around. If we go to the other end of the budget spectrum, to the Moto G, we can see that the performance of the Axon Mini is actually quite good. The Moto G (3rd gen) scores 524 on Geekbench’s single-core test and 1579 on the multi-core test. Likewise the Moto G scores just 3246 on CPU Prime Benchmark, one third of the Axon Mini’s score.
I guess I would put it like this, the performance of the Axon Mini is perfectly adequate for a mid range phone, however given the price and the “Premium Edition” label, I wonder if really this device deserves a better processor.
Hardware
ZTE is keen to promote the audio qualities of the Axon Mini. The advertising bumpf boasts about the use of the Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) AK4961, a high performance advanced audio CODEC for smartphones. It has a 32-bit 192kHz codec, for playing back your “studio quality” FLAC files, and promises low distortion and noise at -97dB THD+N and 127dB DNR.
But, here is the thing, it is generally accepted that anything over 20-bits, maximum 24-bits, is beyond what the human ear can distinguish. So while I salute ZTE’s efforts, you probably won’t hear the difference in the real world.
Having said that, I am not an audiophile. I tested out the Axon Mini using the supplied earbuds and listened to several bits of music that I know well, and honestly I couldn’t hear any difference between the ZTE device and other phones I had at hand (e.g. the OnePlus X and the Note 4). However, that could be because of the quality of the supplied earbuds.
The 2800 mAh battery provides a good battery life.
The phone comes with the normal suite of connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS, however there is no support for NFC. In terms of cellular frequencies, the Axon Mini will work just about anywhere in the world on 2G GSM. For 3G the phone supports 850/900/1900/2100MHz, which means it should work in many places around the world including in the USA for AT&T and T-Mobile. However, if you need 4G LTE in the USA then this phone won’t support AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. For those in Europe and Asia you shouldn’t have any problems with 4G connectivity. As always, you should check with your carrier before buying.
The 2800 mAh battery provides a good battery life. It is good enough to provide a full day of use with around 4 hours of screen-on time, but that is the upper limit as far as screen-on time is concerned. Even on a day with heavy usage, that involved playing a lot of games and taking lots of pictures, the phone still managed 4 hours of screen-on time. With more casual usage, you will get about 30+ hours of standby, with the same 4 hour screen-on time.
There are two features that the Axon Mini sports that aren’t found on the regular Axon: a fingerprint reader and a pressure sensitive screen. The fingerprint reader is on the back of the phone just beneath the flash and can be used as a method for unlocking your phone. Overall the reader is good, but it can be prone to the occasional misread. Also it isn’t that fast, certainly not as fast as the Huawei Mate S or even the Galaxy Note 5. However, one nice feature is that you can wake the phone from sleep by just pressing your finger on the reader. That means you can pick up your phone and unlock it in one fell swoop without having to use your other hand.
Talking of unlocking your phone, because the Axon Mini Premium Edition has a pressure sensitive screen, ZTE have included the ability for your unlock PIN code to take into account not only which digits you tap in, but also if you use light or heavy pressure when you tap the digit. ZTE are calling it the 3D password. When you set the code you press either lightly or heavily on each of the four digits. To unlock the phone you need to tap the right digits and apply the right pressure. Thankfully there is only light or heavy press for this, otherwise I can imagine some very frustrated users trying to exactly duplicate the pressure used to enter the original PIN.
The pressure sensitive screen also has a few other uses like a hard press on an app icon will show shortcuts, or a hard press on the right/left in the gallery app moves to the next/previous image, and so on.
Camera
The Axon Mini comes with a 13MP rear-facing camera and a 8MP front-facing camera. I found the main camera to be surprisingly good. It is winter now where I am and we haven’t had a clear sky for several days, I kept waiting for the sun to come out so that I could shoot some photos in direct sunlight, but it never happened. So I took some pictures under a moody and cloudy sky and I was impressed with the results.
I also took some pictures in low-light and at night time. Although lots of noise does creep into the night time photos, I was pleased with how the photos came out. You need a steady hand for sure and like any camera, you can’t capture light that isn’t there. But with a bit of diligence the results are acceptable.
Having said all that, the camera isn’t world class. On the same night trip out, I also took photos with a Galaxy Note 4 and the Samsung device does much better in low-light.
The camera app is fairly comprehensive as it offers a manual mode as well as HDR, Panorama, and a Beauty mode. In manual mode you can set the exposure bracketing, the ISO level, the white balance, the shutter speed and also the focus. Overall the app is easy to use and doesn’t get in the way of your main objective, i.e. to take photos!
Here are some pictures so you can judge for yourself:
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Software
The Axon Mini runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with MiFavor UI 3.2.0. The biggest difference between stock Android and MiFavor is that there is no apps draw. All installed apps appear on the home screen, like on the iPhone. The default UI skin for the Premium Edition is Axon Classic which provides the UI with a complimentary look and feel to phones physical design. The theme is dark and all the icons are made with silver and gold colorings.
Tapping the on screen menu button (the three vertical dots) brings up the launcher customization panel. As well as the ability to alter the icon set, you can choose from a series of solid colored or abstract wallpapers, or download one from ZTE’s online library. There is a built-in slider to give your wallpapers a blurred look, plus you can also alter the desktop transition effects.
The other thing that is quite different on the MiFavor is the Settings page. It is completely different from other Android handsets, however it is still very easy to use. There are additional sections under the settings for Force Touch (i.e. the pressure sensitive screen), Sky Eye (an eye recognition authentication system), and for the Fingerprint reader.
The Quick Settings toggles have also been slightly tweaked, allowing users to rearrange the shortcuts to any order they find useful, and there are a lot more toggle options available as well, beyond what you find with stock Lollipop. One particular enhancement that appeals to my inner geek is the ability to add the connection speed to the status bar, next to the battery percentage. This tells you how fast you are sending or receiving data on Wi-Fi and on 3G/4G.
Along with a range of gestures (like three finger pinch to take a screenshot) and 7 different motions (like shake for flashlight), there is also a voice recognition service called My Voice. Unfortunately, it isn’t an always-on service, so you need to activate it by pressing and holding the home button (or via a Bluetooth headset). With My Voice you can set up a sound unlock password (i.e. a phrase to say to unlock your phone), use your voice to control music playback, and speak to answer/decline incoming calls.
Specifications
| Display | 5.2 Inch AMOLED, FHD 1920×1080, pressure sensitive. |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 616, 1.5GHz, Octa-core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 Octa-core |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 405 @550MHz |
| RAM | 3GB |
| Storage | 32GB, expandable up to 128GB with Micro SD that uses one of the SIM card slots. |
| Camera | 13MP rear-facing camera, 8MP front-facing camera |
| Battery | 2800 mAh |
| Networks | 2G: GSM:850/900/1800/1900MHZ 3G: WCDMA:850/900/1900/2100MHZ 4G: FDD-LTE:800/900/1800/2100/2600 |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac |
| SIM Card | Dual SIM card, dual standby (2 x Nano SIM). Second SIM card slot only supports GSM or can be used to add a Micro SD card. |
| Software | Android 5.1 Lollipop |
| Dimensions | 143.5 x 70 x 7.9mm, 132g. |
Gallery
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Final thoughts
The ZTE Axon Mini Premium Edition is available for $389.60 from Aliexpress. The phone comes with a 5.2-inch AMOLED 1080p pressure-sensitive display, an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage and microSD expansion up to 128GB. It also has a 13 megapixel rear camera, and dual microphones that are supported by an AKM4961 Hi-Fi audio chipset.
Overall the Axon Mini is an interesting device, ZTE has added quite a bit of extra value with the pressure-sensitive display, the fingerprint reader and the high-end audio. The 3GB of RAM is also good to see, as is 32GB of storage. The main thing I feel that lets down the phone is the processor, it isn’t a deal breaker, but having a better processor would seem more appropriate alongside all those extra features.
Now read:
Samsung Galaxy S7 to hit China in March?
After a year of stellar high-end smartphones, attention is already turning to next year’s early line-up. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is one hotly anticipated phone that is expected to be unveiled in the first quarter of 2016. According to China Mobile, the Samsung Galaxy S7 will land in China sometime in March, along with the Huawei P9.
As this information was spotted coming from a carrier, presumably China Mobile is talking about when it will be getting its hands on the flagship smartphone. This suggests that the Galaxy S7 may become available for purchase quite quickly after its unveiling, but we’ll have to wait on an official word from Samsung to be sure. Interestingly, there’s no mention of an Edge version of the Galaxy S7 on the slide.
The Wall Street Journal also recently published lots of information about the Galaxy S7’s launch, including mention of late February unveiling, right around MWC as usual. The current generation Galaxy S6 was announced at on March 1st and went on sale in 20 countries more than a month later on April 10th. Perhaps sales will begin a little quicker this time around.
Along with the Galaxy S7, China Mobile also indicates that new versions of the mid-tier Galaxy A7 and A5 will arrive in the country at around the same time. These phones have recently been spotted passing through China’s TENAA certification center.
See also: Samsung Galaxy S7 rumor roundup: release date, price, specs, features
The Huawei P9 is expected to be unveiled early next year as well, as its processor was launched in back in April 2015. The smartphone is rumored to sport Huawei’s latest Kirin 950 SoC, a 5.2-inch display, 4GB of RAM, a fingerprint scanner and a dual rear camera arrangement.
Denarri aims to take the noise out of online shopping (App review)
I do most of my shopping online. For most of the things I buy I hop on Amazon, make sure the price is something I’m willing to pay, and 2 days later it shows up, all with free shipping. For bigger items constantly watching prices and looking for deals can become a chore. A chore I don’t have time for.
Ebay has some tools to help you stay on top of items you’re searching for, but they can be frustrating and spammy. There are very specific forums like the buildapcsales subreddit on Reddit for deals on computer parts, but for bigger items I need something to keep an eye on prices, and do it in a straightforward fashion.
This is where Denarri comes in. Denarri is beautiful in its simplicity. You tell it what you want, give it a price range, and a new listing is made. It keeps an eye on all the listings on eBay to give you the best prices. You can tell the app if you want new or gently used when you set up the search, and then you just browse. There are no ads. There are distractions, just prices, pictures and conditions.
“My vision is a marketplace that learns your preferences as you use it, so each shopping session is faster than the last. One where you’re notified when new items are found according to how important they are to you, so you never miss out on a deal but don’t get buried in notifications if you’re not in a rush.“
When you find a price you like, you click on the listing and you’re immediately taken to the eBay page. From there, your experience continues on like a normal eBay purchase. You buy, pay and wait for your purchase to show up.
If you’re no longer interested in seeing results for your previous search, it’s simple to delete it. If you leave it alone, it’ll continue to rack up results, looking for the best price until you get rid of it. I had a saved search for a processor that I forgot about and it still had the 10 best results, up to date, with the lowest price on the site displayed for me a month later.
This app is really great for those of us that are willing to wait for a great price to buy something. I’ve payed plenty of early adopter’s tax in my life, but as I’m transitioning to a more conservative financial future due to having a family, it makes sense for me to wait on things like computer parts, Blu Rays, phones, and tablets until they can reach a price that I’m willing to pay. Denarri makes keeping track of those items as easy as can be.
I’d love to see more integration with other online sellers like the Amazons, New Eggs and Wal-Marts of the world in the future. I think the developer knows what they’re doing by perfecting the app’s function right now, but hopefully they continue on and expand the reach.
Play Store Link: Denarri
The post Denarri aims to take the noise out of online shopping (App review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LG’s robotic vacuum is both janitor and security guard
LG has launched its latest Hom-Bot robotic vacuum, the Turbo+, and is trying a few techie gimmicks to make it stand out from the latest models by Roomba and Dyson. The main new feature on the Turbo+ is “Home-Joy,” a quasi-augmented reality (AR) function that takes advantage of a smartphone app. All you need to do is point your smartphone’s camera at a region of the floor you want to clean and the Turbo+ will go to town on it, eliminating the need for any tedious mapping.
Meanwhile, the device’s three cameras and the “Home-View” feature let you monitor a cleaning cycle via a live feed, even when you’re not in the house. Most intriguingly, the Turbo+ acts as a movable security camera, transmitting photos to your smartphone if it detects movement. It’s not a first for such a feature, but is possibly a premiere for mainstream robotic vacuums. LG will reveal the new device (along with two other regular vacuums) at CES 2016, which is coming up in a couple of weeks — yep, it’s that time of year already.
Source: LG
Apple Stores to Begin Selling Accessibility Accessories in Early 2016
Apple is rumored to begin selling accessibility-related accessories and peripherals in its retail stores sometime in early 2016. The report, from Mac Otakara [Google Translate], states that the new iOS- and OS X-supported devices will go on sale between January and March of next year.
No specific hint was given as to what kind of peripherals users can expect to find within an Apple Store once accessibility products go on sale at the company’s retail locations. Apple has been a big supporter of accessibility on the software side for years now, offering features such as Grayscale, AssistiveTouch, VoiceOver, accessibility shortcuts, and more.
Apple’s various accessibility efforts even earned it the Helen Keller Achievement Award from the American Foundation for the Blind back in May.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Reduces Price of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in India
Apple continues to strengthen its foothold in the Indian smartphone market by now reducing the price of the two-month-old iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in the country. According to a report by The Times of India, sales for the new iPhones have dived following an upsurge during Diwali festivities in November.
As a result, Apple has cut the price of the 6s and 6s Plus by up to 16 percent from the original price point. The iPhone 6s 16GB model began at 62,000 Rupees in October, and now sells for between 52,000 and 55,000 Rupees, with prices varying between retail locations. All storage sizes of both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus received price cuts, with the average difference in price between the October launch date and now being about 15 percent lower.
Below is the approximate prices of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on one of the country’s biggest e-commerce website:
– iPhone 6S (16GB): Rs 48,499
– iPhone 6S (64GB): Rs 62,849
– iPhone 6S (128GB): Rs 74,940
– iPhone 6S Plus (16GB): Rs 61,999
– iPhone 6S Plus (64GB): Rs 75,499
– iPhone 6S Plus (128GB): Rs 85,999
One advantage to lowering the iPhones’ price point, according to a few anonymous retail executives, is making the new generation of iPhone more enticing of an upgrade for users still on the 6 and 6 Plus from 2014. On average, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,500 more expensive than the models released the year before, and even about Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000 more expensive than the same versions launched in the United States, Middle East, and Hong Kong.
The reduction also narrows the gap with prices of iPhone 6 devices launched in 2014, making an upgrade more attractive for customers. “The price difference between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s was a lot, so many customers are not willing to upgrade to the new model,” said a senior executive of another national retailer.
The new price cut follows a similar one for the iPhone 5s in India last week, which saw the 2013 iPhone reduced by nearly half of what it was selling for in September: 44,500 Rupees to 24,999 Rupees.
Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, noted that the price reduction of the 5s could easily “take the wind out of iPhone 6s sales” in the immediate future given the large gap in price between the two. But in the January to September timeframe, he sees the price cuts “re-igniting” demand for the 6s and 6s Plus in India.
Discuss this article in our forums
Star Skater is Halfbrick Studios’ latest mobile game featuring street skating
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Halfbrick Studios is a name most famously associated with the insanely popular Fruit Ninja mobile game, and the Australian games studio has resolutely continued to release mobile games since then, the latest being the recently released Star Skater. The premise of the game is simple – you’re a skater making your way down a road where you’ll encounter obstacles, all the while trying to pull off spins for extra points. It’s not the most advanced gameplay, and if you’re looking for a hardcore skate title, this isn’t it – that said, it looks like a decent game to muck around with during a wait for the bus.
Star Skater is free-to-play with tons of unlockable customizations – as you can probably expect, there are also in-app purchases should you wish to speed up your rate of customization. Whichever side of that fence you sit on, the early reviews are showing a pretty great result with an average 4.3 star rating on the Google Play Store – if this all has you very interested, we’ve got the Play Store link for you down below:
http://playboard.me/widgets/pb-app-box/1/pb_load_app_box.jsWhat do you think about Star Skater? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Kotaku Australia
The post Star Skater is Halfbrick Studios’ latest mobile game featuring street skating appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
AIVAnet 