[Deal] Save on select titles from 2K Games through January 4
Ever go into the Play Store and hear 2K Games’ pricier titles calling your name? The developer’s mobile games, which stem from console counterparts, are more expensive than your average mobile game. 2K Games’ titles on Google Play cost a few dollars compared to the usual dollar price tag. But, for the holidays, you can get select titles from 2K Games at a discount. The developer is lowering the price of games from the worlds of XCOM, Civilization Revolution, NBA, NHL, and WWE for a limited time.
- XCOM: Enemy Within ($4.99; previously $9.99)
- Civilization Revolution 2 ($4.99; previously $9.99)
- NBA 2K16 ($3.99; previously $7.99)
- NHL 2K ($.99; previously $2.99)
- WWE 2K ($2.99; previously $7.99)
The 2K Mobile Holiday Sale runs through Monday, January 4. These titles on iOS are also part of the promotion.
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Save on select titles from 2K Games through January 4
The first website went online 25 years ago today
If the web were a person, it wouldn’t have trouble renting a car from now on: the world’s first website, Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web, went online 25 years ago today. The inaugural page wasn’t truly public when it went live at CERN on December 20th, 1990 (that wouldn’t happen until August 1991), and it wasn’t much more than an explanation of how the hypertext-based project worked. However, it’s safe to say that this plain page laid the groundwork for much of the internet as you know it — even now, you probably know one or two people who still think the web is the internet.
Where are the creators in 2015? Berners-Lee is still as tightly involved with web as he ever was, directing the World Wide Web Consortium he helped create. In fact, he’s pushing hard to protect the open web against both government censorship and telecoms’ attempts to crush net neutrality. CERN’s role, however, has changed somewhat. While it’s still embroiled in networking research (specifically grid computing), it’s more often known for smashing particles.
The one point of common ground is the web itself. It’s more of a platform than a bunch of documents, and it’s now available on everything from the phone in your pocket to a display on your head. However, its core remains the same: it’s a vital, dynamic tool for sharing information around the planet. Barring surprises, you’ll likely be surfing the web by the time the first site marks its 50th birthday.
OnePlus X Champagne Edition to be available from December 22
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OnePlus recently announced its two-year anniversary, and as a part of this occasion, the company announced an all new white-and-gold-colored Champagne Edition of its mid-range premium smartphone, the OnePlus X. The Chinese smartphone brand announced the timeline and markets where it will be available.
This new avatar of the OnePlus X is a variant of the Onyx, but features white front and back, while the metal frame has been done in champagne gold. This color combination of the X was limited to China, but since it was very well-received in the country, the company decided to release it internationally.
The OnePlus X Champagne Edition will be first available in Europe for €269 starting from December 22, and will then be launched in other markets soon. To purchase this device, you’ll need a specific invite, but you can also purchase it on Tuesday in the company’s weekly open sale. However, you should note that it will be sold on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis during open sale.
“Growing as fast as we have in two years, we have a lot of areas we need to improve. As we enter our third year, a lot of our shortcomings become inexcusable. In 2016, there is no excuse for any part of OnePlus to not live up to, if not exceed, industry standards.”
– Carl Pei, Co-Founder, OnePlus
To refresh your memory, the OnePlus X is the company’s third smartphone after the OnePlus One and the OnePlus 2. You can see it as a refreshed OnePlus One with beautiful exterior design. It features a 5.0-inch 1080p AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a microSD card slot, but a smaller 2,525 mAh battery to achieve a 6.9mm thin body.
Also Read: OnePlus Android Marshmallow update is coming in Q1 2016
It lacks 4K video recording, NFC connectivity, and Quick Charge 2.0 compatibility, but makes it up with a better camera sensor, a hybrid dual-SIM card slot that can intake a microSD card, improved build quality when compared to the OnePlus One. It features a 13-megapixel ISOCELL camera sensor with phase-detection autofocus and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It also comes with a 3-way notification slider that debuted with the OnePlus 2.
As a part of the ongoing holiday season, all OnePlus smartphones – the OnePlus One, the OnePlus 2, and the OnePlus X – will be available for purchase readily without a need for an invite. The OnePlus X is currently priced at $249, which is the same price at which OnePlus One (16GB) is being sold. The 64GB variant of the OnePlus 2 is priced at $389, while the 16GB variant is mysteriously out of stock.
Source: OnePlus Forums
The post OnePlus X Champagne Edition to be available from December 22 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Gold-colored Huawei Nexus 6P Special Edition launched in India today
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After launching the gold-colored variant of the Nexus 6P in Japan, Huawei has launched it in India today. The Huawei Nexus 6P Special Edition is listed on Flipkart with a price tag of $663.49 (~ INR 43,999), and will be available for purchase exclusively through the e-commerce giant starting next week – December 21.
When compared to the normal variant of the Nexus 6P, which is available in silver and grey colors, the Special Edition can be differentiated only by its golden color. Moreover, it is features 64GB of internal storage, unlike the normal version of the device, which is available in both, 32GB and 64GB, storage sizes.
The Huawei Nexus 6P was launched in India by Google on October 13 along with the LG Nexus 5X. While the Nexus 6P was launched exclusively through Flipkart, the 16GB variant of the Nexus 5X was available exclusively through Amazon India. However, both these devices are now available through various online and offline retailers.
“The Huawei Nexus 6P has been well received by the Indian audience and keeping in mind the niche target group, we have introduced the Gold color Special Edition of the smartphone.”
– Allen Wang, President of Consumer Device Business Group, Huawei India.
In other news, the price of the LG Nexus 5X has been dropped to just $347 (~ INR 22,999) from its initial price of $482 (~ INR 31,990). Both, the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P, come pre-installed with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box and feature 12.3-megapixel 1/2.3-inch camera sensors with laser autofocus. Both these devices were unveiled by Google on September 29.
The post Gold-colored Huawei Nexus 6P Special Edition launched in India today appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Huawei may have its own GPU and flash memory in the works to complement Kirin CPUs
It’s rare to see any company make a smartphone from their own components, with Samsung being one of the only exceptions. Most OEMs buy the processors and other pieces from manufacturers, which is part of the reason why Samsung has been so successful with their component and Exynos business. Not only does it help keep the cost of building a phone a little lower, but supply other partners to supplement their business model.
It looks like Huawei might be the next OEM to throw their hat in the ring to complement their homegrown Kirin processors. The company is exploring options to build their own GPUs and flash memory, instead of relying on companies like ARM to buy graphics chips from. That should, theoretically, help Huawei fully optimize their hardware, considering they’d be dealing with a fully in-house solution from the CPU to the GPU.
The rumors surrounding the memory chips are a little more hazy, but it seems like Huawei may design the flash memory then outsource the actual production to another company that’s already capable of mass producing flash memory for mobile phones.
Unfortunately, there’s no time frame on when we can actually expect to see this in the wild, but I’d doubt it’d be in 2016 with how big of a jump it’ll be for the company.
source: My Drivers
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Huawei may have its own GPU and flash memory in the works to complement Kirin CPUs
Xiaomi’s YI Home Camera now available for purchase on Amazon
Earlier this month, Xiaomi partnered with Amazon to sell their YI Action Camera in the US. Apparently, that deal has gone pretty well for both companies, as Xiaomi is now also selling the YI Home Camera on Amazon, too.
The Home Camera is obviously a little different than the Action Camera, as its designed to sit in one place and act more like a monitor and less like a camcorder. The feature list on it is just as impressive, though, offering infrared night vision, full 720p video capture, 4x digital zoom, and the ability to stream directly to your smartphone. If you’re interested in using it as a security device, it also supports notifications when detecting movement. It also stores everything locally on an SD card, so it’s an extremely secure solution with no subscription fees to use it.
At just $59, this little guy looks like it offers a fantastic connected camera for your home. It’s cheaper than many alternatives and won’t cost you anything past the initial setup, and you can even get it shipped to your house by Christmas if you order it now.
Be sure to check out the companion app for it, too.
source: Amazon
Come comment on this article: Xiaomi’s YI Home Camera now available for purchase on Amazon
Watch SpaceX try a land-based rocket landing on December 21st
SpaceX has been understandably quiet since its last rocket exploded right after launch, but it’s hoping to make up for that failure in style. It’s planning to not only launch a Falcon 9 rocket on December 21st at 8:29PM Eastern, but attempt its first-ever ground landing with that rocket — no doubt in hopes of countering Blue Origin’s landing from a few weeks ago. Even if the touchdown fails, it’ll still be an important launch as ORBCOMM gets 11 communications satellites into orbit. Tune in to the live stream below (coverage should start at 8:05PM) and you’ll see whether or not SpaceX has better success on terra firma than it did at sea.
[Image credit: SpaceX Photos, Flickr]
Just reviewed mission params w SpaceX team. Monte Carlo runs show tmrw night has a 10 higher chance of a good landing. Punting 24 hrs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2015
Source: SpaceX, Elon Musk (Twitter)
How to set up a family plan on Google Play Music
Following the lead of several other music streaming services, Google too has introduced a family plan for Play Music. The family subscription can be purchased by anyone, as long as your Google account has Play Music All Access enabled.
The offer is pretty lucrative to the end consumer; become a Google Play Music All Access subscriber and pay $14.99/month to get access to unlimited music for yourself and up to 5 additional family members. Access to YouTube Red has been thrown in, which helps make the deal ever more attractive.
Play Music gives subscribers access to 30 million songs, at a 320 kbps bitrate that is on par with other services, and has a 50,000 song locker. There’s no free tier, but all human-curated playlists are accessible for free while being supported by ads.
See also: Apple Music now available on Android
The other music services that offer family plans include Apple Music, with its $15/month 6-person plan; Spotify; which adds $5/month for every extra person; and Rhapsody, which has a $15/month tier for a 5-person family. Out of all these streaming music services, Spotify and Rhapsody are available only in the US.
How the Google Play Music family plan works
The manager of the family plan is the only person with access to admin settings, with which the person can subscribe/cancel subscriptions, change the payment method, add/remove family members from the plan, etc. With the family music plan, up to 6 people in a subscriber’s family group can get access to unlimited streaming music.
See also: Google Play Music family plan arriving this week for $14.99 per month
At present, the family music plan is accessible only to a handful of countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States – and all your family members must also belong to the same country as the manager’s account. Note that family members continue to use their own, separate Google accounts and have their own music libraries, playlists, and offline content.
How to set up Google Play Music family plan
Alright, let’s get to setting up your Google Play Music account and upgrading to the family plan. The only pre-requisite is that your account should have Play Music All Access enabled. Open the application on your Android or iOS device, or visit Play Music on the web. Listed below are simple steps that you need to follow to subscribe to Play Music and activate the family plan.
How to subscribe using the Play Music Android or iOS app:
- Open the Play Music Android or iOS app.
- Tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left.
- Tap on Settings.
- Select “Start Trial” or “Subscribe to Google Play Unlimited”.
- The “Family” button will show if you’re eligible for the Google Play Music family plan.
If you’ve previously used the free trial option, the app will only show you a “Subscribe” option.
How to subscribe using Play Music on the Web:
- Visit the Google Play Music account settings page.
- Under the “Account” section, you’ll see an option to “Start Trial” or “Subscribe”, depending on whether you’ve used the free trial option before or not.
Note that only subscribers in eligible countries get access to YouTube Red, which has a vast repository of music videos, without paying an additional cost. If you are already a subscriber of Google Play Music, here are the simple steps you need to follow to upgrade to the family plan, after which you can invite up to 5 additional family members.
How to upgrade to Play Music family plan and invite family members:
- Open the Play Music app.
- Tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left.
- Tap on Settings.
- Select “Upgrade to family plan” and set up your family.
- Select the payment method for your family’s purchases, which can be either an existing card or a new one.
- Invite members of your family by tapping on the “Invite” button and following a few steps to confirm your action.
After you complete these steps, the family members that you added will get an email saying they are invited. Note that you’ll be adding a payment method with all the family members added by you to the account, so make sure that you only add people you trust, and who are over 13 years of age. These members can use the payment method to apps, games, movies, books, TV shows and magazine issues. Also, by default all in-app purchases made by family members will have to be approved by the family account manager.
This feature can be turned off, although it isn’t advisable for obvious reasons.
That’s all there is to setting up a Play Music family account. The process is pretty straightforward and most users should be able to complete it without any major hiccups. Just follow the steps shown on your screen, or follow the simple steps listed in this guide and you should have your Google Play Music Family plan set up in no time.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ broke several movie records
If you suspected that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would smash box office records when you saw the lengthy queues at your local theater, you made a pretty good guess. Disney expects the adventures of Finn, Poe and Rey to set an all-time domestic debut record with an estimated $238 million haul. The previous best, this summer’s Jurassic World, “only” pulled in $208.8 million. On top of that, TFA also broke several other domestic records, including the biggest single-day gross ($120.5 million), biggest Thursday preview ($57 million), best December debut and multiple IMAX records. Worldwide, it’s estimated to rake in $517 million over its first five days — and that $4 billion Lucasfilm purchase suddenly seems like the bargain of the century.
Some international records tumbled, too, such as the biggest opening weekends in Australia ($18.9 million), Germany ($27.3 million), Russia ($12.3 million and the UK ($48.9 million).
It doesn’t take much to understand why the movie succeeded, of course. You’re combining one of the biggest franchises ever with one of the industry’s more accomplished directors and an almost overwhelming level of hype. It’d be surprising if the movie didn’t succeed. Still, this is a watershed moment for geek culture as a whole. While there have certainly been successful sci-fi movies in the past (including this fall’s The Martian), it’s rare that they dominate the media landscape so completely.
Heads-up: the comments are likely to be rife with spoilers, so you may want to skip them if you have yet to watch the movie.
Sprint begins rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to the LG G4
Sprint has started rolling out the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for its LG G4 variant. The update brings in all the goodies of Marshmallow to Sprint LG G4 owners, and bumps the software version to LS991ZV9.
Sprint’s website doesn’t list an official changelog for the update, but we do know from when the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update started reaching European LG G4 handsets that the update an updated Knock Code, which has become more secure; App Permissions, which allows users to modify individual permission requests of an app; Silent Mode, which has been added to the sound profile; Interruptions, which has been renamed to ‘Do not disturb’; Allow Peeking, which enables users to see notifications on the top of the screen; and QMemo+, which has been renamed to Capture+ but is otherwise all the same.
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Apart from that, Android 6.0 introduces features like Doze, a built-in Android battery saving feature that helps decrease power draw during standby mode; Google Now on Tap, which makes information more accessible than ever; and much more. The update adds a Sprint-exclusive feature as well, called Sprint Global Roaming, which has been detailed in a previous post.
Sprint’s updates are usually rolled out in stages, so don’t be surprised if you don’t receive the update immediately or for a couple of days. Already using Android 6.0 Marshmallow on your LG G4? Do share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
See also: Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates roundup – December 18, 2015
AIVAnet 