Galaxy S7 photos snapped in manufacturing plant, shows a familiar faceplate
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Over the last few months, we’ve heard quite a few rumours about Samsung‘s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7. Today, we may be getting our first looks at the device (or at least, part of it) in some Galaxy S7 photos that have been snapped in a manufacturing plant somewhere in the world. The first of the two photos shows the faceplate of the Galaxy S7, and astute Samsung fans will notice that the shape is slightly sharper at the corners than the Galaxy S6 – note though that the grey frame around the faceplate could be masking some of its shape.
While a sticker covers what is probably the Samsung branding, the physical home button and capacitive back and menu buttons make it an undeniably Samsung phone. And yes, the photo was taken by the leaker’s HTC One M7. The second photo is perhaps less interesting, showing us a batch of camera modules that will likely be used in the Galaxy S7, but what it does confirm is a model number for at least one variant of the device: SM-G930F. This model number has previously been associated with the Galaxy S7 and suggests that these photos are quite legitimate.
What do you think about these Galaxy S7 photos? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: GSMArena via Droid-life
The post Galaxy S7 photos snapped in manufacturing plant, shows a familiar faceplate appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Two major visual effects studios join forces for VR push
Digital Domain, the visual effects studios that brought you feature films like the Transformers series, the X-Men series, Iron Man 3 and Her, has announced that it’s acquiring an 85 percent stake in Hong Kong’s Post Production Company Limited and its parent company for HK$135 million (about US$17.3 million), in order to make a big push in virtual reality. This is obviously a big deal for both parties: Post Production has been involved in many major Chinese movies, TV ads, music videos and even a cooking show hosted by the company’s founder, Nicholas Tse, who also happens to be a local pop artist and actor. Digital Domain CEO Daniel Seah put it best by calling Post Production “the Digital Domain of China,” and he added that Tse will stay on to run that part of the business.
The acquisition is probably a timely rescue for Tse’s Post Production. Back in September, the company had to reduce its workforce in Hong Kong to focus on its more lucrative business in Mainland China, according to Apple Daily. But that’s not to say Digital Domain is in its best form just yet, as its CEO admitted that his company has yet to become profitable since it was bought out of bankruptcy in July 2013.
To reassure us, Seah said he’s received sufficient funding to keep things going for a while, and he’s confident that with major brands like Google, Sony, Samsung, HTC, LeEco and more driving the VR market, it’ll convert to good business for Digital Domain. Not to mention that HTC’s Peter Chou is also the Chairman of Digital Domain, though oddly enough, there were no Vive headsets at the event; only Samsung units were used to show off Digital Domain’s VR demos like the Nike Hypervenom II ad (this was my favorite), a Conan 360 clip and a David Haye boxing match.
Following the acquisition, the two companies will be bringing Hong Kong’s famous cartoon pig, McDull, to the VR world. On the other end of the spectrum, though, VR porn is still a definite no-go zone for them, according to Managing Director Rich Flier.
As evidenced by the Samsung Gear VR demo units and the cardboard VR headsets given out at the event, the smartphone is currently the key to driving VR adoption rate, which is critical to content providers like Digital Domain. But this does mean downgrading the content’s quality to suit the common hardware, as opposed to limiting consumers to the expensive dedicated devices like the Vive or the PlayStation VR. Speaking of the experience on smartphone-based VR headsets, COO Amit Chopra said that while it should still please users in developing markets, he agreed that there’s plenty of room for improvement. “[Right now] it’s probably more of a 40 to 45 out of 100, but I think within one year you’ll see us getting to the 60s and 70s. There’s still a lot more to do, but the technology has to catch up.”
New stem cell treatment could ‘cure’ type 1 diabetes
Researchers at MIT and Harvard figured out how to produce pancreatic beta cells — the ones that produce insulin — in large quantities back in 2014. The same intercollegiate team announced in the journal Nature on Monday that they’ve now managed to implant those cells into mice that have been genetically designed to suffer from Type 1 diabetes — without the cells being rejected. Even more impressive, the diabetic mice produced their own insulin during the 174-day study period, eliminating the need for daily injections. Instead, patients would simply need “booster” injections of beta cells once every few years.
This method “has the potential to provide diabetics with a new pancreas that is protected from the immune system,” study co-author Daniel Anderson said in a statement, “which would allow them to control their blood sugar without taking drugs.” Human trials are expected to begin within the next few years.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Nature
Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am backed the ‘perfect’ bullying app
Hip-hop artists Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am are under fire for investing in an app, called Blindspot, that’s said to encourage bullying. Launched last month for Android and iOS, the application lets users send anonymous messages to anyone from their contacts list. While it’s being compared to the now-defunct Secret social network, Blindspot only focuses on private chats between two people — similar to services such as WhatsApp and Viber. Here, however, the receiver never knows who a message is from, and that could easily become the perfect tool for bullies, trolls and other people with hateful intentions.
Adam Shafir, a tech reporter in Israel, said bullying cases through the app have already been reported since it was released, according to Daily Mail. There are also many reviews on Google Play and the App Store pointing to how someone could use Blindspot for the wrong reasons. “A possible platform for hate, meanness and bullying,” notes a one-star comment on the Android version of the app. “It’s true that all these are induced by people and not by a software but why give bullies an extra tool to use?”
And Blindspot wants to thrive on its incognito aspects: “What would you say to people you know if you were anonymous?” reads the description on both Google Play and the App Store. What we also found interesting is that an existing user can send a message to whoever they want, even if the recipient hasn’t joined the service. For example, a colleague sent me a note anonymously, but since I hadn’t tried the app, I received a text prompting me to download Blindspot in order to view it.
In its defense, Shellanoo, the company behind the app, says Blindspot is a safe platform approved by Apple and Google, adding that it has 700,000 users to date. “Perhaps anonymous messaging is something certain people or parents are concerned about, however it is an evolution of messaging technology,” a spokesperson for the company told Engadget. It’s worth nothing Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am aren’t the only personalitites invested in Blindspot either: The owners of Shellanoo are Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich (Chelsea Football Club) and Gee Roberson, who manages Drake, Kanye West as well as Nicki Minaj.
“Blindspot is a platform, people can use it for love, comedy, romance or horror,” the spokesperson said, before drastically comparing the app to a famous furniture store. “People can buy a knife from IKEA to make [a] salad or stab someone, IKEA would not be to blame,” he says, “any rational person would not blame the platform, or in this case Blindspot.”
Via: Fast Company
Source: Daily Mail
Xiaomi Mi 5 leaks in a fresh batch of photos
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is so close to a release. More photos revealing the flagship’s design have surfaced, and boy does it look nice!
According to the leaked batch of images, the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship will sport an aluminum unibody design with rounded sides and corners. The design takes a similar approach to that on the HTC One A9 and iPhone 6 and 6s models. This is because of the clearly visible antenna lines close to the top and bottom ends of the device.
On the bottom of the flagship lies the speaker grill along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB charging port. The right edge houses the power button and the left contains the volume controls.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 will come in multiple colors so ignore the fact that only one color option is shown in the leak. It’s also coming in two separate variants, one with a flat screen and one with a subtle curved display. Each will have their own storage capacities, which will most likely be 32GB and 64GB options. Pricing should run between $300-$500 USD depending on the variant and storage capacity you desire. The flagship is expected to release on February 24 and ship sometime in late March or early April.
Source: My Drivers
Via: GizChina
Come comment on this article: Xiaomi Mi 5 leaks in a fresh batch of photos
Amazon still wants to be in your hand, just not with its own phone
In 2014, Amazon entered an entirely new world by releasing the Fire Phone. The company designed thought consumers would relish a handset designed by their favorite online retailer and all of the services it runs. But Amazon thought completely wrong. The Fire Phone was met with bad reviews mostly because of limitations and price. While Android was present, the software was covered with an underwhelming forked version. Owners of the handset were forced to use Amazon’s restricted app store and other software features that just didn’t add value. On top of mid-range specifications, Amazon was charging a high-end price. The Fire Phone cost hundreds of dollars off-contract and AT&T was the exclusive carrier. It took more than a year for the company to realize how awful everything the handset was, leading to layoffs and price cuts.
The Fire Phone was ultimately put to rest in September 2015, but Amazon isn’t giving up on phones anytime soon. People familiar with Amazon’s internal discussions told The Information that the company is seeking software partnerships to get better placement on mobile devices.
Amazon is seeking to go further than having its apps pre-installed on devices. Amir Efrati of The Information writes that “Amazon has discussed working with phone brands at a “factory level” to integrate its services with devices in a deeper way than simply preloading apps as it currently does.” The assumption is Amazon wants content from its online store, primarily video and audio, to be displayed prominently on partners’ devices. Sound familiar? It’s what Jeff Bezos’ pride and joy already does with the very successful Fire tablets. Amazon wants to circumvent Google beyond just allowing the Amazon Appstore to be sideloaded as an alternative to Google Play.
Unless the company is shelling out big bucks, Amazon is going to have a hard time getting hardware manufacturers to give up complete control of their own software. Most companies producing Android devices either have their own apps and services or rely on Google to make them. Outside of Flipboard’s arrangement with Samsung, hardware-software partnerships generally stop at the pre-installed apps level. Even if Amazon gets its way and someone to agree to their terms, consumers will have little reason to choose their offerings over Google’s.
Source: The Information
Via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Amazon still wants to be in your hand, just not with its own phone
Apple Seeds Second OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first OS X 10.11.4 beta and a week after releasing OS X 10.11.3.
The second OS X 10.11.4 beta can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or via the Software Update Mechanism in the Mac App Store.
OS X 10.11.4 includes a couple of new features, such as the ability to support password protected notes in the Notes app, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements with few noticeable outward-facing changes.
We’ll update this post with any new features that are discovered in the second beta of OS X 10.11.4.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Seeds Second WatchOS 2.2 Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 2.2 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the first watchOS 2.2 beta and more than a month after releasing watchOS 2.1, the first major update to the watchOS 2 operating system that runs on the Apple Watch.
The second watchOS 2.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone running the iOS 9.3 beta by going to General –> Software update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 2.2, along with iOS 9.3, introduces support for pairing multiple Apple Watches with a single iPhone. Both updates are required, with each watch running watchOS 2.2 and each iPhone running iOS 9.3.
There are were no other obvious outward-facing changes introduced in the first watchOS 2.2 beta aside from an update to the Maps app, but the update undoubtedly includes under-the-hood performance updates and bug fixes to address issues that have been discovered since the release of watchOS 2.1.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 9.2 to Developers
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of an upcoming 9.2 update to tvOS, the operating system that runs on the fourth-generation Apple TV and powers its built-in App Store. Today’s tvOS 9.2 beta 2 comes two weeks after Apple released the first beta of tvOS 9.2 and just hours after the release of tvOS 9.1.1, a minor update that follows tvOS 9.1.
tvOS betas are more difficult to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Those who have already installed the first tvOS 9.2 beta will be able to download the update over the air.
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tvOS 9.2 is a major update for the tvOS operating system. It introduces support for Bluetooth keyboards, allowing a keyboard to be paired to the Apple TV for text entry. Bluetooth keyboard support is a major feature that was missing from previous versions of tvOS and its addition should make it much easier to do tasks like entering passwords on the fourth-generation Apple TV.
Along with Bluetooth keyboard support, the tvOS 9.2 update introduces support for grouping apps into folders on the Home screen like on iOS devices, plus it includes a new look for the App Switcher interface.
tvOS 9.2 also includes support for the Podcasts app included in tvOS 9.1.1, introduces MapKit so developers can incorporate maps into their tvOS apps, and it adds Siri support for US Spanish (in the US only) and French Canadian (in Canada only). UK English, Australian English, and US English are also now available as Siri options in the UK, Australian, and US Storefronts when English is set as the tvOS language.
We’ll update this post with any new features that are discovered in the second beta of tvOS 9.2.
Discuss this article in our forums
Samsung may bring all of its apps to iOS this year
According to SamMobile, Samsung could release all of its apps on Apple’s platform before the end of the year, also said to be working on a Gear Fit Manager for iOS.
The intriguing report from the tech website notes that Samsung could potentially go a step further and release ‘all’ of its apps on iOS, following the group’s decision to bring iOS support to the Gear S2.
SamMobile’s Asif S. writes that sources have revealed Samsung is working on a Gear Fit Manager for iOS, which will allow Gear owners to pair the gadget with an iPhone. The smartphone group is also said to be planning an iOS release for the S Health app for iPhone, plus the Remote Control and Family Square apps.
It doesn’t end there, as SamMobile also reports that the Level app for Level audio devices is taking a journey to the world of Apple too. Sources have lifted the lift on Samsung’s home entertainment plans, adding that the company is bringing iOS support to the Galaxy View tablet.
Other projects mentioned by SamMobile’s sources include Samsung’s progress on an updated build of the Smart Camera app for iOS, which could potentially bring a fully-redesigned UI with it.
If the rumours are true, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how Samsung’s app lineup is received on iOS.
Come comment on this article: Samsung may bring all of its apps to iOS this year
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