EOS-1D X Mark II: Canon’s flagship DSLR goes 4K
There’s no doubt Nikon stole CES 2016, thanks to the D5, D500 and KeyMission 360 announcements. But rival Canon seems to have saved its best for after the show. Today, it’s introducing the EOS-1D X Mark II, a highly anticipated successor to the company’s flagship DSLR from 2012. Since this is Canon’s top-of-the-line model for photographers, major upgrades can be found across the board. The second-generation 1D X sports a 20.2-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 6+ processors, up to 51,200 native ISO (409,600 expanded) and a 14 fps continuos shooting mode (16 fps with mirror lock-up).
Canon has also revamped the 61-point autofocus system: every AF dot supports an f/8 max aperture, making the camera a perfect option for nature and wildlife shooters. Additionally, the 1D X Mark II’s insane burst setting lets it capture as many JPEG images as the memory card is able to fit in. While said feature only works with a CFast card, you get a CF slot too, as well as a fixed 3-inch LCD (1.62 million dots), built-in GPS and a 3.5mm headphone jack — handy for monitoring audio in video mode.
Speaking of which, Canon’s finally bringing 4K to a consumer-grade DSLR. The 1D X Mark II is capable of recording 4K internally at up to 60 fps, while 1080p handles 120 fps for slow-motion videos. Interestingly enough, Canon says the touchscreen is limited to video use, meaning you can tap on it to focus with the Dual Pixel CMOS AF, but not anything else outside of that — no browsing the menus, no pinch-to-zoom on photos.
The EOS-1D X Mark II is expected to begin shipping in April for $6,000 (body-only), or $6,300 for a kit that includes a 64GB CFast card and a reader for it.
WhatsApp hits a billion users
Popular messaging app WhatsApp has hit a billion users.
The news was announced Monday on WhatsApp’s blog.
“We are proud of this milestone, and we’re humbled by the extraordinary ways all of you have used WhatsApp,” the blog post read.
The announcement means that nearly one in seven people on earth uses the messaging app. As we reported Jan. 18, the app recently became totally free. Previously, users were allowed to use the app for free for a year and would then be charged $1 per year for use.
Source: WhatsApp
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Deal: HTC running two Groundhog’s Day offers this week
In celebration of the US holiday in which a groundhog predicts global weather patterns, HTC is launching two pretty nifty deals. One will take place on Groundhog’s Day, Tuesday, February 2, 2016, and the other one will happen the day after… Almost as if we got a second Groundhog’s Day two days in a row.
The deal that goes live at 12:01am ET Tuesday morning encompasses getting a free Jabra headset whenever you buy an HTC One A9. No word yet on which particular headset will be packaged with this offer, but no matter which it winds up being, Jabra is pretty good about offering high-quality sound from sturdy, well-constructed designs.
The HTC One A9 is a pretty solid device. Although the battery doesn’t pack much of a punch, you still get QC 3.0 capabilities thanks to the Snapdragon 617. It runs Marshmallow right out of the box, and even though the speakers aren’t anything to write home about, that Jabra headset seems like it could pick up the slack in that department.
See also: (Update: HTC denies spin-off) HTC to reportedly create an independent VR company
The Wednesday deal is a little bit more straightforward: get 60% off the RE camera. This nifty little live-streamer looks like a toy with its periscope-esque design, but it’s actually a pretty serious little device. It pairs with your smartphone to let you livestream your experiences from just about anywhere. The pocket-sized design makes it incredibly portable, and everyone from soccer moms to video journalists will get a kick out of this tiny tool.
The deal hasn’t gone live yet, so when midnight rolls around, you’re going to want to go ahead and head to the HTC “Hot Deals” landing page to take advantage of these offers. While we wait, tell us what you think about these deals. Worth springing on, or are you going to pass? Let us know in the comments below!
T-Mobile will give you a smartphone if you join one of their pre-paid plans
It’s not going to be anything close to a flagship device, of course, but starting this Wednesday, T-Mobile wants to put a phone in your hands free of charge when you sign up for one of their pre-paid plans. This offer is valid on the “Un-carrier’s” Simply Prepaid, Simple Choice Prepaid, and Simple Choice No Credit plans.
Well, not technically free of charge. You will have to pay for the device up front, but you’ll get a mail-in rebate up to a $50 value to cover the cost of the device. Yeah, $50: that’s the kind of price-range we’re looking at here for these phones. Still, nothing to sneeze at. If someone walked up and handed you fifty bucks on the street you’d think it was a pretty damn good day.
See also: The best prepaid and no contract plans in the US (January 2016)
What phones specifically are eligible here? T-Mobile wants to give you your pick between a Coolpad Rogue, a ZTE Obsidian, an LG Leon, or a Samsung Core Prime. As icing on the cake, if you go with the Simple Choice No Credit plan and choose to activate a second line, you’ll get an additional mail-in rebate for that one too. Not too shabby.
What do you think of T-Mobile’s pre-paid promotion? Worth grabbing up, or something you wouldn’t even consider? Let us know which and why in the comments below!
Virtual reality support for ‘The Witness’ sounds shaky
Your brain might be sore from The Witness‘ puzzles but you won’t have to worry about motion sickness from playing it in another format on your PlayStation 4. We’ve confirmed with developer Jonathan Blow that the gorgeous brain-bender won’t be making its way to PlayStation VR; there are no plans for it “at this time.” The game was simply in development for far too long (possibly even before Sony had a working Project Morpheus prototype) and Blow has said that to support Sony’s VR headset, the game would had to have been designed for it from the outset.
But Blow’s gone on the record about The Witness running in VR on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, right? Yep, but when we asked to see if supporting either of those was still the case, the response wasn’t promising. A spokesperson has told us that aside from not appearing Sony’s headset there wasn’t any other VR news to share. In January 2014, Blow wrote:
“In theory the whole game is playable on the device [HTC Vive], but when you are rendering for VR the performance demands become much higher, because you are rendering two scenes at higher resolution than you might previously have been rendering one scene. So the full game world with all content currently does not run fast enough for this device, but that is the kind of problem that gets solved over time.”
Perhaps after spending so long working on the game, now that it’s been released Blow needs a break from the project. That’s entirely understandable and perhaps what he needs is some more time before saying anything about VR. Maybe now you should scour our interview our interview with Blow for any possible coded hints. Considering he explicitly told us that he doesn’t “feel accountable to the world to make things for them,” however, perhaps getting your hopes up isn’t exactly wise.
Via: VRFocus
Source: iDigitalTimes
Samsung will lend you a free Galaxy Note 5 while you’re in Korea
South Korea really, really wants you to know that it’s a technology hub, and it’s willing to offer some unusual perks to tourists to underscore that point. The Korea Tourism Organization is teaming up with Samsung and SK Telecom to offer free Galaxy Note 5 phones to “select” visitors coming through Seoul’s main airport (about 250 per week) for up to five days. The hope, of course, is that you’ll be so impressed with the country’s mobile technology prowess that you’ll share it with your friends back home. You only get 1GB of data, but that beats paying through the nose for international roaming or local prepaid service.
You can apply for one of the phones on the KTO website starting in late February. It’s unclear whether or not this program will have an impact. After all, you may already be well-acquainted with Samsung’s phones if you’re aware of this promotion. Not to mention that South Korea’s technology industry doesn’t need a lot of marketing help in the first place. If you think Samsung has a strong presence in your neck of the woods, it’s practically unavoidable on its home turf — it makes sitcoms based on its work environment, for goodness’ sake. If anything, this will help tourism simply by keeping you connected during your stay.
Via: Yonhap News Agency, PhoneArena
Source: Samsung Newsroom (translated)
Nexus factory images with February security fixes are available today
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Right on cue, Google has today released new Nexus factory images which contain the security patch fixes for February. The images will have build numbers of either MMB29Q, MMB29U or MMB29R, and are available to download for the usual suspects: the Nexus 6P, 5X, 6, 9, 5, 7 and Player. Naturally, the software version number stays at Android 6.0.1, but as for what is actually fixed in this release, Google says it’s resolved some Critical security flaws:
“The most severe of these issues is a Critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, web browsing, and MMS when processing media files. The Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Broadcom’s Wi-Fi driver is also Critical severity as it could allow remote code execution on an affected device while connected to the same network as the attacker.”
To get the full, technical low-down, you can check out the rest of Google’s security bulletin here. And for those of you who want to flash the factory images to your device, you can get them from the Google Developers site. As always, make sure to back up your data before attempting this, otherwise sit tight and wait for the OTAs to start flowing.
What do you think about this month’s security patch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Google Developers, Android via Android Police
The post Nexus factory images with February security fixes are available today appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Nexus factory images with February security fixes are available today
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Right on cue, Google has today released new Nexus factory images which contain the security patch fixes for February. The images will have build numbers of either MMB29Q, MMB29U or MMB29R, and are available to download for the usual suspects: the Nexus 6P, 5X, 6, 9, 5, 7 and Player. Naturally, the software version number stays at Android 6.0.1, but as for what is actually fixed in this release, Google says it’s resolved some Critical security flaws:
“The most severe of these issues is a Critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, web browsing, and MMS when processing media files. The Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Broadcom’s Wi-Fi driver is also Critical severity as it could allow remote code execution on an affected device while connected to the same network as the attacker.”
To get the full, technical low-down, you can check out the rest of Google’s security bulletin here. And for those of you who want to flash the factory images to your device, you can get them from the Google Developers site. As always, make sure to back up your data before attempting this, otherwise sit tight and wait for the OTAs to start flowing.
What do you think about this month’s security patch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Google Developers, Android via Android Police
The post Nexus factory images with February security fixes are available today appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
HTC is doubling down on deals this week starting tomorrow
HTC normally runs a weekly deal on its website where you can get heavily discounted products on Tuesdays. In celebration of Groundhog’s Day, HTC has decided to offer two specials this week:
- Tuesday, February 2: Buy an HTC One A9 and get a free Jabra headset
- Wednesday, February 3: get 60% off the RE camera
HTC did not specify which Jabra headset it will be offering in the promotion, but you can be assured that all Jabra headsets typically perform very well. The HTC One A9 is a fantastic release from HTC and comes in an all metal body while running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Deals will go live at 12:01am ET and will last until midnight PT each day at www.htc.com/us/hotdeal.
HTC One A9 highlights:
- Size – 145.75 x 70.8. x 7.26 mm
- CPU Speed – Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 617, Octa-core; 64-bit, 4 x 1.5GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz
- Main camera: 13MP with sapphire cover lens, auto-focus
- Memory – 3GB RAM / 32GB Storage
- Display – 5.0 inch, Full HD 1080p, Corning Gorilla Glass
The post HTC is doubling down on deals this week starting tomorrow appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Oral Roberts University is mandating Fitbits to track students’ health habits
A university is issuing Fitbit trackers to students this year, and those students will be required to wear them to track their steps, sleep, exercise, weight, you name it. And yes, they’re getting a grade for how well they do.
Oral Roberts University already requires fitness courses in their curriculum, so this isn’t exactly out of the blue for the school, but it’s one of the first times we’ve seen a school or business force students to have their information tracked without any kind of anonymity. Since they’re being graded for it, the university is obviously tracking individual performances to see how well students are keeping up with being fit. Since Fitbit wearables do a pretty good job of constantly tracking everything from sleep to calories burned, the school will have a constant stream of data from these students that are participating.
The whole process seems a little creepy, and there aren’t really any details on what happens if a student forgets to take the Fitbit off the charger, for example, but it’s a pretty clear indicator that there are many, many ways to track tons of details about people now thanks to the fancy gadgets we slap on our wrists and keep in our pockets.
source: Gawker
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