LG set to debut a handful of devices at MWC

As we prep for LG’s inevitable G5 reveal at Mobile World Congress next week, we’ve been watching for any other potential devices launching in Barcelona along with the newest flagship. A pair of press releases on LG’s newsroom website have confirmed that we’ll be seeing several new handsets announced with the G5 at MWC. First, the South Korean company plans to release a new series of smartphones under an “X Series” line next week. The X Series will feature two Android 6.0 devices at launch, though we expect additions to be announced down the road.

Beginning with the X Cam, LG looks to incorporate the dual camera system that has been rumored to launch with the G5. The X Cam, as the name indicates, will sport both 13MP and 5MP rear cameras, along with an 8MP front-facing shooter. Ideally, the dual camera system will produce more precise images than a single lens could on its own.

The X Cam will ship with a 5.2-inch FHD display, an unnamed 1.14GHz Octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Powering the device will be a 2,520 mAh battery. The X Cam will be available in Titan Silver, White, Gold, and Pink Gold.

The X Screen, as expected, will make use of the second screen made popular by LG’s V10 smartphone launched in 2015. The main display on the X Screen will be 4.93 inches, and the secondary screen will sport a resolution of 520 x 80, at 1.76 inches. For reference, the V10’s secondary display sits at 2.1 inches with a 160 x 1040 resolution.

Under the hood of the X Screen, LG has packed a 1.2GHz quad-core chip paired with a 2,300 mAh battery, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. The device will also feature a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. The color options are slightly different for the X Screen, which will be available in Black, White, or Pink Gold.

A few things are worth noting with these devices. Based on the specs given in the press release, it is not known if a MicroSD card slot will be included in either X Series device. With only 16GB of storage, the lack of a slot may prove problematic. In addition, the X Series devices will only be available in key Asian, European, and Latin American markets starting next month. LG has given no indication of the probability that these devices will hit the U.S.

The X Series devices won’t be alone at MWC, as LG has plans to introduce a successor to the G4 Stylus that launched in early 2015. The LG Stylus 2 sheds the “G” series from its name and brings a few new software features to the table as well. The hardware for the Stylus 2 is actually nearly identical to the G4 Stylus. The successor will feature the same 5.7-inch 1280 x 720 display, 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 16GB of internal storage, MicroSD card slot, and 3,000 mAh battery.

The real difference between the two comes in a slightly higher amount of RAM for the Stylus 2 (1.5GB, a bump from the 1GB found in the European and Asian G4 Stylus variants), as well as software: the Stylus 2 will launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. LG’s press release also touts some impressive new software features coupled with the stylus that gives this device its name.

When the stylus is removed, the device will trigger a popup menu that displays shortcuts to Pop Memo and Pop Scanner. Another new feature is Pen Keeper, which detects when the Stylus 2 is moving out of range of the stylus itself. This of course is meant to prevent users from forgetfully walking away from their stylus. Finally, the Calligraphy Pen font will reportedly enable users to write with the stylus as precisely as they would with a fountain pen.

The LG Stylus 2 will be available in Titan, White, and Brown colors. No release date or pricing information has been released yet, but LG may be holding that information until MWC next week.

Source LG 1, LG2

VarageSale is a an online community looking for its citizens (review)

Overview

If you’re reading this review, you’ve probably been there: you’ve posted something for sale on Craigslist. After a bit of time, you get a hit; someone has messaged you and want to meet to deal. So after some back-and-forth, you agree on a place and time. You show up, wait 45 minutes, and the other party is a no-show. For a few of us, the other party does show and the ensuing exchange is anything from uncomfortable to seemingly dangerous. Public sites like Craigslist have been great for personal re-sale, but they leave their users vulnerable to misleading or downright nefarious humans looking to take advantage of a situation.
The app VarageSale looks to solve this vulnerability. They do this by creating a more closed community of members in a small geographical area, using their Facebook accounts to verify identity as well as giving other members a preview of who they’re dealing with.

Setup

To gain access to the community, there a few steps involved:

Download the app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Choose your community(ies) by local area (using your zip code). Generally each community gives themselves a cute/clever name.
Setup your account, including name and email.
Link your Facebook account.  As stated, this allows other members to confirm you are who you say your are, and gives others a profile pic to see who they’re dealing with. Per the app, they do not post anything to your Facebook account.

Daily Use

Using the app works a lot like most other resale websites, in that various items are listed by individual community members, with usually a photo, title, and price listed. The app uses flat design, with the listings that look and scroll down a lot like Google Now cards. That is to say the design is clean, with enough color and shape to give a great and welcoming aesthetic. For each listing you can share with others (via Facebook, email, or other), comment on the item, or click the “Interested” button, which contacts the seller and saves it for your later viewing.  Once you contact the seller and negotiate the price and meeting time/place, off you go to complete the transaction.

In my short truncated experienced with the app, the biggest hurdle to user happiness is currently the dearth of users in a given community, and therefore the variety of items to find.

For every item of a given category in my chosen community in VarageSale, you can find 10-20 of a similar item on the big boys like Craigslist or eBay. Also, the range of items seems to be very limited, mostly to second-hand clothing and crafty, Etsy-type stuff. Given my particular area of residence, downright rural compared to those living in a bigger cities like Chicago, but still the lack of people and stuff was off-putting for me.
It’s analogous to patronizing a local store instead of going across the street to Target. Yes, it feels good to be doing business with someone you know who is local, but did you find what you really wanted? And how did you do on price?

Conclusion

The vitality of any community, virtual or otherwise, is defined by the engagement of its citizens. While VarageSale is really a great idea to solve the potential problems of the public re-sale sites, the greatest hurdle for this and other such apps is traction amongst their potential user base. Right now the question is, “why use VarageSale when Craigslist has so much more to look at?”. The tipping point will be when that question gets reversed.

Verizon revives 2GB free data promo for heavier users

Verizon on Monday confirmed it has brought back its 2GB bonus data promotion for users on the XL and XXL plans. Available immediately, both new and existing customers on the 12GB and 18GB data plans will receive extra data each month.

The way it works is pretty simple: all phone lines on either of the two plans receive 2GB of data per month. Sharing across 5 lines? That’s 10GB of extra data on top of the bucket you’re already getting. Verizon will allow up to ten lines on these plans.

According to Verizon, the data can be shared across existing tablets and hotspots but cannot be used for new ones. The bonus data will stay on a user’s account as long as they remain on the XL or XXL plan.

In addition to the extra data, Verizon is offering up to $650 in credits to attract prospective customers. Should you port your number from another carrier, Big Red will pay off your early termination fees and any remaining balances on equipment.

It is not clear how long Verizon will be offering the limited-time 2GB data promotion.

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Xiaomi “Mi Week” discounts on the Redmi Note Prime, Mi 4 and Mi 4i

Xiaomi handsets are already a pretty good bargain but the company has just announced additional discounts for its Indian customers on some of its most popular smartphones.

From today, the Redmi Note Prime will be available for Rs. 7,999, down from its original retail price of Rs. 8,499 when the phone launched back in December. The discount will be applied to both the Amazon India and Mi.com retail outlets. The Redmi Note Prime offers up some decent mid-range specifications for its price, including a 5.5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 410 processor and a 13 megapixel rear camera.

• 
  Xiaomi Mi 4i review: not a f…

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  Xiaomi Mi4 Review – a very s…

Furthermore, Xiaomi is holding a “Mi Week” promotional offer on Amazon India, which will run from today until Friday 19th February. As part of the promotion, the company’s flagship Mi 4 and Mi 4i smartphones are both discounted, with prices falling to Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 9,999 respectively. That’s a 13 percent saving on the Mi 4 and a notable 23 percent discount on the Mi 4i.

You can find all of the Mi Week offers by clicking the button below.

Mi Week over at Amazon India

Silk Labs Sense: Not your typical home monitoring camera

As useful as Nest’s Dropcam is, it isn’t the best looking home monitoring camera. Still, there aren’t many of them that do a better job design-wise. Silk Labs, a startup founded by Mozilla’s former CTO, Andreas Gal, sees this as an opportunity to offer something different. Enter Sense, which is similar to Dropcam in functionality but also comes with a few notable differences. For example, it’s said to be smart enough to recognize multiple faces; that can be used to let you know if it thinks a stranger is in your home, or play music based on a particular individual’s taste.

Sense (pictured above) also pairs with third-party hardware, such as Sonos speakers and smart light bulbs, among others. Not surprisingly, you’ll find a built-in microphone and speaker on the back of it, used for voice recognition and more features that may be added in the future. Meanwhile, the Sense’s industrial design is intended to blend with people’s lifestyle, according to Gal. It’s supposed to be “something you’re happy to put in your living room,” he says.

Gal, who left the Firefox team in 2015, told me that Silk Labs’ goal with Sense is to create a whole new Internet of Things platform: “We are not a hardware company,” he says. Instead, Gal hopes the device will drive interest from both developers and manufacturers, especially since Sense and the software powering it are going to be open source. The Kickstarter is launching today, with the product priced at $225.

And Gal doesn’t want you to worry about it being a crowdfunded project, because Silk Labs isn’t financed that way. “Kickstarter is just a way to bring this to people,” he added.

Source: Kickstarter (Silk Labs)

Artists explain how ‘The Witness’ got its special look

As you walk through The Witness, solving puzzles and taking in the island’s natural beauty, you might wonder how it all came together. Did gameplay take precedent, followed by artistic flair? Or were the two developed and balanced simultaneously? To shed a little light, artist Luis Antonio has written a series of blog posts that go into fascinating detail about the game and its development. From specific areas to teaser trailers and posters, it offers a rare look into how Antonia, alongside Eric Anderson and Orsi Spanyol, helped Jonathon Blow develop the look of the game.

A word of warning: Antonia says some of the screenshots and explanations could be considered spoilers for people that haven’t played The Witness yet. “I strongly advise you to the play the game before(hand), since these will inevitably spoil some of the experience.” If you fall into that camp, we recommend reading this particular entry — it’s only about the game’s promotional material and will give you a flavour of what Antonia has put together. Of course, then we suggest you go away, play the game and hurry back. Or just delve in further if you don’t mind a few spoilers. Your call.

Via: Kotaku

Source: The Art of The Witness

Engadget giveaway: Win a Genius Kit and iPad Air 2 courtesy of Osmo!

Kids have been known to hog the iPad, so you may as well load one up with fun and educational games to offset all that Rastamouse binge watching. Osmo is an interactive game system that can challenge and entertain young minds beyond just swiping and tapping. The company’s Genius Kit includes an entire suite of games that teach through storytelling and utilize a special mirror to turn the table into a playing field. Hands-on games like Tangram, Numbers and Words focus on the basics of spacial skills, math and writing, while Newton and Masterpiece provide interactive drawing tools. Osmo has given us an iPad Air 2 and a Genius Kit for one lucky Engadget reader this week, so they can give the gift of fun and learning to the next generation — or, you know, just play with it. All you need to do is head to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning this unique blend of physical and digital fun.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
• Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) Osmo Genius Kit, one (1) Apple iPad Air 2 (16GB, WiFi, Space Gray- MGL12LL/A) and one (1) Osmo t-shirt.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
• This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Engadget and AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
• The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until Feb. 17th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!

You can now pre-order an Oculus PC bundle for $1,500

I you’ve been holding off ordering an Oculus Rift because you don’t have a PC that’s good enough, you can now buy one of the VR headsets bundled with a PC. From today Best Buy, Amazon and the Microsoft Store are all selling discounted packages that include a Rift and a PC that meets the system’s recommended specifications.

The only manufacturers involved with the VR-ready PC program right now are ASUS and Dell (the latter through both its own brand and its Alienware gaming marque). Prices start at $1499, which will get you an Asus G11 tower with an Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970. If you’ve been following Oculus’ launch closely, you’ll recognise those specs as pretty much the bottom line for a PC that supports the headset. All of the bundles include the pack-in games Eve: Valkyrie and Lucky’s Tale, along with the relevant sensors, cables, and controllers.

Most of the deals will see you saving somewhere between $100 and $200 on retail price. While that seems like a great offer, many gamers will point out that you could save just as much — or get the exact combination of specs you’re looking for — by building your own PC.

If you’ve already ordered an Oculus, you can still get in on the discounted PC fun by heading to your order status page and grabbing a code.

Marshmallow update for Sony Xperia Z5, Z4 Tablet, and Z3+ set for March

The official Twitter account for Sony UK has shared a date for when Marshmallow is expected to be released for the Xperia Z5, Z4 Tablet and Z3+. Should the information be accurate, owners of the aforementioned mobile devices can look to see Android 6.0 arrive on March 7.

@FalseNugget it’s set to roll out from March 7th for Xperia Z5 series, Z4 Tablet and Z3+ – we will share confirmed timings when its ready

— Sony Xperia GB (@sonyxperiagb) February 15, 2016

It’s worth noting that this comes from the official Sony UK Twitter account and the exact date, as well as international availability, may be subject to change. That said, it’s at least an indication that the company does indeed plan to release the update sooner rather than later. We’ll keep you all posted should we learn more.

Source: Twitter (Xperia UK), Via: Xperia Blog

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Curvaceous Samsung Galaxy S7 breaks cover in another leak

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is just around the corner, set for an unveiling at the upcoming Samsung Unpacked event — but in the meantime we’re seeing yet another leak of the phone. This time the phone, in black, was unveiled in the flesh from a retailer in Dubai… and then promptly pulled.

Not only were we able to see what is alleged to be the smartphone itself, but the listing (which is no longer live on the Dubizzle website) also sported a shot of what will come as standard in the packaging alongside the S7. These new photos join the growing collection of leaks and rumors, which include official wallpapers and accessories, renders, color options, as well as Gear VR potentially being included.

As with all such leaks and rumors, we caution you to take it with a healthy dose of salt. We’re less than a week away from the expect unveiling of the Galaxy S7, so keep your browser and feeds tuned to Android Central for the latest from the floor at MWC 2016.

Source: Dubizzle (no longer live); Via: PhoneArena

Samsung Galaxy S7

The Galaxy S7 is expected to be announced at Mobile World Congress in late February 2016.

• Complete Galaxy S7 news
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums
• The Galaxy S7 could come in three sizes
• The microSD card slot might return in the GS7
• Fewer megapixels in the GS7 camera might be better