Honor 5C debuts in India for ₹10,999; plans to beat the Moto G4 at its own game

After launching in Europe earlier this week, the Honor 5C has made its way to India. The budget phone is priced at ₹10,999, and will go up against the Moto G4, which also made its debut in the Indian market for ₹12,499. The Honor 5C is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 650, an SoC with eight Cortex A53 cores that’s built on a 16nm node. The Indian variant also comes with a fingerprint scanner located at the back.

The phone certainly offers a lot for its asking price, and the metal build is a definite bonus. While Motorola has led the way on the software front, the Moto G4 Plus’ design isn’t anything to get excited about.

Here’s what’s on offer with the Honor 5C:

The handset will be sold exclusively on Flipkart. Head to the link below to register for the sale.

See at Flipkart

MORE: Honor 5C hands-on

Honor decides it’s okay to launch a tablet with KitKat in 2016

At a media event in New Delhi, Honor rolled out the 5C, a budget phone with a metal-backed design and impressive hardware. The vendor also launched the T1 7.0, a 7-inch affordable tablet with a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600), a 1.2GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC7731G processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal memory, microSD slot, 3G, and a 4100mAh battery. The pièce de résistance? The T1 7.0 runs EMUI 3.0 out of the box, which is based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

From the hardware, the tablet looks like a rebranded Huawei MediaPad T1 7.0, which was horribly outdated when it was unveiled in March 2015. The tablet will retail for ₹6,999 and will be available exclusively on Flipkart, but honestly folks, stay as far away as you can from this one.

Pocket Casts gets updated to 5.4.1 with a slew of bug fixes

Pocket Casts — one of our favorite podcast apps — has picked up an update to version 5.4.1, bringing several bug fixes in tow. The app introduced a Material Design refresh earlier this year, and has steadily added new features, like audio effects, the ability to auto-download podcasts, playback sync between devices, and much more.

We know why you’re here. Here’s the changelog:

Build 324! Our most exciting build yet. Chamfered edges. Thinner. Lighter. Less Ports. Improved Camera. Comes in one new colour (yeah you spell it with a ‘u’ America). Now hand over your money, plz. K thx bye. [Engages Reality Distortion Field].

What…that didn’t work? Odd it works for Apple all the time! Honestly though we fixed a truck load of things in this build, and we hope you like that it’s now the best build of Pocket Casts ever, marketing be damned 🙂

Pocket Casts costs $3.99 on Android, and is worth every cent. Grab it from the Play Store. There’s a web player as well, which is priced at $9.99. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the Android Central podcast.

Samsung invests $1.2 billion to develop ‘human-centered’ IoT applications

Samsung is doubling down on the Internet of Things. The company acquired U.S. cloud service provider Joyent earlier this month to power its IoT platform, and the vendor announced today that it will spend $1.2 billion over the course of four years in developing IoT applications, with the money evenly split between internal R&D and investing in other startups.

The investment will include a chip fabrication lab in Austin, as well as a research center in Palo Alto. Samsung is looking to get a headstart in the IoT segment, and as such the vendor is launching the National IoT Strategy Dialogue, through which it will “inform policy makers on enabling the technology to deliver benefits for individuals, communities, innovators and the U.S. economy.”

Samsung Shows Dedication to IoT with $1.2 Billion Investment and R&D

World’s largest manufacturer of consumer electronics pledges to work collaboratively with industry and government to bring IoT to scale and improve quality of life for people everywhere

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman & CEO Dr. Oh-Hyun Kwon unveiled today Samsung’s vision for ‘Human-Centered IoT,’ including a strategy to spend $1.2 billion over 4 years for U.S.-based Internet of Things (IoT) R&D and investments. This will be led by the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center, Global Innovation Center and Samsung Research America, part of Samsung’s U.S. footprint of more than 15,000 employees across the country.

Vice Chairman Kwon delivered this news in a speech as part of a Samsung-hosted forum in Washington, D.C. The event, entitled Internet of Things: Transforming the Future, brought together technology industry leaders with policymakers and influencers to discuss the many ways IoT can benefit society, and how to tackle the challenges that remain in bringing it to scale.

Vice Chairman Kwon called for his peers to “start talking and thinking differently about IoT,” with a human-centered approach, embracing the life-changing possibilities of the technology and working together to bring these benefits to society at-large.

“I am excited to show how we are moving IoT to the center of our strategy and am delighted to announce that Samsung is planning to spend $1.2 Billion in U.S.-centered IoT investments and R&D over the next 4 years,” said Vice Chairman Kwon.

“At Samsung, putting people at the center of everything we do is our highest value,” said Kwon. “The same must be true for IoT if we want to realize its full transformative power. Today, IoT is changing individual lives – helping people to age in their own homes. But tomorrow, using IoT, we can give the same independence to millions of Americans. We can keep people out of hospitals and nursing homes. As our populations live longer, these benefits and cost savings for society cannot be ignored.”

In his keynote Vice Chairman Kwon offered industry and policymakers two principles in addition to a ‘human-centered’ approach: to be open and collaborative.

“If we want innovators everywhere to make use of IoT, we must make sure all tools are open to them. This means technologies that connect to each other, because we know that boundaries around technologies hold back innovation and scale,” the Vice Chairman said.

He also warned that sector-specific regulations would inherently fragment the development of IoT, impeding devices and platforms from connecting to each other.

As the IoT ecosystem is by nature connected and interwoven, collaboration is vital to promoting this level of openness and interconnection. In this vein, Vice Chairman Kwon urged attendees to pursue cross-sector dialogue and partnerships, and announced Samsung’s role as a co-founder of the newly launched National IoT Strategy Dialogue.

The Dialogue, to be hosted by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), will design a National IoT Strategy as a tool to inform policy makers on enabling the technology to deliver benefits for individuals, communities, innovators and the U.S. economy.

This announcement, Vice Chairman Kwon reinforced, “is not about the first steps – that’s because IoT is already happening all around us. It’s time to imagine the transformative potential of IoT for our societies – and learn how to achieve its human, social benefits at scale.”

The event is part of Vision for Tomorrow, Samsung’s recently launched public affairs platform for cross-sector collaboration around issues affecting the policy dialogue in the U.S. and around the world.

Former HTC CEO Peter Chou retires from company

Peter Chou, who was HTC’s CEO through its dramatic rise and fall in the smartphone world, has departed the company. An HTC spokesperson provided Android Central with the following statement:

“HTC can confirm that Peter Chou retired from the Company after assuming the chairmanship of Digital Domain in September 2015, although he was retained as an Advisor to enable HTC to leverage his extensive experience. We thank Peter for his long-term commitment to the business and wish him well in his retirement.”

So that’s that. Chairwoman Cher Wang took over the top job at HTC after Chou’s departure, after which he briefly headed up HTC’s Future Development Lab in a more product-focused role. Late last year he took up a new leadership role at Digital Domain, the visual effects studio co-founded by director James Cameron.

Since then, despite HTC’s expansion into VR and connected devices, and the arrival of the critically praised HTC 10, the phone maker’s financial position has remained precarious.

The Moto G4 makes its way to India for ₹12,499

The Moto G4 Plus was unveiled in India in May, and now Lenovo is introducing a more affordable Moto G4 option for ₹12,499. The main difference between the two models is that the latter does not come with a fingerprint sensor, and has reduced memory: 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage instead of 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage on the Moto G4 Plus.

The camera is also a 13MP offering instead of a 16MP unit. That said, the Moto G4 does include the same 5.5-inch Full HD screen as the Plus variant, and you also get Turbo Charging, a 3000mAh battery, Dual-SIM connectivity with a dedicated microSD slot, 5MP front shooter, LTE, and the same 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 SoC.

The Moto G4 will similarly be exclusive to Amazon in India, and will be available starting later today for ₹12,499. Given the ₹2,500 price difference, you’re better off buying the Moto G4 Plus for ₹14,999.

Wileyfox has new phones coming June 28

Second-gen ‘foxes set for unveiling at London event.

British startup Wileyfox turned heads late last year with two Cyanogen OS-powered smartphones at competitive price points. The Wileyfox Swift and Storm — selling for £129 and 199 respectively — were part of the broader trend in 2015 towards really affordable Android phones that actually delivered a decent user experience.

And now the company is preparing to launch a new round of handsets.

An invite sent out to press reveals that the next generation of Wileyfox phones will land at an event in London next Tuesday, June 28. The invite refers to a “handset range,” suggesting that once again there’ll be multiple ‘foxes dropping simultaneously. It’s also likely the company’s software partnership with Cyanogen will continue, though this isn’t specifically mentioned.

Last year’s Wileyfox Swift impressed with decent performance, impressive build and a quality software experience thanks to Cyanogen. Meanwhile the more expensive Storm left us lukewarm thanks to its mediocre battery life.

We’ll be on the ground in London next Tuesday to bring you full coverage of Wileyfox’s latest phones. In the meantime, hit the comments and let us know what you’d like to see from Wileyfox.

The Samsung Gear 360 will cost $349 when it eventually goes on sale

VidCon attendees get first dibs paying for the racquetball-sized 360 camera as Samsung opens its VR platform to user-generated content.

It’s been about four months since Samsung announced the Gear 360 camera — its entry into the growing market of 360-degree cameras. In that time we’ve seen LG release its 360 CAM, and the excellent Ricoh Theta S has gained steam as well. But we’ve been waiting in earnest for the Gear 360 because, well, it’s Samsung. Meanwhile, the company has given out scores of Gera 360s to attendees of its annual developer conference, and we’ve been able to import them from Korea for some time now. (Which we did.)

Finally, though, we’ve got more official information for those of us in North America. The Gear 360 will retail for $349 (that’s right in line with the Theta S, by the way) and go on sale … well, we’re not really sure when.

Samsung’s making the Gear 360 available this week — “on a limited basis” — if you’re attending the VidCon conference in Anaheim, Calif., outside Los Angeles. “Details about additional availability will follow later in the year,” Samsung said in its press release.

The Gear 360 sports two 15-megapixel wide-angle lenses that stitch together two images for near-360-degree photos and video. It works with Samsung’s current generation of smartphones — the Galaxy S6 and GS7, and Galaxy Note 5, but the camera also is self-contained enough that you can use it without an accompanying smartphone if necessary. (But it’s a lot easier if you’ve got a phone alongside.)

In addition to this early availability news, Samsung has announced that it’s rebranding its Milk VR service to just “Samsung VR” and is launching “Samsung Creators” as part of VidCon — “a new initiative that empowers storytellers, partnering with them to generate content across a variety of audiences and channels to show everyday creators what’s possible with Samsung VR technology.”

Samsung Launches Samsung Creators to Democratize and Accelerate Next Generation Storytelling Program to Encourage Exploration of New Transformative, 360 and VR Medium

Samsung’s End-to-End VR Ecosystem Fuels User Generated Content with Advanced Services and High Quality Products

NEW YORK – June 22, 2016 – Today Samsung Electronics America, Inc. launched Samsung Creators, a new initiative that empowers storytellers, partnering with them to generate content across a variety of audiences and channels to show everyday creators what’s possible with Samsung VR technology.

“We want to bring the power of VR technology directly to the people,” said Samsung Electronics America’s Chief Marketing Officer Marc Mathieu. “To help creators learn and perfect the art of VR storytelling, we’ve built an entire VR ecosystem that pushes beyond the frame and empowers them to develop unforgettable, immersive stories, and inspires us all to do the same.”

At VidCon—and, beyond—Samsung Creators will provide seminars and classes, putting VR capabilities in the hands of filmmakers and influencers, further accelerating this new medium. Leading into VidCon, Samsung Creators is working with Casey Neistat to spotlight emerging creators from YouTube and push the creative boundaries of 360 video storytelling. This special curation of content will premiere at VidCon.

In July, Samsung Creators will launch a competition, challenging aspiring, indie filmmakers and creators to develop VR / 360 content, using Samsung’s VR products. Ten winners will be chosen, one from each of the following ten categories: Music, Auto, Science and tech, Gaming, Travel, Fashion, Culinary, Cause-related, 4D and Sports.

For more information about Samsung Creators, please visit http://www.samsungcreators.com.

Samsung VR and Samsung Gear 360 Updates

In addition, today Samsung launched Samsung VR– formerly known as Samsung Milk VR – which now supports user generated content. Creators can load their own 360-degree videos to the Samsung VR platform for sharing and for the first time view them in Samsung Gear VR. For more information about uploading content to Samsung VR, please visit https://samsungvr.com.

Samsung Gear 360 also launched in the U.S. today, an affordable, high-resolution camera developed for storytellers to create their own 360-degree videos for mobile viewing and VR content for Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus. The Gear 360 is priced at $349.99 in the United States and will be available for purchase on a limited basis during VidCon in Anaheim, California. Details about additional availability will follow later in the year. For more information about Gear 360, please visit http://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqzyfj.com%2Fclick-7293382-12001245-1428599469000%3Fsid%3Dd_ac%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.samsung.com%252Fgear360.&token=YYV-87mP

With these announcements, Samsung delivers the first end-to-end VR ecosystem that enables creators to shoot, stitch and share like never before.

Best gadget concept images of 2016: iPhone 7, Galaxy S8, PlayStation Neo and more

This year has seen plenty of impressive gadgets revealed, yet some of the best are still to come. Rumours and leaks aside, we feel it’s the amateur designers and fans who create mock-ups of what’s to come that provide some of the greatest gadget anticipation.

This year we’ve had on that list Apple’s iPhone 7, Sony’s PlayStation Neo (PS4K), Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Note 7, Nintendo’s NX, the next Nexus and of course that OLED panel-toting MacBook Pro. Specs have leaked along with potential design changes but very few, or even no official images have surfaced.

Therefore, it is up to the online community to show us what future gadget releases might look like. The designers of the world have been hard at work interpreting leaks and rumours to create images of what may be to come. Some are based in fact and on current models, while others are flights of fancy. Lots are impressively rendered to look near real, some might come from less skilled designers but still show off cool ideas.

READ: Apple iPhone 7: What’s the story so far?

The thing they have in common is they’re all aspirational. Even if the gadgets don’t look this way when finished, it shows companies what could be and what the fans really want.

We’ve compiled the best concept design renders out there for gadgets that are yet to come. This list will be constantly updated as new designs become available.

Check out the gallery above to see the best gadget concepts the internet has to offer right now.

READ: Sony PlayStation 4K: What is PS4.5/Neo, when is it coming and what will it offer?