Huawei’s Honor Note 8 packs a huge 6.6-inch screen
Honor might be a Huawei sub-brand, but it’s definitely taking the spotlight today. It’s introducing the Honor Note 8, an upper-mid-range behemoth meant to take on the likes of Xiaomi’s Mi Max. Its focal point is undoubtedly its 6.6-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 screen — it’s both larger and sharper than its Xiaomi rival, and clearly built for people whose smartphone might be their only computing device. You won’t get an exotic camera setup like on the Huawei P9 (there’s ‘just’ one rear 13-megapixel camera with stabilization). However, you will get the P9’s Kirin 955 octa-core processor as well as a hefty 4GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel front camera, a fingerprint reader, a sizeable 4,500mAh battery and 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of expandable storage.
It’s being joined by the Honor 5 (below), a more modest device that sits under the Honor 5X. It’s very much a lower-mid-range device between its 5-inch 720p display, quad-core MediaTek processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, 8-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front shooter. About its biggest perk is its dual-SIM support for people who need more than one line. Still, it’s a viable alternative if the 5X is too big or pricey.
The Honor 5 will be available in China on August 2nd, where it’ll cost a downright frugal 599 RMB ($90). You’ll have to wait until August 9th to get the Honor Note 8, although its Chinese prices range from 2,299 RMB for 32GB ($346) to 2,799 RMB for 128GB ($420). That’s much more expensive than the $230 Mi Max, but a bargain if you’re looking for a massive but capable handset. The question is whether or not any of these devices will reach the US. The 5X did, but it also hit a sweet spot for screen size, features and price — the Note 8 and 5 are more specialized devices that might have a tougher time in the States.
Via: Engadget Chinese, Android Central, Android Headlines
Source: Honor
Longtime Shareware Payments Processor Kagi Shuts Down
After more than 20 years in operation, once popular software payments processor Kagi yesterday announced on its home page that it has shut down effectively immediately. Longtime Mac users are probably familiar with Kagi, which assisted numerous small developers in accepting credit card payments from users.
Kagi arose in the 1990s on the popularity of shareware, which allowed developers to widely distribute their software with time or feature limits as trial versions and then offer unlock codes for a fee to open up full functionality. Processing credit card payments for these unlock codes was difficult for small developers who didn’t have the manpower or financial resources to handle payment issues or deal with setting up merchant accounts with credit card companies, and Kagi provided a solution for those developers by handling the payment processing, code distribution, and development and maintenance of store pages.
With the evolution of payment processing in the form of PayPal and Stripe, Kagi’s popularity waned, though it continued to be used by a number of small developers. Ultimately, however, that user base was not enough to sustain the service, with founder Kee Nethery also citing a decade-old case of supplier fraud that Kagi was never able to recover from as a major reason for finally closing down.
Based on the notice posted on Kagi’s site and emails sent to developers using the service, a third-party company is “dividing up the Kagi assets and distributing them to the creditors,” so it is possible some developers may not receive the full amount they are owed as Kagi shuts down.
Tag: Kagi
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Engadget UK giveaway: Win a Sony Xperia XA courtesy of 32nd Shop
The British summer simply can’t win. Either it’s too hot and muggy to go outside, or it rains all day when you’re trying to host a BBQ. Free stuff, however, is one thing you can’t complain about. Thanks to our friends at 32nd Shop, we’ve got two of Sony’s Xperia XA smartphones up for grabs this week. What’s more, each of the camera-centric mobiles has no less than four different covers to go with it — 32nd Shop being a case and accessory specialist, after all. As always, entries are handled by the Rafflecopter widget below, but before you start throwing your hat into the ring, gives the rules a quick read so you know what’s what.
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 UK, 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. Two (2) winners will receive one (1) Xperia XA and assorted cases.
- 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. Sony, 32nd Shop and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honour warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until August 5th at 11:59PM BST. Good luck!
Source: 32nd Shop
LG’s V20 will be the first Android Nougat smartphone
LG will launch the V20 smartphone in September, and it will be the first to get Android 7.0 Nougat. It’s the successor to LG’s wacky V10 phone, and will have the same dual-screen, dual-selfie camera features (no other specs were revealed). The news means that the V20 will likely be released before any Nexus phones, which are usually the first with the latest Android operating systems. That would be an unusual move by Google, but LG has confirmed the news with Engadget.
LG has built the lion’s share of Nexus phones for the search giant, including the Nexus 4, 5 and 5X. With the generally low prices of Nexus models (the 5X is $349, for instance), it’s understood that companies like LG and Huawei are willing to take smaller profits to work with Google. With the V20, LG gets it both ways — it can sell the handset at a profitable price (the V10 is $600) and still be first to market with a new Android OS. Considering that the V10 was a rare bright spot for LG, that could give its flagging mobile division a boost.
Source: LG (translated)
Tesla and Solar City agree to a $2.6 billion merger
Tesla has confirmed that it will buy SolarCity for $2.6 billion, a deal that unites two Elon Musk firms as one giant green company. The merged business will sell solar panels, Powerwall batteries to store the energy and electric cars that run on it. It’s the “end-to-end clean energy” solution promised by Elon Musk in his “Master Plan Part Deux” just two weeks ago. SolarCity also revealed that it will introduce an “integrated solar and storage offering,” and a solar product “focused on the 5 million new roofs installed each year in the US.”
Musk previously said that any merger would not impact Tesla’s plans for the upcoming Model 3 EV and Gigafactory, which just officially opened. While the companies will soon be united, Tesla and SolarCity have worked closely together over the years, and the latter was founded by Musk’s cousins, CEO Lyndon Rive and director Peter Rive. Musk is, of course, the chairman and largest shareholder of both firms.
SolarCity is set to release its earnings next week and said that it installed more photovoltaic panels than forecast last quarter (201 megawatts compared to 185 megawatts). However, it added that residential installations were down slightly. The acquisition is not yet final, as it includes a “go-shop” provision that will allow other potential buyers to submit offers for SolarCity until September 14th, 2016.
Source: Securities and Exchange Commission, SolarCity
Philips’ new personal health tech includes a fitness watch
Watch out, Withings — Philips wants to move in on your turf. The Dutch tech giant is launching a slew of personal health devices that take advantage of its expertise in health tech while seeming more than a little familiar. The centerpiece is arguably the $250 Health Watch. The wearable tracks your activity, heart rate and sleep patterns like numerous fitness trackers, but with a few nice twists. You’re getting “clinically validated” data, Philips promises, and you can enter your calorie intake either on the watch or in the companion Android and iOS apps. You also have the option of Apple Watch-like (though thankfully customizable) reminders to stand. Just don’t expect a full-on smartwatch — this is more of a health device that happens to talk to your phone.
Beyond this? There’s a connected scale ($120 on Philips’ site) that can track your body fat and BMI over time, a $60 ear thermometer with historical temperature data and blood pressure monitors for both your upper arm ($120) and wrist ($90). All of the devices are available today, so you don’t have to wait to give any of them a try… that is, if you haven’t already bought something from the likes of Withings or Fitbit.
Via: BusinessWire
Source: Philips (1), (2), (3), (4)
Instagram Plans Launch of New Comment Moderation Feature for All Users
Social media app Instagram is planning to launch a new feature that allows its users personalized control over the comments shared on each of their posts.
The company has long had blanket rules for what constitutes appropriate speech on its network, but the new comment filter ability will let each user tweak specific rules to their own liking, since “different words or phrases are offensive to different people” (via The Washington Post).
Some businesses have already gotten a look at the new feature, letting them automatically weed out comments and posters with specific triggering phrases. In the next few weeks, more “high-profile accounts” will get their hands on comment moderation, with the ability to also switch comments off completely on a post-by-post basis.
“Our goal is to make Instagram a friendly, fun and, most importantly, safe place for self expression,” said Instagram’s head of public policy, Nicky Jackson Colaco, in a statement to The Post. “We have slowly begun to offer accounts with high volume comment threads the option to moderate their comment experience. As we learn, we look forward to improving the comment experience for our broader community.”
Normal users will have to wait a while longer to moderate their own posts, since Instagram said it will launch the feature to all its users “in the coming months.” The company is planning on using feedback from higher-volume accounts to fine tune the new feature before handing it out to its more than 300 million daily active users.
Instagram is available for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tag: Instagram
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Sony’s gigantic Xperia XA Ultra now on sale at Unlocked-Mobiles
The 6-inch Xperia XA Ultra is now up for sale at UK’s Unlocked-Mobiles for £298. The retailer is offering the phone in white, black, and lime gold, with next-day delivery options available.
As a reminder, the Xperia XA Ultra offers a 6-inch Full HD display, octa-core Helio P10 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot, 21.5MP camera, 16MP front camera, LTE, NFC, and a 2700mAh battery. On the software side of things, you’re looking at Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
Interested? Be sure to read our hands-on preview of the phone.
See at Unlocked-Mobiles
Sony shifts focus in India, will only offer ‘premium’ Xperia phones
Sony will pivot to selling only “premium” Xperia phones in India. The Japanese giant said that it would “defocus” on certain markets earlier this year, opting to turn its attention toward the high-end segment rather than duke it out in the competitive budget category.
Vijay Singh Jaswal, head of Sony India’s Xperia business, revealed the new strategy in an interview with the Times of India:
Sony Mobile drove transformation in FY15 towards a profitable and sustainable company globally including the areas mentioned. As part of our transformation, we are sharpening our focus on select products and sales channels.
Considering the recent shift, our marketing strategy will now revolve around offering premium products in the smartphone segment.
According to Jaswal, Sony has seen a 55% YoY increase in average selling price in the Indian market in Q1 2016, and the company will continue to focus on the high-end segment:
Going forward we [Sony] aim to launch flagship products for our customers in India which will further enhance our presence in the market.
Sony saw a meager 0.3% YoY growth in India, which is likely the main reason for the shift in strategy. The brand was woefully unprepared to deal with the Chinese contingent of Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei, and OnePlus among others, which have cornered the budget and mid-tier segments.
Sony has always relied on its brand cachet to drive sales, but it could not compete with the value for money on offer with the likes of the Redmi Note 3 and the LeEco Le 2. With Samsung similarly crowding out the high-end segment, it is unlikely Sony will see a drastic uptick in its market share soon.
Honor Note 8 unveiled in China with massive 6.6-inch QHD display
Honor has unveiled its latest phone in the Chinese market, the Honor Note 8. The phone is designed to go up against Xiaomi’s Mi Max, offering an enormous 6.6-inch QHD display.
Powering the phone is the HiSilicon Kirin 955 SoC and a Mali-T880 MP4 GPU, the same configuration as the one we’ve seen in the Huawei P9. The Note 8 comes with 4GB of RAM, 32/64/128GB storage, 13MP camera at the back, 8MP front shooter with 85-degree wide-angle lens, fingerprint sensor, LTE, and a 4500mAh battery.
The tablet-sized phones measures 178.8 × 90.9 × 7.18mm, and weighs 219g. It’ll go up for sale in China starting August 9, with the 32GB version retailing for ¥2,299 ($345), the 64GB model for ¥2,499 ($375), and the 128GB edition for ¥2,799 ($420). The Note 8 costs a $100 more than the Mi Max, but it offers a denser QHD display and a faster SoC.
At this stage, there’s no mention of global availability, but we’ll let you know once we hear more.
AIVAnet 