Liveblog: Samsung at IFA 2016 — 6 p.m. CET (noon ET) Aug 31
Get ready to see the latest in mobile from Samsung at IFA.
Where Samsung goes, we all go. And so we’ve found ourselves at the Tempodrom in Berlin — the usual haunt for Korea’s largest manufacturer of, well, everything. What to expect at this year’s IFA event? Well, Samsung’s already been teasing a new Gear smartwatch, so that’s a pretty good guess at this point.
But will we see anything else alongside it? Only one way to find out. Things kick off August 31 at 6 p.m. CET — that’s noon on the east coast of the U.S., and 9 a.m. out west.
Let’s get our liveblog on!
Galaxy Note 7 shipments delayed as Samsung conducts additional quality tests
Last week, reports emerged of a Galaxy Note 7 exploding while charging, and we’re seeing another reported instance today. It is likely that the phones were using third-party microUSB to USB Type-C cables, but Samsung is now taking a look at the situation to ensure customers aren’t in harm’s way. The South Korean company is delaying shipments of the Note 7 to conduct additional tests on the phone.
In a statement to Reuters, Samsung said:
Shipments of the Galaxy Note 7 are being delayed due to additional tests being conducted for product quality.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency is stating that all Note 7 deliveries to local carriers SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus are being put on hold while Samsung investigates the cause of the explosions. A Samsung official failed to confirm or deny the report, stating: “We are checking whether the deliveries were halted or not.”
A key change from the Galaxy S7 edge to the Note 7 is the introduction of the USB-C port. USB-C is great in that it has a reversible plug and scalable power delivery, but the downside is that using non-certified low-quality cables can potentially cause harm to your device (and you).
Shipment delays will put a dent in initial sales figures of the Galaxy Note 7, considering Samsung already sold an impressive 400,000 units since its launch in South Korea alone. That said, if there is an issue with the device, then it makes all the more sense for the company to get ahead of the problem and fix it before it escalates.
In the meantime, make sure you’re using Samsung’s official charger and cable with your Galaxy Note 7.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
- Here are all four Note 7 colors
- Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
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Grab the Gear VR for its lowest price yet!
Right now you can grab the Samsung Gear VR for just $60 at Amazon, which happens to be its lowest price yet. If you didn’t get a free one with your purchase or are looking for another, you won’t want to miss out on this deal. This isn’t the one that Samsung just announced with both USB-C and MicroUSB compatibility, but it will work with the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and others. The headset offers a great entry point into the world of virtual reality with its comfortable fit and precision motion tracking.
The headset is normally priced at $100, and the deal is good for today, August 31, only so don’t miss out on this $40 savings. Will you be picking one up for yourself or someone else? Let us know in the comments!
See at Amazon
Report shows Motorola is the fastest to roll out updates, but you already knew that
In the market for a new Android phone? You’re better off waiting for this year’s Google phones.
Mobile app insights firm Apteligent has published its Android manufacturer update report for July 2016(PDF), detailing the track record of manufacturers when it comes to rolling out updates in the U.S. and India. Outside of Nexus devices, Motorola is the fastest to roll out Marshmallow to its devices, and overall the company has done a great job of getting updates out quickly in spite of a few missteps.
That may all change this year now that Motorola is a part of Lenovo. The manufacturer is yet to commit to an Android 7.0 Nougat update window for this year’s Moto Z and Moto Z Droid, and that’s nothing to say of the Moto G4 Plus, Moto G4, and last year’s Moto X Style, Moto X Play, or the Moto G 2015. All of these devices are expected to be updated to Android 7.0, but we’ll have to wait and see how Motorola treats software updates under Lenovo. The company has reiterated that the Moto Z and Moto Z Droid will receive software updates, and is currently rolling out the July security patch to both handsets at the end of August.
Apteligent says that it monitored “tens of thousands of mobile apps representing hundreds of millions of application launches” for the statistics, leveraging “app loads and network data.” The dataset is selective, and doesn’t feature the likes of Huawei in the U.S., even though ZTE is included.
As for other manufacturers, HTC came in at second place, and with the Taiwanese company announcing that it will make the Nougat update available to the unlocked and carrier variants of the HTC 10, One A9, and the One M9 in the fourth quarter of 2016.
LG was at third place for Marshmallow rollout, but with the LG V20 all set to be the first phone to offer Nougat out of the box, the manufacturer is likely to pull ahead this year. Samsung was fourth, but the South Korean company has turned things around when it comes to rolling out security patches in recent months. It needs to make the patches available in more regions and on more devices, but with regards to the U.S. and Indian markets, Samsung is doing a great job.
The report also found that Sony’s phones were the least likely to crash, and that the Russian market is severely fragmented, with the top 10 phones accounting for just 27% of total usage.
Let’s talk about India
Coming to the Indian market, it isn’t hard to see that Motorola outpaces all other manufacturers when it comes to updates. HTC and LG are second and third, followed by Sony and Samsung. We don’t see any mention of Micromax, the second-largest smartphone vendor. OPPO, Xiaomi, Lenovo, LeEco, and Honor, which represent a significant chunk of the smartphone market in the country, are also absent. There’s an easy explanation for this: most of the aforementioned brands are yet to make the switch to Marshmallow.
The Redmi Note 3 is one of the best-selling phones in the country this year, accounting for over 1.75 million sales. The phone picked up the update to MIUI 8, but the base Android version is still stuck at Android 5.1.1. That said, Xiaomi is doing a great job of rolling out monthly security patches.
Similarly, OPPO’s F1s is also stuck on Android 5.1.1, and vivo’s V3 and V3 Max are running Android 5.1. OPPO and vivo are gaining market share in India by aggressively focusing on the offline market in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, which means a lot of new phone buyers are purchasing handsets with outdated software.
The main takeaway is that if you’re looking for quick updates, Nexuses — or Google phones as they’ll be called — are your best bet.
Read Apteligent’s Android Manufacturer Data Report
Hands-on with the ASUS ZenWatch 3: Android Wear 2.0 in the round
ASUS has a new ZenWatch and they’ve finally gone ’round.
This is the new ASUS ZenWatch 3. It has dual distinctions: it’s the first Android Wear 2.0 device that will see a full launch (after the botched LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE) and the first take on a round smartwatch from ASUS. The previous two iterations of the ZenWatch sported square displays, so this new ZenWatch 3 marks a significant departure for them.
ASUS wasn’t content making a smartwatch that just happens to be round, as that’s not the way the company does things. The ZenWatch 3, per the expanded capabilities of Android Wear 2.0, sports three hardware buttons. The center main button is the same as it always has been with Android Wear, but the top button can be customized to open an app of the user’s choice (the lower button was not specified, but if it’s anything like the cancelled LG watch, it’s likely locked to the ZenFit fitness app). Those buttons are the only part of the watch body that feels cheap — on each unit we tried out they had a surprising amount of wiggle, and the capped piston-style design meant there was an unsightly gap under the button cap.
Not all traditions are broken here — the back of the ZenWatch 3 sports the signature ASUS circular brushed metal pattern and a quartet of charging contacts. Speaking of charging, this is the first Android Wear watch we know of that offers its own version of fast charging called “HyperCharge”. Just dock it up and in 15 minutes flat you’ll have a 60% charge. ASUS will also include a compact battery pack for charging on the go — just attached it to the back and you’ll have a 40% charge on your hands, er, wrist.
This is the first Android Wear to offer its own version of fast charging.
That stainless steel casing is also water resistant with an IP67 rating and is available in your choice of gunmetal black, silver, and rose gold — all with options for leather or rubber straps. It’s worth noting that those straps aren’t standard lugs; the designers at ASUS instead opted for a design that allows for a clean seam between the solid lugs with the strap attached underneath the metal. It looks nice, but it also means you won’t be grabbing any old watch strap to style it your way. The rubber straps are relatively nice with a simple cross-hatch pattern, while the leather straps are somewhat disappointingly thin and flimsy feeling — though these are preproduction units, and things may change by the time the watches hit shelves.
The display on the ZenWatch looks sharp and vivid, offering automatic brightness adjustment without having a visible ambient brightness sensor. ASUS has been light on information about what’s inside this watch, saying simply that there’s a Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor driving things — this is the first watch announced with this new wearable-focused chip, which should help with both improved performance and battery life.
Other details are similarly light — we have European pricing at €229 and expect that U.S. pricing will be roughly the same number. Other details like battery life, launch date, and additional straps, and more are still unknown, but what we do know and see, we like.
Moto 360 2015 (left) vs. ASUS ZenWatch 3 (right)
Panasonic UB700 4K HDR Ultra HD Blu-ray player takes on Samsung UBD-K8500 in price wars
Panasonic has announced a new, cheaper 4K HDR capable Blu-ray player at its press conference at IFA in Berlin, Germany.
The new model, which will be dubbed the UB700 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player will come with many of the same, but not all, the features found in the BU900 player already on the market.
Panasonic has confirmed though that the cheaper player, which is expected to cost around 500 euro, won’t feature 7.1 surround sound support, or be THX certified.
It will however come with twin HDMI outputs support for high-resolution audio formats such as DSD and ALAC.
The player will remain DLNA compatible for media streaming, offer Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, and come with the company’s smart platform for VOD services and 4K content sharing mobile devices using Miracast.
“The DMP-UB700 incorporates a newly developed 4K-ready engine: the 4K High-Precision Chroma Processor,” says Panasonic in a statement. “By using an original, highly accurate multi-tap process, it delivers beautiful, natural pictures with life-like depth, vivid colours and high-contrast dynamics. The DMP-UB700 also has an original 4K Direct Chroma up-scaling function so that it can deliver 4K-quality pictures with high resolution and beautiful colours from 2K content.”
The new model and new price puts it in direct competition with the Samsung Blu-ray player already on the market giving consumers even more choice beyond streaming to access 4K HDR Ultra HD content.
ICYMI: Sea power could take wind power’s bragging rights
Today on In Case You Missed It: Nova Innovation is installing the world’s first tidal power generators along the coast of Scotland, which are able to produce 100 kilowatts of power each. The UK Carbon Trust estimates the tidal energy market will be worth $165 Billion by 2050.
The P-Laser that strips rust in an instant is here, and if you’re as into amazing dogs as we are, you must see the nicknozzy YouTube channel. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Dropbox hacker stole 70 million log-ins in 2012
Back in 2012, Dropbox admitted someone hacked into the cloud storage service and stole log-in details, but it didn’t reveal the extent of the breach. Well, apparently, it was a huge one. Motherboard has obtained a number of files containing 60 million username and password combinations that came from that incident. A senior Dropbox employee who chose to remain anonymous confirmed the files’ contents to the publication. Microsoft employee Troy Hunt verified the details by finding his and his wife’s log-ins in the mix, as well.
Since Dropbox sent out password resets last week to users who signed up before 2012 and haven’t changed their log-in details since, it’s not hard to believe that the files are legit. The company mentioned in the help center entry about the resets that it doesn’t believe any of the accounts were improperly accessed. While there’s no way to prove that, Motherboard’s and Hunt’s findings support that claim.
All of the passwords in the list are salted and encrypted, though only 32 million are protected by a strong algorithm called bcrypt. The other half uses an older, weaker algorithm called SHA-1. It doesn’t look like the files are being sold on the dark web yet. But to be safe, it’s best to change your Dropbox passwords and activate two-factor authentication when you can.
Source: Motherboard
Netflix’s original series ‘Stranger Things’ gets a second season
File this one under “things we knew were happening but were waiting on official confirmation.” Surprising absolutely no one, Netflix’s ’80s-flavored sci-fi romp Stranger Things is getting a second season.
Since debuting on Netflix in July, Stranger Things has garnered quite the rabid audience with its quirky characters, eerie situations and the questions upon questions that have only snowballed since the first episode. It’s obviously a crowd-pleasing favorite, even though yours truly hasn’t seen over 30 seconds.
It looks like the teaser trailer might contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the first season you might want to exercise caution before watching it, even though it’s just a collection of text and what looks like episode titles. The next fleet of episodes is expected in 2017.
Via: Variety
Source: Netflix
Free-to-play is coming to the space MMO ‘EVE Online’
After over a decade with a straight subscription model, the massively multiplayer space RPG EVE: Online is adding a free-to-play tier. While paid accounts will still exist for new and old players alike, the new free accounts will give gamers basic access to the vast EVE universe, “New Eden.”
It’s been surprising how long EVE developer CCP has held out on free-to-play. New Eden may have been home to some of the most famous conflicts in video game history, but that hasn’t stopped subscribers leaving in droves. Introduced in 2003, the game peaked with 500,000 subscribers in 2013 (the last time CCP gave official figures). From comparing activity logs and historical player figures, the current subscriber count is likely less than half of that peak.
Dwindling player counts are a problem for many MMOs, but it’s perhaps tougher on EVE than most. Rather than having tens or hundreds of servers running independently like, for example, World of Warcraft, EVE offers a single persistent universe in which all players participate (excluding the Chinese server). When half as many players are online in WoW, you can just visit a server that’s fully populated. When the same happens in EVE, it’s half as busy as it used to be.
CCP has been trying to increase its EVE player counts in many ways. Broad changes to the game, such as wormhole expeditions, faction warfare and incursions kept gameplay fresh to a point, and regular expansions since have added new things to do. Then there was the 2013 free-to-play shooter Dust 514, which tied in heavily and, as well as being a money-maker on its own, was supposed to attract fresh blood to the main game. More recently, it’s invested heavily in VR, with EVE Valkyrie and EVE Gunjack offering action-oriented spins on New Eden. None of the changes are likely to be as significant as the switch to free-to-play.
CCP Games says it’s been planning to make the switch for a while, but it’s only recently been possible to do so. “Part of our vision for the future of EVE has included more open access for some time, but with the interconnected nature of the game comes vulnerability,” it said in the announcement post. “We knew that if the flood gates were opened in the wrong way, we could see anything from server meltdowns to the collapse of the EVE economy. Over time, our hardware has improved, code has been untangled (mostly!) and we’ve found a design we believe in.”
The big influx of new free-to-play accounts should breathe fresh life into the game, and CCP hopes many gamers who have left EVE over the years will come back as free players. In the universe’s lore, these free-to-play accounts will be known as “Alpha clones.” Free players can trade, mine and fight just like regular subscribers, but skill progression will be slower, and limited to certain fields. Outwardly, there will be no indicators as to a player’s subscription status, but their ship will give you a clue: Alpha clones will be stuck with the game’s starter spacecrafts: Tech one Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers.
Existing players’ accounts will behave as they always have, except if their subscription lapses they’ll be dropped down to Alpha clone status. To be clear, any progression made won’t be lost, it’s just as a free-to-play account those skills will be locked. CCP is actively encouraging existing players to court the Alpha clone accounts, bring them under their wing and boost the strength of their factions and alliances. The spin is that this will make existing players’ games fresh and exciting by bringing thousands of new players into the world. Of course, new and old players alike will be able to upgrade to full accounts (or “Omega clones,” under the new nomenclature) by paying a subscription fee (typically around $10 per month).
The changes raise plenty of questions about how EVE will function following the shift. The free-to-play subscriptions will open up in November as part of a feature update called Clone States, and we suspect there’ll be a lot more detail on how the newer New Eden will work. From the initial announcement, though, this seems like a carefully considered way to bring new players into the EVE universe without annoying fans that have sunk thousands of hours and dollars into the game.
If you’re one of those players, or interested in joining, you can read all about the upcoming changes here. If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of EVE, CCP made this video a couple of years back from player submissions. I love it, and I’ll use any excuse to post it:
Source: CCP Games
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