New Samsung Galaxy A series to fill gap until Galaxy S8, spec and release date revealed

Samsung has unveiled a couple of updated models in its Galaxy A series of mid-range handsets. And considering the company is rumoured to be pushing back the release of the next Galaxy S8 flagship phone, these very capably fill a gap in the company’s schedule.

Both the Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 devices will be coming to the UK from early February, with pre-orders available from 20 January through Samsung’s own online store and selected carrier and retail outlets. Prices are yet to be revealed.

Those who pre-order either handset will also get a pair of Samsung Level Active Wireless Headphones.

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Much of the feature set and some of the spec from the Galaxy S7 has made it down the line to the new Galaxy A devices, including IP68 water and dust resistance. They also get longer battery life than the 2016 equivalents, with Fast Charging and a USB Type-C port.

An always-on display enables users to check key notifications without fully waking either phone, while they offer improved storage capacity and increased microSD card compatibility to 256GB.

They will sport a metal frame, “3D glass back” and come in black, gold, light blue and peach colour schemes.

Here are the key specifications for each of the phones:

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A5 full specifications

• 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED screen
• 1.9GHz octa-core processor
• 3GB RAM
• LTE Cat 6 network connectivity
• 16-megapixel cameras front and rear
• 32GB storage with microSD card slot (up to an additional 256GB)
• Fingerprint scanner
• USB Type-C connection
• IP68 water and dustproofing
• Android 6.0.16 (Marshmallow)
• Dimensions: 146.1 x 71.4 x 7.9mm
• 3,000mAh battery with Fast Charging

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A3 Full specifications

• 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED screen
• 1.6GHz octa-core processor
• 2GB RAM
• LTE Cat 6 network connectivity
• 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel on the front
• 16GB storage with microSD card slot (up to an additional 256GB)
• Fingerprint scanner
• USB Type-C connection
• IP68 water and dustproofing
• Android 6.0.16 (Marshmallow)
• Dimensions: 135.4 x 86.2 x 7.9mm
• 2,350mAh battery with Fast Charging

Both of the handsets will debut at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Pocket-lint will be there to go hands-on with them to give you our first impressions. A third variant, the Galaxy A7 also to make an appearance at the show, is not currently planned for UK or Europe.

HTC Ocean Note could be called the U Ultra

We’re just over one week away from HTC’s ‘For U’ product launch event, where we’re expecting to see three new smartphones unveiled. The family of phones is currently codenamed Ocean and is said to comprise the Ocean Master, Ocean Smart and Ocean Note.

• HTC Ocean: What’s the story on the HTC 11?

The Ocean Note has been receiving the most publicity in recent days, with many predicting it will be a phablet style device to fill the gap the Galaxy Note 7 once filled. Now, a proper model name for the phone has been rumoured, the HTC U Ultra. It certainly fits in with the ‘For U’ event name, and could mean the entire family of phones will be called U.

Got it from an unverified source but I put that here anyway… ????#HTC Ocean Note = HTC U Ultra = 6″ display = no 3.5mm Jack…

— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) 31 December 2016

The rumour has been spread by Twitter user @OnLeaks, who cites an unverified source for the information. OnLeaks also says the U Ultra will have a 6-inch display and no 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s not the first time we’ve got wind the U Ultra will ditch the headphone jack, as Taiwanese news outlet ePrice says it will use USB Type-C for audio instead.

The HTC U Ultra should also come with a new Sense Touch UI that has been shown off in a leaked video, which relies on gestures and touch to navigate and could make a strong case for edge-to-edge displays.

The HTC ‘For U’ event will be held on 12 January, we’ll bring you all the latest news as and when we hear it.

This is the first official image of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

Dell has already confirmed it would be releasing a new 2-in-1 version of the XPS 13 this year and it should be officially unveiled at CES 2017 this week. Fortunately, we already know what it will look like thanks to a leaked image on Dell’s Canadian website. The image confirms much of what we already expected, a similar design to the current XPS 13, but with a foldable screen so you can use it as a laptop, or as a big-screen tablet.

• Dell XPS 13 review (2015): To infinity and beyond

The 2017 XPS 13 retains the near bezel-free display of the current model, and is expected to have similar specs, including a dual-core Kaby Lake processor.

We’re already big fans of the current model, praising it’s standout display and powerful performance. Here’s hoping the new 2-in-1 model can be even better.

Windows Central speaks of a refresh of the XPS 15 as well, which is said to come with 4GB RAM, quad-core Kaby Lake processor and biometric authentication, such as a fingerprint scanner. It’s not clear if the 13-inch model will also get the extra level of security, but with CES 2017 just hours away, we don’t have long to find out.

‘Blade Runner’ fan project recreates a whole set in VR

If you’re a movie buff, you’ve probably wished that you could walk into a scene and explore it on your own terms. Well, so did software engineer Quentin Lengele — and he’s close to making his dream a reality. He recently released footage of Blade Runner 9732, a years-long project that sets out to recreate Blade Runner protagonist Rick Deckard’s apartment in virtual reality using the Unity engine. The effort models just about everything in obsessive (and to-scale) detail, right down to stray magazines and a view of the dystopic Los Angeles outside. And to no one’s surprise, it captures the movie’s all-important film noir lighting and sound environment.

There isn’t much work left at this point. Lengele mainly wants to spruce up the washroom and add a few more details. The biggest challenge is simply creating a modern VR experience. The creator only has a first-generation Oculus Rift developer kit, which isn’t going to cut it circa 2017 — he’ll need to try things out with a newer headset before you can walk through Deckard’s living room as easily as you would in real life. Even so, this might just give you something to do if the Blade Runner 2049 VR experience just doesn’t cut it. Let’s just hope that the copyright holders don’t mind the project’s existence, as we’ve seen what happens when they do.

Via: Road to VR

Source: Blade Runner 9732

Samsung unveils water-resistant Galaxy A phones with USB-C

After the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, Samsung can’t afford a product misstep this year, and it seems to have gotten off to a good start with the 2017 Galaxy A smartphones. The 5.2-inch A5 and 4.7-inch A3 are packed with new features for folks who don’t want to spend $800 on a phone, most notably fast-charging USB-C tech and a water-resistant metal body. As is becoming typical in this segment, both have better front and back cameras with faster autofocus and better low-light capabilities, giving them more appeal for the social media and selfie set.

The 2017 Galaxy A5 now has 16-megapixel f/1.9 front and rear cameras, 3GB of RAM compared to 2GB last year, a faster 1.9GHz octa-core processor and a slightly larger 3,000 mAh battery with fast USB-C charging. As before, it packs a metal, glass-backed body, but it now has IP68 water and dust resistance, meaning it’ll stand up to rain and dust, even though you can’t swim with it.

The new 720p Galaxy A3, meanwhile, has a 13-megapixel rear camera, as before, but now packs a larger front 8-megapixel selfie camera. RAM goes up from 1.5GB to 2.0GB and the battery is a slightly larger 2,350 mAh and fast-charging, again thanks to USB-C. Both devices now have “enhanced” MicroSD, letting you add up to 256GB of storage, along with Android 6, an always-on display and Samsung Pay support. You can get them in four colors: Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist and Peach Cloud.

The premium materials and new features should help them better fulfill their intended missions as camera and social-media platforms, but there’s a lot of competition in that price range: The Galaxy A3 runs €329 and the A5 is priced at €429 (around $350 and $450, respectively). For a bit more than the latter price, for instance, you could get a much faster OnePlus 3T, although that model doesn’t have MicroSD storage. Samsung didn’t specify UK pricing yet, but pre-orders open on January 20th. There’s no word on US availability.

Source: Samsung

Play Store carrier billing is now live for Airtel and Vodafone customers in India

You can now buy digital content on the Play Store with your carrier account.

In a bid to make it easier for customers to purchase digital content in India on the Play Store, Google has rolled out carrier billing to Airtel and Vodafone customers in the country. The company tested the waters with Idea last year, and now Airtel and Vodafone subscribers can buy apps, games, movies, and ebooks on the Play Store and bill it to their prepaid or postpaid accounts.

Paying through carrier billing is very straightforward. Select an app or game you want to purchase, choose payment methods, and tap the carrier option. If your number is set up for mobile payments, you will be able to buy content and charge it to your monthly bill if you’re a postpaid user, or use the talktime balance if you’re on a prepaid account.

Smog creates havoc in China on New Year’s Day

If you happen to be in northern China, your new year didn’t exactly get off to a grand start — and pollution is squarely to blame. Smog levels were serious enough that officials took drastic steps to curb emissions, shutting down large swaths of the transportation network. Tianjin, Beijing’s major neighboring city, both closed highways and cancelled over 300 flights at its airport. Beijing itself, meanwhile, axed 126 flights and stopped all buses running to nearby cities. The current conditions are expected to last until Thursday, too, so many of these closures could last for a while.

The disruptions follow smog problems that hit much of northern China starting in mid-December. At the time, officials closed legions of factories and restricted car travel.

As Reuters notes, smog alerts are relatively typical in northern China, where the winter cold has coal power plants working hard to meet demand. However, the pollution this time around was definitely bad — concentrations of harmful PM2.5 particles were about 50 times higher than World Health Organization guidelines. China has been eager to reduce pollution in recent years, but it’s clear that existing efforts haven’t been enough to prevent smog from causing serious disruptions.

Source: Reuters

Bill and Melinda Gates back an implant that could prevent HIV

You don’t have to wait until after an infection to fight HIV. A technique known as pre-exposure prophylaxis has you taking preemptive medicine on a regular basis, greatly reducing the chances that HIV will take root in the first place. Needless to say, such a treatment could change the world if done well — and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make sure that it’s as easy as possible. They’re investing $140 million in an Intarcia Therapeutics program that will develop an under-the-skin pump implant (you’re looking at it above) that will deliver a steady stream of anti-HIV drugs in 6- or 12-month batches. Instead of having to remember to take medicine every day, you’d only have to top up once or twice a year.

There’s also a variant of the pump targeted at type 2 diabetes. Intarcia started the paperwork on commercial use in November, so you could see it in use relatively soon.

Any practical implementation of the HIV pump is years away. Intarcia still has to settle on a drug to use, and there are regulations and similar hurdles to clear before it’s ready to use. If it’s deployed as promised, though, it could go a long way toward reducing the influence of HIV and AIDS in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where the virus remains a serious problem. Like with many medicines, the biggest challenge is simply getting people to take preventative drugs on a consistent basis — this would make it much less of a hassle. Cost is still a concern (will the medicine be inexpensive enough that wide distribution is practical?), but the technology is at least in place.

Via: Quartz

Source: Intarcia

Samsung concludes Note 7 investigation, will share its findings this month

We’ll finally get to know why the Note 7 blew up.

Shortly after discontinuing the Note 7 in October, Samsung launched an investigation to identify the root cause behind the fires. Samsung initially thought the battery was at fault, which is why it recalled the initial batch of Note 7 units and restarted sales with batteries from another supplier. When those phones also started to explode, the company had to discontinue the device altogether.

According to South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo, Samsung has concluded its investigation, and will reveal the results of the probe by mid-January. A combination of factors is said to have contributed to the failure of the phone, and Samsung will be looking to share the findings as a way to regain much-need consumer trust and ensure it doesn’t do the same mistakes again.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
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• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

Dell preps a 2-in-1 version of its iconic XPS 13 laptop

Dell’s XPS 13 has a loyal following for a good reason: it’s a solid mix of portability and speed framed by that eye-catching, near-borderless display. It’s ‘just’ a conventional laptop, however, which rules it out if you want a 2-in-1 like Lenovo’s Yoga series or HP’s Spectre x360. You won’t have to give up that design to get tablet functionality in the future, though, as a Dell product page discovered by Windows Central has spoiled the existence of an “XPS 13 2-in-1.” There’s little there beyond the name and an image, but it’s clear that Dell won’t be reinventing the wheel here — this really is the portable you’ve come to know, just reworked to let the display fold all the way for presentations.

If there aren’t any surprises, this should lead to familiar specs that include 7th-generation Core processors with integrated graphics, solid-state drives and a bevy of ports. As for a release date and price? There aren’t any big clues, but Dell has a habit of debuting gear at CES, which is just days away. And it’s reasonable to presume that the necessary touchscreen will raise the price above Dell’s current $800 starter model. You’ll be paying a premium for the privilege of an ideal Netflix viewing machine.

Via: Windows Central

Source: Dell