Huawei, Best Buy, and Newegg join Amazon in selling the GX8
At the end of last week, Huawei’s somewhat new GX8 became available in the United States through Amazon. Now, the phone, which costs $349 off-contract, can be bought through an additional three retailers as Huawei is expanding their reach in the country. Huawei itself along with Best Buy and Newegg are joining Amazon in selling the GX8 to U.S. consumers.
The GX8 comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920×1080) TFT display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 13MP / 5MP cameras, a 3000mAh battery, and Android 5.1 Lollipop smothered in Huawei’s EMUI 3.3 software overlay. So what’s the difference between this phone and the new Honor 5x? Not much outside of price. The Honor 5X costs around $150 less than the GX8. It’s also guaranteed that the Honor 5X will receive a software update to raise its version to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Huawei, Best Buy, and Amazon are all selling the GX8 for $349; however, Newegg has a special promotional price where you can get the phone for $299. Newegg is also throwing in a 64GB microSD card as part of a limited time offer that might just last until the pre-order label is removed. If you prefer to buy device in-store though, head over to your local Best Buy because the electronics retailer is the exclusive in-store seller of the GX8.
While all models have the same 16GB of internal storage, you do get to choose a color. The Huawei GX8 comes in Horizon Gold, Mystic Champagne, and Space Grey.
[Huawei] [Best Buy] [Newegg] [Amazon]
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Another LG G5 case appears on Amazon
This isn’t the first time case renders have appeared showing off design traits of the soon to be announced LG G5. Spigen, one of the most popular case brands, posted a new case on the Amazon marketplace to fit LG’s next flagship smartphone.
This case leak gives us a clear image at what to expect the front and rear of the G5 to look like. LG is planning to introduce some major design changes with the G5 and the leaked case pretty much confirms it.
The leaked case shows a design right on par with recent leaks and reports. You can bet that LG will include dual-camera lenses on the back with a rear-facing LED flash between the two. Instead of having the power button on the back, a fingerprint scanner will seemingly take its place. The volume controls are also moving. The buttons will now be on the side, rather than the rear. The opposite side will house the power button. Most interestingly, there’s no cutout on the back for a speaker grill, and it doesn’t appear to be on the front either. This suggests that the speaker will be moved to the bottom of the device.
Nothing will be official until LG holds its unveiling. This is set to take place on February 21, just hours prior to Samsung’s Unpacked event. Both devices will be showcased at MWC 2016, which will begin the following day. The Spigen case will be available in mid-March, thus suggesting an early launch for the G5. We’ll see what happens.
Source: Amazon
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[Deal] Amazon’s Fire 7-inch tablet now $10 off for a limited time
Amazon offers some really great value in its Fire tablet, priced at only $50. And now, they’re adding even more value by offering the 7-inch tablet for an additional $40 off!
The tablet is normally priced at $50, but the $10 discount will bring it down to $40. The model without special offers regularly costs $65, but this discount brings it down to an appealing $55, which is about the same price as the version with special offers at no discount.
As far as specifications go, this 7-inch tablet has a 1.3GHz quad-core processor in tow, 8GB of internal storage, a front and rear camera, and a decent battery that should hold up to a little over a day of frequent usage. At a resolution of 1024 x 600, the display isn’t the best, but still hard to pass up at that temporary $40 rate.
There’s currently no official timeline as to when the discount will end, so you may want to snatch up this tablet rather quickly. At $40, the Fire 7-inch tablet truly offers some of the best value on the market (review here), and is a hard one to pass up.
Anyone plan on buying?
[Amazon]
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Need an Uber? Ask Alexa
Need to order a ride from Uber but don’t want to bother taking your phone out of your pocket? You’re in luck.
Uber has integrated its API with Alexa, the brain behind Amazon Echo. Just say “Alexa, order me an Uber” or “Alexa, ask Uber to get me a car” and soon, one will show up at your door. Other variants of that phrase will work too, Uber said, but those are a good place to start. You can also ask “Alexa, how far away is my Uber” and your Echo will tell you when to expect your ride.
To sync Uber and Echo, set your Echo’s location in the settings of your Echo app. Then, in the skills section of the app, enable the Uber skill and link your account. Bonus: If you’re new to Uber, use the code 15Alexa to get $15 off your ride.
Uber is hardly the first service to integrate with Echo. Spotify recently came to Echo and Ford announced at CES 2016 that it was going to integrate Echo into some of its vehicles. Alarm.com has also announced that it would be using Echo for its smart home control.
Source: Uber
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Amazon’s Echo speaker can now order an Uber for you
The hardware is still the same, but Amazon’s Echo continues to impress with smarter and more useful software. Want to listen to your favorite Spotify playlist? Not a problem. Craving some Domino’s Pizza? It’ll be on your doorstep soon enough. For its next trick, Amazon has teamed up with Uber so that — yep, you guessed it — you can hail a ride just by calling out to Alexa. As the Verge reports, the speaker will accept a number of phrases including “call me an Uber,” “get me an Uber” and “request me a ride.”
The pairing is a match made in heaven. Uber wants as many passengers as possible, so it makes sense for the company to integrate with hardware that will encourage extra users and rides. For Amazon, it’s all about making Alexa a more natural and intelligent assistant. There are plenty of occasions when you need to order a taxi (or similar) in a hurry, or just don’t fancy pulling out your smartphone and launching the app. Of course, you’ll need to set up your Uber account first through the Alexa app, but once that’s all sorted the voice commands should become second nature.
Source: Uber
Huawei launches the GX8 in the United States for $349.99
Last month, Huawei announced it was planning to launch a revamped model of the G8 in the United States. This was pretty significant news as it would only be the second smartphone the manufacturer has released in the region. Unfortunately, the firm failed to supply a date for the device to hit the shelves. However, the GX8 made its debut on Amazon earlier today in three gorgeous colorways — Horizontal Gold, Mystic Champagne and Space Grey — with a $349.99 price tag attached.
It’s important to bear in mind that this is a factory unlocked GX8, so it will only work on GSM carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T, but not with CDMA operators like Verizon and Sprint. It does, however, support 4G on the two main compatible networks, which is great news if you’re in the market for an affordable mid-range LTE handset. A full list of supported carrier bands can be seen below:
- 2G Network: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
- 3G Network: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
- 4G Network: LTE 2100 (B1), 1900 (B2), 1800 (B3), AWS (B4), 850 (B5), 2600 (B7), 900 (B8), 700 (B12), 700 (B17), 800 (B18), 800 (B19), 800 (B20), 800 (B26)
Just in case you need a refresher on its specifications, the GX8 packs a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 615 octa-core CPU, an Adreno 405 GPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 5-megapixel selfie shooter, a 3,000mAh non-removable battery and a biometric scanner.
For more information on picking up a Huawei GX8 in the US, hit the source link below.
Source: Amazon
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8,500-mAh of power is worth turning your Note 5 into a small brick
The term “brick” is thrown around liberally when talking about devices that are bulkier than average, but in the case of the ZeroLemon’s newest extended batteries for the Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, the term is quite appropriate.
ZeroLemon, a brand known for its high capacity extended batteries, has outdone itself with the 8,500-mAh extended batteries for Samsung’s most recent flagships.
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The batteries give you almost three times more power, on top of the built-in 3,000-mAh batteries inside the Note 5 and Edge S6 Plus, at the cost of three times the thickness.
At 21.1mm in thickness and 218 grams in weight (without the phone), you probably won’t want to use ZeroLemon’s extended batteries every day. However, if you’re a power user that must plow through some heavy tasks or you need your phone charged up for extended periods, this is an excellent solution. 11,500 mAh of power in total could keep you running for almost a week with light usage!
Features of the device include pass-through QC 2.0 charging for the phone, LED indicators for power levels, and a manual switch that lets you let the juice trickle in exactly when you want it.
The ZeroLemon 8,500 mAh extended batteries just launched on Amazon and they are available at the introductory price of $59.99.
- Get the ZeroLemon 8,500 mAh extended battery for Note 5 for $59.99 on Amazon
- Get the ZeroLemon 8,500 mAh extended battery for Galaxy S6 Edge Plus for $59.99 on Amazon
Are you tempted by these massive batteries for your Note 5 or Edge S6 Plus? Do tell us in the comments.
A bidding war could ensue over the NFL’s TNF streaming rights
Earlier this week, the National Football League announced it reached a deal with CBS and NBC to provide both networks with five games each from its Thursday Night Football package. Another eight games will be aired exclusively on NFL Network. Overall, the NFL will get a combined $450 million for giving up ten games to outside parties. But the league isn’t done cashing in on Thursday Night Football’s success in the 2014 and 2015 season. Thursday Night Football averaged over 16 million viewers per game on CBS while NFL Network-only games enjoyed a weekly average only a few million less. So why not try to get another partner and add even more money to the lucrative sport? When Monday’s deal with CBS and NBC was made, the NFL stated it was engaged in “active discussions with prospective digital partners.”
The NFL is shopping exclusive streaming rights to the Thursday Night Football package to the largest technology firms around. Variety is reporting Google, Apple, Amazon, and Verizon are all among those seeking to make a bid and score the most valuable content in the United States.
Scenarios for each of the aforementioned companies are simple to see.
Google would, without question, use YouTube to stream the games live to people around the world. YouTube has experience in showing major events live; therefore, Google wouldn’t need to the service’s infrastructure and the NFL could breathe easy about YouTube being slammed with a large influx of viewers. What’s likely more important to the NFL is choosing a partner open to supporting as many platforms as possible. And that’s exactly what YouTube offers. Also, Google has the added bonus of having devices to really push streaming Thursday Night Football on phones, tablets, and Chromecast-connected displays.
Another possibility for putting the games on YouTube would be for Google to push YouTube Red, the monthly subscription that removes advertisements and unlocks original programming.
Apple is probably the most confusing potential bidder because of its lack of multi-platform support. The company generally sticks to keeping its services solely on its own hardware, meaning people without an Apple device would be kept from watching Thursday Night Football unless they sat down in front of a television. Plus, Apple doesn’t have a proven track record in video streaming (live or pre-recorded) outside of the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The NFL wants an experienced partner and Apple wouldn’t be one.
Amazon’s situation doesn’t make it a very appealing partner, but it’s one that’s much better than Apple’s. Amazon actually has a video streaming service but never put up any live content to test strength. But, if Jeff Bezos opens his wallet and shells out big bucks for Thursday Night Football, Amazon could get new eyeballs on Prime Video and grow Prime memberships with ease.
Thursday Night Football would likely fare best (assuming Google and YouTube do something wrong) by having Verizon carry the games. The carrier already streams each and every game of the regular season live and on-demand on an exclusive basis, which should give the league a jump in confidence when reviewing Verizon’s bid. Here though, the games wouldn’t be shown to just Verizon customers. Go90, the video streaming service targeted at millennials, would be the place for Verizon to stream the games.
Go90, while not profitable at this time, already hosts content from the NBA and Verizon adding in NFL content in the form of live games would be huge. Millions of people would be forced to turn to Go90 to watch games, and Verizon could then push the service’s other content. Advertisers’ would be salivating after seeing Go90 cater to elusive millennials and stream NFL games.
What every interested company should be aware of, and I’m sure they are, is the flop that occurred when Yahoo streamed a London game on October 25. Yahoo paid $20 million for a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills. Despite those teams being perennial underwhelming teams, Yahoo couldn’t put up a seamless stream. Viewers endured buffering and stuttering issues.
Yahoo averaged just 2.36 million viewers at any given time during the game’s broadcast.
The games, which might include the handful of London-based showdowns, could even end up being distributed by multiple companies if the league wants to ensure fans aren’t limited in accessing Thursday Night Football away from a television. Giving more than of the interested companies non-exclusive streaming rights would practically guarantee fans could watch Thursday Night Football games from anywhere.
Google, Apple, Amazon, and Verizon all have billions to spend. It comes down to whether or not they think enough people will stream Thursday Night Football games to generate advertising revenue surprising the expense to win those streaming rights. That’s why streaming Thursday Night Football games simultaneously on multiple services could be the best case scenario for the NFL and the potential bidders.
Source: Variety
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Amazon Echo owners can now listen to Spotify
When asked to play some tunes, Amazon Echo’s hostess Alexa has long been able to play Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn. A major player absent on this list has been Spotify, and the A-to-Z company says that this product was one of the most requested streaming services their users have been asking for. Today, Amazon finally secured Spotify functionality, bringing millions of songs to millions of users overnight.
Toni Reid, the director of Amazon Alexa, says that streaming music is one of the most used feature of Amazon Echo. Bringing Spotify to the voice-controlled wireless home speaker has been in the plans for a while, but it seems that securing access to this massively popular music service was something of a hassle. Now 20 million paying Spotify subscribers just got a new device to play their favorite songs on.
See also: 10 best podcast apps for Android
Paying is the key word here. This service is only available through Amazon Echo for paid Spotify subscribers. Those who are coasting along on the free version won’t be able to access this feature, alas. Still, this is a big move for Amazon. Echo was something of an unexpected success, so bringing new services to the platform is a sign of good health for the device. Amazon will also be tauting the Echo in their first-ever Super Bowl commercial come game day this year.
What are your thoughts regarding Spotify’s arrival to the Amazon Echo? Personally, I’d like to see Google Play Music make it to this list, since that’s my go-to music streaming service. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Next: (Update: live now in the app) Spotify to launch video content on Android this week
New cases surfacing on Amazon reveal LG G5 details
The LG G5 is set to be announced later this month in conjunction with MWC 2016 and the device is expected to bring some big changes to the design of LG’s flagship. One group that looks forward to the release of any new smartphone is accessory manufacturers. This is especially true when there are significant changes that will prevent the use of prior generation accessories as it creates an open market for new sales. Case makers are probably excited to see the new LG G5 launch approach and have already started loading up sites like Amazon with their wares. That is good for us as these listings help reveal what LG has in store for us.
For the LG G5, several sources have indicated the smartphone was getting a new dual-camera setup and the volume rockers were moving around compared to prior generations. Some new cases that are listed on Amazon show us what the new setup is going to look like in some of the clearest images yet and help confirm these rumors.
These listings reveal a pair of camera lenses sitting side-by-side when the phone is held in a vertical position with a pair of dual-LED flashes sitting in between. As part of the camera module, there also appears to be a laser autofocus unit which would be consistent with LG’s past G series and V10 history. Below the camera module is the power button that is believed to double as a fingerprint scanner. The cases also clearly show the volume rocker being moved to the side of the device.
sources: Amazon (LK case), Amazon (Diztronic case)
via: GSMArena
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