Amazon’s best-selling unlocked Android phones (December 19)

Motorola’s unlocked flagship smartphone for 2015 has moved into the top spot for this week. The top ten shakes up a little bit, but it’s largely comprised of the same models as last week.  Blu’s latest, the Life One X drops a few spots, but it’s still a bargain at $150. You’ll also notice the price dropped a little across some of the devices here – something we’re always fond of.

The benefit of an unlocked smartphone, for those who aren’t aware, is that it can be used on a variety of wireless service providers. Moreover, going this route ensures you don’t have to worry about contracts or long-term obligations. Want to hop from T-Mobile to AT&T or vice-versa? That’s no problem when you’re using an unlocked GSM phone.

We’ve gathered up the 10 best-selling unlocked Android smartphones from Amazon so you can get a sense for what’s available. Indeed, you’ll see a nice mix of big-name vendors and devices from other, scrappy players. Note that we’ve omitted color variations; you might find other colors available. Yes, you’ll also find some iPhones in the mix, too, but that’s not our bag.

So, the next time you need to replace your existing phone, consider scooping up one of these. It’s often a heck of a lot cheaper than going through your carrier in the long run.

1. Motorola 32GB Moto X Pure Edition – $450
2. Asus Zenfone 2 Laser – $200
3. Blu Advance 4.0 – $60
4. Blu Life One – $100
5. Motorola Nexus 6 – $350
6. Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime DUOS – $145
7. Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen) – $178
8. Blu Life One X – $150
9. Blu Energy X – $109
10. Samsung Galaxy S5 Unlocked – $322

The post Amazon’s best-selling unlocked Android phones (December 19) appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Amazon brings new channels, games, and apps to the Fire TV

Amazon announced today much more content coming to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, including popular channels like NBC and Fox Now. With today’s content update, users of Amazon’s media streaming devices will be getting much more value out of them.

The online retailer has also added a handful of new games and apps. These include Shovel Knight, Telltale’s hit adventure game Minecraft: Story Mode, Dark Echo, and Olli Olli 2. With the release of these games, Amazon has decided to slash the Fire TV Gaming Edition down to just $114.99, from its original price point of $139.99. The Fire TV Gaming Edition comes with a microSD card for additional storage, two games, and a gaming controller.

Today’s announcement reveals that Amazon has added over 1,000 new apps, channels, and games since September. New additions include NBC, NBC Sports, Watch HGTV, Watch Food Network, Watch Travel Channel, Fox Now, NPR One, GoPro, and many other channels and apps.

Amazon as of late has been under scrutiny for removing competitors’ streaming devices from its online store in order to bolster the attraction of the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.

Both the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are available on Amazon.

source: Amazon

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DisneyLife gets kids’ streaming absolutely right

Despite sinking billions of pounds into the production of blockbuster movies and hit TV shows over the years, Disney decided it was best to let companies like Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Sky handle the online distribution of its content. This has meant that every few years, the company sits down with streaming providers to agree on a licence, allowing you and I to log into our favourite service and access a selection of Disney content. It’s led to fragmentation, where Netflix carries something Amazon doesn’t (and vice-versa), and the only way to access everything is to buy it, one movie, TV series or soundtrack at a time.

This year, however, Disney decided enough was enough. The house that Walt built has finally dipped its toe into the enchanted world of streaming. DisneyLife is a UK-only subscription service designed to appeal to cord-cutters or, more specifically, their children. At £10 ($15) a month, it’s a little costlier than Netflix or Amazon (but on par with Sky Now TV), despite the fact it only offers Disney content. But there’s a reason for that. DisneyLife isn’t just for streaming video; it also hosts soundtracks, e-books and a selection of official Disney-branded apps. I can admit to being a Disney fan, but I know that DisneyLife isn’t really aimed at people like me. Fortunately, I played a part in creating two mini versions of myself (aged four and five) who fit perfectly within Disney’s target demographic.

Getting started

Signing up to DisneyLife is like any other streaming service: Enter a few personal details and fill in your card number to redeem a free month of service. For some reason, Disney sends a lot of emails once you’ve signed up, mostly to remind you how to use the service and the various ways to stream. Currently, DisneyLife can be accessed via the browser (which relies on Silverlight) and on iOS or Android devices. That means by proxy, it works with Apple TVs and Chromecasts too. You can associate your account with up to 10 devices and have four concurrent streams running at any one time.

Once registered, you will be asked to set up a master profile, which lets you manage your subscription, set parental controls and add new devices. It’ll also ask you to add up to five additional profiles, which Disney says “give each member of the family their own way to explore.” Being able to assign each profile a unique Disney character is a nice touch, especially if your child is the world’s biggest Frozen/Cars/Finding Nemo fan.

To properly gauge my sons’ usage, I covertly installed the DisneyLife app on their Android tablets and placed the app icon alongside their favourites: Minecraft and YouTube. I didn’t want to get in the way of their experience, just learn from it. When allowed to spend time on their devices (I try to be a responsible parent), they quickly recognised the Disney logo and dove straight in.

All Disney, all of the time

Disney knows its aesthetics. When the DisneyLife homescreen loads, you’re immediately met with a number of banners that highlight collections like Disney villains, Pixar films and Disney classics. Directly below that is a section called “Character Worlds,” which immediately drew my sons’ eyes (one chose Frozen and the other Incredibles). It’s here that we ran into our first minor disappointment.

Click to enlarge.

Upon seeing Elsa, my eldest son immediately assumed he could stream Frozen. The Elsa section certainly contains a lot of Frozen content — including a Frozen Fever mini movie, Frozen as told by emoji, Elsa fun facts, three separate soundtracks and eight e-books — but the full movie won’t appear on DisneyLife until the spring. That’s down to streaming agreements the company has with its UK partners, but my child was unable to understand the complexities of second-window streaming rights. It didn’t stop him from enjoying the other Frozen content, though, with one sing-a-long book becoming a firm favourite.

While Netflix and Amazon’s menus are relatively dull, Disney’s interstitials are vibrant and colorful, enticing the user to get interacting. Pull up The Lion King and you’ll see Pride Rock, click into Monsters Inc. and you’ll see Boo’s bedroom. Subtle animations guide you through each part of a character’s page. In short, Disney nailed the user experience.

While the apps are pretty good, I found they would log me out occasionally, usually after suffering minor performance issues. On the web, loading times are prompt, but you may run into some difficulties nonetheless. Using Chrome on a Mac running the latest version of OS X El Capitan, I was unable to get any movies to stream using the Silverlight plug-in. Google announced last year that it would phase out Silverlight support, so you’ll need a browser that still plays nice with Microsoft’s multimedia plug-in.

Click to enlarge.

Useful features

Disney knows that its apps are where the majority of streaming will happen, so it’s included features that make it easier for parents and children to enjoy its range of content. One of the best is an offline mode, which lets you download anything to your device to keep the kids entertained when you’re out of cellular or WiFi range. It’ll tell you how much storage space the movie or soundtrack will take up, too, just in case you need to make room.

DisneyLife also provides access to a selection of official Disney apps, with one free download each month. Selections include a number of themed storybooks, featuring The Good Dinosaur, Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph, but your little ones can also grab interactive titles like Disney Princess: Story Theatre and a Sofia colouring app.

Selection

With Netflix, Amazon and Sky’s Now TV already offering Disney content, is DisneyLife unique enough to justify another subscription? Looking at the numbers, DisneyLife offered 304 titles; Sky, 158; Amazon, 77; and Netflix, just 48. A wide selection of on-demand TV shows, or box sets, are also available and include programmes from the Disney TV, Disney Junior and Disney XD channels.

While Sky’s buying power has allowed it to negotiate access to newer Disney movies like Frozen and Maleficent, DisneyLife excels because it goes well beyond movies, offering behind-the-scenes clips, making-ofs, featurettes and, of course, all the related soundtracks, mini movies and books. Netflix and Amazon have smaller catalogues, with a smattering of classics and newer films, that can’t hold a candle to what DisneyLife and Now TV offer.

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If you already have a streaming subscription, it becomes a question of how often you think you or your family will use DisneyLife. Disney hasn’t yet made it easy to stream its content on the big screen, as you will always need a smartphone or tablet to hand to mirror movies on an Apple TV or Chromecast.

It worked out that DisneyLife was my kids’ flavour of the month for way less than a month, and towards the end of the free trial my sons rarely launched the app. Both prefer the variety that YouTube offers, whether it be illegal uploads of Peppa Pig episodes or Let’s Play Minecraft videos from Stampylongnose. This isn’t to say that DisneyLife isn’t good: It really is. It also bodes well for Disney’s streaming expansion in China next year and major markets like the US after that.

So, is a DisneyLife subscription worth a tenner each month? My answer is simple: It’s not about the quality — Disney left no stone unturned there (except maybe for Frozen). It’s about whether your little ones are mad enough about Disney that having access to nearly everything the company has ever put out will make you the best parent ever.

Source: DisneyLife

Amazon tells customers to throw out unsafe ‘hoverboards’

As a popular destination for self-balancing “hoverboards,” Amazon needs to take its safety responsibilities seriously. The retailer has already pulled some models from its store until it can be proved their batteries and chargers are reliable, but now it’s taking the unusual step of telling a small number of owners to throw them out. In an email, Amazon has warned US and UK customers that their hoverboard has been deemed “unsafe” and that they should “dispose” of it immediately.

In correspondence shared with Engadget, Amazon told one UK customer that his RioRand self-balancing scooter did not come equipped with a compliant UK plug. He was advised to hand it in at a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) location and would receive a full refund. UK retailers Tesco, Argos and John Lewis have stopped selling hoverboards altogether.

With the popularity of hoverboards rocketing, Chinese manufacturers have helped flood the market with near-identical models that may not have passed consumer safety checks. In the UK, authorities have seized more than 15,000 self-balancing scooters at sea ports, airports and postal hubs over potential fire risks linked to internal batteries and cut-off switches, chargers, plugs and cabling. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is also investigating reports of fires and is seeking to determine whether the two-wheelers are safe.

Amazon UK brings one-hour Prime Now deliveries to Manchester

With Christmas less than two weeks away, Amazon wants to be there for UK customers who are likely to leave their festive shopping until the very last minute. After its recent expansion in Newcastle, the online retailer has rolled out its Prime Now service in Manchester and surrounding areas, allowing Prime subscribers to get one-hour deliveries for £6.99 or two-hour shipments for no extra cost.

Amazon says it’s now serving selected postcodes in Bolton, Eccles, Salford, Wigan, Stockport and Oldham. It has also confirmed it will continue deliveries right up until the “late hours” of Christmas Eve to cater for last-minute panic buyers.

Via: Amazon Media Centre

Source: Prime Now