Deal: Blu Vivo Air (4.8-inch 720p, octa-core, 5.1 mm thick) is just $150 on Amazon
US-based phone maker Blu made a name for itself with affordable devices with decent specifications, and the Vivo Air is one of its best offerings. Today only, the Vivo Air is available on Amazon for $149.
The Vivo Air launched at CES in January, bringing a great 4.8-inch 720p AMOLED display, an octa-core processor from MediaTek, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (sadly there’s no microSD card slot), an 8MP rear camera, and a 2,100 mAh battery. Everything is packed into a nice, albeit unoriginal design, that impresses through its petite waistline of just 5.1 mm. Our Lanh Nguyen called the Vivo Air’s build quality “fantastic” in his review, but he also singled out the camera, lack of LTE, and occasionally performance hiccups as drawbacks.
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The biggest selling point of the Vivo Air is its price. Initially available for $199, the smartphone can normally be had for $180 on Amazon, but today only, the retail giant is offering both variants of the phone for $149. That’s a great deal for what this phone offers, and we definitely recommend you consider it if you’re looking for something affordable.
Get the Blu Vivo Air (black or white) for $149.99 on Amazon
This Amazon Deal of the Day is valid for another 20 hours or so (US only). Happy shopping!
Amazon will bankroll Terry Gilliam’s cursed ‘Don Quixote’ movie
There are many famously unmade films, but few are as well-documented as Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The Monty Python star has been trying to make his passion project since 1998, the most successful, erm, unsuccessful attempt being documented in the documentary Lost in La Mancha. Now, the director has revealed that Amazon will stump up cash to shoot the film as part of a deal he signed back in May. According to an interview in Indiewire, the plan is for a theatrical release in the US that’ll be followed “a month or two afterwards” by a splashy premiere on Amazon Prime.
The obvious question to ask is why Amazon is putting money on such a famously doomed project? It seems clear that the company enjoys courting filmmakers with a high-standing amongst critics. That can be seen in its recent track record, since it’s signed deals with big names like Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jim Jarmusch in the last six months alone. As far as Gilliam is concerned, it’s because the site’s studio business is still in its “formative stages” that is, as yet, untouched by a studio-system style bureaucracy.
In addition to getting the funding that he’s been seeking, Gilliam believes that he’s gaining far more artistic freedom than under the traditional system. When discussing another project, Defective Detective, the director mentioned that his films have had to be “compressed,” presumably to meet a cinema-friendly run time. Now, however, Gilliam could produce a mini-series style version of the story that’ll satisfy his artistic sensibilities and, hopefully, draw plenty more crowds towards paying for a Prime subscription.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Amazon
Via: The AV Club
Source: Indiewire
Amazon launches the Xperia M4 Aqua in the US
Earlier today, Amazon listed Sony’s latest waterproof smartphone, the Xperia M4 Aqua, for purchase in the United States. The only model currently available, though, is the one with 8GB of internal storage, which retails for $349.
This listing is particularly interesting because Sony wasn’t planning to launch the M4 Aqua until the third quarter of this year, but Amazon has received inventory and has already set the product as live.
Just in case you need a refresher on its internals, the handset packs a 5-inch IPS display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2,400mAh non-removable battery
At present, there are only 8 units left in stock — so if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on one, you better act fast.
Source: Amazon
Come comment on this article: Amazon launches the Xperia M4 Aqua in the US
Deal: Grab a 128GB microSD card for just $73 from Amazon
If you are in the market for some more memory, Amazon is selling a high-performance 128GB Lexar microSD card for just $72.99, a substantial $87 (54 percent off) the original $159.99 price tag. Large pools of internal memory come at a premium these days, but if you’re lucky enough to own a smartphone with expandable storage this may be a cheaper way to grab a bit more space.
The class 10 Lexar 633x card offers up to 95MB/s read speeds, although writing speeds will be slower. Amazon is also offering similarly large discounts on Lexar 633x 64GB, 32GB and 16GB cards, which come with the same high performance speeds. These are priced at $43, $28, and $23 respectively. High performance cards are ideal for transferring and storing large, high-quality video files.
All of the packages also come with a USB 3.0 reader for high-speed file transfers directly from your PC or laptop to and from the microSD card. This might be pretty handy if your phone doesn’t support these high speeds through its own USB port.
Happy shopping!
Europe probing Amazon’s potentially shady e-book contracts
The European Commission has opened yet another antitrust investigation into a US tech giant. This time, its crosshairs are aimed at Amazon, which it’s formally investigating for potentially anti-competitive behavior in the e-book market. In particular, the probe will focus on Amazon’s contracts with publishers, which it wants to make sure don’t “make it more difficult for other e-book distributors to compete.”
The commission’s concerns stem from certain clauses in these contracts, which it says “seem to shield Amazon from competition.” These clauses include “the right [for Amazon] to be informed of more favourable or alternative terms offered to its competitors,” and “the right to terms and conditions at least as good as those offered to its competitors.” Given the public declaration, it’s clear the commission knows these stipulations exist, it’s now just a matter of determining whether they fall under the umbrella of good business practice or anti-competitive behavior.
Today’s announcement marks the second occasion the EU has waded into the e-book arena. The commission already probed Apple and a number of major publishers including HarperCollins, Hachette and Penguin Random House for colluding. All five publishers eventually agreed with its conclusions and settled.
Filed under: Amazon
Source: Europa Press
Sony’s Xperia M4 Aqua rolls out to the US via Amazon
The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua has been rolling out slowly, initially in the UK, and Sony has also announced a Canadian launch sometime later this month. That leaves the question of: when will the US get it? Sony has not issued any information about a US launch, but Amazon has different plans. For $349, US customers can now buy the Xperia M4 unlocked.
Note that the model being sold on Amazon (E2303) by well-reviewed retail Canguro is only the 8 GB variant, and of that space, only 1.26 GB is actually usable. Luckily, the M4 supports a microSD card, and the cost of a card wouldn’t be too outrageous. And for $349, the M4 has a lot to offer.
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The Xperia M4 Aqua is a fitting name because it is IP68-certified, meaning dust and water resistant, a feature that often isn’t even found in higher-end smartphones. It packs a 5-inch display that is only 720p. But that screen is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor with 2 GB of RAM. By far, the most impressive aspect of the M4 is the battery life. Sony has promised two day battery life.
This attractive battery life and IP68 certification means that the M4 is meant for those who need or want a rugged phone that can survive a dunk. Would you be willing to sacrifice a nicer screen for two days of battery life?
Blu launches new Life series of devices direct to consumers
Today Blu Products let the cat out of the bag on their new Life series phones, the Life One and Life 8 XL. Blu has been making a name for themselves over the past few years with low-cost, bang-for-your-buck offerings. They’re getting aggressive with this launch, having partnered with Amazon for an exclusive 9 day pre-sale.
Blu Life One (2015)
The retail price of the new Blu Life One will be $149.00. However, if you pre-order on Amazon through June 19th, you can grab the Life One for $50 less, at $99.00.
One would not expect much for this price, but Blu believes it packed in all the important factors to make this device great. Let’s look at what you get:
- 5.0″ 720p (294 ppi) IPS LCD display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC (quad-core, 1.2 GHz, 64-bit, Mali-450 GPU)
- 1 GB RAM
- 8 GB internal storage with support for micro-sd expansion (up to 64 GB)
- 13 MP rear (Sony IMX135 sensor) and 5 MP front cameras
- 2820 mAh battery (non-removable)
- GSM-only network capability with LTE
- Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), upgradable to Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
The two red flags I spot in the spec list are the 720p resolution and 1 GB RAM. More so the latter, because low RAM can lag the OS. But at just $99, this is a killer deal! But bear in mind that there is no CDMA network support, so if you’re on Verizon, Sprint, Boost, or Virgin, you need to look elsewhere.
Blu Life 8 XL
The Life 8 XL is a larger successor to the Life 8. A lot of the specs are the same as new Life One, with the following exceptions:
- 5.5″ display (same 720p IPS LCD, at 268 ppi)
- MediaTek MT6592 SoC (octa-core, 1.4 GHz, Mali-450 GPU)
- 8 MP rear and 2 MP front cameras
- 2920 mAh removable battery
Interestingly, the larger Life 8 XL runs $20 cheaper than the Life One (maybe due to the lower-costing MediaTek processor and inferior cameras), at a retail price of $129.00. The pre-sale on the Amazon product page will run from June 22nd through June 30th, at a price of just $79!
These devices should most definitely be on your radar if you’re on a tight budget and need a new Android phone. But you’d be silly not to expect some cut corners. These phones are meant to get the job done, without burning a hole in your wallet.
The post Blu launches new Life series of devices direct to consumers appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Amazon hopes to mend its image by backing a giant solar farm
Amazon has a reputation problem. While fellow tech giants like Apple and Yahoo are considered champions of clean energy, Greenpeace and other advocacy groups regularly knock Amazon for running its servers on dirty power (like coal) and saying little about its renewable energy plans. The company is about to burnish its image in a big way, however — it just announced that it will support the construction of an 80MW solar farm in Virginia, the largest ever in the state. The eco-friendly plant will supply Amazon Web Services data centers (both present and future) on top of the local grid, so your favorite app or website might run on pollution-free computing when the farm is ready around October 2016.
Of course, this isn’t the end game for Amazon’s greening efforts. About 25 percent of AWS’ power comes from renewable sources as of April, and the solar plant will help kick that up to 40 percent by the end of next year. The challenge is simply that some of Amazon’s tech rivals are well ahead — it’ll still appear behind the curve until it’s either depending entirely on renewable power (the ultimate goal) or picks up the pace.
[Image credit: AP Photo/John Raoux]
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Amazon
Source: Amazon (1), (2)
Amazon’s voice-savvy Echo speaker now reads audiobooks to you
If you’re the sort to wander around the house listening to audiobook versions of hot new novels, Amazon just made your day: it upgraded its voice-guided Echo speaker to handle Audible files. Much like a kid asking for a bedtime story, you only have to ask the Echo to read you a title. It’ll even pick up where you left off without mentioning the book by name. Amazon’s audio tube won’t speak text (at least, not yet), but this is a big step forward if music playback alone just won’t cut it.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD, Amazon
Via: ZDNet
Source: Amazon
Android’s deviant identities
Google’s Android Open Source Project (AOSP) rolled out in 2007 with the goal of creating a unified framework for mobile operating systems and, in turn, expediting the development of mobile products. The core of the code was open to everyone, but to help guarantee quality products — and promote its own services in the face of Apple’s iOS — Google also organized the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). Companies who pledged allegiance to this group effectively committed to certain standards of quality for any resultant Android hardware and software. Membership in the OHA, however, is not a requirement for AOSP and so numerous forked (read: compatible and non-compatible) versions, like Amazon’s Fire OS, have been developed over the years. We’ve pinpointed just a few of these to highlight the vibrant — and often political — undercurrent of Android’s alternate identities.
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have: the forks of Android life.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Amazon, Acer
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