Meet the faces of Japan’s first robot-staffed hotel
Japan’s first robot-staffed hotel opens this week and we just got the full tour. While the main attraction may be the bordering-on-human receptionist (left) and the English-speaking dinosaur (er, right), the hotel has a whole family of robots performing varying degrees of useful work. Think: room service and a luggage porter, with one familiar face taking up duties as a bilingual concierge. A deeper dive of the hotel is coming; the robots aren’t the only curiosity found inside this hotel. For now, let’s meet the bots.
HTC Desire makes premium smartphones affordable
HTC announced today the release of four new HTC Desire LTE smartphones. The HTC Desire 626, HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 are designed to make premium smartphones affordable and accessible to all. HTC brings many of the same features found in its flagship HTC One® M9 to a premium and modern design that will withstand the test of time.
“At HTC, we don’t think you should have to sacrifice or settle if you are looking for an affordable smartphone. That is why we are bringing the absolute best affordable smartphones to market with the HTC Desire lineup,” said Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America. “Our Desire smartphones bring the premium experiences, performance and style of our flagship smartphone at an incredible price.”
HTC Desire: Bold, personal design, and high performance
The new HTC Desire smartphones bring a similar style as the HTC M series. The seamless construction combined with the latest in color combinations delivers stand-out style that will continue to look great over time.
The HTC Desire 626 and HTC Desire 626s have a 5-inch screen and come in an array of dual color combinations, including Marshmallow White, Gray Lava, Blue Lagoon, Marine White and White Birch. The HTC Desire 526 has a 4.7-inch screen and comes in Stealth Black, and the HTC Desire 520 has a 4.5-inch screen and comes in Steel Gray.
The similarities aren’t only on the surface. With HTC Sense® 7, the new HTC Desire smartphones can be customized with HTC Themes, HTC BlinkFeed® and HTC Sense Home applications.
HTC Themes* pull color and textural elements from a favorite photo to modify the look of apps, color scheme, and home screen. HTC Themes also provides an opportunity to create and share a theme with the HTC community, or just browse and download one created by other HTC users.
The HTC Sense Home is an intelligent widget that automatically curates apps based on usage and location. It is contextually aware of location, time of day and preferred apps at home, work or on the go. While exploring a new city, HTC BlinkFeed intelligently recommends restaurants near you and recommended by friends during mealtimes.
As LTE devices with quad-core processors, the 626, 626s, 526, and 520 offer speedy uploads and downloads while keeping up with multitasking between apps. A 2000 mAh battery and expandable memory further enhance the power of the new HTC Desire line.
Relive favorite memories
The HTC Desire 626 and HTC Desire 626s’ 5-inch, HD 720 pixel screen beautifully displays photos, video and multimedia content with an immersive smartphone experience. HTC One Gallery syncs with Facebook, Flickr, Google Drive and Dropbox accounts and brings photos together in a single location to make finding, searching and viewing easier than ever.
Zoe®, a signature HTC app that comes preloaded, makes it especially easy to share visual stories of experiences with friends and family in a more dynamic way. Zoe Highlights combine favorite photos and video with music to bring the experience to life. The HTC Desire line comes with an 8MP primary camera and video captured by HD 720p video recording capabilities. The HTC Desire 626 has a 5MP front-facing camera while the HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 come with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Availability
The HTC Desire 626, HTC Desire 626s, HTC Desire 526 and HTC Desire 520 will be widely available in a variety of colors from major prepaid and postpaid U.S. wireless providers including AT&T, Boost Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, Sprint Prepaid, T-Mobile, Tracfone, Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile USA. Each provider will confirm the colors and models it’s carrying, beginning
this week and through the coming months. Follow @HTCUSA and visit www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-desire-626/ and www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-desire-526/ for more information.
The post HTC Desire makes premium smartphones affordable appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Ingress update adds Android Wear support!
Google has been promising Android Wear support for the Ingress social game since February, when they suggested the update would come sometime in March. Said month (as well as a few following it) has come and gone with no results. Don’t lose hope just yet, though – Google is finally ready to update Ingress and Android Wear support is a go!
With Ingress version 1.81, you can now play Android without looking like a weird man staring at his phone while walking around those portals. As it goes with any Android Wear application, the game will continue running on your smartphone, but you will get access to certain actions and notifications on your smart watch.
For example, the Android Wear system can now notify you when there are portals within range, or when they are under attack. Google provided us with a nice graphic showing us what the interface would look like in that tiny screen. Thankfully, we won’t have to rely on graphics soon, as we will be able to experience this first-hand. Regardless, the concept looks simple and very helpful for Ingress players.
For those who need a rundown of what Ingress is, this app uses augmented reality to use your surroundings as the in-game environment. There are two sides; you can choose to join either the “enlightened” or the “resistance”. The goal would be to take over as many portals and areas as possible, which can be hard when the opposing team is trying to do the same. Yep… it’s an endless game!
The Ingress update to firmware 1.81 should be rolling out periodically, as always. Has your update shown up? Mine hasn’t, so let us know how well Ingress works on your Android Wear smart watch, if you have access to it.
HTC brings four more wallet-friendly Desire phones to the US
If you haven’t seen of HTC’s wallet-friendly Desire phones in the wild, you probably will soon — they’ve been doing great for the ailing smartphone maker overseas and they’re picking up steam on our shores, too. Since HTC could use some more of that momentum, it’s gearing up to release four more Desire models — the Desire 520, 526, 626 and 626S — in the United States with the help of almost every carrier you’ve ever heard of.
Before we go any further, here’s a crash course in Desire philosophy: It’s all about making cheap phones that don’t suck. That means solid build quality, attractive designs, and the same software features you’ll find on higher-end HTC phones. Every once in a while you’ll see HTC take the formula in some odd directions (we’re looking at you, Desire Eye), but general it’s just lots of modest hardware. All of these Desires, for instance, are built on the foundation of Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 210 CPU. All of them have 8-megapixel rear cameras. All of them take microSD and microSDXC cards up to 2TB in size.
The rest of the particulars vary depending on the whims of the carrier selling these things. Consider the Desire 520 for a moment. This Cricket exclusive comes with a pocket-friendly 4.5-inch screen running at a paltry 854×480 resolution, all wrapped in a palm-pleasing soft touch finish. The Desire 526, on the other hand, is the odd one out when it comes to looks; Verizon seemed to prefer a rounder aesthetic with curved bezels that run around the 4.7-inch qHD screen. It’s also got 1.5GB of RAM in there, giving it just a little more oomph than its other 520-series cousin.
Then you’ve got the Desire 626 and 626S sitting at the top of this class. Both are kitted out with 5-inch, 720p screens but the differences are there if you know where to look. The most glaring variances? The prepaid-only 626S has 8GB of storage and a 2MP front-facing camera compared to the 16GB/5MP camera setup on the 626 that’s hitting AT&T and T-Mobile. (Just to make things a little more confusing, there’s already a version of the 626 floating around Asia with a divergent design and a completely different chip inside.)
Still, they’re arguably the fanciest of HTC’s new quartet, and after a little hands-on time they proved themselves to be worthy little devices… as long as you keep your expectations in check. First, the good: they feel surprisingly sturdy given their all-plastic construction, not to mention almost shockingly light. HTC’s always done well as a purveyor of polycarbonate phones and it’s frankly nice to see that even the cheap stuff avoids feeling chintzy. Both devices run without too much trouble either, though they’re not as immediately snappy when responding to touch inputs as other low-cost phones are. HTC’s desire to keep costs down are most apparent when you start eyeing up that 720p screen — text and visuals are mostly crisp, but the look is little muddy overall and there’s plenty of apparent grain on the edges of letters and icons. Still, the 626 and 626S will be tidy little packages if they get the aggressive price tags to match; now we’ve just got to wait for all those carriers to get a little chatty.
HTC brings four more wallet-friendly Desire phones to the US
If you haven’t seen of HTC’s wallet-friendly Desire phones in the wild, you probably will soon — they’ve been doing great for the ailing smartphone maker overseas and they’re picking up steam on our shores, too. Since HTC could use some more of that momentum, it’s gearing up to release four more Desire models — the Desire 520, 526, 626 and 626S — in the United States with the help of almost every carrier you’ve ever heard of.
Before we go any further, here’s a crash course in Desire philosophy: It’s all about making cheap phones that don’t suck. That means solid build quality, attractive designs, and the same software features you’ll find on higher-end HTC phones. Every once in a while you’ll see HTC take the formula in some odd directions (we’re looking at you, Desire Eye), but general it’s just lots of modest hardware. All of these Desires, for instance, are built on the foundation of Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 210 CPU. All of them have 8-megapixel rear cameras. All of them take microSD and microSDXC cards up to 2TB in size.
The rest of the particulars vary depending on the whims of the carrier selling these things. Consider the Desire 520 for a moment. This Cricket exclusive comes with a pocket-friendly 4.5-inch screen running at a paltry 854×480 resolution, all wrapped in a palm-pleasing soft touch finish. The Desire 526, on the other hand, is the odd one out when it comes to looks; Verizon seemed to prefer a rounder aesthetic with curved bezels that run around the 4.7-inch qHD screen. It’s also got 1.5GB of RAM in there, giving it just a little more oomph than its other 520-series cousin.
Then you’ve got the Desire 626 and 626S sitting at the top of this class. Both are kitted out with 5-inch, 720p screens but the differences are there if you know where to look. The most glaring variances? The prepaid-only 626S has 8GB of storage and a 2MP front-facing camera compared to the 16GB/5MP camera setup on the 626 that’s hitting AT&T and T-Mobile. (Just to make things a little more confusing, there’s already a version of the 626 floating around Asia with a divergent design and a completely different chip inside.)
Still, they’re arguably the fanciest of HTC’s new quartet, and after a little hands-on time they proved themselves to be worthy little devices… as long as you keep your expectations in check. First, the good: they feel surprisingly sturdy given their all-plastic construction, not to mention almost shockingly light. HTC’s always done well as a purveyor of polycarbonate phones and it’s frankly nice to see that even the cheap stuff avoids feeling chintzy. Both devices run without too much trouble either, though they’re not as immediately snappy when responding to touch inputs as other low-cost phones are. HTC’s desire to keep costs down are most apparent when you start eyeing up that 720p screen — text and visuals are mostly crisp, but the look is little muddy overall and there’s plenty of apparent grain on the edges of letters and icons. Still, the 626 and 626S will be tidy little packages if they get the aggressive price tags to match; now we’ve just got to wait for all those carriers to get a little chatty.
Skype for Android takes the hassle out of signing back in
It might be safe to stay signed in to Skype these days, but that doesn’t mean you want to. Do you really want a video call from your parents when you’re out on the town? If not, you’ll be glad to hear that Skype is making it much easier to sign in and out. The Android app’s 5.5 update now remembers your login details after you log out, so hopping online again is just a matter of tapping a button. If you’re worried that someone will snoop on your conversations, you can still ask Skype to require your password whenever you back to business. Grab the new app today if you often find yourself eager for some quiet time.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Skype, Google Play
AT&T HTC One M9 getting Android 5.1 Lollipop on July 15th
The Android 5.1 Lollipop update continues making its way to HTC One M9 devices across the country. The latest version to get the sweet treat was Sprint’s, on July 1st. Fast-forward just a couple weeks and we are finding out the AT&T version of HTC’s flagship handset is also ready to get its relative update.
According to HTC’s Mo Versi, AT&T’s One M9 just received technical approval on the Andorid 5.1 Lollipop software. The OTA update is set to start rolling out starting tomorrow, July 15th.
HTC One (M9) AT&T Owners! We have received technical approval on Lollipop OS 5.1 which includes camera improvements. OTA to start on 7/15!!
— Mo Versi (@moversi) July 14, 2015
This AT&T update will be very similar to the one we previously saw coming to the Sprint HTC One M9. It will include camera improvements, as Mo Versi mentions in his Twitter announcement, but users will also see a plethora of other upgrades come with this update. It should also provide better device protection, improved contact-specific notification options, stronger WiFi and more. You can always refer back to our detailed post on the Android 5.1 Lollipop software version to catch all the specifics.
All you have to do now is wait around for the update notification to show up on your smartphones. Of course, you can always check the settings and try to pull the update yourself, but remember these software downloads are usually rolled out periodically. Many of you may not even get it on the 15th, at all, but you should get your notification in due time.
Those lucky enough to get the update should definitely hit the comments section, though. Let us know how the update went and if it’s treating you well!
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Commodore returns as a 5.5-inch, nostalgia-powered smartphone
It hasn’t been a legitimate name in computing for over 20 years, but somehow the Commodore brand always manages to find a way back into our lives. In 2004, it came back as a simple TV-Game joystick. In 2011, Commodore USA sold gaming PCs stuffed into retro-styled keyboard chassis. Today, the brand is back again–as a nostalgia-stamped 5.5-inch Android smartphone.
Putting its super-obvious nostalgia-grab aside, the Commodore PET (yes, named after that computer) actually sounds like a pretty decent midrange phone–complete with a 1.7GHz octa-core Mediatek processor, a 13-megapixel rear facing camera with a dedicated shutter button and a hefty, 3000 mAh battery. Nothing too special, but there are a few features baked in for fans of the brand, namely a pair of customized emulators for the Commodore 64 and Amiga games.
The phone will be available in Italy, France, Poland and Germany later this month to the tune of about $300, which buys 16GB of storage with an included 32GB micro SD card, and a 32GB version will sell for about $60 more. Live on the wrong side of the world and need a new Commodore in your life? Don’t worry–the phone’s manufacturer says it plans to expand to international markets soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile
Source: Wired
ZTE thinks its Axon is the unlocked flagship America deserves
“It’s designed in the US, for the US.”
That’s not the sort of bluster you’d normally hear from Lixin Cheng, CEO of ZTE’s American division, but he proffered it several times during a pre-show pow-wow to make sure it stuck. Not long after that, Cheng and his team pulled back the curtain on the $450 Axon — a phone that really, really doesn’t feel like the company’s usual fare. It’s all metal, runs a deliciously near-stock version of Android 5.1.1 and packs one of Qualcomm’s updated Snapdragon 810 processors with 4GB of RAM for good measure. Make no mistake: The Axon is a full-on flagship from a company that hasn’t always had the best luck making them.
Perhaps naturally, Cheng thinks his chances with Axon are pretty good. As far as he’s concerned, more than a few players currently fighting for US recognition with cheap, good-ish phones are just taking devices launched in other markets and dumping them here. The Axon was designed to be the antithesis of those phones, something built around surveys and feedback straight from the mouths of American consumers. If the Axon’s feature set is a hint, we’re a country of finicky photographers (the Axon sports a 13MP rear camera lens and can capture 4K video) and sound buffs (it has two dedicated sound chips) who love hi-res screens (the Quad HD screen is 5.5 inches wide).
Even the Axon name apparently came to be thanks to customer feedback, though I wonder if the phone’s design got the same sort of focus-testing rigor — it’s festooned with pleasantly funky honeycomb-like grids near the front speaker and the dual-camera setup. The Axon is also one of the thicker flagships I’ve seen lately, but it shouldn’t strain your skinny jeans too much. Its lightweight metallic construction and sloping back kept it from feeling too substantial in my hands, to boot. My biggest question mark? There’s a row of capacitive nav buttons just below the screen, but the ones to the left and right of the home button are just… dots. Would it have really hurt to add “Back” and ‘Recent apps” icons?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, smartphone performance is always a tricky thing to suss out at events like these. Fortunately for ZTE, this first Axon (Cheng’s already got one dreamed up for next year) is the sort of effortlessly smooth that high-end hardware so often achieves. I didn’t stumble across any stuttering or slowdown despite being sort of a jerk to it; it just works. We’ll dig more into the performance particulars in our full review, but I got enough alone time with the thing in a secluded area to watch AndEBench crash on the thing twice. C’est la vie — this is non-final hardware. At the very least, the thing sounds pretty good. Alexis Cole’s “Ain’t We Got Fun” felt spacious and warm even through a pedestrian pair of Sony earbuds, though it wasn’t dramatically better than the sound coming out of an iPhone 6. Alas, it was nigh impossible to tell how good the single speaker (yeah, those grilles up front are a little misleading) sounded amid a crowd of nerds.
All told, ZTE did something I more or less thought impossible: It made a phone I actually want to use. The bigger question (and the one a pensive Mr. Cheng is certainly pondering right now) is whether one good phone is enough to get the ZTE name stuck in people’s heads. I’m not convinced, but hey — I’m more than happy to be proven wrong.
Filed under: Mobile
Comcast tests streaming games to your cable box
Not happy with simply launching its Stream video service this week, Comcast announced the start of a beta test for Xfinity Games. A partnership with Electronic Arts (confirming Reuters rumor from last year), it’s not going to compete with PlayStation and Xbox, but is closer to what Roku, Amazon and Android are already doing for TV gaming. At least for now, the games offered are older and mobile-versions of games like Plants vs Zombies, Real Racing 2 or FIFA 13. There’s not a connection for a standard gamepad, so players control them with phones and tablets (right now the list appears to cover iOS, and mainly Samsung Galaxy phones/tablets on the Android side). The main requirement? Comcast’s X1 TV platform, so if you have it you can sign up to be a beta tester here. X1 isn’t ready to be a powerhouse gaming platform yet approaching the level of OnLive or PlayStation Now, but with this and home automation add-ons, it’s clear we’re not the only ones thinking of the cable box as a the center of your connected home. Now, let’s see if we can get Yu Suzuki to launch a Sega Channel Kickstarter.
Source: Comcast
AIVAnet 