LG announces ‘NUCLUN’, its first mobile processor
LG announced its own mobile chipset, dubbed the ‘NUCLUN’ which employs a quad-core 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A15 for heavy processing and a quadcore 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A7 for lighter processing. LG termed this unique octa-core architecture ‘big.LITTLE’ . It supports LTE-A Cat.6, which is only available currently in South Korea. Therefore, it is logical that the device with which this SoC debuted with, LG G3 Screen, a 5.9″ G3, with a slightly lower resolution display; Full HD screen, and slightly better speaker, is designed specifically for the South Korean market.
This will prove to be an interesting turn of events, as another powerful contender joins the likes of Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and Samsung in the relatively unsaturated market of high-end mobile processing packages.
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Amazon has made its Appstore for Android obsolete
Since its creation, the Amazon Appstore stood apart, banned from being offered in the official store for Android apps, Google Play, until now… sort of. When Amazon recently updated its main Android app, it got a new “Apps & Games” department that duplicates the content found in the standalone Appstore app — effectively making it both unnecessary and obsolete. Naturally, because Amazon’s still delivering apps outside the confines of Google Play, you need to change your device’s security settings to accept downloads from unknown sources to install them. The change is a welcome one — reducing app clutter’s a good thing — and the convenience factor afforded by this consolidation should have Amazon selling more apps. Still, we’re pretty sure that’s not enough to make up for the Fire phone’s hit to the company’s bottom line.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Amazon
Source: TechCrunch
Online Companies Using Discriminatory Online Pricing
If you enjoy online shopping (and who doesn’t?), you need to hear this news. A study of the most popular e-commerce websites done by computer scientists at Northeastern University found that price steering and discriminatory pricing is more widespread than any of us thought.
Since you might be a little confused about what this all means, let’s define our terms. Price discrimination happens when a company charges consumers more for a product when purchased online or from a certain device. Price steering happens when a consumer is directed towards expensive products when, based on his or her needs, is more fancy than necessary. The study done was adjusted for legitimate discrepancies in pricing, like location. That being said, six out of sixteen popular e-commerce sites engaged in these practices.
Some of the biggest offenders for price discrimination were travel-booking sites like Orbitz or Cheaptickets, where potential customers are routinely charged $12 more per night if they don’t have accounts with the sites. Even worse is Travelocity’s $15 increase for users of mobile operating systems other than iOS. (That’s you, dear reader.) Orbitz is considered a repeat offender, since in 2012 it was caught charging Mac users up to 30% more than PC users for their services.
Other sites like Home Depot, Expedia, and Hotels.com were directing users to products that are pricier than the consumer needs. Home Depot was found to be showing mobile-device users products $100 more than those shown to desktop users.
The issue with these discriminatory pricing and price steering practices is that they are not telling users about these practices, and taking advantage of a customer’s ignorance to earn an extra buck at mobile shoppers’ expense. Hopefully, the work done by the folks at Northeastern University will inspire some change in these business practices, or at least promote some transparency. Now that the public knows a little more about the issue, maybe we can try to convince companies like Orbitz or Travelocity to change the way they work on mobile to create a fairer, more enjoyable online shopping experience.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Come comment on this article: Online Companies Using Discriminatory Online Pricing
Sundar Pichai takes control of Google’s crucial products
Well, we guess congratulations are in order. According to Re/code, Sundar Pichai, the senior vice president at Google who used to just be in charge of the Chrome, Android, and web apps teams now basically has control of almost every other Google product division of note. Search? Google+? Ads? Even the company’s infrastructure? All of that has been apparently moved off of CEO Larry Page’s plate and onto Pichai’s — not a huge surprise considering his heightened prominence within Mountain View over the past months. Pichai, a nine year Google veteran, was even rumored to be one of the leading choices for Microsoft’s new CEO, though the role eventually went to longtime company insider Satya Nadella.
Anyway, that’s a lot of power in one man’s hands, especially considering that the advertising division Pichai inherited basically pays for all the other weird, amazing things Google gets to do. It’s worth noting that not every Google product falls under Pichai’s newly opened umbrella, though. There’s YouTube, for one; that still remains under Susan Wojcicki’s control, which she took over earlier this year. Oh, and all the really neat stuff — Nest’s growing internet-of-things team, the biotech innovations in the works at Calico, the moonshots under construction at Google X — are all still firmly in Page’s pocket. In fact, his love for the latter may be what caused this seismic leadership shift in the first place. Re/code notes that Page has expressed an interest in focusing on the “bigger picture” stuff that’ll define what the Google of tomorrow will look like, lining up with earlier reports that he’s been tapping internal talent to figure out what big, world-changing problems Google should really be trying to fix.
Source: Re/code
How to invite friends to Inbox by Gmail!
Inbox by Gmail has gathered a lot of attention, and for good reason. I am a lucky person to have it, and it is a great tool, clearing my inbox within minutes, along with adding all sorts of new functions. Well Google is not being shy about adding people, as now anyone with Inbox can invite up to 3 people!
Inbox users can invite up to 3 people!
How to invite friends to Inbox
Inbox announced on Friday on Twitter that those with Inbox can invite friends. In order to do this, open your Inbox app, tap Speed Dial (the red “+” in the bottom right corner) and you should see a golden ticket. Next, shout “I’ve got a golden ticket!” and dance like a oompa loompa. Oh, wait, that won’t help. Just tap the golden ticket, and then type whoever you want to invite in the text box at the top, and then tap “Invite”! Then, enjoy the glory as your friends shout your name in praise.
Google has a lot going for it this month, between the announcement of Lollipop last week (has it only been a week?), the newest set of Nexus devices, and now a game changer from the service that changed email 10 years ago. What else could Google have in store?
Have you been enjoying this newest venture from Gmail?
via Twitter
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Got Google’s new Inbox app? Now you can invite three friends!
The jury’s still out on Google’s new mobile approach to email, but that hasn’t stopped people from going a little batty over getting invited to use it (see also: Gmail, Google Wave). In case you were feeling a little weird about begging Google for an Inbox invite, though, you can now just beg your Inbox-using friends for one. Google has just started gracing users with three invites to spread among their needy peers — if they happen to see a golden ticket (we really need a new visual metaphor to that effect) in their Speed Dial menu, they can start spreading the love. Alas, Google isn’t letting the floodgates fully open just yet: if you got your invite from someone who didn’t get theirs straight from Mountain View, chances are you don’t have any invites of your own to share. Now we’re just waiting to see if a secondary market of Inbox invites springs up — what’s the Bitcoin-to-Inbox invite ratio these days?
Source: Google+
Samsung Galaxy S5 to get Android 5.0 Lollipop in December, report says
Samsung’s 2014 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, could be among the first handsets to see an Android 5.0 Lollipop update. At least that’s what a new SamMobile report tells us. According to a source close to the blog, the Galaxy S5 will get its update in December. The level of certainty is pretty high here as the website already has a video of the smartphone running a version of the build.
If the timeline is accurate the Galaxy S5 will be one of the quickest turnarounds in Samsung’s history. Then again, we’re looking at the unlocked international version. We’ll have to worry about various wireless carriers standing in the way. Still, whatever it is, it’s considerably better than in days past. Remember when it would take 6-10 months to get a software update?
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LG’s next phone will be the first with one of its own CPUs inside
LG has been trying to catch up to competition like Apple and Samsung with its phones for years, and its next step on that path is to build one with its own CPU inside. The G3 Screen phone that it’s releasing this week in Korea will have an eight-core “NUCLUN” (pronounced NOO-klun) processor, based off of an ARM big.LITTLE design similar to Samsung’s octacore Exynos chips. NUCLUN has for 1.5GHz cores for the tough tasks, and for 1.2GHz cores for easier stuff that save on battery life. The G3 Screen is a 5.9-inch phone with a 10808p screen and support for the new, faster LTE-A networks that download at up to 225Mbps.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG
Source: LG Newsroom
Google Earth for Android receive its biggest update
Google has decided to update the famous Google Earth for Android. The app has been around for a long time, and it is one of the most famous applications on the Google Play Store. The latest update is the biggest one so far, as it brings better and smoother 3D rendering technology.
“Starting today, you’ll see faster, smoother, and crisper transitions as you’re zooming into your dream destination in Google Earth. Thanks to a new 3D rendering technology—the first major 3D overhaul since Earth launched more than 10 years ago—sharper views of mountains and cities are just a virtual skydive away.”
Roads and labels are also improved, and it will gets same updates as Google Maps in future. Google Earth will now also allow you to open your KML files as well.
If you love exploring the planet without even moving from your bed, you should definitely check out the latest version of Google Earth. Check it out and let us know in the comment box below.
Source: Google Maps
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Verizon begins pre-orders for Sony SmartWatch 3
Verizon on Thursday began taking pre-orders for the Sony SmartWatch 3, and Android Wear-powered smartwatch. Priced $250, the device is expected to begin shipping on October 30. The watch will also soon find its way into the Google Play Store where it will be offered alongside other Android Wear products, including those from Samsung, LG,… Read more »
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