Your dorm room, upgraded
It’s autumn once more and that means you’re back at school. The car-load of Craigslist-sourced furniture is unpacked, you’ve already had the first (of likely many) arguments with your roommate about a spilled bowl of ramen. Not to mention, you’ve probably already been through a glut of syllabus readings and awkward around-the-room introductions. So, you have the essentials for the next two semesters covered. But, financial aid disbursements are direct-depositing their way into bank accounts everywhere right about now. You’ve already bought your books, so what’re you going to do with the rest of that “free” money? Make your dorm the envy of everyone on your floor, that’s what — and we’ve a few suggestions of kit to help do just that from sun up to sun down.
[Image credit: Jeff Dlouhy/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Laptops, HD, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, Google
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iPhone 6 Pre-Orders to Kick off Tonight at 12:01 AM Pacific
Following Tuesday’s announcement of both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple announced plans to begin taking pre-orders for the devices on Friday, September 12.
Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T will all begin accepting pre-orders at 12:01 AM PT according to their websites, and carriers typically open up pre-orders alongside Apple. Apple’s support representatives are, however, still claiming that the company does not yet have a specific time for the pre-order.
Unlike last year where only the iPhone 5c was available for pre-order, Apple will be offering both the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus for pre-order. There have been few reports on available supply, but typically it’s best to make an order right away if possible because in the past, pre-orders have sold out within mere minutes. As we mentioned yesterday, it’s a good idea to check on upgrade eligibility beforehand.
Apple will be accepting pre-orders through both its website and the Apple Store app. Along with carriers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, retailers like Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target will also be accepting iPhone 6 pre-orders, but times may vary.
Apple’s iPhone 6 is available in 16, 64, and 128 GB capacities in the United States for $199, $299, and $399, respectively, with a two-year contract. Contract-free pricing begins at $649. Apple’s higher-priced iPhone 6 Plus is available in 16, 64, and 128 GB capacities for $299, $399, and $499, respectively, with a two-year contract. Contract-free pricing on that device begins at $749.
Pre-orders are expected to be available in the first wave of release countries: US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK, with the phones available in retail stores beginning on September 19. Apple’s second wave of iPhone 6 orders will begin on September 26 for several countries across Europe, Taiwan, New Zealand, and more.
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Intel Seeking to Woo Apple Away From Qualcomm for Cellular Baseband Chips
Intel is hoping Apple will turn to the California company for the cellular baseband hardware in future mobile products, says Intel Korea President Lee Hee-sung in a statement reported by the Korea Herald. The baseband manages the radio functions of an iPhone or cellular-capable iPad, allowing the device to communicate with the carrier’s mobile network.
“Chances are high that global smartphone makers such as Apple and LG Electronics will use Intel’s baseband chips in their products down the road,” said Lee Hee-sung, the president of Intel Korea, at a press meeting on Thursday.
Such collaborations are highly likely given that the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, has recently announced its midrange premium handset the Galaxy Alpha, which contains Intel’s XMM7260 baseband modem.”
Apple had originally used Infineon baseband hardware in early models of the iPhone, but after Infineon was purchased by Intel in 2010 Apple shifted to using communication chips from market leader Qualcomm. Intel has, however, been hard at work at improving its baseband chips, as evidenced by the design win in the new Galaxy Alpha.
Apple and Intel are of course already partners for the complete line of Mac processors, but Apple will undoubtedly focus on technology and pricing considerations in weighing any potential switch for its mobile products.
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First iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Shipments Reportedly Land on U.S. Soil
Apple’s first iPhone 6 and 6 Plus shipments are already landing on U.S. soil, reports CCAonline (via iPhone in Canada). According to the report, the first cargo pallets have been transported to Chicago in two “special cargo” batches from Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport via China Southern Airlines.
Shipping manifests show the cargo weighed a total of 93 tons and was broken into two parcels, one weighing 14.5 tons on September 6 and a second one weighing 78.5 tons on September 10. MacRumors had previously heard similar word that shipments would be beginning late last week as Apple begins staging units at central locations before distributing them around the country for launch.
As a very rough estimate based on the device weight supplied by Apple, these parcels could hold approximately 720,000 iPhone 6 units or 540,000 iPhone 6 Plus handsets. Apple is reportedly paying up to 200 million yuan for the freight in what may be a single-day shipment record for China Southern freight.
This shipment is one of many Apple has planned in the coming weeks with the company supposedly booking much of the available cargo shipping space coming out of China. Apple supposedly has a stranglehold on outgoing shipments, forcing some smaller manufacturers to delay the transport of their products out of the Asian country.
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Apple Pay could make everyone’s mobile wallet purchases cheaper
Have you stopped to consider what impact Apple Pay will have on the credit card industry? Don’t worry, we hadn’t either, but Bank Innovation believe that the service might just send mobile payments mainstream. Currently, tapping your phone on a reader incurs a transaction fee of 2.75 percent, far higher than the 1.5 percent that’s imposed when you swipe a card. Because the issuing bank’s card isn’t there, there’s a greater risk of fraud that banks multinational financial services corporations like Visa and MasterCard then have to shoulder. According to the report, however, the biometric security in the new iPhones might have convinced both institutions that mobile payments aren’t a huge risk anymore. The site goes further, to suggest that both will create a “Cardholder Present” transaction fee which either matches the card rate, or is close enough to mean that you won’t be pulling out a calculator to work out if it’s cheaper to use your phone or card to buy subway tokens. Naturally, both financial institutions have denied that any such discussions are taking place, but hopefully it won’t be long before these systems reflect the real world.
Filed under: Cellphones, Apple
Source: Bank Innovation
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Google wants to keep work documents and emails secure on iPhones and iPads
Google launched the Apps Mobile Management service earlier this year to help organizations manage employees’ or members’ Android devices that access files and emails saved on their Google Apps. Now, Mountain View has launched a counterpart for iPhones and iPads called iOS Sync, which can remind people to enroll their devices when they sign into any Google Apps for Work/Education/Government, such as Drive or Gmail. It also gives the business’ IT department the power to distribute WiFi passwords and certificates to ensure a safer connection, manage their Apps’ password requirements and enforce camera policies (read: disable it if taking pictures is prohibited) in the office. The service even allows administrators to block devices and to wipe them remotely in worst-case scenarios. iOS Sync will roll out to Google Apps for Work, Education and Government next week. It might even arrive without you knowing, as it’ll automatically be integrated right into the Gmail and Drive.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Apple, Google
Via: Venturebeat
Source: Google
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EA Announces ‘SimCity BuildIt’ for iOS Devices [iOS Blog]
EA has announced SimCity BuildIt for iOS, bringing another iteration of the ultra-popular PC game franchise to Apple’s mobile devices. Like the other titles in the series, SimCity BuildIt allows players to build and maintain a city through the construction of businesses, houses, government buildings, roads, and more.
The choices you make evolve your city in a variety of ways. Meet your citizens’ needs to keep them happy, or make questionable choices and feel your citizens’ wrath.
The title will make use of the touchscreen on iOS devices by allowing players to pinch, zoom, and rotate around their city, as EA is promising “vivid 3D-quality graphics” for the game. SimCity BuildIt marks the second time that EA has released a SimCity game for iOS, as the company released SimCity Deluxe for the iPad in 2010. A Mac version of the latest SimCity title was also released last August.
EA has yet to announce a release date or pricing for SimCity BuildIt, however the company states that more details on features will be released soon.
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Apple Aiming to Ship 80 Million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Units By End of 2014
Apple is aiming to ship a combined total of 80 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units by the end of this year, reports Digitimes. To achieve this goal, the company has reportedly asked its supply chain partners to ramp up component production. Barring any production issues, Apple is aiming for 10 million units by the end of September with another 70 million units by the end of the fourth quarter.
The news follows a report from the Wall Street Journal report in July, which stated that Apple was preparing to manufacture a massive number of iPhone 6 units in anticipation of high demand. Apple was said to have produced a total of 60 million units for the iPhone 5 in the later half of 2012. Last year, Apple experienced significantly constrained supplies with the iPhone 5s, as supplies were not steady until nearly three months after its launch.
Rumors prior to the announcement of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus yesterday stated that Apple was experiencing major production issues with the larger model, which was said to be the reason behind a potentially delayed launch. However, with both iPhone 6 models up for pre-order on September 12 and available for purchase on September 19, it is possible that Apple has a steady supply to answer high consumer demand.
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OnePlus responds to the Apple iPhone 6 Plus, welcomes it to the “Plus” family
In something that is becoming a bit of a tradition for the young company, OnePlus responds to the Apple iPhone 6 Plus by posting the above image via their Facebook page and offering yet another OnePlus One to win and more invites. As with many of OnePlus’ marketing campaigns, this one is no less confusing as it doesn’t really say anything, nor does it really compare their OnePlus One with the iPhone 6 Plus, at least, not explicitly. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t.
As we know, both devices have a 5.5-inch display, but that’s essentially where the similarities end. The OnePlus One has an almost-top-of-the-line quadcore Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5GHz with 3GB RAM, a 13MP camera and a 3,100mAh battery. Contrasting this is the iPhone 6 Plus which has a dualcore Cortex A8 64-bit processor running at 1.4GHz, 1GB RAM, 8MP OIS and 2,915mAh. While that might look like a win for the OnePlus One, the devil is always in the detail and the iPhone 6 Plus, like its predecessors, will likely have an extremely optimized experience – now with 64-bit architecture – that will generally equal or outstrip the performance of many an Android device, the OnePlus One included.
Of course, the one thing the OnePlus One does have going for it is price, which starts at $299 for the 16GB version off-contract, and is likely much better value than the $299 on-contract asking price for the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus.
Still, we’re all Android fans here, so what do you think about OnePlus’ attempt to piggy-back on the news of Apple‘s device releases? Let us know your thoughts below.
Source: Facebook via Android Authority
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ASUS asks: Would you prefer 6 ZenFones or 1 Apple?
It looks like everybody in the smartphone industry is having a go at Apple‘s new iPhone announcements. ASUS‘ attempt is a pretty good one, claiming that you can get 6 ZenFones – shaped in a 6, of course – for the price of one “Apple”, presumably referring to the large individual cost of Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While ASUS’ latest ZenFone, the ZenFone 6, doesn’t necessarily compete with the new iPhones on a performance level, it must be said that their devices are not bad value, and it’s not at all a bad way, at least, financially, to get your family decked out with smartphones.
For reference, the ZenFone 6 is a 5-inch device carrying a dualcore Intel Atom processor 2GHz and 13MP camera. While the iPhone’s internals look quite a lot like the ZenFone’s on paper, their outright performance could not be more different. The ZenFone 6 isn’t likely to be a candidate for a pocket supercomputer and the new iPhones should be able to stick it to even the newest Android phones. But again, 6 ZenFones or 1 Apple?
What do you think of ASUS’ attempt at commenting on the new iPhone 6 devices? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
Source: Facebook via Phone Arena
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AIVAnet 