Samsung Galaxy Note 4 gets an LED flip cover accessory
HTC have their DotView case, LG have their QuickCircle, and Samsung had their S View case, but now they’ve brought a new accessory to the party with the Note 4′s LED flip cover.
Unlike most cases that reveal a portion of the screen to display crucial information such as notification count or missed calls, the Galaxy Note 4′s LED flip cover accessory uses LED’s in the front of the case to display text and icons while the devices display is turned off.
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The LED”s can display battery consumption, notifications, music playback, and the current time. It’s not clear at this point just how easy it will be for 3rd-party apps to hook into this feature, but a pretty cool addition to the Note 4 nonetheless.
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The Samsung Gear S’ real killer app is Engadget
See Samsung’s new conspicuously-screened wearable? Gear S made its debut this week and will be coming to a wrist near you (maybe) in October. That’s a long time to wait, but you’ll be able to speed read Engadget should you choose to get one of your own. Our app’s powered by Spritz technology that rolls through article words one at a time, efficiently combining our collective knowledge with your own. A preview awaits after the break.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile
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The ugly truth about wearable technology
When it comes to putting computers on our bodies, everyone’s an armchair Anna Wintour. Take a look at the comments on any story about wearable technology, just about anywhere. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. And with good reason. While some of us view our PCs, smartphones and tablets as status symbols, our clothing and accessories are more closely tied to our identities than anything else.
Over the past few years, the frenzy for wearables has reached its peak. This week alone, Sony, Samsung, LG and Motorola have all shown off their next attempts at wrist-worn technology. And with each announcement comes a new set of sartorial critiques.
And yet, despite a seeming consensus from the tech press about the aesthetic appeal of devices like the Moto 360 and Pebble’s Steel, the world is still waiting for the one wearable that will have us all strapping a computer to our wrists, faces, waists or whatever. But the real obstacle to wearable adoption isn’t a matter of style; it’s a matter of taste.
The real obstacle to wearable adoption isn’t a matter of style; it’s a matter of taste.
New York Times tech-scribe-cum-style savant, Nick Bilton recently penned a speculative editorial proclaiming the as-of-yet-unannounced iWatch as the device that could finally take wearables mainstream. Apple will no doubt roll out a beautiful piece of machinery — it has an excellent track record and a proven team of designers, engineers and businesspeople on board — but the truth is, no matter how good the software, no matter how innovative the functionality, no matter how versatile and beautiful the design, there will never be one wearable for everyone.
Almost every player in the wearable game thus far has proven an ability to produce successful consumer technologies. Some of us can even agree that they’re starting to get the style right, but the truth is we all fancy ourselves individuals when we get dressed in the morning. No single company, whether it’s Apple or Motorola or even Swatch is ever going to make a single device that we all want to wear.
Apple’s wearable device, whether it’s a watch or a fedora or even a condom, will no doubt be a meticulously designed piece of hardware, but it’s going to take a much more robust and diverse market, full of choice for wearables to really take off. It’s going to take more than NFC, fitness tracking and Jony Ive’s magic touch. It’s going to take more than killer features and refined hardware.
It’s going to take time.
[Images: Evgeny Dubinchuk and Fuse, Getty]
Filed under: Wearables, Apple, Samsung, Sony
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‘Rock Band’ creator wants to bend your mind with Samsung’s Gear VR
You may have tried VR, but have you ever totally, like really got into it, man? Harmonix, the creator of Rock Band and Dance Central wants to crank Samsung’s new Gear VR headset to 11 with an app called Harmonix Music VR. Details are sketchy, but the idea is to don the Oculus-powered device and start playing your favorite tunes. From there, the app will analyze the music and create a “high-resolution event sequence that drives the reactive elements in your virtual world.” In layman’s terms, we think that means it’ll generate “trippy visualizations.” Harmonix also used the words “vibrant” and “dreamscape,” so we’re pretty sure it’s going after a certain burgeoning market segment. It’ll arrive alongside Samsung’s Gear VR later this year, with pricing to follow.
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The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is smaller, lighter and more elegant than the GS5
With a 4.7-inch 720p display, 6.7mm profile, 115g (4.06 ounce) weight and aforementioned design language, the Alpha is tight, light, slim and classy. Since it’s a little smaller than most modern-day flagships and comes with straight sides and chamfered edges, it’s very easy to hold onto without losing my grip or feeling uncomfortable. The sides are also mostly flat until they approach the corners, where they curve slightly outward.
Despite the new design, the removable back still looks more like the Galaxy S5 than the Note 4; the latter has more of a leather-like appearance, whereas the Alpha’s polycarbonate back uses a series of very tiny divots. The back itself is flat except where it slopes inward toward the edges. The phone will come in five different colors, and some definitely look better than others; this is one of those times in which the gold version actually looks a little better than the black one, since some of the front and back colors blend better with the sides than others do. The 12MP camera (not quite as high quality as the GS5 or Note 4) sits in the top middle, with an LED flash and heart rate monitor module to its left.
With a smaller screen, the lower-resolution display is completely fine; everything looked crisp and sharp. It also comes with the same fingerprint scanner as the flagship phones. The only thing that truly concerns me with the Alpha right now is the 1,860mAh battery, which is quite limited for today’s standards (its battery is significantly smaller than the GS5’s). It also doesn’t come with external memory, so the 32GB internal storage will have to do.
The Alpha will come in two versions, much like many of Samsung’s other phones: An octacore Exynos 5-powered option, which comes with four 1.8GHz Cortex-A15 cores for higher performance and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores for smaller tasks, and a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 version. Both options will come with 2GB RAM. Samsung uses this two-model setup often, in which the Exynos model is typically sold in Korea and other select countries, while the Snapdragon model goes to the remaining regions like the US and Europe.
With a few exceptions, the Alpha seems to look like another Galaxy S5 mini of sorts, but with better specs and more elegant design. While Samsung is still keeping quiet on pricing — it’ll likely be dictated by region and carrier — it’ll likely be higher-priced than many of its competitors. If it manages to be competitively priced, however, the Alpha could easily become a hit among shoppers who want something more on the classy side without getting a monster-sized phone.
Photos and video by Zach Honig.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Google
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Samsung announces new ruggedized tablet, the Galaxy Tab Active
Samsung is no stranger to trying what no one else will, and that is extremely apparent with their newest tablet. They’ve just announced their new rugged tablet, the Galaxy Tab Active.
Armed with both water and dust proofing, the Tab Active boasts a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1280×800 LCD display, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, and a 3.1MP rear-facing camera. It has SD card support for up to 64GB of extra storage. Samsung is also saying that the Tab Active can withstand up to a 1.2 meter drop. It’s also shipping with a more rugged C-Pen stylus.
Marketed towards business professionals that may need to use a tough tablet on a construction site (or something of the sort), this tablet is absolutely a one-of-a-kind piece of hardware.
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Samsung continues IFA dominance with rugged Galaxy Tab Active
Samsung introduced us to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active and Galaxy S5 Active. In a nutshell they have been more rugged versions of the popular flagship devices. They aren’t always the pretty looking devices, but they are more so for the adventurer out there that loves tech, but breaks things often. Samsung seems to be taking the Active brand to a larger scale this year with a new tablet offering, the Galaxy Tab Active.
The Galaxy Tab Active certainly isn’t a powerhouse tablet, but for those needing more screen space in the job site without the boss worrying about it breaking, the Galaxy Tab Active could be a company choice.
Spec outline:
- 8-inch 1280×800 screen
- 1.2GHz quad-core processor
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 3.1MP rear camera w/ LED flash
- 16GB internal storage w/ SD card slot
- Removable 4450mAh battery (10 hours)
- POGO pin charging
- Android 4.4
- Stylus
- IP67 rated
The tablet is also said to be able to with stand drops of 1.2 meters, or about 4 feet. Samsung’s press release fails to offer up a sales date or price tag, Their press release is heavily geared towards B2B, so don’t expect to see this sitting around in a box at Wal-Mart. Samsung is targeting the needs of industries looking to incorporate more technology that is rugged and can handle the demands of the jobs, like field technicians, auto experts and others. That doesn’t mean they won’t bring one to consumers at some point though.
Source: Samsung Mobile
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NVIDIA aims its first patent lawsuit at Samsung and Qualcomm
It’s true, Samsung is about to find itself back in the courtroom facing another round of patent litigation — but this time, the lawsuit isn’t coming from a direct competitor. NVIDIA just filed its first patent lawsuit in the company’s 21 year history, and charging both Samsung and Qualcomm with infringing seven of its GPU patents. NVIDIA says that it’s tried to negotiate licensing fees with the companies directly, but have made no progress. “Samsung repeatedly said that it was mostly their suppliers’ problem,” the company wrote on its official blog. Now NVIDIA is taking them both to court.
Specifically, NVIDIA is targeting Qualcomm processors with Adreno graphics, as well as Samsung devices using ARM Mali or Imagination PowerVR GPUs — this includes devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 4, Galaxy Tab S and several older smartphones and tablets. The patents at issue cover chip design, various processes, and lighting, rasterization and rendering technologies, all of which NVIDIA claims are violated by Samsung and Qualcomm’s unlicensed use of the technologies. The company is seeking a trial jury to validate its claim and assign damages, and seems optimistic that it the legal system will help it cement a licensing agreement for the alleged technology use. Check out the company’s official announcement (and its official complaints) for the full details.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Filed under: Misc, Samsung, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA (1), (2), (3)
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Engadget Daily: Galaxy Note Edge, hands-on with the Xperia Z3 and more!
Today, we take a look at the Galaxy Note Edge’s bent display, test drive Samsung’s Gear VR headset, go hands-on with the Xperia Z3 and more from IFA 2014! Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Filed under: Misc
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Samsung also announces the Gear VR, their Mobile Virtual Reality Headgear
We heard rumors that Samsung was dabbling in the world of virtual reality or at least with something that would be a bit Google Glass like. Now we have news of what Samsung has been working on and it leans way off to the left is much more Oculus than Glass. Which does make a lot of sense being that it uses Oculus technology to bring a virtual reality display to your face with a new Oculus Mobile SDK.
“Samsung Gear VR goes far beyond expectations of how mobile technology can be used to consume content, and is a powerful representation of the progressive innovation of the Gear series,” said JK Shin, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “We are pleased to have partnered with Oculus VR to bring this incredibly immersive mobile content experience to consumers.”
“We are thrilled to reveal the Gear VR Innovator Edition, a state-of-the-art mobile VR experience powered by Oculus,” said John Carmack, CTO of Oculus. “The deep technical partnership with Samsung has enabled us to create a virtual reality headset with world class resolution and performance, all on a completely mobile platform.”
Reading through the press release from Samsung and checking out the project on the Oculus blog you can see what they did. Anyone remember Google I/O and Google Cardboard? I feel like Google knew about this the whole time and poked fun at Samsung at the time. Here is what I am seeing and reading, you pair your Galaxy Note 4 to the Gear VR and then click it under that blue shield and put it on your head. You can see the two eye holes in the product image above the actual device in the photo below.
The unit does connect directly to your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Note 4 becomes your VR world screen. It has physical controls by the way of a touch pad, back button and volume keys. It provides you with a 96 degree field of view with a motion to photo latency of < 20ms. The Gear VR isn’t coming immediately for consumers, more so for innovators, developers and early adopters. There is an additional perk with the Gear VR over Google Cardboard though. If you decide to buy one, you get a 16GB SD card that is loaded with VR goodies. Yes, you have to toss the card into your Note 4 first, but will contain a collection 360-degree videos and 3D Movie trailers. Below is a list of some of the other things that the Gear VR will bring to your face.
- As part of the Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron partnership with Samsung, Gear VR users will gain exclusive access to Tony Stark’s Lab inside the all new Avengers Tower.
- IMAX offers samples of Hollywood and documentary films in a virtual theatre with Samsung Gear VR – the next best thing to a live IMAX experience.
- DreamWorks VR from DreamWorks Animation allows Samsung Gear VR users to interact and laugh with DreamWorks characters and content in a whole new way like never before.
- Legendary’s Pacific Rim Jaeger Pilot is an immersive content experience that puts viewers at center of the action with Samsung Gear VR.
- Cirque du Soleil Media presents a 360 live-action 3D VR experience, featuring an act from Zarkana filmed by Felix & Paul Studios for Samsung Gear VR.
- M-GO Advanced, a new paradigm for digital video virtual reality applications, offers an unmatched interactive search and discovery of the latest premium movie and TV show content with Samsung Gear VR.
- Vevo offers more than 100,000 HD music videos, live concert events and original programming that can be enjoyed in an immersive, full-screen theater experience on Samsung Gear VR.
- Protocol Zero (working title) from DENA enables Samsung Gear VR players to infiltrate enemy grounds undetected in blackout conditions with hi-tech optics including night vision, X-ray vision, and thermal vision.
Since the Gear VR uses Oculus software, there are some new experiences coming from them as well. There will be the Oculus Home, Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Videos and Oculus 360 Photos. Oculus Home is is a user interface to connect to the Oculus Store to download things. Oculus Cinema is your virtual movie theater where you can playback your movies in a varietey of theater environments.
The remaining 360 Video and 360 Photos lets you view your panoramic content in a virtual view.
I am a bit interested in the Samsung gaming controller being part of the display. While I didn’t see any direct mention of it in the press release, I would imagine that Samsung has, or will be, offering up games that can be played through the Gear VR with the controller. Possibly the Pacific Rim Jaeger Pilot experience? I will keep poking around for details on that from some of the guys that are in Berlin for the event right now.
Sprints press release this morning does confirm that they will offer the Gear VR along side the Note 4 and Note Edge. So there is that. What are your thoughts? Love it, hate it, want to watch it burn in a fiery death?
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