HTC One (M9) renders show us what the handset may end up looking like

We’ve been hit by a ton of leaks about HTC’s next flagship smartphone lately, but so far official-looking press renders have not surfaced. Fret not, though, for that doesn’t mean we have nothing to look at. On the contrary. Thankfully someone decided to take all the recent leaks and rumors about the One (M9)and use that information to create some very nice looking renders of what could end up being the successor to the One (M8) from last year.

These aren’t official, nor are they leaked. They’re just exploring what the phone might look like, based on what we’ve heard about it so far (and what we’ve seen).

New Samsung ads push Galaxy S III owners to buy the Galaxy S5

 

Two year contracts are the norm in the US, and Samsung knows that. The company also knows that many people who bought a Galaxy S III in 2012 are soon due to renew their service agreements, and it would like them to choose a Galaxy S5 this time around.

For the purpose of convincing Galaxy S III owners to upgrade to a Galaxy S5, Samsung has put up three video ads on its official YouTube channel. Each one focuses on a different area in which the new phone bests the old one.

That the Galaxy S5 would be better than the two-year old Galaxy S III in every regard is hardly surprising, however, for we do live in an incredibly fast-paced mobile world.

Samsung lays everything out, though. First, we get to see that the S5 has a higher-res camera than its ancestor, and apparently that means you’ll capture some amazing details in your pictures. HDR mode gets a shout-out too.

Watch clip 1

Next up, the screen. As you probably know by now, the S5 has a bigger and higher-res panel than the S III. It’s also water and dust resistant.

Watch clip 2

Finally, the Korean company is touting the improved performance of its newest flagship model. Oh, and the fact that its battery should last longer than that of the Galaxy S III.

Watch clip 3

It’s unclear whether these ads alone will persuade owners of the Galaxy S III to upgrade to the Galaxy S5 when their two-year contracts are up. But Samsung sure hopes so.

8-inch Emdoor EM-i8080 tablet runs Windows 8.1, costs just $100

Windows tablets are aggressively coming down in price, having reached the $100 / €100 mark. The Emdoor EM-i8080 packs surprisingly good specs for one Ben Franklin, but also some disappointing compromises.

The EM-i8080 has an 8″ IPS screen with 1,280 x 800 resolution and is powered by a quad-core Atom processor (Bay Trail). It even has stereo speakers.

Pebble update allows you to rearrange launcher menu

Pebble has issued a new firmware update (version 2.2) for its smartwatch that introduces some important new features like rearranging the apps in your Launcher Menu. You also get volume control in the Music app, which has also been redesigned with a better layout, alarm vibrations that go for more than 60 seconds and the usual bug fixes and stability improvements.

The update is seeding as we speak. You can check for it through your Pebble smartphone app but keep in mind that it may take time to get to your device – one of more than 400 thousand units.

If you’re on iOS you’ll need to update your Pebble app in order to get music volume control to work.

Many users will rejoice at the alarm improvements – Pebble’s smartwatchrd used to be able to vibrate for no more than a minute, which is now 10. Rearranging your launcher apps is also a godsend as many were complaining that they had to scroll through an entire list before they get to their most used apps.

If you’re an owner of the Pebble or Pebble Steel smartwatches look the update up.
Source | Via

Legion Meter charger promises up to 92% faster charge times for your gadgets

PLX Devices has two successful Kickstarter projects under its belt and it’s back for a third time with the Legion Meter. It’s a small USB device that promises to accelerate charging for your phone (or tablet) compared to just plugging a USB cable in your computer.

For additional functionality it has an OLED screen that can show how much power your gadget is drawing.

Now physics isn’t my strong suit so I’m not 100% clear on how the Meter is supposed to draw more power from a USB port. The USB standard provides several power modes – each device starts in low power mode but can request more power from the USB controller in several steps, up to a maximum of 2.5W for USB 2.0 and 4.5W for USB 3.0.

According to PLX’s table, the Legion Meter can increase the power delivered from a port by up to 92%, going to over 7W. The table fails to specify what kind of port was used for the test, but the reported numbers exceed the specification numbers.

The Legion Meter can also extract more power out of regular wall chargers too, though again the patent-pending tech that makes this possible escapes my understanding. Anyway, the charger supports both Apple and Android mode, depending on what device you have.

The Meter gets its name from its multimeter functionality – it can display the power, current and volts your device is pulling. If you do a full charge, it will estimate the battery capacity in milliwatt hours. That’s useful if you’re getting poor battery life from your device and you suspect it’s because the battery is starting to show its age and lose capacity.

An additional feature is a switch on the device that either allows or blocks a data connection with the computer while the device is charging (if you’re charging from a PC you don’t trust).

You can read more about the project and back it if you like what you see at the Legion Meter’s fund raising page (it’s already at 2,660% of its funding goal).

AnTuTu Benchmark listing confirms Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 specs

 

There’s still some time before Samsung officially announces its new duo of Galaxy Tab S tablets on June 12. We already have a general idea of what they’re all about, especially the Galaxy Tab S 10.5″ one, but thanks to a listing from the AnTuTu Benchmark database, we can now see the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 key specs.

Carrying the model number SM-T700, the 8.4″ Tab S rocks an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 chipset with 1.9 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 and 1.3 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPUs. They’re bundled with an 533MHz ARM Mali-T628 and 3GB of RAM. Internal memory is 32GB, which should be expandable via a microSD card slot, but that’s not yet specified.

It’s no secret that the 8.4″ display is of the Super AMOLED kind and that it runs a 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution. That makes up for a great pixel density of 359ppi resulting in super sharp and crisp viewing experience. Naturally, going for Super AMOLED means the Tab S is also going to have vivid colors, too.

Samsung has also thrown in a couple of cameras – an 8MP shooter at the back and 2.0MP at the front. The Galaxy Tab S 8.4″ is going to ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Overall, the Galaxy Tab S 8.4″ is no slouch and the scoreboard shows it managed to do 35,713 points in AnTuTu 4.0. This kind of performance won’t come cheap. As a recent price leak suggests, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and Galaxy Tab S 8.4 will retail in Europe for about €560 and €449, respectively.

AT&T purchases DirecTV for $48.5 billion

When AT&T said that they wanted to get into the business of launching their own video content service, most thought that the phone service giant was going to release something akin to Netflix or Hulu.

But AT&T has done something much bigger: they’ve gone ahead and decided to purchase DirectTV for $48.5 billion. Hit the jump to learn more.

AT&T does have some roadblocks on the way to acquiring DirecTV, however. It needs to be approved, first, as the acquisition would give AT&T a massive reach in delivering both phone and television content across multiple networks. If it is approved, then this gives AT&T an uninhibited means of broadcasting their video services onto all cell phones and homes on their network.

Content is also important, for example, DirecTV has the exclusive to the NFL Sunday ticket programming, a massively watched and followed broadcast. Additionally, other exclusive DirecTV programs would be available to AT&T customers as well.

The implications for this merger would be enormous. AT&T would achieve both mobile phone and television broadcast prominence.

What do you think of this merger? Good news for consumers? Or bad?

Source | Via

Nokia Lumia 2520 new advertisement is out

Nokia UK has posted a new ad for the Lumia 2520 tablet. There’s no running away from the fact that it’s kind of strange and is up for the viewer’s interpretation.

It portrays a man that wants to get a new haircut entering a barbershop and instead of a professional barber, he gets his hair cut by him tapping the Lumia 2520. It’s weird, I know, but check out the ad for yourself below.

click to watch

In the previous ad of the Nokia Lumia 2520, the Finns mocked the iPad for it not coming with a full Office suite. While this may have helped Nokia’s first slate gather some attention, we don’t think this last ad will do quite as well.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 launched on AT&T on November 22 for $399 with a two-year contract. In case carrier contracts aren’t your thing, you can get it straight from Nokia for $499. That’s just $50 more than the Microsoft’s Surface 2, which lacks 3G/LTE connectivity. In the UK, the Lumia 2520 will be exclusively offered by John Lewis for £399.99.

Source

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Microsoft announces Nokia Lumia 1520 pre-orders

 

 

A couple of days ago AT&T detailed its Nokia Lumia 1520 launch plans and today it’s Microsoft’s turn. The Redmond company has officially detailed the Lumia 1520 availability and launched a pre-order campaign for the phablet.

Microsoft is going the extra mile with this particular pre-order. For everyone who pre-orders the phone, they’ll throw in a $50 Microsoft Store app card as well as an $20 app gift card provided by Nokia. That’s not all – there’s also a free Lumia 1520 flip cover (valued at $39.99) included as well. And if that’s not enough, there’s a free download of Halo: Spartan Assault for Windows Phone to top things off.

Microsoft’s offer will end on November 21, while the device starts shipping the next day. The Nokia Lumia 1520 sells for $199 and will initially be available in black, red and white, with yellow to come later this year.

However, if you fancy yourself an unlocked Lumia 1520, then retailer Unlocked Mobiles will be happy to oblige. The SIM-free Lumia 1520 will cost you a hefty £594.98, and is scheduled to start shipping on November 25.

 

Related articles

• AT&T and Microsoft to hand out freebies with pre-orders of the Nokia Lumia 1520 (phonearena.com)
• Nokia’s 6-inch Lumia 1520 arrives on AT&T November 22nd for $200, pre-orders open now (engadget.com)
• November 22nd is Zero Hour: Nokia Lumia 2520, Lumia 1520 and Xbox One all launch in the US (wpcentral.com)
• Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia 2520 will be available on November 22 after all (unwiredview.com)