Fitbit Public Preview adds food & water logging, more as app redesign comes to free users
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Mobvoi launches LTE version of TicWatch Pro 3 in Europe
After years of relying on the outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset in its wearables, Mobvoi dropped the first Snapdragon Wear 4100 chipset earlier this year. Now they are adding to the TicWatch Pro 3 series with a LTE connected option, but only in Europe.
Expand Expanding CloseOpinion: OEMs aren’t going to save Android Wear by putting LTE in everything
We’re about two months into Android Wear 2.0 and while we have seen some great smartwatches on paper, none of them have actually stuck the landing. With revised software and improved capabilities, the second generation of Android Wear devices should be awesome, but they just aren’t. And I think I know why…
Faster mobile data likely as 5GHz LTE found to play nicely with WiFi, FCC approves LTE-U
More areas of the country are likely to see gigabit LTE, say carriers, as the FCC has approved the use of the 5GHz spectrum for mobile data.
The 5GHz band is currently used for WiFi, and there had been concerns that there would be conflicts between the two, but the FCC accepted that equipment manufacturers had demonstrated that LTE and WiFi could co-exist in the same spectrum …
LG announces Action CAM with built-in LTE & YouTube Live support
LG this evening has announced the Action CAM with LTE and YouTube Live support. LG says that this is the “first” action camera to be available globally with LTE connectivity built-in. With LTE connectivity, users are able to stream directly to sites like YouTube Live without the need for a smartphone.
Verizon adds LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, LG K4 LTE budget smartphone to its lineup
We told you a few days ago that the troubled LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE — with that mouthful of a name — finally relaunched on AT&T after being pulled from sale just days after it became available in November of last year. Now, the watch is seeing its rebirth on Verizon as well, and the red carrier is also adding to its lineup a new budget handset by the name of LG K4 LTE…
Troubled LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE makes a comeback at AT&T
The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE — yeah, that’s a mouthful of a name isn’t it? — is back. The Android Wear smartwatch that was supposed to debut the latest version of Google’s smartwatch software all the way back in November of last year was pulled from sale just days after it became available. LG eventually confirmed that the device was suffering a quality issue with a display component, but it was unclear what the device’s future would be.
Now, it seems that the Korean company has relaunched the LTE-enabled smartwatch…
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A Verizon-compatible HTC One A9 won’t happen, says the Taiwanese company
In the somewhat troubled downhill path it entered a couple of years ago, HTC decided to change things up towards the end of last year, introducing a somewhat controversial new mid-range phone, the A9. Despite the lack of its signature front-facing speakers, the phone stood out. With a new, heavily iPhone-inspired design but a nonetheless solid build and decent specs, the Taiwanese company seemed to be onto something. There was even a promise of out of the box compatibility with AT&T and T-Mobile as well as Sprint.
HTC went a step further, however, saying that it would do everything in its power to provide support for Verizon, too, with a future software update. Unfortunately, as the company announced today, plans to make the device compatible with the Big Red’s network have been abandoned after a long period of testing…
Sony acquires Israeli chip maker Altair Semiconductor for its LTE chip tech
Sony will be acquiring an Israeli chip maker called Altair Semiconductor for $212 million, the handset maker announced in an official press release this week. Altair Semiconductor is known for its advancements with LTE (Long Term Evolution) modems. They’ve been working on making LTE chips that are faster, with lower power consumption, all while at a lower cost. This possibly means that Sony can deploy LTE technology to markets that may not have it as of yet. The acquisition is slated to be all wrapped up early by February 2016, just a few weeks away.
LG G4 Smartphone w/ 32GB flash GSM 4G LTE (factory unlocked): $350 shipped (Orig. $600)
B&H offers the Unlocked LG G4 32GB Smartphone in Black Leather for $349.99 shipped. That’s $100 off the original list price, $69 less than Amazon’s current listing and the lowest we can currently find. It has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD multi-touch display, Android 5.1 Lollipop, Dual-Core Processor, and a 16 megapixel camera. Amazon shoppers gave it 4.4/5 stars.
Google, Microsoft & Comcast fight Verizon/Qualcomm’s LTE-U plans, saying WiFi will be disrupted
With ever more devices trying to squeeze growing volumes of mobile data through a limited number of LTE frequencies, Verizon is leading the push for use of unlicensed frequencies – known as LTE-Unlicensed, or LTE-U. As well as increasing capacity, LTE-U would potentially offer faster speeds.
The problem? These are the same frequencies used by WiFi, Bloomberg reporting that Google, Microsoft, Comcast and other oppose rapid adoption for this reason.
The three companies have been among a group lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to delay LTE-U’s adoption pending further tests [claiming that it] “would substantially degrade consumer Wi-Fi service across the country.”
The companies argue that while both existing LTE frequencies and WiFi play nicely when it comes to competing demand for use of the same airwaves, LTE-U doesn’t …
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LG: Faulty display component led to cancellation of Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE release
Last week, LG abruptly announced it was canceling the launch of its Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE indefinitely, citing an unidentified hardware problem that directly affected the day-to-day functionality of the device. Now, Telegraph has obtained a statement from LG in which the company reveals the hardware issue plaguing its LTE-capable watch relates to the display.
We’re at the LG V10 & LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition event [Liveblog]
We’re here at the Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater to cover what has been rumored for quite some time and announced just last night...
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OnePlus now sells a $100 handmade leather case for the OnePlus 2
OnePlus came out on Google+ a couple days ago to tease “something luxurious” (and no, we didn’t cover it at the time because we aren’t going to simply regurgitate all of the company’s endless marketing ploys), and now that “something” is available for purchase. Apparently, it’s a $100 leather case, handmade and built specifically to fit the OnePlus 2…
The case comes from a company by the name of Hard Graft, known for its premium accessories for a variety of smartphones. It’s “handmade in Italy,” built with “buttery soft leather,” and comes with a couple pockets for storing credit cards and cash. And while it’s currently “Out of Stock,” you’ll be able to grab one from the OnePlus store for $99 + shipping.
My first instinct is to criticize OnePlus because, well, it’s really easy to do. But this isn’t the kind of thing that OnePlus deserves criticism for. These kind of cases are more than popular in (majority) iPhone part market, and it makes sense that OnePlus would try to capture some of those kind of buyers on the Android side. The company’s website definitely looks familiar, too.
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Expect next year’s flagships to offer 600Mbps LTE and faster, smarter charging with Snapdragon 820 chip
Qualcomm had already promised its top-of-the-range Snapdragon 820 chip – expected to be used in next year’s flagship Android smartphones and cellular tablets – will boost battery-life and offer great improvements to photos. Now the company says we can also expect much faster LTE-Advanced connections, and smarter, faster charging.
The Snapdragon 820 will increase maximum LTE download speeds by a third, from 450Mbps to 600Mbps. Maximum upload speeds will double to 150Mbps – currently viewed as an impressive download speed. And speeds could be even higher thanks to support for the as yet unofficial LTE-U standard …
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Samsung working on super-efficient 6GB LPDDR4 RAM chips for next-gen smartphones, tablets and PCs
In a blog post this morning, Samsung has announced that it is mass producing the world’s first 12gigabit (not to be confused with gigabyte/GB) LPDDR4 mobile RAM. It’s based on the company’s impressive 20-nanometer process tech and will enable the company to make higher capacity, faster, more powerful chips that fit into the same space as the current crop of flagship RAM modules…
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Sony’s new Xperia phones will set you back a pretty penny
Sony has struggled in recent years to stand out in an ever-crowded smartphone market. During a keynote yesterday that saw Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai say that the “best is yet to come” for the Japanese technology company, we got to see a slew of much-anticipated Android-powered Xperia Z5 smartphones. We did not, however, learn what the prices would be. Now it seems we have, and they’re not cheap…
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Samsung reveals its Gear S2 smartwatch ahead of IFA 2015 kick off
Samsung has — notably 4 days before IFA 2015 is set to kick off in Berlin — announced its round Gear S2 smartwatch by way of a press release. The device, which is absent of any hint of Google’s Android Wear smartwatch operating system, has a circular 1.2-inch screen, sports Tizen-based software, has 4 GB of onboard storage, and packs fitness features like S Health and Nike+ Running. Also, there’s a 3G model…
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New renders show ‘Moto 360 Sport,’ purportedly coming in November
The Moto 360 is set to get a complete refresh at IFA later this week, and up to this point we’ve only seen what look to be two variants of the device. There’s apparently a smaller watch and a larger watch (reportedly called Moto 360S and Moto 360L, respectively). Now, well-known leakster Upleaks is giving us a look at a “Sport” variant of the smartwatch, featuring bright colors and some kind of fitness tracking software on board…
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T-Mobile to clamp down on network abusers, booting them down to lowest Simple Choice plan
T-Mobile has announced that it’s going to seriously clamp down on any users using unauthorized methods to get around its tethering cap. Those caught using more data than they should be on the highest tier, unlimited Simple Choice plan will be warned to stop, before being moved down to the entry-level plan. This move is aimed specifically at smartphone users who deliberately break T-Mo’s terms and conditions using workarounds to conceal their tethering usage.
The magenta carrier published an updated FAQ page on its support site stating that some customers have been blowing way past the 7GB tethering limit on the highest Simple Choice plan. Some using as much as 2TB (2000GB) of data on their mobile plan. Its biggest concern is the experience created for others. With people using the network so heavily, it can ruin the network performance for everyone else. The carrier has developed a software to detect those using workarounds and will initially warn users. If they carry on abusing the network, then they get moved on to a plan with just 1GB data (including tethering).
We’re first warning these customers that they’re illegally using more data than they bought. We hope folks will stop on their own so they can keep their current plan. These customers are on an unlimited 4G LTE smartphone plan that includes a set amount of Smartphone Mobile HotSpot data, but they’re using workarounds to make their tethering look like smartphone usage which helps them use significantly more 4G LTE tethering than their plan includes.
Once they’re on a plan with a set amount of 4G LTE data, it won’t matter what method they use for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot. Once they use their 4G LTE data bucket, they’ll continue to be able to use data at reduced speeds and still never worry about overages.
T-Mobile will start communicating these changes with its customers from today and notes that only a very small percentage of its customers have been discovered to be concealing their tethering. Despite it being a very small fraction of the customer base, it has a “disproportionately negative impact” on the experience for everyone else.
Fossil & Intel show off upcoming round Android Wear smartwatch
Watchmaker Fossil is about to launch a new Android Wear-powered smartwatch in collaboration with Intel and today we get our first look at the device during Intel’s IDF developer conference in San Francisco (via Engadget).
The Android Wear smartwatch, which is scheduled to arrive later this year, comes alongside two other wearables from the companies including other wrist worn devices — a bracelet and a more traditional-looking, connected watch that aren’t powered by Android Wear.
It’s not exactly much to look at, as it appears to have a design a lot like the rest of the round Android Wear devices on the market. But apart from looking a lot like a Moto 360, we do get a sneak peek at some variations planned for the device including a selection of metal and leather bands.
No word on pricing or exact availability, but you can expect to hear more in time for the holidays later this year.
AT&T enhances GoPhone plans to support 4GB data in Canada & Mexico
National carriers across the US have been adding features that make it easier to use their service in Mexico and Canada as a growing trend, and today AT&T has announced enhancements to its pre-paid GoPhone plans to include 4GB of high speed data use in Canada and Mexico as well as the United States. The new AT&T GoPhone feature goes into effect on August 21st and is supported on the carrier’s $60 pre-paid plan without making any changes.
In addition to 4GB of data for use across North America, the GoPhone plans include unlimited talk and text in the US, Canada, and Mexico as well. AT&T’s $60 GoPhone plan is reduced to $55/month for customers using the carrier’s Auto Refill automatic payment feature. Important to note, though, is that AT&T’s GoPhone plans specifically mean data speeds up to 3G, not faster 4G LTE speeds, when mentioning high speed data.
For post-paid subscribers, AT&T supports international calling and texting to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on its 15GB and 20GB Mobile Share Value plans that it simplified over the weekend. More similarly, T-Mobile enhanced its own plans last month to support 4G LTE data use in addition to text and calls in Canada and Mexico without international roaming fees.
Huawei invites for September 2nd event in Berlin hint at mystery ‘S’ model
Huawei has started sending out invitations to an event on September 2nd in Berlin, Germany. The invites fit in perfectly with previous speculation that the Chinese manufacturer would use IFA as its platform to launch a new smartphone. What’s interesting about these invites is that they seemingly hint at the name of the upcoming device.
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Sri Lanka might become the first country in the world to have its Internet covered by Project Loon
Google’s Project Loon has been in development for a couple of years now, and it’s finally signed up its first official partner: Sri Lanka. The deal between the government of Sri Lanka and Project Loon will see the nation become the world’s first to be fully covered by Loon’s floating towers.
Sri Lanka’s IT minister, in a statement to Lanka Business Online said: “As a result of this agreement, the entire Sri Lankan island – every village from Dondra to Point Pedro – will be covered with affordable high speed internet using Google Loon’s balloon technology.”
This news comes shortly after the hot-air balloon Internet tech was upgraded to act more like a mesh to provide faster, more consistent Internet coverage. They’ll launch 13 balloons over the next few months, and see the network size grow over time afterwards.
It’s a pretty exciting time for the small nation which typically has little rural coverage. Google’s balloons represent a saving in transmission costs, and will bring LTE network coverage to those who previously had nothing.
Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 to get August 13 unveiling in New York City
For some time now it’s been predicted that Samsung will skip the noise of IFA in September and choose to launch the Galaxy Note 5 in August. We had heard previously that Sammy was planning an event for its flagship phablet on August 12th. Business Korea, however, stepped in this morning with its own information claiming the Note 5 is being launched just a little later than that.
According to the publication’s sources, Samsung will host an unveiling event in New York City on August 13, during which it will announce both the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.