Author

Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written two novels.

He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.

He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride, and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.

He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.

Connect with Ben Lovejoy

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Samsung reported to be planning a financing program for Galaxy smartphones

Ben Lovejoy Sep 21 2015 - 4:35 am PT

samsung-s6

Samsung is working on a U.S. financing program for its Galaxy smartphones, which is expected to allow buyers to pay for them over 1-2 years on a monthly instalment plan, reports Forbes. The move comes shortly after Apple launched its own plan, called the iPhone Upgrade Program.

Samsung may be launching this leasing program in the next several months, although that timeline may accelerate, the executive said.

Carriers have been moving away from so-called subsidized contracts, where the cost of a new smartphone is hidden in the monthly service plan fee and the cost of a new device appeared to be anything from free to $200. With true purchase costs now much more visible, manufacturers have a strong incentive to offer attractive financing in order to encourage regular upgrades …
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Samsung makes S Health app available to all Android smartphones, not just Galaxies

Ben Lovejoy Sep 18 2015 - 4:39 am PT

s-health

If you want to connect your smartphone to external health kit like blood sugar monitors, Samsung’s S Health app offers more options than Google Fit – but was, until recently, limited to selected Galaxy devices running Android 5.0 and later.

Samsung is today making the app available to non-Samsung phones. It’s compatible with any Android device running Android KitKat or later. The app is a free download from Google Play. If it’s not yet available in your region, check again later in the day.

If you’re wondering about this apparent generosity on Samsung’s part, it’s likely to allow owners of non-Samsung smartphones – including the new Gear S2, hitting the U.S. next month – to use its smartwatches.

The company yesterday hinted that its mobile wallet service Samsung Pay would “gradually expand” to non-flagship Samsung phones.

Via Android Central

Sprint follows T-Mobile in expanding low-cost international roaming, adding 33 countries

Ben Lovejoy Sep 18 2015 - 4:03 am PT

sprint

Following T-Mobile’s announcement yesterday that it has expanded its Simple Global program, which provide inclusive data and texts while travelling, Sprint has made a similar move with its Open World plan, adding an additional 33 destinations.

Sprint now offers free calls and texts, plus 1GB of free data, in 14 countries. A further 50 countries get free texts, calls for $0.20 per minute and data for $30/GB …
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Ford launches Android Wear app to find & control your car, but only for three models so far

Ben Lovejoy Sep 17 2015 - 5:08 am PT

ford-android

Ford has updated its MyFord Mobile Android app to add Android Wear support for its three electric and hybrid cars. The watch app allows you to get walking directions back to your car, check battery status and range, lock and unlock the car, start it remotely and check a range of stats …
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Hate the Facebook app? You can now get push notifications thru Chrome on Android

Ben Lovejoy Sep 15 2015 - 5:37 am PT

If you’re someone who loves Facebook but hates the Android app, using a browser just got better – at least, if you’re using Chrome. Chrome users on Android can now opt-in to push notifications from Facebook, reports TechCrunch. So now you can see when someone likes your cat video without having to run the app.

Google expects browser-based push notifications to be most popular in developing markets, as Chrome uses less data than the Facebook app.

Facebook is also working on its own Google Now competitor, built into the Messenger app.

Expect next year’s flagships to offer 600Mbps LTE and faster, smarter charging with Snapdragon 820 chip

Ben Lovejoy Sep 15 2015 - 4:02 am PT

qualcomm-chips-2016

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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Google hire of ex-Hyundai CEO effectively confirms plans for full-scale launch of self-driving car

Ben Lovejoy Sep 14 2015 - 5:26 am PT

google-self-driving-car

If there were any remaining question about whether Google plans to actually proceed to a full-scale commercial launch of its self-driving car at some point, a hire reported late last night by Automotive News seems to remove any doubt. It reports that Google has hired John Krafcik, former Hyundai CEO and a car industry veteran, to head up the program.

Krafcick refers in an email to the cars being used by “millions” of people.

“This is a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars,” Krafcik wrote in an email to Automotive News. “This technology can save thousands of lives, give millions of people greater mobility, and free us from a lot of the things we find frustrating about driving today. I can’t wait to get started.”

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Talking Schmidt: Makes thinly-veiled attack on Apple Music as elitist and out of date, scores own goal

Ben Lovejoy Sep 14 2015 - 4:15 am PT

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, has made a thinly-veiled attack on Apple Music in a BBC op-ed on artificial intelligence. He described human-curated music selections as a decade out of data and an elitist approach.

A decade ago, to launch a digital music service, you probably would have enlisted a handful of elite tastemakers to pick the hottest new music.

Today, you’re much better off building a smart system that can learn from the real world – what actual listeners are most likely to like next – and help you predict who and where the next Adele might be …

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OnePlus co-founder apologizes for month-long delay in shipping OnePlus 2 handsets: “we messed up”

Ben Lovejoy Sep 11 2015 - 4:59 am PT

oneplus-2

OnePlus may have created a “new and improved” reservation system for the OnePlus 2, but that doesn’t seem to have helped would-be customers get hold of them. With more than two million customers waiting for them, the company’s co-founder Carl Pei has admitted in a support forum post that the company “messed up” the launch, with almost a month-long delay in shipping.

We messed up the launch of the OnePlus 2 […] We made rosy plans. We were more confident, and prepared a lot more inventory. We told our users it would be 30-50x easier to get invites, and they needn’t worry. Yet, we only began shipping in meaningful quantities this week, nearly a month after our initial targeted shipping date. You can talk all you want, but in the end, flawless execution speaks much louder than unfulfilled promises. I’d like to apologize on behalf of OnePlus for the delay.

We had mixed views on the OnePlus 2 here. Dom Esposito was impressed with the phone, Stephen Hall less happy with the lack of quick-charge and NFC.

Debunk: We likely will see Android phones with Nokia branding, but this isn’t one of them

Ben Lovejoy Sep 8 2015 - 7:28 am PT

nokia-fake

It’s pretty likely we will see Nokia-branded Android phones next year – after the end of the company’s agreement with Microsoft not to use its brand on mobile phones – but the above isn’t one of them. Currently being touted as a leaked image of a Nokia phone to be released next year, it’s actually just a concept image .

concept

Nokia has so far designed and licensed the N1, an Android tablet apparently permitted under the terms of the Microsoft deal, and reportedly has “a lot of great stuff in development” for next year.

Verizon’s 5G tests show it to be faster than Google Fiber, could launch as early as 2017

Ben Lovejoy Sep 8 2015 - 6:40 am PT

5G could even make Google Fiber look slow ...

5G could even make Google Fiber look slow …

Early tests of Verizon’s 5G technology show that it can achieve connection speeds 30-50 times faster than 4G/LTE – above the speeds offered by Google Fiber’s gigabit wired broadband. Even better, the company expects to have “some level of commercial deployment” by 2017, some three years earlier than expected, reports CNET.

To put that speed difference into perspective, the movie Guardians of the Galaxy would take around six minutes to download over a good LTE connection – while 5G would have it downloaded to your device in just 15 seconds …
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Waiting for offline Netflix viewing? The company thinks you can’t handle it …

Ben Lovejoy Sep 7 2015 - 7:41 am PT

netflix

If you, like me, have been wondering when Netflix is finally going to get around to allowing offline viewing, so we can stock up our tablet when traveling, the answer would appear to be: not anytime soon. When Gizmodo asked the company why, when Amazon Instant Video does so, a company spokesman gave the unconvincing reply that it thinks we can’t handle the awesome complexity of clicking a download button.

According to Neil Hunt, Netflix’s Chief Product Officer, Netflix users won’t be able to handle the complexity the added choice will bring […]

“Undoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It’s not going to be instant, you have to have the right storage on your device, you have to manage it, and I’m just not sure people are actually that compelled to do that, and that it’s worth providing that level of complexity.”

There’s also the content owners who may not have stipulated that their content can be downloaded. Hunt didn’t discuss that but its likely a big concern.

There is some small hope of being able to view Netflix content when traveling, says Hunt.

As an example, what if we can put Netflix in a rack box that essentially contains all of Netflix content that you could imagine putting in an airplane server, right along with our existing offerings? That for me is a more interesting thing; can we make Netflix work on a plane, can we make it work on a train, in hotels?

But that seems to me a ridiculous way to offer a half-assed solution, and it’s merely an idea, not a plan.

Hunt did make one good point: not all of Amazon’s content is available for downloading, and it can be frustrating when one show is and another isn’t. Amazon already has enough issues with its seemingly-random selection of videos available to Prime members on desktop but not mobile, mobile but not desktop or only for purchase.

But with Netflix increasingly focusing on producing exclusive content, it could at least make a decent start by offering its own shows available for downloading.

6-inch Oppo R7 Plus finally open for U.S. pre-orders, shipping by the end of the month

Ben Lovejoy Sep 7 2015 - 4:48 am PT

r7-plus

The Oppo R7 Plus, a 6-inch version of the R7, has finally opened for U.S. and European pre-orders, the Chinese manufacturer promising to ship by the end of the month. The device was first announced back in May.

$499 gets you a Snapdragon 615 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage (with a microSD card slot to expand it), a 13MP main camera, 8MP front camera, fingerprint sensor, dual SIM card slots – and a 1080p display that’s virtually edge-to-edge. In Europe, the R7 Plus is priced at €449.

Tado, Europe’s Nest competitor, adds multi-room temperature control and IFTTT support

Ben Lovejoy Sep 3 2015 - 6:48 am PT

tado

Tado, Europe’s main Nest competitor in the smart thermostat field, has announced two new enhancements to its system. First, multi-room temperature control, allowing different temperatures to be set in different rooms. Second, support for IFTTT recipes to automatically trigger other actions based on Tado detecting people arriving or leaving the home.

For homes that already have different heating devices in different rooms, such as underfloor heating, adding a second thermostat is all you need for the multi-room control. Most of us, though, will need a new smart radiator valve that won’t be available until next fall.

IFTTT support – first promised back in March – has been added from today. This can do things like automatically switch on your alarm when the last person leaves your home, and turn on lights when someone returns.

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If you’re considering Tado, you may want to check out my review over at 9to5Mac.

Kantar: Samsung & Apple account for 64% of US smartphone market w/ 9 of 10 best-selling models

Ben Lovejoy Sep 2 2015 - 7:51 am PT

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The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel shows that Samsung and Apple continue to dominate the U.S. smartphone market, taking a massive 64% of the total market share between them, and accounting for nine of the ten best-selling models.

If share alone was not enough to demonstrate market dominance, our data also shows that these two vendors sold nine of the top ten best-selling smartphones in the three months ending July 2015 – with LG making a cameo appearance in the ranking.

Android increased its U.S. market share by 1.7% in the 12 months ending in July this year, though dropped 7% in Japan and 4.1% in Europe …
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Google reportedly ditches secret project to beam location-based retail messages to smartphones

Ben Lovejoy Sep 1 2015 - 6:57 am PT

googlehere

Fortune reports that Google has abandoned plans to beam location-based retail messages to both Android and iOS smartphones, shortly before launch. The project was reportedly named Google Here, and would have used beacons in retail stores like Starbucks to display offers and reward cards on the lockscreens of smartphones when they entered the store.

Google Here worked by sending a notification to a smartphone user’s lock screen within five seconds of their entering a partner’s location. If the user clicked on the notification, a full screen HTLM5 “app” experience would launch. Google Here would know when to send the notification via Google Maps and beacons placed in the stores of participating partners …

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The never-ending Google anti-trust story: the company could now face civil claims in Europe

Ben Lovejoy Sep 1 2015 - 5:18 am PT

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It seems Google’s legal woes in Europe will never end. The European Commission has long been running an investigation into whether Google was guilty of anti-competitive behaviour in Europe, which finally resulted in a filing of charges in April and a warning of large fines in June. It may be next year – some six years after the investigation began – before the final ruling.

A second anti-trust investigation into Android followed, and a third one not long afterwards, this time into its web advertising business. As if all that weren’t enough, the NY Times reports that a US law firm and European public affairs company have created a joint venture to help companies file civil claims against Google in the event that the EC finds it guilty of the first set of charges …
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Early reviews of Google’s first OnHub router say it’s impressive but value isn’t yet known

Ben Lovejoy Aug 31 2015 - 7:48 am PT

onhub-google-wi-fi-router

I suspect most of us had the same reaction when Google announced its OnHub wireless router: it sounds impressive, but could it really be worth $200? The early reviews are in, and the verdict seems to be that … it depends.

On the plus side, everyone agrees that setup is utterly painless (possibly a first for any router), and the performance is impressive. On the downside, techies may be disappointed at the lack of configurability, and the fact that you can get better performance for the money.

But as ArsTechnica notes in the final excerpt, the $64,000 (or $200) question is – what will it turn into in future … ?
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LG’s new smart sensor aims to turn dumb appliances into slightly smart ones

Ben Lovejoy Aug 31 2015 - 5:12 am PT

smart-sensor

Smart appliances may be great, but they’re also expensive – and it’s not like any of us budget to replace things like fridges, cookers and washing-machines very often. LG thinks it may have the solution, in the form of its new SmartThinQ sensors, designed to turn our existing dumb appliances into slightly smarter ones.

The sensor can add remote control functionality to some devices, like air conditioners, and monitor others – for example, a vibration sensor sending your smartphone an alert when the wash cycle is complete.

It’s not quite the full deal, but – depending on cost – could be a decent halfway house. Press release below, and we should learn more about them at IFA later this week.

LG Electronics (LG) will showcase its latest smart home technology at IFA 2015 in Berlin this week to enhance the lives of consumers. LG’s new SmartThinQ Sensor can be attached to many traditional home appliances to make them “smart-aware”. What’s more, LG will unveil their Smart Lightwave Oven and Smart Air Conditioner that are compatible with AllJoyn, an open platform for the internet of things (IoT) developed by the Allseen Alliance.

The SmartThinQ Sensor is a circular device that can be attached to existing home appliances such as washing machines or refrigerators, to sense feedback such as vibration and temperature and communicate those readings to the SmartThinQ app on users’ smartphones. For example, attaching the sensor to a normal washing machine door transforms the washer into a smart appliance that informs the user when the laundry cycle is complete. Attach the SmartThingQ Sensor to a refrigerator and it will send a notification to a connected smartphone when a particular food item is about to expire. The sensor will also keep track of how many times the door is opened even when you’re not home. And connecting the SmartThingQ Sensor to an air conditioner or other appliances will allow users to control the appliances remotely through the SmartThinQ app.

AllJoyn is a collaborative open-source software framework that makes it easy for devices and apps to discover and communicate with each other. AllJoyn is endorsed by all members of the Allseen Alliance, a cross-industry IoT consortium of more than 180 companies. The AllJoyn compatible Smart Lightwave Oven from LG allows users to download, update and share recipes with friends and relatives via their mobile devices. The Smart Lightwave Oven is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing homeowners to use their smartphones to set the cooking mode, temperature and cooking time for a given dish. The Smart Lightwave Oven can even perform self-diagnosis and help find solutions and repair information online through an LG service center. LG’s Smart Air Conditioner not only informs owners when to replace the air filter, it can also be controlled remotely from a smartphone, putting an end to entering a hot, stuffy home on a hot day.

“Adoption of smart home appliances has been slow because of the perception that the technology is not easily accessible,” said Jo Seong-jin, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company. “LG is committed to continuing its leadership in the smart home market with innovations such as LG SmartThingQ, which provides real-life benefits and offers new lifestyle conveniences through technology that is easy to use.”

LG’s smart appliances and more will be on display at LG’s IFA booth in Hall 18 of Messe Berlin from September 4-9.

Via Android Central

Samsung adds a $1-200 bribe to its test-drive program aimed at converting iPhone users

Ben Lovejoy Aug 28 2015 - 5:23 am PT

Samsung Test Drive

Samsung has upped the ante on its ‘ultimate test drive‘ program, intended to persuade iPhone owners to switch by offering them a free one-month trial of Galaxy smartphone. For those who end up purchasing the phone, Samsung will give them $100 of Google Play credit which can be used to buy apps and other content.

If they end up trading in their iPhone, Samsung will additionally send them a check for $100 – on top of whatever trade-in deal they were offered by the retailer.

Via Android Central

A ‘bug’ in Google’s self-driving car software actually shows just how good it is

Ben Lovejoy Aug 28 2015 - 4:52 am PT

google-self-driving-car

The accident record of Google’s self-driving cars speaks for itself, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still bugs to be worked out. Ironically, though, one of those bugs demonstrates just how capable the cars are.

When one of the cars encountered a cyclist doing a trackstand (balancing while stationary by making tiny back-and-forth movements) at a four-way stop, the car came to a halt every time the cyclist moved forward an inch or so. The recent encounter in Austin, Texas, was described by the cyclist on web forum Road Bike Review …
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Google gives developers code to disable iOS 9 app security to continue to serve iPhone ads

Ben Lovejoy Aug 28 2015 - 4:17 am PT

code

One of the backend improvements in Apple’s upcoming iPhone and iPad operating system update iOS 9 is a strengthening of app security when accessing data from webservers. The new App Transport Security (ATS) feature ensures that only connections encrypted using HTTPS are permitted. There’s just one problem with that: not all advertisers use HTTPS, so ATS will stop some ads appearing in apps.

Google has responded by providing developers with five lines of code that allow them to disable ATS …
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82% think it’s rude to use a smartphone at a social gathering, but 89% do it anyway

Ben Lovejoy Aug 27 2015 - 4:47 am PT

phone-etiquette

A Pew study on mobile etiquette found that 82% of Americans think it hurts the conversation when people use smartphones at social gatherings, but 89% did so anyway at the most recent one they attended.

When asked for their views on how mobile phone use impacts group interactions, 82% of adults say that when people use their phones in these settings it frequently or occasionally hurts the conversation […]

In spite of this […], 89% said that they themselves used their phone during their most recent time with others.

Many do at least have the excuse that some of the smartphone use is related to the gathering, 45% posting a photo or video taken there, 41% sharing something that happened there and 38% getting information they thought would be interesting the group.

The majority thought it was fine to use a smartphone while walking down the street, on public transport and while waiting in line – but not at a restaurant, at a family dinner or during a meeting. The worst places to use a smartphone were said to be a movie theater and a church.

Photo: Samsung

WSJ: Amazon likely abandoning smartphone ambitions following failure of Fire Phone

Ben Lovejoy Aug 27 2015 - 4:10 am PT

fire-phone

A report in the WSJ suggests that Amazon is most likely abandoning plans to make any further smartphones after the failure of the Fire Phone.

In recent weeks Amazon has dismissed dozens of engineers who worked on its Fire phone at Lab126, its secretive hardware-development center in Silicon Valley, according to people familiar with the matter […]

The company told some smartphone engineers earlier this year that further phone development would be shelved, though one of the people said Amazon has shifted the effort to its hometown of Seattle …

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