Cam Bunton

• Android
• smartphones
• T-Mobile
• john legere
• coverage

T-Mobile expands Simple Global international texting and data, now includes all of Europe and South America

Cam Bunton Sep 17 2015 - 7:37 am PT

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Today, T-Mobile announced that its Simple Global Uncarrier move is expanding to cover 20 more countries. That means you can now take your T-Mobile Android phone abroad to anywhere in South America and Europe as well as many other destinations, and not pay any extra for data or texting while you’re there.

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• Android
• Moto X
• Motorola
• smartphones
• Best Buy

New Moto X Pure Edition now available from Best Buy

Cam Bunton Sep 17 2015 - 5:58 am PT

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As promised, Best Buy has started selling the new Moto X Pure online. The consumer electronics retail giant began selling it today, with white, black and bamboo models available in both 16GB and 32GB storage options.

As with Motorola’s Moto Maker, the prices start at $399 and go up to $475 depending on which memory and finish model you decide on.

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• Android
• Samsung
• Android Pay
• Samsung Pay
• NFC

Samsung Pay to “gradually expand” to non-flagship smartphones

Cam Bunton Sep 17 2015 - 4:47 am PT

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One of Samsung’s mobile execs has hinted that the company is planning to expand Samsung Pay to cheaper handsets eventually, according to a report by Korea Herald. Shin Jong-Kyun responded “it will gradually expand” when asked specifically if it would move the payment technology to budget handsets at some point.

At launch, Samsung Pay will only be available on the newest flagship phones. The company opened up its beta program to US consumers a couple of weeks back, and is expected to officially launch the payment service at the end of this month.

Samsung Pay is Sammy’s attempt to compete with the likes of Android Pay and Apple Pay in the mobile contactless payment market. The one thing it has on both those platforms, however, is that you can use it virtually anywhere that has a magnetic card strip readers, rather than being limited to just NFC payments like Google’s and Apple’s systems. Its biggest restriction is handset support. Once it’s officially live, Samsung Pay will only work on the Galaxy Note 5, S6 Edge plus, S6 and S6 Edge. For a company with the product portfolio Samsung has, that’s restrictive to say the least, especially if it wants Samsung Pay to become widely adopted and used frequently.

• Android
• Amazon
• rumors
• Leaks
• Kindle Fire

Upcoming 10-inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet press render leaked

Cam Bunton Sep 16 2015 - 6:14 am PT

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A press render of Amazon’s upcoming 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet has been leaked ahead of its alleged launch. Although we’re light on specs, the renders show the (rather uninspiring) design of the next Kindle Fire. The image comes from well-known and usually reliable leaker, Evan Blass on Twitter.

From the renders, it appears the next Kindle Fire will have a completely flat front and back, with a slightly more angled, metallic frame around the edges. We can just about make out the power/sleep key on the top edge as well as the front and rear camera. Amazon’s branding is expectedly prominent, although the software is a completely different story. If the render is accurate, it looks like Amazon’s new software will be much more in line with standard Android. Or, at the very list, Amazon software disguised as standard Android. Whatever the software is, it’s a far cry from Amazon’s previous efforts.

Previous Kindle Fire tablets have featured a cover flow-like user interface, pushing Amazon apps and content to the forefront, similar to the UI found on the Amazon Fire TV and Stick. If Evan’s leak is anything close to the finished product (which it normally is), it’ll certainly make a refreshing change from a user experience perspective.It almost certainly has something to do with having fewer staff to work on skins after the job cuts recently. Perhaps it’s a lesson learned by Amazon after the catastrophic failure that was the Fire Phone. A shift to a more familiar UI will surely make the product less confusing to regular consumers.

We don’t yet have a release date, price or specs for the 10-inch tablet, but there have been rumors of a $50 6-inch model which is expected to hit the market in time for the holiday season. Both tablets will likely be announced and released at the same time to take advantage of the busy Q4 shipping period.

• Android
• smartphones
• Smartphone
• Xiaomi
• Snapdragon (System on Chip)

Xiaomi to unveil ‘new flagship’ Mi 4c on September 22

Cam Bunton Sep 16 2015 - 4:31 am PT

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Xiaomi just announced on its official forums that it will be releasing a ‘new flagship’ device on September 22nd. The company is coy on what this new smartphone will feature, or where it will be released, but does state that it will be called the Mi 4c. This news comes just a couple of weeks after Xiaomi launched its budget phablet, the RedMi Note 2.

The current generation Mi 4 features a quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor and a 5-inch display as well as the go-to 13MP Sony camera sensor on the back. If we had to speculate, we’d guess that the quad-core chip will be swapped out in favor of a more current octa-core processor. Apart from that, your guess is as good as ours, although the ‘c’ does suggest we might see some colorful additions to the range. The current Mi 4 only ships in black or white.

In an attempt to perhaps tease us a little, Xiaomi does specifically, but cryptically mention availability in other countries, not just China:

And it is time to unveil Mi 4c now. Will it come to other countries or only be available in China? Forgive me that we can’t disclose much about the new model before the launch event on September 22. We will keep you updated with further details of the launch event and have a live thread on that day. Please stay tuned.

As always, Xiaomi will have a live thread updating on its forums as the device is being revealed, including which markets and regions will receive the smartphone.

• Android
• Moto X
• Motorola
• smartphones
• more

Moto X Style pre-orders go live in the UK

Cam Bunton Sep 16 2015 - 1:39 am PT

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Motorola, this morning, opened up pre-orders for its newest flagship, the Moto X Style in the UK. While the device has been available to order in the US for a couple of weeks already, pre-sales only began today across the pond in Britain. Pricing starts at £399 and increases based on materials used on the back, or which storage option you go for.

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• Android
• HTC One A9
• HTC
• smartphones
• rumors

Rumored HTC One A9 could feature 10-core Helio X20 processor

Cam Bunton Sep 11 2015 - 3:03 am PT

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Over the past few weeks, maybe even months, it’s been rumored HTC will release a new all-metal smartphone to join its lineup. The HTC One A9 is expected to take design cues from the One M-series, but so far, rumors and leaks have been less than convincing. According to a leaked screenshot, allegedly taken from Geekbench, the One A9 could feature a hugely powerful processor built by MediaTek, and feature 4GB RAM.

Although there’s still plenty of reason to be skeptical, it’s at least interesting to see these rumors crop up repeatedly about the same device. The device benchmark information shows that it has a 10-core MediaTek Helio X20 processor, the same chip found inside the recently announced Acer Predator smartphone. The chip is clocked at 1.96GHz, paired with 4GB RAM on a device which will purportedly run Android 5.1.1.

Twice in recent memory, an HTC event has been teased. Initially rumors predicted a September 6th event, while more recently, a September 29 unveiling was teased. With all this uncertainty surrounding the launch date, it’s worth taking any of the speculation, leaks or rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism. Early leaks were clearly faked, and there’s been a lack of any clear and reliable evidence surrounding the One A9. If today’s leak is anything to go by, a Helio chip could point towards an Asia-specific device. Having a launch event in Japan does nothing but corroborate that speculation.

• Android
• Motorola
• smartphones
• rumors
• Leaks

Verizon-exclusive Moto DROID Turbo 2 revealed in leaked press render

Cam Bunton Sep 10 2015 - 6:45 am PT

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Not long after Motorola officially announced the Moto X Play, X Pure and G at an event in NYC last month, it was rumored that the X Play would be making its way to the States, albeit it as a rebranded Verizon exclusive DROID. Only last week, a render was leaked showing a device code-named ‘Bounce’ or ‘Force’. In many ways, it looked a lot like the Moto X Play, albeit it with a few subtle differences. Today, the device has shown up again, but this time it has the official DROID and Verizon branding, corroborating those earlier rumors that this is the next DROID. Specifically, the DROID Turbo 2.

The Verizon-branded smartphone was leaked by @upleaks on Twitter this morning, and looks virtually identical to previous leaks:

[tweet https://twitter.com/upleaks/status/641946223121862656 align=’center’]

It’s expected that the Verizon DROID Turbo 2 will feature a 5.43-inch QHD resolution display, Snapdragon 810 processor and 32GB or 64GB storage options. What’s more, it could feature 3GB RAM as well as 21MP and 5MP rear and front cameras respectively. With 3,760mAh capacity, its battery is predicted to be larger than the impressive X Play, almost certainly to deal with the extra pixels on the display and more powerful processor. As specs go, it sounds a lot like a flagship phone, which the X Play certainly isn’t. We’re told to expect the supposedly shatter-proof phone to land on store shelves in December, just in time for Christmas.