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Avatar for Stephen Hall

Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5Toys, Electrek, and more. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.

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Report: New Android Wear devices from LG, Motorola, Huawei, ASUS coming at IFA

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 25 2015 - 12:16 pm PT
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In what is probably one of the lesser surprising reports to come out this year, CNET this morning claims that four handset manufacturers — namely, LG, Motorola, Huawei, and ASUS — are all planning to launch new Android Wear smartwatches at the IFA consumer electronics show kicking off late next week. Much-rumored and long-awaited (and highly-leaked?) second generation Moto 360, anyone?

We’ve been seeing leaks of the new Moto 360 for a while now, and ASUS already made its ZenWatch 2 public earlier this year (albeit with very little fanfare). Huawei showed off the Huawei Watch a long time ago, and has yet to deliver, so that company will probably take the stage at IFA to actually announce pricing and availability details. LG is mostly a mystery right now (mostly), but we’ll see what’s up their sleeves soon enough.

We’ll be on the ground at IFA to keep you in the loop, and until then, feel free to read up on the latest on the Moto 360, and check out our Android Wear smartwatch comparison page.

Stagefright vulnerability fixes for HTC One M9 and M8 on AT&T now rolling out

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 25 2015 - 10:10 am PT
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Google may have promised to keep its Nexus devices updated once a month, and was one of the first to push fixes for the vulnerability in Stagefright, but that doesn’t mean owners of other phones will see such prompt updates. Today, weeks since Nexus devices were patched, AT&T’s HTC One M9 and M8 are receiving over-the-air updates to keep you safe when sending MMS messages.

You can find information about both the HTC One M9 update and that for the HTC One M8 over at AT&T’s website. The OTA for the M9 comes in at just 55.53 MB, while the M8 update is 28 MB. These are pretty tiny numbers for OTA updates, so you shouldn’t expect much more from this update than the patch for Stagefright. It goes without saying that it’s still important to update though.

Head over to the Settings app and mash that refresh button, or just wait until your device tells you that you’re ready to go.

 

Opinion: Sadly, I still don’t have a reason to wear my Android Wear smartwatch

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 25 2015 - 8:34 am PT
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You can ask just about anyone: For quite some time, I thought wearables were on the brink of taking over our lives. And they may still be, but it seems to me that my internal excitement may have been premature. Google Glass fueled most of my anticipation, but smartwatches were definitely an area that intrigued me too. I told myself that all wearables needed was for Apple to make an entrance, and then platforms like Android Wear and Pebble would become quickly ubiquitous.

It may be too early to tell, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening — at least not yet. And while ASUS, LG, Huawei, and Motorola have some revamped hardware entries coming very soon, I’m just not that excited anymore. Why? Mostly because I just don’t have a compelling need for wearables in their current form. I have Google Glass and I have an LG G Watch R, but neither have become anything close to a daily driver for me. I still have no reason to use Android Wear.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G4 (unlocked) $420, Free $100 Google Play GC w/ HTC One M9 purchase, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 24 2015 - 12:24 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals

lg-g4-press-render-710

Brand new LG G4 32GB 4G LTE smartphone (unlocked): $420 shipped (Reg. $550+)

$100 Google Play™ Credit | HTC United States 2015-08-24 14-06-01

HTC is offering a free $100 Google Play gift card with the purchase of an HTC One M9

x2-ice-down

Giveaway: Jaybird’s new X2 Bluetooth earbuds are the ultimate workout counterpart ($180 value)

canon-refurb-t5-lens-kit-deal

Canon T5 DSLR w/ 18-55mm lens kit (refurb w/ 1 yr warranty): $250 shipped (Orig. $549)

More new gear from today:

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Daily Deals: JBL Micro II Portable Speaker $15, Mophie 1,300mAh Power Reserve with Lightning $14, more

More deals still alive:

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Beats Studio Wireless headphones: Titanium $230 (Reg. $380), Blue $264 (Reg. $380)

New products & more:samsung-smartthings-hub-new-02

Samsung SmartThings hub comes next month with Amazon Echo-powered voice control support

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Tile announces a new generation of its Bluetooth tracker

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Quick Review: The Conway Electric Extō Dual-USB is the envy of all power strips

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BlackBerry Passport ‘Silver Edition’ w/ Android Lollipop purportedly caught on camera [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 24 2015 - 8:55 am PT
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Evan Blass — otherwise known as Evleaks — shared with us an image last week showing what looks to be some silver variant of the much-rumored BlackBerry Passport running Android Lollipop. Tech blog 4GNews then went on just before the weekend to share images of what it called Passport Silver Edition. It turns out those images were from Dudu Rocha Tec., an Android-related Brazilian YouTube channel, and now we have a look at what is likely the much-rumored BlackBerry device in its full glory…
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Google apps in Android Marshmallow neatly ask for permissions on a case by case basis

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 24 2015 - 7:22 am PT
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One of the more useful — and long overdue — features coming with Android M is the ability to have precise control over app permissions. And now, with Android Marshmallow developer preview 3 (which was released last week), Google’s default apps will neatly ask you for permission if you tell the app to do something that it doesn’t currently have permission to do.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: GoPro HERO4 Silver $330, Brother wireless printer $80, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 14 2015 - 1:20 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

gopro-hero4-silver

GoPro’s HERO4 Silver Action Camera is on sale for $330 shipped (Reg. $400)

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Brother Wireless Laser Printer with AirPrint $80 shipped (Orig. $130)

 

s6 edge

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 64 GB (factory unlocked): $580 shipped (Reg. $1,000) | eBay

 

$_57

Up to 50% off Android on eBay: LG G Pad V410 $9, Samsung Note Pro P905 32GB $400, more

olio-black-timepiece-9to5toys-giveaway

Giveaway: Olio Model One Black Collection Connected Timepiece for iOS and Android ($795 value)

More new gear from today:

 

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Daily Deals: Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX $45, D-Link Wireless Cloud IP Camera $55, more

  • Synology DiskStation 2-Bay Network Attached Storage $300 shipped (Reg. $350+)
  • Games/Apps: Batman Arkham Knight from $45, Metro Redux $17, Wii U bundle $253, iOS freebies, more
  • Stop paying rental fees w/ the best-selling Motorola Arris SB6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable modem (refurb): $45 (Orig. $100)
  • Get Ed Sheeran’s complete X album for $1 (Reg. $12)

More deals still alive:

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Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display (newest) 2.7GHz/8GB/128GB: $1,100 shipped (Reg. $1,299)

Apple 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display 3.3GHz/1TB/8GB: $1,850 shipped (Reg. $1,999)

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Spigen: Air Vent Mount for iPhone 6/Plus & Android Devices $7 (Reg. $16), iPhone 6 MFi 3100mAh Battery Case $35 (Reg. $60)

New products & more:

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Make nearly any HDTV a giant Android touchscreen tablet with the Touchjet WAVE

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JayBird’s new Apple Watch compatible X2 in-ears sport enhanced Bluetooth audio

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The coolest Apple-certified MFI Lightning cables you can buy for your iPhone, iPad and iPod

9to5Toys Lunch Break: 128GB Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $600, Wireless Travel Router $5, Android Car Mount $7, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 13 2015 - 12:53 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

samsung_sm_g920i_128gb_white_galaxy_s6_sm_g920i_128gb_1437584736000_1171337

Samsung Galaxy S6 128GB Smartphone (unlocked): $600 shipped (Reg $800+)

aukey-wireless

Aukey Wireless Portable Travel Router/1800mAh power bank: $5 Prime shipped (add on)

spigen-air-vent-mount

Spigen: Air Vent Mount for iPhone 6/Plus & Android Devices $7 (Reg. $16), iPhone 6 MFi 3100mAh Battery Case $35 (Reg. $60)

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Over $90 of paid Android Apps for Free: Scribblenauts Remix, Bloons TD 5, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Goat Simulator, more

s6 edge

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 64 GB (factory unlocked): $580 shipped (Reg. $1,000) | eBay

 

$_57

Up to 50% off Android on eBay: LG G Pad V410 $90, Samsung Note Pro P905 32GB $400, more

olio-black-timepiece-9to5toys-giveaway

Giveaway: Olio Model One Black Collection Connected Timepiece for iOS and Android ($795 value)

More new gear from today:

canon-pixma-mx9221

Canon PIXMA MX922 Wireless AirPrint All-in-One Printer $70 shipped (Reg. $97+), more

More deals still alive:

$_57-1

Xiaomi 16000mAh Portable External Battery: $18 shipped (Reg. $28) | eBay

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USB roundup: Anker 60W 6-Port USB Charging Hub $24 (Reg. $36), Imneed Power bank + MFi Lightning cable $10 (Reg. $22), more

New products & more:

jaybird-x2-headphones (1)

JayBird’s new Apple Watch compatible X2 in-ears sport enhanced Bluetooth audio

walkcar-device

WalkCar looks like a four-wheeled MacBook that you can ride

Samsung’s Unpacked event is kicking off at 11 AM ET [Livestream]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 13 2015 - 7:41 am PT
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galaxynote5render

In case you’re out of the loop, Samsung is announcing a couple of new devices at its Unpacked event today. Based on the leaks we’ve been seeing over the last couple of months, it looks like the Korean company is set to unveil its S Pen-sporting Samsung Galaxy Note 5, as well as a bigger “plus” version of the Galaxy S6 Edge. Follow below for the livestream…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S6 Edge (unlocked) $580, HTC RE waterproof camera $100, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 12:26 pm PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

s6 edge

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 64 GB (factory unlocked): $580 shipped (Reg. $1,000) | eBay

htc-re-1

Daily Deals: HTC RE 16 MP Waterproof Camera $100, CyberPower Standby Series UPS w/8 Outlets $35, more

$_57-1

Xiaomi 16000mAh Portable External Battery: $18 shipped (Reg. $28) | eBay

$_57

 

Up to 50% off Android on eBay: LG G Pad V410 $90, Samsung Note Pro P905 32GB $400, more

adobe-creative-cloud-software (1)

Get 12 months of Adobe’s Photography Creative Cloud plan for $100 ($20 savings)

olio-black-timepiece-9to5toys-giveaway

Giveaway: Olio Model One Black Collection Connected Timepiece for iOS and Android ($795 value)

More new gear from today:

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Samsung 850 Pro 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drives: 256GB $115 shipped (Reg. $150+), 1TB $430 shipped (Reg. $465)

More deals still alive:

 

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D-Link DCS-5029L 720p HD Pan & Tilt Day/Night Wi-Fi Camera: $100 shipped (Reg. $150)

New products & more:

walkcar-device

WalkCar looks like a four-wheeled MacBook that you can ride

solenica-lucy-light

Solenica’s solar-powered Lucy lamp shines light into the dark spaces in your home

coolest-mfi-lightning-cables1

The coolest Apple-certified MFI Lightning cables you can buy for your iPhone, iPad and iPod

Motorola says the new Moto X Pure Edition will be available September 3rd

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 9:58 am PT
1 Comment

The 3rd generation Moto X, also known as Moto X Style, also known as (officially, in the United States) Moto X Pure Edition, is set to become available for purchase in the US on September 3rd.

The phone, announced a couple of weeks ago alongside the Moto X Play, packs a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 808, 3 GB of RAM, 4G LTE, a beastly 21-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front cam, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Moto X Style, known as the “Pure Edition” stateside, will cost $399 for the base model. The Moto X Play will be available in 55 countries starting August (but, unfortunately, this doesn’t include the United States).

https://twitter.com/Motorola/status/631502920295534592

OnePlus let more than 200 people line up to buy 20 OnePlus 2 units in Paris

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 8:48 am PT
0 Comments

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OnePlus is just having too much fun marketing the OnePlus 2. In their latest stunt, the company invited the public to a special launch of the device at colette Paris. “We’ll be there from 11:00 am until the OnePlus 2 is sold out. It’s a very limited stock sale, so be sure to come early,” the company said. More than 200 people came out, according to a post on the company’s forum. It seems OnePlus really meant it when they said “very limited stock sale,” though…
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Alphabet’s L is for Life Sciences, meaning it has graduated from Google X

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 7:43 am PT
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The Life Sciences group at Google, previously under the umbrella of the company’s experimental X lab, seems to now be holding its own under the newly-formed Alphabet parent company. It’s something that somehow went under the radar with Larry Page’s announcement of Alphabet, but it’s definitely notable. It’s yet another graduation from the skunkworks lab, and it’s recognition that the group is worthy of being its own company…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Xiaomi 16000mAh power bank $18, Android deals on eBay up to 50% off, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 11 2015 - 1:03 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

$_57-1

Xiaomi 16000mAh Portable External Battery: $18 shipped (Reg. $28) | eBay

$_57

 

Up to 50% off Android on eBay: LG G Pad V410 $90, Samsung Note Pro P905 32GB $400, more

headphones-jbl-pioneer

Headphones: Powerbeats2: $110 (Reg. $200), JBL J56BT Bluetooth on-ears $42 (Reg. $60), more

olio-black-timepiece-9to5toys-giveaway

Giveaway: Olio Model One Black Collection Connected Timepiece for iOS and Android ($795 value)

More new gear from today:

brother-hl-l2300d-laser-printer (1)

The best-selling Brother Monochrome Laser Printer is on sale for $43 shipped (Orig. $120), more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/631117498646183940 align=’center’]

More deals still alive:

 

nomadplus-battery-iphone-charger

NomadPlus converts your iPhone USB wall charger into a 1800mAh power bank: $20 shipped (Orig. $40)

New products & more:

solenica-lucy-light

Solenica’s solar-powered Lucy lamp shines light into the dark spaces in your home

thermos-smart-bottle1

Thermos’ latest water bottle will nag you with iOS notifications to make sure you stay hydrated

 

The latest Pushbullet for Android update adds end-to-end encryption, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 11 2015 - 10:19 am PT
0 Comments

pushbullet

The latest Pushbullet update adds a handful of new features, but perhaps the most interesting is end-to-end encryption. For the longest time, many Pushbullet users have been hesitant to rely on its file-sending abilities due to the fact that a lot of data was sent unencrypted. As of today, Pushbullet for Android supports end-to-end encryption for Notification Mirroring, Universal copy & paste, and SMS…

And while that’s the big feature that Pushbullet is pushing (heh) on its blog, today’s update also packs some other minor changes. With version 16.5.4 of the app, you get improved SMS that’s faster and uses less data, the ability to select and delete more than push at a time, a new “Clear history” button on the Settings page, and the usual bug fixes and improvements.

Here’s the full changelog:

WHAT’S NEW

16.5.4
• End-to-end encryption support!
• More improvements to SMS, faster and uses less data
• You can now select and delete multiple pushes at once!
• “Clear history” button in Settings
• Crash and bug fixes
The app is available for free on the Google Play Store, and the update should be rolling out over the next 24 hours if it’s not already available to you. If you want to manually install the new version on your device, you can find it at APKMirror as usual.

This iOS-like Material Design screen rotation concept looks slick

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 11 2015 - 9:32 am PT
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Material Design brought a lot of changes with Android Lollipop, but there’s nothing that says things can’t be improved. Designer Miroslav Vitula thinks he can improve the rotation animations in Android, specifically giving the OS a smooth transition not unlike the one found in iOS. Here’s what he had to say about his concept:

There are a bunch of smooth interactions in Android but sadly, rotation isn’t one of them. I’ve been craving the “smooth rotation” (as seen on iOS) since ICS. Well, let’s hope that one day, this will become an actual thing.

The example he uses is the Google+ app, which offers several Material Design tabs along the top as well as a cover image and a profile picture. As you can see below, rotating the device would smoothly transition between the two views. This would perhaps be nicest on big-screen devices like the Nexus 6 which are more enjoyable to use in landscape.

Smooth-rotation

Like he says, hopefully this could one day be reality.

You can download Stagefright fix OTA updates for Nexus devices here

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 11 2015 - 7:42 am PT
2 Comments

Google recently released a slew of factory images for Nexus devices, following the company’s new commitment to release a security update for its Nexus line each and every month. This one in particular fixes a vulnerability in Stagefright, and updates have been slowly rolling out over-the-air following the announcement. Below we have listed every device that actually received a new LMY48I factory image, alongside a direct link to their OTA .zip downloads…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Toshiba 13-inch Chromebook 2 (refurb) $200, PNY 128GB microSD $52, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 10 2015 - 12:59 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

81hPmwxZinL._SL1500_

Daily Deals: Toshiba 13.3″ Chromebook 2 (refurb) $200, ZILU 40w 5-Port USB Charger $12, more

9to5Toys Lunch Break: PNY 64GB USB3 Flash Drive $16, iPad Air 2 64GB $490, Olio Smartwatch giveaway, more | 9to5Mac 2015-08-10 14-41-34

Amazon Gold Box – PNY storage up to 50% off: 64GB USB3 Flash Drive $16, 128GB microSD $52, 64GB SDXC $22, more

olio-black-timepiece-9to5toys-giveaway

Giveaway: Olio Model One Black Collection Connected Timepiece for iOS and Android ($795 value)

More new gear from today:

dell-m49-c1-4k-uhdtv

VIZIO 49-inch 4K 120Hz Smart LED UHDTV $650 shipped (Reg. $770), more

More deals still alive:

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Back to school essentials you may have overlooked: Litographs tees, dorm decor, GE alarm kit, more

Bose SoundTrue On-Ear Headphones in black or white: $90 shipped (Reg. $120)

New products & more:

thermos-smart-bottle1

Thermos’ latest water bottle will nag you with iOS notifications to make sure you stay hydrated

Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant for Android can now be your home button shortcut

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 10 2015 - 9:07 am PT
0 Comments

We first gave Cortana beta for Android a try a few weeks ago, and I just wasn’t impressed. Our own Cam Bunton went on to give it a deeper look and a comparison to Google Now and was a little less cynical than I, but overall neither os us were convinced that it is something that Android users need. I would argue that that’s still the case, but Microsoft clearly hasn’t given up yet. With a recent update to the app, you can now set Cortana as the home button shortcut.
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Google announces plans to bring Vulkan 3D rendering API to Android

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 10 2015 - 7:19 am PT
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Google today announced at SIGGRAPH 2015 that it plans to bring Vulkan, a 3D rendering API, to Android. You can read more about the new API over the Android Developers blog, but here’s the gist:

In order to address some of the sources of CPU overhead and provide developers with more explicit control over rendering, we’ve been working to bring a new 3D rendering API, Vulkan™, to Android. Like OpenGL™ ES, Vulkan is an open standard for 3D graphics and rendering maintained by Khronos. Vulkan is being designed from the ground up to minimize CPU overhead in the driver, and allow your application to control GPU operation more directly. Vulkan also enables better parallelization by allowing multiple threads to perform work such as command buffer construction at once.

Android has long supported OpenGL, and now Google is introducing Vulkan to hopefully combat some of the sources of CPU overhead. The company says that it will give developers “more explicit control over rendering,” and will enable “better parallelization”.

Google says that it’s working hard to “help create, test, and ship Vulkan,” but also plans to continue supporting the simplicity of OpenGL ES. You’ll be able to choose which API is right for you, and Google says that it is committed to “providing an excellent developer experience” either way.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Bose SoundTrue On-Ear Headphones $90, Samsung Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $480, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 7 2015 - 1:08 pm PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Bose SoundTrue On-Ear Headphones in black or white: $90 shipped (Reg. $120)

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $480 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

lg_optimus_exceed_2

Verizon Wireless Prepaid LG Optimus Exceed 2: $20 shipped (Reg. $70)

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Refurb HTC One M9 32GB flash 4G LTE (unlocked): $380 shipped (Reg. $500+) | eBay

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $370 shipped (Reg. $700) | eBay

More new gear from today:

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Games/Apps: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes from $14, Hunger Games goes free, Korg iOS sale, more

More deals still alive:

Canon’s refurbished T5 DSLR w/ 18-55mm lens kit is on sale for $252 shipped (Orig. $549)

 

philips-hue-lighting

Two Philips Hue connected light bulbs (multiple styles) for $100 shipped (~$120 value)

New products & more:

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The CydeKick uses renewable energy to charge your iPhone while you ride

 

Could this Galaxy S6 Edge+ keyboard cover possibly be real? [Update: Yes]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 7 2015 - 11:54 am PT
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Update: Yes, it’s real.

Evan Blass of evleaks has a pretty solid track record, and we’ve cited his leaks hundreds of times. This time, though, we can’t tell if what he has leaked is a joke or if it’s actually a real product on the way from Samsung. As you can see above, it looks like the Korean company might maybe possibly eventually release a keyboard cover for the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy S6 Edge+.

Knowing Samsung, this could very well be the real deal. And Evan hasn’t exactly been known to be a jokester when it comes to his leaks. He’s ended up wrong a couple of times, but I can’t remember many times that he has just posted a “leak” that was purely a practical joke. With that in mind, I have to say that this cover looks absolutely horrid — and useless.

A physical keyboard is something that many have desired since the move away from BlackBerry-esque devices, but I don’t know if this is the solution. I would much prefer that some companies — like BlackBerry, maybe? — make a smartphone that actually has a physical keyboard built-in. This hunk of plastic covering up half of your screen is surely be a nuisance and nothing more.