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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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Google says that Android Wear 5.1.1 rollout should (actually) be starting now

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 2:23 pm PT
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Google first announced Android Wear 5.1.1 back in April, and said that the update should be rolling out over the “coming weeks.” It looks like “coming weeks” has finally arrived today, as the company just took to its Product Forums to announce (again?) that the update to 5.1.1 should be rolling out “gradually in the coming days and weeks.”

In order for you to receive this update on your watch, please make sure you have the latest version of the Android Wear app on your phone, by opening the Play Store, searching for “Android Wear”, and opening the app’s Play Store page. If an [Update] button is visible, make sure to update the app.

We hope you are as excited about this update as we are.  The release will roll out gradually in the coming days and weeks. Please feel free to ask questions, share feedback, and let us know if you encounter any issues!

While many of the Android Wear OEMs at this point have already confirmed the features that are (or aren’t) coming to their devices, Google also took this opportunity to finalize the devices that would be getting much sought-after WiFi support. It looks like it’s only four devices for the moment, including the LG Watch Urbane (obviously), the Moto 360, the Sony Smartwatch 3, and the Samsung Gear Live.

For the full rundown of the features coming with 5.1.1, see the original announcement.

Bloomberg: Google set to announce standalone photo service at I/O 2015

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 1:30 pm PT
2 Comments

google_plus-photos

According to sources for Bloomberg, Google is set to announce an “an online picture sharing and storage service” separate of Google+. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news, but it’s further confirmation of something we’ve been hearing about since as far back as August of last year.

Google Inc. is set to reveal an online picture sharing and storage service that will no longer be part of the Google+ social network, people familiar with the plans said.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Lenovo Chromebook $180, Galaxy S4 (unlocked) $220, Acer Chromebook $130, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 12:31 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:

lenovo-n21_02

Lenovo N21 Chromebook N2840 2.16GHz Celeron: $180 shipped (Reg. $220)

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Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-M919 16GB unlocked GSM: $220 shipped (Reg. $300)

Acer 11.6%22 Chromebook Intel Celeron 2GB Memory 16GB eMMC Flash Memory White CB3-111-C8UB - Best Buy 2015-05-19 14-27-02

Refurbished Acer White 11.6″ CB3-111-C8UB Chromebook: $130 shipped (Reg. $140)

Gear_Live_Wine_Red_4Samsung Gear Live smartwatch SM-R382 Android Wear: $110 shipped (Reg. $200)

$_57

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $600 shipped w/ code CDTECH10 (Reg. $899)

samsung-850-evo-1tb

Samsung Solid State Drives: 850 EVO 250GB $90 (Reg. $100+), 850 Pro 512GB $239(Reg. $300)

More new gear from today:

dell-28-inch-ultra-hd-4k-monitor-p2815q

Daily Deals: Dell 28-inch Ultra HD 4K Monitor $299, more

  • New! M-Audio 61-key Oxygen Series bus-powered MIDI keyboard $123 shipped (Reg. $200)
  • New! Games/Apps: Far Cry 4 Kyrat Edition $71, Watch Dogs, Evolve, Destiny (pre-owned) from $10, more

More deals still alive:

gopro-hero4-silver

The best-selling GoPro HERO4 Silver Action Camera is on sale for $329 shipped (Reg. $400)

sonos-play-1-two-pack

Two SONOS PLAY:1 Wireless Powered Speakers: $349 ($398 value)

New products & more:

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A one man Swedish design studio made a retro style arcade cabinet that looks like it belongs in an art museum

narrative-clip-2-ios-camera

Narrative’s Clip 2 wearable camera for iOS and Android is available for pre-order today

With Google Glass redesign, Tony Fadell says there are no ‘sacred cows’

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 10:34 am PT
4 Comments
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Tony_Fadell.jpg (3692×3880) 2015-05-19 12-03-20

Tony Fadell, one of many fathers of the iPod and founder of Nest, was put in charge of the Glass project when the company stopped selling the “Explorer Edition” of the device in January earlier this year. While it was assumed that this would mean that Google was giving the project a restart (and, in fact, Google confirmed this to be the case during its Q4 earnings call), Tony Fadell has recently came out publicly to reiterate this point…


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Google pushes Chrome version 43 to the stable channel w/ Web MIDI support, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 9:05 am PT
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Chrome-static

We told you about Chrome 43 beta back in April, but now Google has pushed it to the stable channel. Not many groundbreaking new features are included with this version, but it does pack Web MIDI support, new security and compatibility fixes, and “a number of small changes to enable developers to build more powerful web applications.”

The Chrome team is happy to announce the promotion of Chrome 43 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chrome 43.0.2357.65 contains a number of fixes and improvements.  A list of changes is available in the log.

Security Fixes and Rewards
Note: Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.
This update includes 37 security fixes. Below, we highlight fixes that were contributed by external researchers. Please see the Chromium security page for more information.

The update should be rolling out now.

Microsoft launches Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for Android phones in beta

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 8:34 am PT
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Phoneapps

Microsoft has this morning launched the smartphone counterpart of its previously tablet-only word processing suite for Android. Microsoft’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps on the Play Store have now—appropriately—ditched the “for Tablet” part of their name, and beta testers now have access to these apps with smartphone support baked right in…
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HTC One ME9 leaked in new render, looks a lot like a plastic M9+

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 8:06 am PT
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upleaks

Upleaks is at it again, today posting press renders of what is likely to be the company’s forthcoming HTC One ME9. The phone isn’t planned to be coming to North American, European, or Middle Eastern markets, but it’s interesting nonetheless to take a look at what HTC’s international smartphone strategy looks like.

The device sounds a lot like the Chinese-only HTC One M9+ in terms of specifications (including a fingerprint scanner), but it notably does without to Duo Camera set up and goes with a polycarbonate back rather than aluminum. The device has an octo-core MediaTek processor, 3 GB of RAM, a 5.2-inch display, and a 2,900 mAh battery.

Upleaks says that the device is going to ship in three colors: rose gold, gold sepia, and meteor gray. Three launch markets, India, Hong Kong SAR, and Taiwan are confirmed to be getting the device at some point. It’s expected to launch at around $550 dollars, and will purportedly hit the market sometime in July.

Yota launches Indiegogo campaign to bring the YotaPhone 2 to the US

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 19 2015 - 7:18 am PT
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Yota Devices wants to bring the YotaPhone 2 to the United States, and today they launched an Indiegogo campaign to help accomplish that goal. The unique smartphone, which notably sports “two fronts,” brings the convenience of a fully-customizable always-on ePaper display. And the American market has apparently seen the benefits of the rear display, including saved battery life and more, because the phone has almost passed its funding goal in the first couple of hours…


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Android Wear rumored to be getting speaker support and on-watch calling features

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 1:40 pm PT
4 Comments

Android-Wear-01

It wasn’t that long ago that Android Wear got its big update to Android 5.1.1, but now rumors about the next revision of the smartwatch operating system are starting to pop up. According to the well-connected Artem Russakovskii, the Android Wear team is currently cooking up support for watches with built-in speaker hardware, as well as planning to introduce on-watch calling…


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Samsung Gear Live $110, GoPro HERO4 $329, Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $600, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 12:40 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:

Gear_Live_Wine_Red_4Samsung Gear Live smartwatch SM-R382 Android Wear: $110 shipped (Reg. $200)

gopro-hero4-silver

The best-selling GoPro HERO4 Silver Action Camera is on sale for $329 shipped (Reg. $400)

$_57

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $600 shipped w/ code CDTECH10 (Reg. $899)

6146+2+W+CL

Amazon free app of the day: Word to Word (Mega) (Reg. $2)

samsung-850-evo-1tb

Samsung Solid State Drives: 850 EVO 250GB $90 (Reg. $100+), 850 Pro 512GB $239 (Reg. $300)

brother-hl-l2300d-monochrome-laser-printer-e1431948130825

Daily Deals: Mono Laser Printer $50, Logitech K400 Wireless Keyboard $17, more

More new gear from today:

lumsing-pioneer1

Lumsing Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker $16 (Reg. $24), 4-port 4.2A USB wall charger $9 (Reg. $13)

More deals still alive:

avengers_age_of_ultron_2015_movie-wide

Marvel Unlimited: 1-month free access to over 15,000 comics on any of your devices

New products & more:

brakepack-backpack

BrakePack smart backpack keeps bicyclists safe on the road

nuimo-controls

The Nuimo Smart Home Interface aims to take control of your SONOS, lighting and other IoT devices

ASUS officially announces availability of the ZenFone 2 in the United States

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 11:36 am PT
0 Comments
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my-movie-2-2015-01-05-23-22-30-2015-01-05-23-23-25

The Asus ZenFone 2 (yep, the phone that took claim as the first to sport a 4 GB RAM variant) isn’t new at all. In fact, we gave it the hands-on treatment all the way back in January after its original unveiling at CES 2015. It was uncertain at the time when the phone might be making its way to the United States, but now we have confirmation—via an Asus press release—that the flagship smartphone is on its way to the United States market unlocked and contract-free.
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Samsung sends the Galaxy S6 to the top of a skyscraper, catches 360-degree footage along the way (Video)

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 8:21 am PT
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galaxy

Samsung kicked off its Next is Now campaign earlier this month, featuring some ridiculous stunts capturing the “powerful moment” of “now.” The Korean company is now continuing the Galaxy S6 marketing push today with a new set of videos, featuring photographer Daniel Lau—known as one of the crazy skyscraper selfie-takers—on a rooftop with Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone…

YouTube’s 360-degree video feature started rolling out earlier this year, and it looks like Samsung is now one of the first major corporations to take advantage of it for marketing purposes. Sadly, though, Lau’s 360-degree footage wasn’t actually captured with the Galaxy S6—it’s simply meant to allow “online users to climb alongside him virtually.”

Here’s Samsung’s clip showcasing some actual footage captured using the Galaxy S6 camera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnaED9t9UpU

And here’s the 360-degree video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yo3foRi8BQ

LG’s Escape 2 quietly comes to AT&T, features a 4.7-inch curved display for $180

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 7:42 am PT
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lg-escape2LG has quietly launched the successor to its ‘Escape’ handset today on AT&T, featuring mid-range specs and a price tag to match. The phone has a 4.7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 720p, but what makes this handset somewhat unique is that it features a curved display like LG’s G Flex and G Flex 2 handsets…


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HTC has ‘no plan’ for a mini variant of its One M9 flagship

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 7:17 am PT
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HTC_One_M9+_PerBack_Gold

According to a recent report from the Taiwanese media, HTC is said to be leaving behind the “mini” variant of its HTC One lineup this time around, due to a market shift toward larger-screened devices. A”mini” version of the HTC One M9 was naturally expected due to the existence of the HTC One mini and its successor, the HTC One mini 2 (which were miniature variants of the HTC One M7 and One M8, respectively)…


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Google drops Cloud Platform prices across the board, introduces ‘Preemptible Virtual Machines’

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 6:42 am PT
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Google Cloud Platform

Google has today announced big price drops for all Google Compute Engine Instance types, following the Moore’s law pricing philosophy that the company committed to last year. Effective today, the prices of virtual machines through Google Cloud Platform are dropping up to 30%, and Google is also introducing a new class of preemptible virtual machines that could bring prices even lower in some cases…


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LG says that the G4 will begin rolling out ‘this week’ to certain markets

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 17 2015 - 8:59 pm PT
1 Comment

lg-g4-press-render-710

In a pretty ambiguous press release, LG has come out this afternoon (or this morning for those in Seoul) to announce that its recently-announced G4 flagship will begin shipping this week to consumers in “key markets around the world.” The rollout will supposedly begin in Hong Kong, followed by introductions in Turkey, Russia, and Singapore…
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Google testing changes to its mobile search interface, Material Design tabs included

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 17 2015 - 1:03 pm PT
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IMG_3130

Old on the left, new on the right

It appears that Google is testing a new design for the header of its mobile search website, featuring a much more spread-out interface including a larger text entry box, navigation tabs, and Google logo. The size and placement of the actual search results seem to be identical, however…


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Samsung launches new ‘Blue Topaz’ and ‘Green Emerald’ Galaxy S6 color variants

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 17 2015 - 12:21 pm PT
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BlueGreen_Color_Main_2

Neither of these are the rumored (and more recently, teased) Iron Man-themed red-and-gold Galaxy S6 Edge, but Samsung is now launching two new color variants for its current-generation Android flagship. The first of which is a shiny “Blue Topaz” Galaxy S6 and the second is an equally as vibrant “Green Emerald” Galaxy S6 Edge.


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Samsung shares Snapchat Edge-ucation clips featuring Shonduras (Video)

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 16 2015 - 10:10 am PT
1 Comment

Edge-ucation - Episode 3: Adding Opacity To Doodles - YouTube 2015-05-16 11-53-09

Samsung isn’t one to go light on advertising campaigns. In late April they showed off the “Super Charging” power of the Galaxy S6, they tried hijacking iPhone 6s search results not long after that and, most recently, they pitted the S6 against Jetman Yves Rossy in a fast-charging race. Now, they’re back at it again, this time sharing some Snapchat “Edge-ucation” by way of renowned snapchatter (snapper?) Shonduras…
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Here’s how the processing power of the Samsung Galaxy S6 compares to other devices (Infographic)

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 16 2015 - 9:30 am PT
1 Comment

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The Galaxy S6 is undeniably one of the most powerful handheld computers ever created (and many of the other Android flagships this year fall into the same category). Samsung’s device packs the best chipset the South Korean company has made yet, the octo-core Exynos 7420, along with 3 GB of RAM, bringing processing power that supersedes the capabilities of desktop computers from not many years ago.

But just how powerful is the Galaxy S6? As you can see, it would take the power of five PlayStation 2s to match it, but keep reading for a more detailed comparison, pitting the handset against smartwatches and supercomputers alike. This infographic makes many other interesting comparisons, my favorite being the almost identical processing power between the original Pebble smartwatch and the Nintendo 64…
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Several new firmware updates now available for Galaxy A7, Galaxy Core Prime, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 1:46 pm PT
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samsung-a7

Samsung likely has more devices to update than most smartphone manufacturers, and as such, they’re constantly pushing out updates to their never-ending list of handsets. Sometimes these are bigger updates—like a firmware update to Android 5.0 Lollipop—but more often they’re just very minor version bumps to fix bugs and close minor security holes.

SamMobile keeps track of all of these updates to Samsung’s handsets, and their latest list of recent updates includes firmware spanning Android 4.0 all the way to Android 5.0.2. Devices include the Galaxy A7, Galaxy Core Prime, Galaxy Ace 4 LTE, and more. Many of these are updates to devices in international locales, but at least one, the US Cellular Galaxy S6 Edge, is for a United States device.

 

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Acer Chromebook $170, Amazon free app – Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, Nexus 6 $549, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 11:46 am 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:

acer

Acer 11.6″ Chromebook Touchscreen (C720P-2661): $170 shipped (Reg. $245)

71kI0CaPHwL

Amazon free app of the day: Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

nexus-6-midnight-blue

T-Mobile is currently offering the Nexus 6 (32GB/64GB): $549 (Reg. $649) OR $599(Reg. $699)

gears-large

Samsung Galaxy Gear S R750 SM-R750A smartwatch: $185 shipped (Reg. $350)

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HTC One (M8) w/ 32 GB flash storage, 4G LTE, GSM (unlocked): $220 shipped (Reg. $499)

acer-chromebox-cxi-zoom-big

Acer Chromebox Celeron 1.4 GHz 2GB DDR3L 16GB Chrome OS: $140 shipped w/ code EBATESAIO512 (Reg. $200)

Powerbeats2-sale-04

Beats wireless headphones: Powerbeats 2 in-ears $165 (Reg. $200), Studio 2.0 over-ears $305 (Reg. $399), more

seagate-wireless-1tb-wifi-streaming

Amazon Gold Box: 50+% off travel tech – portable 1TB HD: $50 w/WiFi: $100, TP-Link router: $13, Bluetooth speakers: $18, more

More new gear from today:

samsung-850-evo-1tbSamsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5″ SATA III Internal SSD: $336 shipped (Reg. $380)

More deals still alive:

yamaha-rx-v377-sale-discount

Yamaha RX-V377 5.1-Channel 4K A/V Receiver w/ USB: $172 shipped (Orig. $300)

New products & more:

nuimo-controls

The Nuimo Smart Home Interface aims to take control of your SONOS, lighting and other IoT devices

lily-camera-drone

Just throw the Lily Camera drone in the air and it will automatically record

Xiaomi’s Mi Store ‘beta’ to open in US, UK, France and Germany on May 19th

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 10:58 am PT
1 Comment

Mi Store 2015-05-15 12-49-11

Xiaomi is going to very slowly start its entry into Europe and the United States next week, according to a post from the company’s Facebook page. Starting on the 19th of May, the company will offer a small selection of accessories—including power banks and headphones—to buyers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany…
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Motorola starts soak testing Android 5.1 for the first-gen Moto E

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 8:38 am PT
1 Comment

moto-e

We told you a couple days ago that Android 5.1 had started rolling out to the 2015 Moto E, but now it looks like Motorola is soak testing the same version of Android for its much older first generation Moto E.

As per the change log on the company’s Indian support website:

We are excited to announce a new software update for Moto E (1st Gen.) by Motorola. This update brings Android™ 5.1  Lollipop to your phone along with other improvements.

For now the update is only hitting devices in India, but this means that it will almost surely be hitting other locales around the world soon. Android 5.1 includes support for multiple SIM cards, new device protection features, high definition voice calling, and more.