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Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5ToysElectrek, 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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Samsung Galaxy Alpha launching exclusively on AT&T this Friday, September 26th

AT&T took to its YouTube channel this morning, uploading a video that outlines all the great features of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Alpha handset. Sadly, this video came without any real information about when the handset will be coming to the carrier, much less how much it might cost. Not long after that happened, Samsung expectedly made its formal announcement, telling us that the phone will be available from September 26th, will come in three colors, and will start at the usual $199 on contract.


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Pebble 2.5 firmware lands w/ support for Emoji, new Compass app, more

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Pebble has launched version 2.5 of its smartwatch firmware, packing a bunch of great new features. The company says that the firmware brings the ability for the Pebble and Pebble Steel smartwatches to display Emoji, replacing the previous small white boxes that are all too familiar across platforms without Emoji support. The company is also launching the Compass app that they promised long ago, which can be picked up on the Pebble appstore.

Additionally, the app includes some interesting new abilities for users who have recently upgraded to iOS 8. Notably, the update now allows iOS users to dismiss notifications by clicking the X button to dismiss one, and holding it down to dismiss all. Pebble also says that the app should stay live in the background more often on iOS, but the company says that users should make sure not to disable “Smartwatch Proximity.”

The smartwatch should have improved Bluetooth and notification reliability compared to previous firmware versions, and Pebble says that 2.5 also fixes a plethora of bugs.

Amazon announces massive Kindle refresh including new ‘Kindle Voyage’ and $99 Kindle Fire HD tablet

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Following a big day of Apple news, Kindle has unleashed a massive refresh of its Kindle lines, including three refreshed Kindles and—interestingly—one completely new Kindle model. The lineup includes the company’s new flagship e-reader dubbed Kindle Voyage, a new entry-level Kindle that now packs a touch screen, an updated Kindle Fire HDX, and a new Kindle Fire HD, which is starting at just $99.
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Google: ‘Less than 2%’ of login credentials leaked today were valid

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Earlier today, a huge number of Google account usernames and passwords were leaked onto the internet via a Russian Bitcoin security forum. This afternoon, Google has officially responded to concerns about the more than 4 million supposed login credentials, saying that none of the company’s systems were breached in order to obtain the data. Furthermore, the company says that it found that “less than 2% of the username and password combinations might have worked,” and that those who were affected have been notified.
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Graphic: The iPhone 6 should be embarrassed compared to the Nexus 4

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The above photo has been making the rounds on the internet, especially on Google+ where the vast majority of users are definitely on the Android side of the pond. Put together by Ron Amadeo of ArsTechnica, the little graphic compares the specifications of the iPhone 6, which was only announced yesterday, to Google and LG’s Nexus 4, which was released in November of 2012.


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Google Hangouts for Android updated with Google Voice integration, free VoIP calls

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It’s finally all coming together. As many suspected would eventually happen, Google Hangouts is finally—in an update rolling out over the next few days—going to be getting integration with Google Voice. The latter service seemed to definitely be getting neglected by Google as of late, with much of the company’s focus going to its Hangouts platform. But it appears that Voice may even moreso eventually become a thing of the past because, starting today, Google is putting it straight into Hangouts as part of a new update to its apps across Android, iOS, and the web.


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Nest now works with Dropcam, LiftMaster, and a host of home automation services

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Nest, makers of smart thermostats and smoke detectors, announced today that it is expanding its platform to be compatible with even more hardware and third-party home automation software. Namely, the company’s “Works with Nest” program has been announced to now include Dropcam—the Nest-owned home security camera—and the company also says that its products will now work great with a variety of home automation systems including those from URC, RTI, Crestron and Control4.

Now we’ve added Dropcam to Works with Nest. When your Nest Protect alarm goes off, Dropcam records a clip of the smoke or carbon monoxide event and saves it for you, regardless of whether you pay for Cloud Recording. And when you set your Nest Thermostat to Away and walk out the door, Dropcam automatically turns on motion alerts so you’ll know if anyone’s in the house.

While integration with Dropcam seems handy, the announcement of Nest’s devices now working with other home automation software is equally as important. These pre-existing systems control a wide variety of aspects of home automation including lighting, music, and more—and now you can add Nest to the list. Additionally, LiftMaster’s MyQ technology was announced yesterday to also be joining the ranks among hardware that works with Nest.

 

Motorola says its Moto 360 smartwatch is already sold out

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The Moto 360, which officially went on sale for the first time earlier today, is now sold out at Motorola.com. The watch was available today via at least three main outlets including the Google Play Store, Best Buy’s website, and Motorola’s official outlet, but it seems that at the time of this writing the device is listed as out of stock at all three.


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Motorola’s new Turbo Charger is coming soon, brings 8 hours of battery power in 15 minutes

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Amidst today’s plethora of exciting announcements from Motorola—including the Moto 360, Moto Hint, new Moto X, and Moto G—there’s still at least one more new product that the company didn’t really bring to the limelight. As can be found on the company’s website, Motorola is launching a new charger soon (via Android Police), and it claims to give today’s announced smartphones 8 hours of battery on a 15 minute charge.


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Watch Motorola unveil its new products live at 1:30 PM CT September 5th (Video)

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There is definitely a lot of confusion surrounding what day Motorola is actually announcing their new products, and while the company sent out invitations for what was an event on September 4th, it turns out the official public announcements aren’t happening until 1:30 PM CT on September 5th. The wait to hear about the new Moto X, Moto G, and the Moto 360 smartwatch (and some kind of ear accessory) is almost over, and you’ll find the streaming video below.


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Upcoming Android Wear-powered LG G Watch R to launch October 14th

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The LG G Watch R has been surrounded by a flurry of excitement, even in lieu of the fact that the much-hyped Moto 360 is supposed to be launching soon. And the timing is likely no coincidence, as following its official announcement last week, LG has come out today at IFA 2014 in Berlin with an official release date for its own upcoming round smartwatch (via The Wall Street Journal).


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Sprint launching LTE-enabled variant of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 next week

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If you’re just itching to grab the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, but just can’t take the plunge without Sprint’s “Spark” LTE, you might be glad to know that the wait is almost over. Sprint has announced that their own LTE-powered version of the tablet, which is just a slight variation on the Tab S that has been on the market since June, will be available from September 12th onwards.


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Founder of Luxottica Leonardo Del Vecchio finds Google Glass ’embarrassing’

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Image via WSJ

Image via WSJ

The founder and chairman of Google’s biggest and most important Google Glass partner, Luxottica, says that he would actually be embarrassed to be “going around” with the Mountain View company’s wearable device on his face (via WSJ). Why might this be interesting? As you may recall, Google made a partnership with the huge Oakley/Ray-ban parent company earlier this year and is supposedly planning to eventually release frames in collaboration with them.


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Chrome OS updated with multi sign-in support, managed bookmarks, more

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Google has pushed an update to Chrome OS this afternoon, bringing a variety of interesting new features to the stable channel. Of those packed in this update include the oft-requested ability to sign in to multiple Google accounts, a new “App info” page in the OS app launcher, the separation of the Settings page into its own window, and more.


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Acer introduces new Android-powered Iconia Tab 10, Iconia One 8 tablets

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Acer may not be one the hottest brand names when it comes to Android tablets, but they’ve taken the stage alongside Samsung and Sony this morning at IFA 2014 to introduce some new tablets: Iconia Tab 10, and Iconia One 8. As you might expect, the numbers in their names represent the screen sizes they have, so we’re looking at a 10-inch device and an 8-inch device, respectively.


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Sony reboots its lens-style cameras with new QX1 and QX30 models

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Alongside new smartphones, tablets, and wearables, Sony has also today announced a refresh for its lineup of lens-style cameras with two new models: QX1 and QX30. The devices are made to be able to work on their own or clip onto the back of a smartphone, and if you go with the latter option, they’re able to connect via NFC or Wi-Fi and have their display via the Sony PlayMemories Mobile app.


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Google Maps and Bungie team up to promote upcoming ‘Destiny’ console game

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The next big probably-hit from the famed game studio behind Halo is about to be released, and to help promote it Bungie has teamed up with Google Maps to create a virtual world built to resemble that of the one in-game. It’s called Destiny Planet View, and you’ll find the way you navigate the first person shooter’s worlds within the new website to be very familiar.


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Facebook for Android passes 1 billion Play Store installs, becomes first non-Google app to do so

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Following Google’s official Maps app hitting this big milestone earlier this year, the Facebook app has become the very first third party application to hit the 1 billion install mark on the Play Store. Not many apps ever reach this number, but with Facebook being the world’s most popular social network, it would make sense that Zuckerberg and Co. would be the first outside of Google to do it. Notably, this actually proves that Facebook is more popular than many of Google’s own offerings, including Chrome, Hangouts, and Google Search. Which of Google’s apps have hit the big billion? Maps, as mentioned, along with Google Play Services, Gmail, and YouTube have all beat Facebook.

 

ASUS CEO confirms sub-$200 price point for upcoming ZenWatch

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As reported by Taiwanese publication Focus Taiwan, the CEO of Asus Jerry Shen has reportedly said in a media briefing that the company’s upcoming ZenWatch Android Wear-powered smartwatch will indeed be shipping at a price point below $200. Shen also mentioned that—as expected considering the device runs Android Wear—we’ll be seeing English-enabled voice recognition when the device goes on sale in October.


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Best Buy slashes $50 off the LG G Watch prior to G Watch R announcement at IFA

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If you’re in the market to grab an Android Wear device, you might be interested in hearing that Best Buy just slashed $50 off the price of the LG G Watch, an Android Wear device that was officially released just a little over 2 months ago. This means that while Google is still selling the device at the launch price of $229.99, you can grab the watch at Best Buy’s website for a cool $179.99. It seems as if both the black and white models are still in stock at the time of this writing.


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Microsoft, Amazon, others reportedly eyeing Cyanogen for future smartphone software

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CyanogenMod—which is probably the most well-known fork of Android—lets users customize their phone beyond what Google intends, and touts having as many as 12 million active installs across a variety of devices. But the company behind the famed alternative operating system is reportedly getting a lot of attention, notably from companies that would consider themselves some of Google’s biggest rivals.


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Google officially removes authorship from search results

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Google has officially announced the end of authorship, a feature within search that gave users an idea of who exactly wrote the content behind the link before clicking it. Paired with a headshot, the name of the content creator was for a very long time shown alongside the number of Google+ circles he or she was in as well as a link to read more content by that author. But as of today—while headshots have been gone for a while—this feature is completely finished and links in search are back to being a bit more uniform.


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Estimates say the Fire Phone hasn’t passed 35,000 units sold

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According to numbers crunched by The Guardian‘s Charles Arthur and based on data from Chitika and comScore, it appears as if the Amazon Fire Phone isn’t exactly setting hardly anything on fire. In fact, if this report is to be believed, Amazon hasn’t sold more than 35,000 total Fire Phone units since the much-hyped unveiling of the device in June.


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Chrome 37 goes stable, brings better font rendering to Windows, 50 bug fixes, more

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Google has pushed Chrome 37 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, with the biggest change being support for DirectWrite on Windows. From this version on, this added technology should make font rendering much better for many Chrome users on Microsoft’s operating system. But this update also packs other additions, including a variety of new app/extension APIs for developers to take advantage of. Rounding off the new features, Google says that version 37 packs the usual under the hood changes to help improve performance.

Google also says that this release fixes a total of 50 security issues, many of which have been credited by Google to external researchers in the release notes. Interestingly, many users are reporting that while the 32 bit version is out right now, the 64 bit version of this update has yet to be pushed. Both versions should be rolling out automatically to users of Chrome stable over the next few hours.

The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 37 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chrome 37.0.2062.94 contains a number of fixes and improvements, including:

– DirectWrite support on Windows for improved font rendering
– A number of new apps/extension APIs
– Lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance