It seems as if almost every flagship smartphone has managed to explode in the pocket of its owner at some point, and today we’re adding the OnePlus One to that list. In a post made by one user of the OnePlus forum MiYzu, we get a great illustration of just how scary it can be when a lithium ion battery just decides to catch fire.
Skype announced today that it’s finally fixing the way notifications work for users with multiple devices by only delivering chat notifications to the device you’re actively using. If you’re signed into Skype on multiple devices like your Mac, iPhone and iPad, Skype will now recognize which device you’re actively using to chat and only send notifications to that device. It will also notice when you stop actively using a device and continue sending notifications to all devices. The changes are only for chat, however, as call notifications will continue to come through on all devices you’re signed into:
The moment you stop actively using Skype on any device, all devices will receive notifications again to make sure you never miss anything important. When you pick up any one of your devices to respond, we will stop send notifications to all other devices. Call notifications are still sent to all devices so you can answer on whichever gadget you prefer, not just the one you’re closest to.
Skype notes that with the change to notifications chat history will continue to “sync across all devices allowing you to continue a conversation from any one of them.”
Skype is rolling out the feature to all users on the latest version of Skype over the next few weeks.
[protected-iframe id=”86a333bf19302a333dc3ffe9a22210c8-22754319-8994189″ info=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fuzdesigns/noke-the-worlds-first-bluetooth-padlock/widget/video.html” width=”800″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
Locks always struck me as the perfect application for Bluetooth LE: walk up to the lock, it detects the phone in your pocket or bag, checks the code and unlocks. If you need to let someone else in, you authorize their app on a one-off or permanent basis. Simple, secure, convenient.
There are a bunch of Bluetooth door locks on the way, so why not a Bluetooth padlock too? Noke is a Kickstarter campaign for a $59 lock where you simply click the hasp to unlock. Provided your phone is with you, and the app code matches the lock, it opens without key or combination. The app is compatible with any Android handset or iPhone that supports Bluetooth LE.
Cleverly, you can also program the padlock with a Morse code-style pattern that you can click to open the lock if your phone battery is dead.
The campaign has an ambitious $100,000 target, so it’s by no means certain it’ll get funded, but as with all Kickstarter campaigns you lose nothing if it doesn’t make it. $59 is the Kickstarter price, with a planned retail price of $99.
The campaign doesn’t say anything about the security credentials of the lock, so it’s probably best considered something for relatively low-security applications like gym lockers and ‘cafe locks’ for bikes (ones you use just to stop someone hopping on and riding off while your bike is within sight).
IDC released its second quarter report for worldwide smartphone shipments by operating system today and in it noted iOS and Android accounted for 96% of the global market. That number, however, comes only as Android grew on the strength of higher sales of low-cost devices abroad.
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GBfJ3Xork]
Getting smooth handheld video as you pan around with a smartphone isn’t easy, and professional Steadicam solutions run to four figures and up – perhaps just a little OTT for a smartphone.
But high-end smartphones have very capable cameras these days, and the StayblCam is a $75 device designed to give you some of the benefits of a Steadicam at a rather more smartphone-friendly price. Available for pre-order now for delivery in September/October, I tried out a prototype to see how well it performs …
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We already heard that Sony would be hosting its usual press event during IFA early next month, but today we get official confirmation with screenshots of press invites making their way online (ePrice via XperiaBlog).
As previously reported, the event is scheduled for September 3rd (the week of IFA conference in Berlin) and the invite seems to hint at device announcements for a new smartphone. There are also hints at other devices on the invite, including what looks like the QX lens-camera smartphone attachment that the company first launched at IFA last year. Samsung has also scheduled its IFA press conference for September 3 this year.
As always, we’ll be on hand at the event this year to bring you updates as they happen.
Samsung has announced a 31 percent drop in for its mobile division, broadly in line with its earlier guidance, when almost 200 managers “voluntarily” handed back 25 percent of their bonuses. Year-on-year operating profits fell from 6.43T won ($6.28B) to 4.42T won ($4.32B).
Chinese competition in low- and mid-range handsets was cited as one of the key reasons for the slump, with Samsung Mobile’s SVP Kim Hyun-Joon promising that the company would address this.
We will respond more aggressively to meet demand in the Chinese market […] in the latter half of this year by introducing more products with better specification as well as better price competitiveness …
iFixit has added to the poor reception given to Amazon’s first ever smartphone, the Fire Phone, by rating it 3/10 for repairability. Even Amazon didn’t seem to have great confidence in the technology, its first ad focusing instead on the free 1-year Amazon Prime subscription you get with the phone.
Despite external, non-proprietary screws and no adhesive holding the casing together, iFixit found that simply removing the battery proved challenging, requiring a mix of heating and prying. After that, says the company, things only got worse …
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LG Electronics shared its second quarter earnings results on Wednesday, announcing that it shipped a record-high 14.5 million smartphones during the three-month period ending June. The successful quarter for the Korean electronics maker saw its net profits rise 165 percent to $399.8 million over the year-ago quarter, with consolidated revenue of $14.93 billion and operating profit of $588.5 million.
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There’s nothing worse than wanting something you can’t have. Unfortunately, that happens to be the case for the best Android smartphone on the market. Of course, “best” is completely subjective, but there are a lot of factors that make the OnePlus One my go-to Android smartphone and 2014’s “flagship killer.” It may not have everything for everyone, but it has everything I need and all for half the price of the current competition.
When the OnePlus One was introduced, it dropped jaws within the Android community. It’s powered by the latest and greatest specifications on the market and priced at just $299 for the 16GB model and $349 for the 64GB model. The catch is, you’ll need an invitation to buy it. Yup, that’s right an invitation, but we’ll talk about that more in a little bit…
A new phone called the Gionee Slim S 5.5 measures in at a mere 5mm thin and is being touted by the company as the world’s thinnest smartphone. Looking eerily similar to another rumored phone, it comes in ‘gold and white’ as well as ‘black and grey’ while also featuring a metal and glass chassis. Although it might be a cheap knockoff, its got impressive specs to back it up. The device boasts an unknown octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 2,300mAh battery. The phone retails for RS22,999, which comes to about $385.
If you’re as old as I am, you probably have fond memories of your first featurephone. They might seem prehistoric now, but some of them were very advanced for their time.
German website Curved has had some fun imagining what ye olde phones might look like running either Android or Windows Phone. They even show what Windows Phone would have looked like on an early Nokia monochrome LCD display.
Check out a few of the photos here, and the full gallery over on the Curved website.
LG has announced a new mid-tier smartphone dubbed the G3 Beat, which features a 5.0-inch display, a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU, 8 GB of bulit-in storage, an 8 MP rear camera with laser auto-focus, and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera.
The phone runs Android 4.4.2 and is compatible with the standard 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and LTE connections commonly found in mid-range devices. Of course, LG’s Smart Keyboard is also present, along with other LG staples like QuickMemo+ and Gesture Shot.
Black, silver, and gold versions of G3 Beat will go on sale in the South Korean market on July 18th, followed by a rollout in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. There’s no word yet on when this specific model will reach North America, though according to My LG Phones, a device by the same name was just approved by the U.S. FCC.
According to a new report out of Korean news outlet ETNews, Samsung is preparing to launch an all-metal device as early as next month called the Galaxy Alpha. According to the report, Samsung intends to heavily market the device as a competitor to Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6.
According to industry insiders on July 13, the Galaxy Alpha, which Samsung will launch next month, is a premium smartphone made of a metal. It is forecast to counter the iPhone 6 scheduled to be released in September. It appears that Samsung will rebound from its recent poor performance with a new smartphone lineup, not the Galaxy S or Galaxy Note Series.
Robots aboard the International Space Station will soon be equipped with depth sensing smartphones courtesy of Google. The space-ready handsets will be from the search giant’s Project Tango initiative that uses 3D image tracking technology to map their surroundings. The phones with hitch a ride on a cargo spacecraft scheduled to launch on July 11th and will be the eyes and ears of NASA’s Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES).
Back at Google I/O, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects team showed off the first booting prototype Project Ara device and teased that the first units would be available to developers later this year. Today, Google announced that 100 members of its Ara Scouts program will soon be the recipients of the first Project Ara devices. In a post announcing the closure of the Ara Scouts program, Google said that the lucky 100 people were chosen based on how often they participated in the Scouts program.
Following a CIRP report claiming that BlackBerry’s smartphone market share was now zero (that is, too small to measure), the company has hit back with a ‘fact check’ portal intended to present its side of the story to what it sees as “sensationalized reports.”
To be fair to the company, the CIRP report in question measured consumer share, while BlackBerry’s strength has always been in the enterprise market, where BlackBerry says it still leads.
[In the Enterprise space] BlackBerry has the largest install base, an unparalleled global infrastructure, and the deepest understanding of how to provide secure, productive mobile collaboration and communications in the enterprise space.
Which may well be true for the moment, but the very fact that the company feels it has to work so hard to present its case is testament itself to its precarious prospects.
BlackBerry announced earlier this month that apps on the Amazon Appstore will be available to BlackBerry 10 owners from the fall.
The WSJ reports that Samsung stock fell 1.9 percent as chief financial officer Lee Sang-hoon admitted that the company’s quarter two performance “doesn’t look too good.”
The comments were enough to drive down the stock price. Samsung Electronics’ stock fell 1.9% to 1,320,000 won (US$1,296.4) as concerns over slowing profit growth reignited. Shares have fallen 8.5% so far this month, hit by a series of downgrades in earnings forecasts for the world’s largest seller of smartphones …
Android Wear is expected to be a major part of Google’s showing next week during its I/O conference and to give a hint of what’s on deck, the company has released a new video overlooking what its new platform has to offer. This introduction demo highlights Mountain View’s intentions for its new software, discussing what separates it from the Android experience on a smartphone, detailing its focus on convenience.
The OnePlus One is one of the most talked about devices in 2014. This budget flagship smartphone is here to take out the competition with high-end specifications that are comparable with any other top of the line device. OnePlus unveiled the device earlier this year and since then it has grabbed the attention of many consumers.
The first wave of devices are finally shipping and today we’re taking a look at the 64GB Sandstone Black model to find out what all of the hype is about. Check out our hands-on and overview video below for more information and a closer look at the OnePlus One…
We’re one day away from Amazon’s big reveal and it’s now being rumored that the company’s new smartphone will be exclusive to AT&T, according The Wall Street Journal. If true, this would nurture an existing relationship between the two companies, with Ma Bell currently offering wireless services for Amazon’s Kindle tablets. As for non-AT&T customers interested in the online retailer’s first smartphone, it’s unclear if Amazon will offer an unlocked version of its new handset, or the device will truly be exclusive to America’s second largest wireless carrier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erUZQ9GK0sE
Update: Amazon has officially announced its 3D phone dubbed the Fire Phone. You can read the full breakdown here.
Amazon has just announced that it is holding a press event in Seattle on June 18th. The company says that it will unveil a new device at the event. Amazon is also letting anyone request an invite to it by simply filling out a form on its website.
The company also posted a video showing reactions to the new device by customers. One person remarked that “it moved with” them and another claimed that they’ve “never seen anything like” it before. All the customers are essentially moving their heads around with the device. It is widely expected to be a 3d-capable smartphone, which the company has allegedly been working on for quite a while.
It may not be the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 that has been rumored widely, but a new smartphone/tablet dubbed the Galaxy W has now been made official in Korea (via Engadget). Clocking in at 7 inches, its screen size isn’t far off from other Samsung phablets — like the Galaxy Mega 6.3 — and ultimately, holding it up to your face will feel dorky as ever. But this phone in particular hopes to be the best tablet-smartphone blend yet, promising to be more comfortable than other 7-inchers in the market.
We reported on a 7-inch mystery device that passed through the FCC late last week, and it’s clear that this may very well be that device when comparing specs. Both that FCC filing as well as this press release describe the phone as having a 7-inch display (sadly at just 720p), a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and a camera duo made up of a 2-megapixel front-facing lens and an 8-megapixel primary lens.
The device is going to ship with almost-year-old Android 4.3, and will have an off-contract price tag of approximately 499,400 won — or $489.
LG has finally unveiled the upcoming G3. It’s possible that this will be the most leaked smartphone of 2014, but at least all of the specifications and features are official now. This device is definitely a big step up from the G2 and will be a strong contender against the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8. So what can you expect from the LG G3? Take a look at the full overview below.
