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1,101 'Tech Industry' stories May 2013 - June 2015
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $580, Galaxy Tab Pro $200, Bose Soundlink Mini II release, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 4 2015 - 12:55 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 Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $580 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4″ 16GB Black tablet: $200 shipped (Reg. $300) | Best Buy

Bose updates its best-sounding Soundlink Mini II portable Bluetooth speaker with (almost) everything we asked for

Motorola Nexus 6 from $499 shipped for 32 GB and $549 shipped for 64 GB (Reg. $649, $699) | Amazon

Get $50 in Google Play credit when you buy a Nexus 9 from $399 | Google Store

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $400 shipped (Reg. $700) | eBay

Various HTC deals are worth taking a look at

Father’s Day Gift Guide: top picks, exclusive discounts and a $482 giveaway

More new gear from today:

 

Klipsch Quintet 5-Channel Home Theater System: $160 shipped (orig. $550)

More deals still alive:

Save 20% on GoPro’s HERO4 Black Action Camera: $399 shipped (Reg. $500)

New products & more:

Logitech’s new Anywhere 2 wireless mouse follows the design of the popular Master MX

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Android Lollipop coming to a bevy of Sony Xperia smartphones

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 4 2015 - 9:31 am PT
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If there’s one smartphone manufacturer punching above the rest to provide the latest software from Google to the greatest amount of customers, it’s Sony. The company posted to its blog today that not only is Android 5.1 Lollipop rolling out to the whole series of Xperia Z-Z3 phones as well as the Xperia ZL, ZR, and Tablet Z right now, but July will be the beginning of a Lollipop rollout for even more devices.

First, in July the Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia C3 will get the update. Then starting “a little after we’ve made the update available for the Xperia Z Series,” the M2 and M2 Aqua will go directly to Android 5.1.

The company says to hang tight for more updates on each of these rollouts (noting that timing may vary by market and/or carrier) and follow them @SonyMobileNews on Twitter for information as its released, or keeping checking the blog. We’ll continue to keep you posted on these rollouts as well.

Early Twitter investor: Google still doesn’t understand social and should buy Twitter

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 4 2015 - 9:16 am PT
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Okay, we know what you’re probably thinking – that of course he’d want Google to buy Twitter, as he’s a shareholder, and a particularly large one in Twitter, at that – and as such has a large financial interest in its success. But Chris Sacca, who has worked as the Head of Special Initiatives at Google, is a smart guy with early investments in a lot of now-successful companies including Uber, Instagram, Bitly, and many more. And he thinks that Twitter and Google would be mutually benefited if they were married together as one.


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HTC unveils HTC One ME, a dual-sim smartphone packing MediaTek’s Helio X10 chipset

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 3 2015 - 8:28 pm PT
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Further differentiating its lineup (or complicating it, however you look at it), HTC has just unveiled a new dual-sim HTC One for the Chinese market called the HTC One ME, previously believed to be called ME9, via its website. The high-end smartphone matches the specifications and physical design of the One M9+ but only has a single 20MP round camera on the back, like the One E9+.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: GoPro HERO4 Black $399, Sony Bluetooth/NFC speaker $50, Nexus 6 from $499, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 3 2015 - 12:41 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:

Save 20% on GoPro’s HERO4 Black Action Camera: $399 shipped (Reg. $500)

Sony SRSX3 Portable Bluetooth Speaker w/ hands-free calling (refurb) $50 shipped (Orig. $150)

Motorola Nexus 6 from $499 shipped for 32 GB and $549 shipped for 64 GB (Reg. $649, $699)

Get $50 in Google Play credit when you buy a Nexus 9 from $399

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $400 shipped (Reg. $700)

Amazon now ships some smaller items for free even if you don’t have a Prime membership

Father’s Day Gift Guide: top picks, exclusive discounts and a $482 giveaway

More new gear from today:

Games/Apps: DmC Devil May Cry, XCOM, Remember Me $4 ea, more

More deals still alive:

Keep tabs on anything with Tile Bluetooth item tracker: $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $25)

New products & more:

Game Boy turns into a giant, Raspberry Pi-powered console that can play NES/SNES games

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Samsung all but confirms Galaxy S6 Active with official user manual

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 3 2015 - 10:18 am PT
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At this point we have to believe that Samsung just doesn’t care very much about keeping the Galaxy S6 Active – a ruggedized variant of the flagship Galaxy S6 – a secret, as information about the device has leaked multiple times already starting early last month. Today we get what is essentially a complete rundown of the device in the form of its user manual, courtesy of none other than Samsung US.

The manual, clocking in at 108 pages, includes everything from information on Samsung’s custom interface on top of Lollipop to how to install the SIM card and customize the function of the “Active” key found on the side of the device.

Since this manual is coming straight from the dragon’s mouth, we feel it safe to consider all the details within official and confirmed, so let’s go through the top-line specifications. The S6 Active has a 5.1″ 2560 x 1440 Quad HD Super AMOLED display, an Exynos 7420 octa-core processor, 32GB of non-upgradable internal storage, 16MP rear and 5MP front-facing cameras, and unlike previous rumors suggested, the battery is staying the same as the S6 at 2,550mAh. All of these internal specs are pretty much the same as the standard Galaxy S6, actually.

Aside from that it lacks, as we expected, a fingerprint sensor or touch-sensitive buttons in favor of rugged hardware keys, but preserves the heart rate sensor and interestingly weighs just as much as its standard counterpart. The manual shows off the S6 Active in both Camo White and Titanium Black paintjobs, though we still expect there to be a green camouflage variant as was the case with its predecessor, the S5 Active.

With this phone having already been submitted for FCC approval, which typically happens when a device’s specifications and hardware design are set in stone, and considering the launch of its predecessor in June of last year, we should be seeing this device officially confirmed by Samsung pretty soon.

Sketchy rumor has Samsung releasing Galaxy S6 Plus, a larger-screened S6 Edge

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 2 2015 - 2:09 pm PT
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According to Italian HDBlog via SamMobile, Samsung is planning on launching what is essentially a larger Galaxy S6 Edge and will call it the Galaxy S6 Plus. The device is apparently codenamed Project Zero 2. The South Korean electronics giant is expected to release the new phone in the coming weeks before IFA 2015 where it is still plans to release the Galaxy Note 5, which is being called Project Noble inside the company.


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Self-driving car testing green-lighted for Virginia highways

Avatar for Zac Hall Jun 2 2015 - 1:04 pm PT
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Virginia has okayed more than 70 miles of road space in the northern part of the state for testing self-driving cars, local media reports. This makes Virginia only one of a few states that allow autonomous automobile testing on public roads — California and Florida being the largest — giving Google and automakers more terrain to test their self-driving cars.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Nexus 6 from $499, Nexus 9 w/ $50 Play Store GC, Galaxy Note 4 (unlocked) $400, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 2 2015 - 11:18 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:

Motorola Nexus 6 from $499 shipped for 32 GB and $549 shipped for 64 GB (Reg. $649, $699)

Get $50 in Google Play credit when you buy a Nexus 9 from $399

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $400 shipped (Reg. $700)

Daily Deals: Logitech MX Wireless Laser Mouse $28, Bluetooth headphones or earbuds $20, more

USB Power banks: Lumsing 6,000mAh $11 Prime shipped, Omaker 15,600mAh $20 Prime shipped

Keep tabs on anything with Tile Bluetooth item tracker: $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $25)

Father’s Day Gift Guide: top picks, exclusive discounts and a $482 giveaway

More new gear from today:

Xbox One bundle/controller & refreshed Playstation 4 consoles leak ahead of E3

More deals still alive:

Headphones: Jabra Move Bluetooth on-ears $70 Shipped (Reg. $100), more

New products & more:

SanDisk details new portable USB C solid-state drives for MacBook and high capacity flash drives

GoPro’s new HERO+ LCD brings a touch display to its entry-level action camera

Google is developing tech that counts calories from your food pics

Avatar for Zac Hall Jun 2 2015 - 8:20 am PT
3 Comments
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How many calories does all that Android have?

Google showed off its new photo storage service at I/O last week with features including unlimited backup and searching for images by keywords, but the company has another image-related technology in development. Google can already recognize images of food when you search your photo library, but its currently developing technology that goes a step further by actually counting the calories in your meal based on your food shots. This could make dieting and calorie counting much more convenient in the future if it works well enough…
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Adult Swim will send you a free Google Cardboard viewer… if you fax them a form

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 2 2015 - 6:16 am PT
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All of the attendees of Google I/O this year (myself included) got the latest version of the Mountain View company’s Cardboard virtual reality headset for free—and now it looks like you can too. To promote their “Adult Swim Virtual Brainload” app, Adult Swim is trying to put a free Cardboard viewer in the hands of as many people as they can. But there’s only one catch: You have to fax them a form.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy Note 3 (unlocked) $265, Acer Chromebook 15 $336, Chromecast $24, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 1 2015 - 12:47 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 Galaxy Note 3 32GB (unlocked): $265 shipped (Reg. $500)

Acer Chromebook 15 C910-C37P 16-Inch Chromebook: $337 shipped (Reg. $400)

Google Chromecast (refurb) $24 shipped (Reg. $35) + free movie rental, UFC Fight Pass, and more

Samsung Class 10 microSD Flash Memory Cards w/ Prime shipping: 16GB EVO $7 (Reg. $15), 32GB Pro $18 (Reg. $37)

Kindle for Kids Bundle: Kindle e-reader + kid friendly cover + 2yr. warranty $99 shipped ($140 value)

GoPro’s new HERO+ LCD brings a touch display to its entry-level action camera

Father’s Day Gift Guide: top picks, exclusive discounts and a $482 giveaway

More new gear from today:

Daily Deals: Samsung 55″ Smart HDTV $800, Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard $27, more

More deals still alive:

PlayStation Plus free games for Junes: Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes, more

Xbox Live free games for June: Massive Chalice, Just Cause 2, Thief, more

New products & more:

Splatoon for Wii U inks the scene with colorful gameplay and an exclusive bundle

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OnePlus One drops to $249 this week with flash sales

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Jun 1 2015 - 8:25 am PT
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We can’t be sure whether or not this was what OnePlus meant when they said they’d “shake up the industry” on June 1st, but either way the company is holding flash sales on the OnePlus One at different times today through this Sunday, June 7th.

Here’s the full schedule of the next times the sale will go live:

June 2 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 3 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
June 4 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 5 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)
June 6 – 2:00 GMT (10 pm EST -1 day)
June 7 – 12:00 GMT (8 am EST)

During the flash sales (devices may go fast, so you’ll have to be quick) OnePlus is offering the 16GB Silk White OnePlus One for $249 and the 64GB Sandstone Black model for $299. That’s a pretty good steal for a solid alternative to the Nexus 6, which was priced unusually higher than its Nexus predecessors.

OnePlus long ago confirmed that they were working on the OnePlus 2 and said it was slated for “sometime in 2015,” but that’s all we know about that device.

Report: Nintendo’s next-generation NX games console may run Android [Update: Nintendo denies]

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jun 1 2015 - 7:17 am PT
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Update: The WSJ is reporting that Nintendo has denied the suggestion:

There is no truth to the report saying that we are planning to adopt Android for NX

Nintendo has been keeping quiet about its plans for its NX games console, due to launch next year, but a report in Nikkei claims that the system will run Android.

The report suggests Nintendo is planning the shift away from its own operating system as a means of bringing more games developers on board after the Wii U was left with almost no non-Nintendo titles available for it … 
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Google announces Android ‘M’ with a focus on ‘quality end to end,’ developer preview coming soon (Update: dev preview live now)

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 28 2015 - 10:44 am PT
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Update: Developers can find the preview images of Android M for Nexus 5 (GSM/LTE), Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player on the Preview SDK page. Google has said updates to the preview version will roll out regularly and that they’ll come down over-the-air, so you won’t have to flash your phone again each time it’s updated.

Google has announced the next major iteration of Android, called Android “M,” which Android VP of Engineering Dave Burke emphasized has a “focus on quality end to end.” Here are the six core changes coming to Android with this release.


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What are ATAP’s Project Soli and Project Jacquard?

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 28 2015 - 7:39 am PT
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Update: They’re official.

We’re at Google I/O 2015, and just made our way to the press lounge. On the way up, we stopped by the ATAP booth and snapped some spy pictures leading up to the keynote. Apparently, ATAP is working on a couple of new projects: Soli and Jacquard. Let’s see what we can find out before they’re officially announced in the coming hours…


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Twitter Kit and Digits for Android go open source

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 27 2015 - 2:13 pm PT
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With a swarm of developers from around the world converging on San Francisco’s Moscone Center tomorrow for Google I/O, Twitter wants them to keep the company’s real-time social platform at the top of mind. This afternoon it announced that its developer tools for integrating Twitter into Android apps have been open-sourced, with the projects now hosted publicly on Github.


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Verizon LG G4 pre-orders go live tomorrow, shipping before June 4th

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 27 2015 - 1:45 pm PT
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Thanks to Best Buy’s pre-order listings for the LG G4 going up early, we were already aware of the phone’s May 28th pre-order date and June 4th launch on Verizon, and earlier today the company made it official along with a previously unannounced LG tablet. A couple details have changed, however.
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Xiaomi is officially launching its Mi Store in the US and Europe, still without phones

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 27 2015 - 10:52 am PT
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After a “beta test” earlier this month, Xiaomi today announced on its Facebook page that its Mi.com online store will officially launch in the US on June 1st at 7pm PDT and in Europe (UK, Germany, France) on June 2nd at 1pm CEST.

Before Xiaomi introduced its store to the US and Europe on May 19th, Hugo Barra in a Q&A session at a Xiaomi press event in San Francisco said that the company’s tablets and smartphones would not be coming to the US later this year, but was considering bringing Mi.com and some of its accessories stateside. That of course happened, although this time it seems that the store will stay live indefinitely or at least have more than the “very limited quantities” from last time.

Developing…

Gartner: Android smartphone marketshare dropped 1.9% in early 2015

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 27 2015 - 10:33 am PT
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Gartner today released the results of a report on worldwide smartphone marketshare in Q1 2015 (first three months) which most notably found that Android’s hold on the smartphone OS market dropped 1.9% while Apple’s iOS saw it’s third consecutive quarter of gains. The research firm attributed Android’s loss largely to Apple’s newfound success in China – where Android saw a 4% decline over its share of that market last year –  on the back of the larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as increased differentiation and ecosystem lock-in through offerings like Apple Pay and Apple Watch.
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Justice Dept urges US Supreme Court not to hear Google’s appeal against Oracle in Java copyright case

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 27 2015 - 5:45 am PT
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The long-running dispute between Oracle and Google over whether Java application programming interfaces (APIs) used within Android were protected by copyright has taken another strange turn, with the Justice Dept urging the Supreme Court not to hear Google’s appeal.

The legal battle is over whether small sections of code originally written by Oracle’s predecessor, Sun Microsystems, can be used under the ‘fair use’ exemption to copyright laws. Google argues that it used only small code snippits, did so mostly for consistency and offered to pay royalties; Oracle argues that the code is its intellectual property, and the royalties offered were too low … 
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Moto 360 $150, Samsung 500GB SSD $150, Lumsing Bluetooth speakers $11, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 26 2015 - 1:25 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:

Motorola Moto 360 Android Wear smartwatch: $150 shipped (Reg. $250)

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive: $150 shipped (Reg. $180+)

Two rugged, highly-rated Bluetooth speakers from Lumsing: $11 Prime Shipped (Reg. $24+)

 

Anker Ultra-Slim Mini Bluetooth Keyboard for Mac, iPad, Apple TV, Android, PC more: $13 Prime shipped

Giveaway: Intrepid’s Journeyman messenger bag worth $379 is great for work or play

More new gear from today:

Home: Philips Men’s grooming products/shavers from $23, waterproof/floating LED flashlight $5 (Reg. $10), more

Games/Apps: amiibo figures 3 for $30, Sleep Cycle alarm clock $2 (Reg. $5), Bonza Word Puzzle goes free, more

More deals still alive:

30% off accessories from T-Mobile: Logitech Megaboom speaker $216, Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 6 $76, more

New products & more:

This origami style kayak unfolds and has you in the water in 10 minutes

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OnePlus is planning to ‘shake up the industry’ on June 1st, OnePlus Two likely

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 26 2015 - 10:47 am PT
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Thanks to a tweet sent by OnePlus, we have reason to believe that something special will be unveiled next Monday, June 1st. Nobody is really quite sure what to expect, with someone here at 9to5Google even suggesting that the placement of ‘time’ in the tweet might be a subtle suggestion of a new watch, but it seems more likely that it’s the OnePlus 2.

We recently reported here on the appearance of a mysterious device from OnePlus appearing in GeekBench test results. That device looked to be running Android 5.1 with an 8 core processor clocked at 1.55GHz. The unit had a model number of A2001, while the original OnePlus One has a model number of A0001.

OnePlus long ago confirmed that they were working on the OnePlus 2 and that it was slated for “sometime in 2015,” with a more specific Q3 timeframe pegged by reports at Bloomberg. June is the last month in Q2 so maybe they’ll announce June pre-orders with a July or August launch?

What do you think they’re announcement could be? Is it the OnePlus 2 or something else completely?