Tech Industry

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 4 are now up and running at multiple wireless carriers and to further motivate consumers to buy its new flagship smartphone, Samsung is running a new trade-in promotion that guarantees $200 for your old device. In order to take advantage of this offer, you need to pre-order the Note 4 from any carrier or retailer and trade in a working smartphone between now and October 16th.

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Samsung may have switched some of its devices over to premium metal materials, however this change doesn’t mean the company is migrating all of its hardware to a high-end build. The South Korean electronics maker is reportedly developing a new family of devices known as the Galaxy A series. Pictured above is an alleged shot of the Samsung Galaxy A5, which carriers the model number of SM-A500.

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With the exception of its highly successful PlayStation 4, many of Sony’s consumer electronic brands have been struggling lately. So it came as a bit of a surprise when the company revealed development plans for its own smart eyewear. Referred to as SmartEyeglass, it almost looks like a leftover set of 3D glasses from Sony’s Bravia TV division, but instead it’s the company’s answer to Google Glass.

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News Corp. recently issued a letter to the European Union blasting Google’s search and advertising practices. The correspondence also requested that the EU enforce stricter policies against the software company. News Corp. chief executive Robert Thomson wrote that Google was “willing to exploit its dominant market position to stifle competition.”

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After months of crazy marketing gimmicks, invite purchase systems and secret handshakes, the OnePlus One will be up for pre-order starting in October. Today, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer announced plans to make ordering its “flagship killer” a lot easier and also gave an explanation of why it used an unconventional invitation-based purchase system in the first place.

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Today, Google, Dropbox and the Open Technology Fund announced Simple Secure, a new non-profit organization focused on making open source security tools easier to use. The group recognizes that several effective consumer-focused security options currently exist, however it also points out that these platforms have poor adoption rates because they’re too confusing for people to use. Stating that security measures like two-factor authentication are often avoided and viewed as a hassle.

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Remember those StyleSwap covers that OnePlus announced a couple of months ago? You know, the ones that were supposed to go on sale last month? Unfortunately, the young company ran into some production issues that have resulted in the cancellation of the product as a whole.

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Educators in the city of Boston already have an established relationship with Google and today the company has furthered this connection by donating $185,000 worth of school supplies to teachers in Massachusetts. The search giant recently partnered with the DonorsChoose, a non-profit crowdfunding charity organization the lets teachers request materials needed for their classrooms.

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T-Mobile is about to get a new gigantic smartphone and it isn’t the iPhone 6 Plus. The carrier recently announced that it will exclusively offer the ZTE ZMAX, starting on September 24th for $252 outright, or $10.50 per month for two years. Not exactly a game changer, the Chinese phone maker’s next big thing has a 5.7-inch HD display, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 3,400mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat.

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WiFi home calling company Republic Wireless announced today that it will soon offer Motorola’s low-priced Moto E off-contract for $99. The handset is set to go on sale today and ship sometime next month. If you’re unfamiliar with this budget-friendly device, Motorola’s everyman smartphone is equipped with a 4.3-inch qHD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and Android 4.4 KitKat.

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NVIDIA is now accepting pre-orders for the 32GB LTE version of its Shield gaming tablet. Priced at $400, this premium version of the chip maker’s slate is almost identical to what was released a few months ago, with the exception of its network connectivity and higher storage capacity. In terms of hardware, the Shield packs an 8-inch 1,920 x 1,200 display with a Tegra K1 processor and 2GB of RAM.

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After giving its postpaid service plans an overhaul, Sprint is making some changes to its off-contract options as well. Today, the American wireless carrier announced a trio of new prepaid options for customers who’d rather not sign on the dotted line. Similar to what the company offers to its Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile subscribers, Sprint’s new plans feature an all you can eat talk and text setup, with a tiered data structure.

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HTC is reportedly working on a new GoPro-like waterproof camera that can be used to capture footage of extreme sports and other activities, according to Bloomberg. Such a device would be the company’s first camera that’s not permanently attached to a smartphone. Little is known about the unannounced gadget, however it’s said to feature a wide-angle lens, a 16-megapixel sensor and compatibility with both Android and iOS.

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HTC just blessed our inbox with an invite for a media event referred to as “Double Exposure.” Set to take place on October 8th in New York City, the invitation’s tagline sounds like something to do with photography and looking at HTC’s track record, we’re thinking it’s related to the company’s recent inclusion of dual-cameras on its top-shelf smartphones. Whatever the case, we’ll be there to find out what the Taiwanese phone maker is up to. So be sure to save the date.

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Google has agreed to invest $145 million in a 82MW solar power plant project in Kern County, California. Set on top of a former gas and oil field, the 737-acre facility will be loaded with over 248,000 SunEdison mono-crystalline solar PV modules. Once up and running, the Regulus power plant will crank out enough energy to power more than 10,000 homes.

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Google has acquired Lift Labs, a San Francisco company that has developed eating utensils that provide “proactive care” for people with essential tremor and Parkinson’s Disease. A Google spokesperson confirmed the deal with The New York Times, saying that the company will be rolled into the search giant’s Life Sciences unit, which is part of its super secret Google X lab.

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It looks like HTC wasn’t the only one to take a jab at Apple’s new king size iPhone 6 Plus. The Cupertino-based software giant’s longtime rival Samsung took to social media to taunt the company’s latest effort. The South Korean electronics manufacturer recently posted a tweet with a message saying “Big improvements and innovation come with change – even they thought so.” The social media post ended with an embedded image citing a now famous 2010 quote from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, saying “No one is going to buy a big phone.”

Steve took the opportunity to rip on bigger rivals, saying that making a phone so big “you can’t get your hand around it” helps, but that “no one’s going to buy that.” We’re assuming he’s likely talking about the latest crop of 4-, 4.3- and 5-inch phones that include the Galaxy S series, the EVO 4G, Droid X, and Dell Streak, even going so far as to call them “Hummers”

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Google has been battling allegations of burying rival companies in its web search results while promoting its own services, such as Maps and YouTube. The search giant was close to avoiding costly fines from the European Commission, but following negative feedback from its competitors, Google will now have to take additional measures to settle this multi-year investigation.

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