Mobile Devices - Page 116

Computex 2016 - ASUS has announced it's new ZenFone 3 Deluxe flagship model at the Zenvolution press event in Taipei, along with two other offerings.

ASUS's new ZenFone 3 Deluxe is a pretty beefy flagship smartphone, sporting up to 6GB of onboard RAM system memory alongside Qualcomm's new powerful Snapdragon 820 processor. The ZenFone 3 Deluxe starts at $499, and features a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen wrapped in an all-metal unibody design. Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 over USB Type-C ensures the ZenFone 3's 3,000mAh battery charges super quickly, and the smartphone has 64GB onboard storage that's expandable to up to 256GB.

The other mothers include the $249 ZenFone 3, which packs a 5.5-inch 1080p Super IPS+LCD display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a Snapdragon 625 processor; and the $479 ZenFone 3 Ultra, a bigger handset with a 6.8-inch 1080p screen, 4GB of RAM, Snapdragon 652 processor, and a massive 4,600mAh battery that supports quick-charging over USB Type-C. The ZenFone 3 Ultra also sports "4K TV grade image processing", and two of ASUS's new five-magnet stereo speakers for cinematic 3D surround sound over DTS Headphone: X and virtual 7.1 surround. If that wasn't enough, the ZenFone 3 Ultra's 4,6000mAh battery supports PowerBank mode that can share power and "jumpstart other devices".

Say what you like about Apple, but it's easy to ensure you have the latest operating system on your iPhone at any given time. With Android, not so much: vendors that aren't Google are notorious for for keeping you on old versions of the operating system, causing security issues and preventing users from accessing new features. Such is the downside of an open ecosystem, which forces vendors into extensive, time-consuming update testing across many different phones.

Google has been doing its best to get around these issues as well as persuading some vendors to behave better, and now people familiar with the matter claim its currently busy creating rankings for vendors in order to shame them into better serving users. Said rankings depict how current the companies are or aren't, thereby encouraging potential customers to buy a phone with a more proactive company.

"[They are] putting pressure on," said Ryan Sullivan, vice president of product development at Sprint, who says he's seen the data behind the rankings. "Since we are the final approval, we are applying pressure because our customers are expecting it."

Popular part-racing part-sports game Rocket League gets even better today as developer Psyonix launches cross-platform play. When the clock strikes 6pm ET / 10pm UTC, Xbox One players and PC players can duke it out with each other, making the game that much more competitive and making it that much easier to find a quality match.

"We're really excited to bring Xbox One and PC players closer together," said Jeremy Dunham, Vice President, Psyonix. "Cross-network play has been something that Xbox One gamers have been asking us for since the day we launched, and thanks to Microsoft's new cross-network policies, we're proud to give it to them."

The Xbox One player base stands tall at about two million; as of August 2015, PC sales were at one million.

NVIDIA's Shield TV device is set to receive its new v3.2 software soon, which will make it the first Android TV-based device to support High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. Android 7.0 will be capable of HDR, but NVIDIA wants to be first.

HDR will open the doors to VUDU and Netflix with HDR content, with HDR using different video feeds at different light levels combined to make the image vibrant with colors at all lighting levels. The catch? You'll need an HDR-capable TV, and there's not many of those, yet. Additionally, the v3.2 update to Shield will include support for 4K 60FPS playback on YouTube.

Not only that, but the new Shield update will allow NVIDIA's GameStream service to access HDR content as well, but with no date provided by NVIDIA, we don't know when to expect the exciting new update for Shield. Boo.

According to the latest rumors, Intel has secured itself a big contract with Apple for the next-gen iPhone. DigiTimes reports that Intel will be supplying Apple with half of the modem chips required for the next-gen iPhone launching in September.

Intel will reportedly package the modems for the new iPhone, but have tapped TSMC and tester King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) to manufacture the chips. Right now, Qualcomm is the supplier of LTE modems chips for the iPhone, but Apple is wanting to shift having all of its eggs in one basket.

There's not much new with the next-gen iPhone, but a win is a win for Intel in the smartphone game. Now imagine if the iPhone was truly powered by a mobile processor from Intel... that would change, everything.

It looks like NVIDIA will be releasing a new Shield tablet in the very near future, with a new Shield passing through the FCC.

The FCC's testing report doesn't go into much detail, but the new NVIDIA Shield will feature 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and that it'll be measured at 8.6 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches. This means the new Shield will be slightly smaller than the old Shield, so we should expect it to come in with an 8-inch display. It has the same basic design as the previous Shield, and that's not a bad thing because the Shield is pretty damn sexy.

Someone on the NVIDIA forums has said that the new slate is mentioned in NVIDIA's Android TV code a few times as "Hawkeye", who says that it'll be powered by the Tegra X1. NVIDIA's Tegra X1 is pretty damn powerful, and it'll be joined by 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a resolution of 1920x1200.

The next-gen iPhone 7 will reportedly have 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM, as well as a new dual-camera image processor. Apple has some impressive camera software technology on its current iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, but the new iPhone 7 will pump things up a few notches according to the latest rumors.

The iPhone 7 is expected to have a touch-sensitive Home button, as well as a waterproof chassis - finally. The dual-camera system has me excited, as it'll let people capture a video or a photo, and then you'll be able to view the transition between lenses seamlessly, by touching a spot on the photo to zoom in with the second lens - which sounds awesome.

Inside, we are to expect a next-gen A10 processor, as well as a 3100mAh battery and up to 256GB available, which will be great as an upgrade from the current flagship model featuring 128GB of storage. We should expect Apple to unveil the new iPhone later this year.

ASUS has just announced its new "Zenvolution" event for May 30, just before Computex kicks off in Taiwan - which runs between May 31 - June 4.

The company has a new teaser site counting down to the event, which will take place at Humble House Taipei, with a livestream to take place, too. ASUS is expected to announce the ZenFone 3, as well as the purported ZenFone 3 Deluxe.

What should we expect from the next-gen ZenFone smartphone? Android Central says we should see 2.5D curved glass on the front and back, USB Type-C connectivity, a fingerprint sensor, front LED flash, and laser autofocus on the back. The Deluxe version should sport an all-metal design, with a physical button on the front.

Apple's next-generation iPhone 7 might not force millions of mobile owners to buy new accessories after all.

When reports broke out that Apple's iPhone 7 would replace the 3.5mm headphone jack with a new all-in-one Lightning connector, the mighty tech giant drew the ire of millions of iPhone owners across the world. Luckily, it looks like those reports are false, and the iPhone 7 will keep the 3.5mm jack.

According to a recently leaked photo of the iPhone 7's innards, the new flagship will sport a 3.5mm jack. The component was compared to that of an iPhone 6S, showing obvious similarities and differences that could indicate it's a new iPhone model. Then again, the source of the leak is unverified--as they so often are--so this could be a fake.

Fingerprint modules on smartphones typically require you to press your finger on a raised button, meaning they must be mounted externally. LG's South Korean outfit Innotek is innovating on this front, though, and has created a fingerprint sensor that doesn't require a button at all and is mounted beneath the screen, thus offering the functionality without interfering with the form.

With the sensor out of the way, companies can be more free with their smartphone designs.

The sensor is said to be safe thanks to high-strength cover glass which protects it from water and scratches, while a proprietary adhesive keeps it secure even after high impact. It's also said to have an extremely low false acceptance rate of 0.002%.

While the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus are the current flagship smartphones from Apple, we're months away from the purported iPhone 7 - and years away from the iPhone 8. That however, doesn't stop the rumor mill from spinning out rumors on the iPhone 8.

The iPhone 8 will reportedly feature a system-on-chip on the 7nm process, which should deliver a huge jump in performance, and hopefully, battery life. The iPhone 8 will reportedly feature wireless charging, and the lack of the TouchID-based home button.

Barclay's analyst Mark Moskowitz has said that there might not be an 'S' cycle next year, with Apple skipping the 'S' series smartphone and jumping directly from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone 8. Moskowitz said: "Silver lining - there might be no "S" cycle in C2017. Our conversations with industry participants suggest Apple could skip the "S" cycle next year and instead jump to IP8. The jump could showcase major form factor changes, including OLED, no home button, and wireless charging. In our view, these potential changes could drive a mega cycle, underpinning our C2017 iPhone unit growth estimate of 10.3%, vs. 6.3% previously".

Apple's thin and light Macbook, a return to the popular less expensive non-pro brand, has been updated with new Skylake processors that should help increase already great battery life and boost performance while still keeping it just as petite.

The exterior has retained the same svelte 11.04 x 7.74 x 0.52-inch and 2.03lbs dimensions, but pick up a new Rose Gold finish to compliment the Space Grey, Silver and Gold options already in the store. The changes under the hood are evolutionary, changing out the Broadwell M processors for Skylake M. Now the $1,199 model comes standard with a new 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M3 attached to 256GB of PCIe-based storage with 8GB of LPDDR3 1866 and Intel's HD 516 pulling graphics duty. The more expensive $1,599 model switches to a Skylake-based 1.2GHz Intel Core M5, 512GB of PCIe-based storage and the same 8GB of LPDDR3 1866. There's an option for both models to upgrade their storage and the processor to a more speedy M7 variety as well.

One of the major complaints against the re-envisioned Macbook was that the storage was much slower than it should have been, being purely SATA based, which has now been fixed at absolutely no price increase. The inclusion of the new processors should help with battery life and even the overall experience. Battery life is quoted as being an hour longer at around 10 for browsing and 11 fro movie playback. The original is a testement to the memory management and general efficiency of OSX, with most tasks being completed with ablomb. You won't use it as a primary video editing platform, however.

Apple is feeling generous, auctioning off a one-of-the-kind iPad Pro, Smart Cover, and Apple Pencil to London's Design museum to raise money.

The Apple products were donated by Jony Ive and the Apple design team, with the iPad Pro, Smart Cover and Apple Pencil produced for a once off in these colors. The three products are all made from the same materials the normal versions are made from, but the color scheme is custom.

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a greenish yellow color, while the Smart Cover is blue leather, and the Apple Pencil looks like it arrives in a slick leather case, in orange. There's a nice gold band around the top of the Apple Pencil, too, which makes it even more unique.

It looks like Verizon is preparing a new set-top box based on Intel technology, something it acquired a few years ago.

Intel sold its Internet television project to Verizon a few years ago for a rumored $500 million, but nothing much came of it - so the new rumors from Variety are pointing to the new STB from Verizon to launch with their Fios markets by the end of 2016.

Variety reports that Verizon filed documents with the FCC earlier in the week, looking for approval on a new "video set-top box". The purported set-top box is codenamed Mallard, and is considered the crowl jewel in Verizon's upcoming service. It will reportedly offer a new UI that won't look like the current Fios TV service, with the company reportedly starting work on the project before it acquired Intel's TV technology.

Two days ago, AMC CEO Adam Aron considered the prospect of bringing texting and phone use to his movie theaters, and it hasn't taken long for the idea to get canned. As was the case when Regal Entertainment brought it up two years ago, public feedback was resoundingly against it, and so the company has publicly announced it will not happen.

"We have heard loud and clear that this is a concept our audience does not want," Aron wrote in an open letter to customers, later continuing, "With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow, and not in the foreseeable future."

While it's easy enough to empathize with a desire to bring more young people to the movies, the consensus is clear: this isn't the way to go about it. Aron says AMC will instead focus on enhancing its technology, food and beverages selection, seating, loyalty program, and its website and app.

Adam Aron, new CEO of movie theater giant AMC is pondering allowing texting and phone use during films in a bid to get more millennials into seats.

"There does seem to be a consensus that there are pockets of consumers who do not see as many movies as other segments of the population and that we can be doing more to attract those people. Millennials come to mind," he said to Variety. "We need to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theaters with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives."

Asked if this would include allowing texting or phone use, he replied positively.

Some new screenshots have shown up that seem to show a few, albeit small, changes to Windows 10 Mobile. These new, small, improvements are supposedly part of a new build that'll be making it into a public build that'll be rolling out very soon. Or so sources say.

The changes focus on making significant changes to the Action Center and how it's arranged. In this, as of yet unknown version number, build it looks like you're able to rearrange quick actions by dragging them and dropping them where you'd like them. Microsoft, if these are to be trusted, has put a few settings in different places, such as the Glance screen now being in the Personalization section, which makes a bit more sense.

Other than that, there are some other improvements, or additions, in what might be the next build. A new Active Hours and a custom restart time. But aside from these screens, there's really no concrete information about what they're planning for the next Windows Mobile builds. This is, however, part of the Redstone branch of updates, which means that it's only available for those that are already running Windows 10 on their phones, or have been invited to update already. There'll be no updating for any phones any older than those already inducted into the Windows 10 hall of fame.

Meizu isn't about to let the rest of the world start announcing and releasing phones without having their own flagship refreshed as well. The Meizu PRO 6 is now official, and will be available starting this spring with some very high-end specs.

The new flagship phone from the Chinese company packs a smaller 5.2-inch super AMOLED screen, but with much more technology packed underneath. But not at the behest of battery-life. They've paired the MediaTek Helo X25 deca-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz with the Mali-T880, the flagship ARM-specified graphics chip. The two could potentially be a very potent combination, especially in terms of power savings with the way that the MediaTek can switch on tri-core clusters depending on the task at hand. It'll be able to draw from a 2560-mAh battery.

It had been rumored for some time that we'd see a massive 6GB of RAM, but instead, they've opted for a more reasonable, and realistic, 4GB and have paired that with either 32 or 64GB of internal storage. It's also can be expanded via the microSD slot as well, in case you want to keep your whole life on your phone. For the camera, they've gone with the tried and true Sony IMX 230 sensor at 13MP, which means that it's theoretically capable of 4K video recording and quite a few auto-focus points for taking photos faster. The front camera is a 5MP model of unknown type.

After yesterday's leak, the flagship HTC 10 smartphone has been officially revealed.

Featuring a 5.2'' Quad HD 2560 x 1440 pixel display said to be 30% more colourful and 50% more responsive than its predecessor and the popular Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor (in the US; customers elsewhere will get a different, currently unknown Snapdragon processor), the new phone should be well-equipped to display and handle modern tasks with the best of them. Boost functionality helps further, allowing you to optimize security, power, and memory management among other things with ease.

The design, meanwhile, includes a full-glass front with a metal body and boasts impressive durability as achieved through 168 hours of extreme testing.

Huawei might be a relative newcomer in the US given their presence is only just recently more popular due to their design-win with Google and the Nexus 6P, but they're actually one of the largest phone makers in the world and are making more waves with the announcement of their newest phones at an event in London, the P9 and P9 Plus.

These new phones are being targeted squarely at the high-end market, and have the specs to match. The P9 has a 5.2-inch screen, a Leica partnered 12-megapixel camera, 3,000mAh battery, USB-C port for connectivity, 3GB of RAM, and the company's own octa-core Kirin 995 processor inside of a very nice looking aluminum body. The P9 Plus has all of the above except has a much larger 3,400mAh battery, 4GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch screen instead. Both of them will have a fingerprint sensor located on the back of the chassis.

The most interesting spec is the camera, even though the resolution is rather normal at 12-megapixels, it's the partnership with Leica that means it could potentially be a powerhouse of a secondary, or dare I say, primary photo-taking device. There's a second 12-megapixel monochrome sensor that's supposed to be able to improve contrast within photos, and likely add a few more levels of dynamic range by tripling the amount of light that the whole camera can take in.