Mobile Devices - Page 129

Scientists at Stanford University have come up with what could be the future of battery technology, with an early prototype using aluminum capable of charging up in just one minute.

The aluminum-based battery is also safe from the worries of catching fire, somethign that plagues the current lithium-ion batteries. Stanford chemistry professor Dai Hongjie explains: "Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it". Previous attempts to use aluminum in batteries failed after just 100 recharge cycles, but Stanford's new prototype is capable of over 7500 recharges without any capacity loss.

Right now, the aluminum-ion cell can only pump out 2V, which is far less than the lithium-ion and its 3.6V. Aluminum cells also only carry 40W of electricity per kilogram, versus lithium-ion which is capable of delivering 100-206W per kilogram. Dai added: "Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density. Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting".

While Apple's latest iMac might feature a 5K display and the new iPhone 6 Plus has finally caught up to 2012 with its Full HD display, that doesn't mean the upcoming Apple TV will move into the pixel-dense world we all know and love.

According to a source of BuzzFeed News' John Paczkowski, the next-gen Apple TV will stick to 1080p content because 4K technology is "still in its infancy". The new Apple TV should rock an A8 processor which is 4K-capable, it's just that there's a big lack of content in the way. Although Amazon and Netflix have 4K content, there's not that much out there, and then there's the issue of consumers not flocking to 4K TVs in droves just yet.

Not only that, but you need a pretty snappy Internet connection to stream 4K video from YouTube, Amazon or Netflix - so there's that, too.

Microsoft is set for the biggest operating system launch its ever had with Windows 10 later this year, but what better time to reveal the fourth generation Surface Pro but with your new OS?

According to new reports, Microsoft won't be countering any new iPads until later this year with its Surface Pro 4, according to Venture Capital Post. The report says that there are rumors of a Surface Pro 4 announcement for July, but others are saying that it won't be unveiled until October, alongside Windows 10. This would have the Surface Pro 4 being the first device on the market with Windows 10 preloaded.

The other juicy part of this rumor is that the Surface Pro 4 will reportedly have a 4K screen, matched with an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, and of course; the stylus pen that the Surface Pro is known for. On top of that, the Intel processor powering the Surface Pro 4 could end up being the Skylake-based CPU, which is scheduled for an August release. We should expect two models: a 12-inch and 14-inch model, with up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are upon us, they are going through some serious tests to see just how well they bend. We went through this with the "bendgate" scandal of the iPhone 6 Plus, but I think people are missing the point here.

Anyway, SquareTrade has tested the latest handsets in the Galaxy S6 edge, iPhone 6 Plus and HTC One M9 in its 'BendBot' rig which puts 110 pounds of pressure onto these handsets. During the testing, the Galaxy S6 edge had its screen crack under the pressure, but the phone continued to work even with up to 149 pounds of pressure on it, in which it then stopped working. The iPhone 6 Plus was able to sustain a huge 179 pounds of pressure before it died.

This type of testing is pretty useless, as no one is going to put 149 pounds of pressure on their brand new Galaxy S6 edge. Also, #bendgate was over the iPhone 6 Plus bending from being in users pockets, not from machinery doing it. The Galaxy S6 edge has not had a single unit that has bent from being in a pocket just yet, so we need to put that "bendgate" word away, okay folks?

Apple's next generation iPhone should be unveiled later this year, and will have its A9 processor built by its main competitor; Samsung. Samsung has reportedly won the contract from TSMC, who made the A8 processors for the current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets.

Samsung will reportedly begin making Apple A9 processors at its Giheung plant in South Korea, according to sources of Bloomberg. Additional orders will be filled with Globalfoundries, one of Samsung's partners. With Samsung and TSMC fighting for contracts from companies like Apple and Qualcomm, it's quite the scoop for Samsung and its continued dominance of the industry.

TSMC is currently the world's largest contract manufacturer of chips, with the Taiwanese giant spending around $12 billion in plants and equipment in order to secure contracts from Apple and Qualcomm. Losing a large contract like this to Samsung isn't going to bode well with TSMC, but according to analysts, TSMC won't be laying low, as they'll reclaim the upper hand in 2016.

We are mere weeks away from the launch of the G4 smartphone, so what better time for LG to announce a new 5.5-inch LCD display? LG's new panel features a 2560x1440 (QHD) resolution with 538PPI.

The South Korean giant is claiming that this new QHD panel has much more accurate colors thanks to a huge 120% color gamut, with LG using AIT (advanced in-cell touch) technology to deliver increased touch sensitivity to the new panel, as well we other improvements such as higher contrast ratio and brightness compared to competing QHD panels.

LG doesn't name the G4 specifically, but it did tease that this new QHD panel would make an appearance in an upcoming flagship device.

It looks like LG will unveil its new Snapdragon 808-powered G4 smartphone on April 28, as it is asking various media outlets to "save the date" for a press night in New York, London and Paris on April 28, and in Seoul, Singapore and Instanbul on April 29.

The email that LG sent out includes an image that has them teasing "See the Great. Feel the Great" while using the G logo from its series of flagship handsets. All of this is printed onto a leather backing, which teases that the G4 could feature leather in way one or another.

We don't know much about the G4 apart from the rumors we recently posted, which see it featuring a Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch QHD 2560x1440 display.

Samsung has launched its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge smartphones, but its fellow South Korean rival has been hiding in the shadows with its forthcoming G4 smartphone.

We're beginning to hear more about the G4, which should feature the Snapdragon 808 processor instead of the Snapdragon 810 according to some leaked Geekbench results. The G4 should rock a 5.5-inch 2560x1440 display, 3GB of RAM, a 4K-capable rear-facing 15-megapixel camera, with a 7-megapixel front-facing camera.

The big news is here is the change from the Snapdragon 810 from previous rumors, to the 8-core Snapdragon 808 processor. This should be partnered up with Qualcomm's Adreno 418 GPU.

Some North Korean residents have been reportedly using Chinese media players worth $50 to watch smuggled information about the outside world in the form of TV, news and movies. Named 'notels' or 'notetels,' these devices contain USB and SD card support alongside live radio and TV capabilities.

To keep the device running, you can charge them through the help of a car battery which is explained by Gizmodo as helpful due to North Korea's unreliable electricity infrastructure.

With 18,000 units smuggled across the border by a single man and North Korean defector named Lee Seok-young, he told Reuters in an interview about the importance of these products and how the end-users are getting around authorities questioning their practice: "To avoid getting caught, people load a North Korean DVD while watching South Korean dramas on a USB stick, which can be pulled out. They then tell the authorities, who feel the heat from the notel to check whether or not it has been recently used, that they were watching North Korean films."

Designed to work with your iPhone, iPad or Mac computer, the jamstik+ is clearly labeled as a "Kickstarter staff pick" and has already over-doubled their $50,000 goal with 41 days still left to donate.

Connecting to your device though BluetoothSmart, this device pairs up with the jamTutor app in order to teach you a load of different guitar lessons or used with jamMix to create a sound of your own. The jamstik+ will sense the positioning of your fingers and helps to produce instant feedback to help with learning (or shredding).

An investment of $229 will see you receive a jamstik+ in black with a Custom Soft Case - listed as $120 less than the retail pricing.

The launch of Apple Pay late last year helped give the mobile payments effort a strong boost, with Apple promoting its service as extremely easy to use. However, six percent of purchases are reportedly made using stolen credit cards, which is a whopping 60 percent higher than regular credit cards.

Apple hoped for simplicity with Apple Pay, but security researchers believe Apple should require users to prove their identities when signing up. There is a fine line between providing a safe and secure service over one that is difficult to use - and Apple must now try to find that balance, in an effort to fight fraud.

"The issuers were probably so eager to be involved that they kind of forgot best practices and sidestepped some procedures they normally would've had [in order] to accept Apple Pay," said Michelle Evans, senior analyst for consumer finance at the Euromonitor market research firm, in a statement published by the Washington Post.

While Samsung has been experimenting with its Galaxy Edge and Galaxy S6 edge smartphones, the foldable smartphone era is nearly upon us.

Samsung's R&D section has been hard at work playing with foldable display technology, but it looks like we are getting closer to this entering the consumer space. An official for Samsung Display has said: "The industry believes that the commercialization of foldable smartphones will be possible in 2016". We should expect Samsung to unveil a foldable smartphone sometime in 2016.

LG is also planning to reach into the foldable smartphone market, and while it might be a year later than Samsung, 2017 isn't too far away now. LG still has its flagship G4 smartphone set to arrive in the coming months, and after the great sales of its G3 smartphone - 59.6 million units shipped - LG is positioning itself well.

Apple, Facebook, Samsung, Google, and more tech companies want to cater to consumers interested in making mobile wireless payments - even if that means they won't end up generating large revenue directly from mobile pay.

Traditional credit cards, banks and other processing companies take a small percentage, typically up to three percent per transaction, and rely on a large volume of daily transactions. Tech companies, however, want to get mobile users to become loyal to their respective services - though Apple Pay offers a fraction of each processed sale to banks.

"I've been surprised it's taken this long," said James Wester, research director at IDC, in a statement published by TIME. "Now consumers are seeing the mobile device as part of their financial lives. We've reached the point where paying with your phone is completely normal, or normal to enough people."

One of the most interesting, and usable things I've ever seen has just hit Indiegogo: the iDrink. iDrink is a case for your iPhone with a built-in blood alcohol content (BAC) breathalyzer, a first.

All you have to do is breathe into the iDrink with its fold=out mousepiece, and you get "super accurate BAC readings instantly" through their intuitive app. The company didn't stop there, as they also have a "ground breaking video game that changes difficulty based on a user's BAC level". The game is an interesting take, as it provides users with the ability of looking at what it would be like behind the wheel of your car based on your BAC level.

iDrink also helps iPhone users, as it will let you call a taxi to your GPS location, runs off of its own rechargeable battery, and of course - protects your iPhone from bumps and scratches. iDrink requires $20,000 of funding, and has 35 days left to go. The first edition iDrink case costs $150 and ships in March 2016.

During the CeBIT tech conference in Germany, Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi announced plans to begin offering smartphones and connected home products to European markets. The announcement means Xiaomi is building confidence and readying a future fight against Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and other popular brands already in the European market.

"We are in a position to go on the international market with smartphones and smart-home products," said Lei Jun, Chief Executive Officer at Xiaomi, in a statement during CeBIT. "In the future we will come to Germany, we will come to Europe and other regions in the world."

Xiaomi has focused on its home market of China, with international expansion to India, Brazil, and a few other select nations. The company is slowly planning expansion into the United States, but is taking a strategic approach before trying to launch smartphones that would compete with the Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and other popular leading devices in the US.

Up until now, you've had to purchase Android-powered devices through Google Play, but the Mountain View-based giant has just opened up a new store for all things Google, known as the Google Store.

The Google Store sells everything Google, including smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, Chromecast, Android Wear devices and accessories, and even Nest products. The new store UI is beautifully clean and easy to use, with the company adding that the store is the result that they've added countless products to their family over the last few years, and wanted to provide an easier way of purchasing them.

The launch of the Google Store is good timing, as the company has just launched its new Chromebook Pixel 2 laptop, which is now on sale for $999.

Fujitsu has developed a new iris authentication biometrics system, which the Japanese company has built into a prototype smartphone. The mobile device is unlocked simply when a user looks into the smartphone's screen, where the iris is read instantaneously. Fujitsu's system uses a custom compact infrared LED and infrared camera paired with biometric-authentication software to scan a person's iris.

Traditional security on smartphones begins with a password/PIN code or fingerprint scan, but the use of iris scanning provides new security opportunities. Fujitsu claims its technology is easy to use and difficult to fake, providing a more secure solution.

There is more focus on keeping smartphones secure, as users stay logged into email, social media accounts, and access mobile banking apps.

Huawei, the No. 2 largest smartphone manufacturer in China, plans to begin increased sales and marketing efforts in the United States. The company wants to focus on promoting smartphones and wearable devices, including sports team sponsorships, advertising and online promotion of its products to US consumers.

To win over US consumers, Huawei will launch cheaper low-end phones and higher-end smartphones, while creating partnerships with US wireless carriers - and major retailers. Analysts are curious to see if carriers and e-tailers will be reluctant to partner with Huawei, though there is time for relationships to be nurtured.

Just two years ago, the US said Huawei was a national security threat - a lesser concern following increased knowledge of US surveillance operations. However, Huawei faces a bigger battle trying to compete with Apple and Samsung in the United States, as both companies aren't willing to give up market share without a major fight.

MWC 2015 - Lenovo announced its VIBE Shot recently, which the company describes as a '2-in-1 camera smartphone' that is meant to help blend the worlds of smartphones and point-and-click cameras.

The way the VIBE Shot does this is by having buttons on the sides of the smartphone, like a point-and-click camera would. We have a full-frame 16:9 16-megapixel low-ligiht sensor, and tri-color flash, too. There's a 5-inch 1080p display on the front, and inside we have a Snapdragon 615 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

There's a 2900mAh battery, LTE Cat-4 and Android 5.0 Lollipop on the Lenovo VIBE Shot. All of this will arrive in a dual SIM offering, weighing in at 145g and just 7.3mm thin. A microSD card slot is provided for expanding upon the 32GB of on-board storage.

MWC 2015 - Early benchmarks have shown that Samsung's new Exynos processor in the new Galaxy S6 is just completely smashing the competition, even against the likes of the Snapdragon 810-powered HTC One M9 smartphone.

In a video captured at MWC, the Exynos processor in the new Samsung flagship handset is reaching around 70,000 in AnTuTu benchmark. This might not sound like much if you don't benchmark smartphones, but with most flagship handsets from 2014 scoring around 40,000 - 50,000, this is big news. Even the HTC One M9 smartphone scores 55,000 and is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor.

These handsets are being tested on the show floor, so we might not be seeing final software from HTC or Samsung just yet. But early numbers are showing that Samsung has quite the powerhouse processor in its Exynos SoC.