More Galaxy S9 Rumors; Huawei Mate 10 Coming to US New Facebook Tools & Facial Recognition; Worst Passwords

Posted: December 19, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It appears that Samsung will be again aping Apple, and the Galaxy S9 will be something of an ’S’ model…virtually identical on the outside to the present model. According to bgr.com, though, there will be some desirable upgrades inside. First off, it looks like a beefy 3200 mAh battery, up 7% from the S8. Also, the S9 reportedly will support Quick Charge 3.0 tech and 12W fast wireless charging. For comparison, Apple’s iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus just have 7W fast charging. We should see the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in late February, and they should be in hand by March.

Huawei has be rumored to be working on coming to the US via at least one of the mobile carriers. Now, 9to5google.com reports that we will probably find out who at CES next month, and that the Mate 10 will go on sale in the US in 2018. The rumor is, the Huawei hero handset will be offered through AT&T and Verizon.

Facebook has announced some new features, including one that keeps people you’ve blocked from making up a new profile and trying to contact you. Techcrunch.com says the tool kit detects the IP address and other signals to make sure the person stays blocked. They also have added one to ignore conversations, and move those to your filtered messages folder. A really slick addition now uses facial recognition to notify you if someone uploads a photo with you in it…even if you’re not tagged. You can choose to stay untagged, tag yourself, or report the photo if you think it’s inappropriate.

What are the worst passwords of the year? Splash data has put out the list, taken from over 5 million passwords that were leaked across 2017 by hackers. Macrumors.com reports that the top one is an old favorite from way back. Here are the top 5…PLEASE tell me none of you reading this has ever used these!!
1. 123456
2.password
3. 12345678
4. querty
5. 12345
If you ‘have a friend’ who’s using any of these, ask them to change to something stronger, and don’t admit it!

Predicted iPhone 8 Pricing; Galaxy S8 Battery Life Beats All Other Hero Androids; Self-Healing Smartphone Screen by 2020?

Posted: April 5, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Most rumors have the iPhone 8…or whatever it will be called…coming in at over $1000, but now that the Samsung Galaxy S8 is out and less than that, analysts are revising downwards. Macrumors.com says while Apple is always pricey, they do stay very competitive. Now, the best guess is $850-$900 for a 64 gig model…just over the $840-$850 bucks for the Galaxy S8+. A 256 gig iPhone would then be $950 to a grand, so it still could break that barrier, but less people buy those. The 7S and 7S Plus are expected to stay $649 and $749 like the models they will replace.

The Samsung Galaxy S8+ beats all other top line Android phones in battery life. 9to5google.com reports that it comes in at exactly 8 hours. This beats the S7, which was 7 hours 18 minutes, and also blows past the Google Pixel, the OnePlus 3T and the rest. It does fall way short of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus, though…the Plus makes it 9 hours and 5 minutes! The new Samsung does fully recharge in an hour and 40 minutes if plugged in…longer if wireless charging is used.

Hate plastic screens? Like Gorilla Glass? You may change your tune in 2020. According to zdnet.com, scientists think we will have self-healing, stretchy conductive plastic screens that can recover from cuts and scratches. There are already phones like the LG Flex 2 that have self-healing backs, but they aren’t conductive, so can’t be used in touch screens. More testing is being done, but you could be able to ditch covers for your beautiful phone in just a few more years.

Bigger Battery for iPhone 7; New Tiny Nintendo Classic Out This Fall

Posted: July 14, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nintendo-Classic-Mini-NES-console-796x398

If there’s anything smartphone users whine about, it’s battery life. Even Facebook has an entire center devoted to running their software on older phones, to ensure a change doesn’t cause a huge battery drain. Now, 9to5mac.com has picked up a report that the iPhone 7 will get a 1960 mAh battery, up from the 1715 mAh of the 6S (which, by the way was a downgrade from iPhone 6.) Of course, it may be that the A10 processor will be more power hungry, but we have to wait until September to actually find out. No leak about the 7 Plus or Pro, but if it also gets a 14% battery bump, it would go from 2750 mAh to 3140.

With the nostalgia mania about Pokemon Go, to quote Ron Popiel ‘but wait…there’s more!’ Thenextweb.com reports that Nintendo is going to launch the Nintendo Classic in November. It’s a miniature version of the original NES console that fits in your hand! It will cost 60 bucks, and come preloaded with 30 classic games. An extra controller will set you back an extra 10 bucks. Did I mention that it’s cute, tiny, and only 60 bucks?

Netflix On Track To Be Bigger Than The Combined Broadcast Networks

Posted: June 26, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Netflix is on a roll, and heading towards eclipsing ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Bgr.com reports that in the first 3 months of 2015, they added 4.9 million new subscribers, bringing the total to 62.3 million. According to a research report from FBR Capital Markets, the 10 billion hours of content streamed over Netflix right now would be like having a Nielsen 24 hour rating of 2.6…that puts Netflix on the level with ABC and NBC right now. If their growth rate continues, by next year, Netflix will pass up all the broadcast networks combined!

Apple has updated the terms of its AppleCare+ Protection Plan for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch to cover batteries that retain less than 80% of their original capacity within the extended warranty period. Macrumors.com says before now it only covered batteries that held less than 50% of their original capacity. The change applies to AppleCare+ purchased for iPhone, iPad, iPod and all Apple Watch models on April 9th, 2015 or later.

A Killer App for Apple Pay & Better Battery Life

Posted: June 9, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We’ve noted that while Apple says they hope to have half the top 100 retailers signed up for their iPhone based payment system by year’s end, they’re a long way away. Something shown at WWDC may be the proverbial killer app to energize the system. TechCrunch.com points out that Apple announced a new partnership with Square. Square will make a new card reader for small businesses that will take Apple Pay by NFC, or the regular old credit card swipe.

Something long clamored for by users is better battery life. iOS 9 rolls out improvements that will give an extra hour of use without doing anything differently. In addition, cnet.com reports there’s a new low power mode that Apple claims will net you an additional 3 hours of battery life on iPhones and iPads. It turns off processes under the hood, and Apple claims it won’t restrict your usage as much as the Android low power mode does. That said, Google is expected to give users more battery savings in the upcoming Android M.

New Technology Recaptures Phone Energy and Extends Battery Life

Posted: May 5, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One of the most ingenious gadgets ever is in the pipeline. Nikola Labs has cooked up an iPhone 6 case that harvests electricity from the cellular, wi-fi, and Bluetooth transmitters in your phone. According to techcrunch.com, they will launch a Kickstarter by the end of the month for $99, and have a case out by September. Nikola claims they can recycle enough RF energy to give you 30% more battery life! The tech can be used in other devices that have little RF transmitters like smartwatches and tablets.

Dropbox is going to drop an update for iOS in the next few weeks that will let you create Microsoft Office files from scratch online…not just edit them. Engadget.com reports that it will also bring commenting functionality. No word on when an Android release is coming, but you can bet it’s in the pipeline, too.

Coming With Apple TV Update

Posted: March 21, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The next version of Apple TV should make its debut at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Thenextweb.com says it will sport a new faster processor, more storage, Siri and HomeKit integration. They are likely to reveal more about their streaming TV service at WWDC, and preview an App Store just for Apple TV.

If you are really considering a smart watch, but worry about the poor battery life most have, bgr.com reports that Vector has a couple models available for preordering now. They claim 30 days of battery life for both the rectangular and round dial versions. A ‘sensor activated notification system’ pulls up notifications with the flick of a wrist. They sell for between $244 and $425.

According to tech crunch.com, next week at their F8 developer conference, Facebook will announce new ways for third parties to offer experiences through its messenger app. Facebook is wanting to turn Messenger into a freestanding platform.