Nexus 6 for $250 at Amazon; Hi-Res Music May be coming to iTunes & Apple Music

If you are in the market for a phablet at a great deal, or for a last minute gift for someone you REALLY like, Amazon has a 32 gig Nexus 6 for $249.99 shipped in Cloud White or Midnight Blue. With Amazon Prime, it can be under the tree by the 23rd. 9to5toys.com says the 64 gig model is $299.99, and both come with Android Marshmallow.

A rumor is afoot again that hi-resolution audio is on the way to iTunes and Apple Music. This one is from Japanese blog Macotakara, picked up by 9to5mac.com. The blog claims Apple will have better than CD quality for iTunes sometime next year. The leak is from some manufacturers that make Lightening based headphones, which would support the higher res format.


The Nexus 6 To Get WiFi Calling on T-Mobile

WiFi calling may be coming to the Google Nexus 6…at least on the T-Mobile system. According to gigaom.com, they hope to have the exclusive feature ready to go by the end of March. They will also add voice over LTE and another band of frequencies by mid year with software updates.

Virgin Mobile has dropped the iPhone. 9to5mac.com says they have no plans to carry the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and the iPhone pages now redirect people to their full smartphone inventory page at the web store. It may have just been too much of a challenge to sell the expensive Apple handsets to prepaid phone users.

For the person that’s truly addicted to their smartphone and apps, there’s the new Oral-B Bluetooth toothbrush. At a pricey $220…more than a number of actual smartphones…geek.com reports the brush and its app will track how long you brush, how much pressure you use, and nag you to floss. But wait…there’s more…the app will also bring you the morning news and weather! You wouldn’t want to be off the grid for those two minutes of brushing, now would you?


The Nexus 6-Bigger than iPhone 6 Plus, With a Price to Match

Google’s monster 6 inch Nexus 6, just introduced yesterday is $650, up from the $350 of the old Nexus 5. Geek.com says they’re positioning it as a flagship handset. Preorders start October 29th.

Lenovo, the Chinese laptop company spun off from IBM, already makes smartphones, but is starting a new company to focus exclusively on smart devices. Cnet.com reports they will primarily focus on internet sales in China.

Another use for 3D printing…WonderLuk is using it to customize fashion accessories. Techcrunch.com says they believe in 5 years, 3D printing will allow for perfectly fitted clothes, delivered to your door.


Intel Will Have An iOS Smartwatch Out Before Apple Does

There’s another smart watch running iOS, and this one’s from Intel owned Basis. 9to5mac.com says the Peak focuses on health and fitness applications. It’s $199, and out in November. It won’t have email or phone capabilities.

Speaking of iOS, code has showed up in the beta version of 8.1 that indicates iPads are coming with fingerprint readers, Touch ID, and Apple Pay. Engadget.com reports that it’s for in app purchases…nothing about NFC is showing up for iPads.

Google’s next smartphone, code named Shamu, will apparently be 5.9 inches, and run version 5 of Android. Bgr.com says it will be called Nexus 6, not Nexus X, and there’s no sign of a smaller sized model so far.