The iPhone 7 (It’s Never Too Early For Apple Rumors!)

Posted: September 7, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

With the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus due out in just days, are you ready for a rumor about the iPhone 7…probably a year away? Appleinsider.com picked this up from usually reliable KGI Securities. the iPhone 7 will be between 6 and 6.5 millimeters thick. This would put it in the range of the iPod Touch and iPad Air 2, both of which are 6.1 mm thick. The present iPhone is just over 7 millimeters thick. In order to allow for Force Touch 3D, which needs a wafer thin circuit board under the touch pad, this probably means no 4K super high def iPhone 7…this is probably ok, since you eyes can’t tell the difference on that size screen anyway!

Samsung first exploded into the smartphone world back in 2010 by shamelessly copying Apple for it’s Galaxy S. Now, according to theverge.com, there’s a new, better copycat in town. Chinese manufacturer Huawei is not only pushing the limits of Apple intellectual property, it is lifting features, look and feel from a number of device makers. The 5.5 Mate S smartphone’s banner feature? Force Touch! Although already out on Apple Watch, Huawei has jumped ahead of Apple getting the feature to a smartphone. As for look and feel, when you first see the Mate S, a lot of what you see will make you think you’re looking at the HTC One M9! The motion gestures are borrowed from Samsung and HTC, and swiping down on the home screen brings up a dead ringer for Apple’s Spotlight.

Super King Sized Samsung Tablet Coming?

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

Samsung had good success for a while supersizing smartphones into phablets, and now theverge.com says SamMobile is reporting the company is working on an 18.4 inch Android tablet. Internally, it’s called Tahoe, and it has a TFT LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 1.6 GhZ processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and rear and front cameras — 8 megapixels and 2.1 megapixels, respectively. SamMobile speculates that it wouldn’t be aimed at mainstream users, but for salespeople to make presentations, and architects needing a large mobile device for site visits. No word on when it might hit the market.

As Apple is rumored to be working in secret on their own electric car that would run their Car Play software, Mercedes-Benz is apparently open to different types of collaboration with Cupertino. In an interview out in the last few days, the Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche, was quoted as saying “Google and Apple want to provide system software for cars and bring this entire ecosystem around Apple and Google into the vehicle. That can be interesting for both sides.” According to macrumors.com, Apple hired former Mercedes R&D VP Johann Jungwirth, who is now Director of Mac Systems Engineering.

Useful New iCloud Restore Feature

Posted: August 14, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Without fanfare, Apple has added a restore feature to iCloud. 9to5mac.com says it’s hidden in the advanced settings pane, and allows you to recover accidentally deleted documents. You can also restore contacts and calendars. The feature shows snapshots of the recently deleted documents, with the contacts and calendars appearing as time stamped. With the latter two, you just recover earlier versions…you can’t go back and grab a single contact like you can with documents.

As we reported, Samsung showed it’s Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge + yesterday at their Unpacked event. Meanwhile, the phablets appeared on their websites with capacities of 32 gigs, 64 gigs, and 128 gigs. According to Cnet.com and others, it was a goof…there’s no 128 gig version…sorry high capacity buffs. If you absolutely must have the 128 gigs and don’t want an iPhone, buy the slightly older Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Samsung Rolls Out New Phablets & Smartphones

Posted: August 13, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As widely leaked, Samsung showed a couple of new flagship smartphones today at their Unpacked event, and rolled out two new phablets…the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge +. Techcrunch.com notes that this is the first time they have had a major rollout event in August, hoping to get the drop on Apple, which will show new iPhones, iPads, and more on September 9th. The Note 5 continues with the 5.7 inch screen of the Note 4, but has 4 gigs of RAM, it’s thinner, and jumps the front cam up to 5 megapixels. The rear cam stays at 16. The Edge + increases in size from the 5.1 inch screen of the Edge to 5.7, and also gets the same memory and cameras as the Note. Both have built in wireless charging, but the charger pad is extra.

As previously reported, Windows 10 reports back all kinds of info about you to Microsoft. We covered how to turn it all off with privacy settings…and it’s a hassle. Now, arstechnica.com reports that some apps and servers continue to communicate with Redmond’s servers, EVEN after you opt out in the privacy settings. Worse, some connect to Microsoft through unencrypted channels, exposing users to their information being intercepted.

Nope, Even Your Fingerprints Aren’t Safe

Posted: August 6, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nope, on some Android handsets, even your fingerprints aren’t safe. FireEye researchers showed the Black Hat conference in Vegas 4 new ways of harvesting fingerprints, including one that can be done remotely at large scale. According to zdnet.com, the hacks work primarily on Samsung, Huawei, and HTC handsets. The researchers say the hacks are possible mainly because the manufacturers don’t fully lock down the sensor. Since these phones just require system privilege instead of root, jailbroken phones are more at risk, too. All three vendors have patched problems since being notified, but any prints that are taken in one kind of hack are out there forever. The FireEye researchers say iPhone fingerprint sensors are quite secure since they encrypt fingerprint data from the scanner.

Apple Music is now up to 11 million users trying out the 90 day free trial, According to the company’s Eddy Cue. Macrumors.com reports that of those, 2 million are test driving the more pricey family plan. Here’s an amazing App Store number that Cue shared, too…since 2008, Apple has paid out 33 billion to developers for apps!

Take Note- Samsung Rollout Event a Couple Weeks Away

Posted: July 28, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6+ sales have exploded, but Samsung has had pretty disappointing numbers for the metal clad Galaxy S6 and Edge. The Galaxy Note series has done pretty well, though. Samsung has announced Galaxy Unpacked, a rollout event in New York for August 13th. According to theverge.com, look for announcements about the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. The new Notes have been dropping in September, so it’s thought that Samsung has moved the event up in order to get the drop on Apple…which is expected to show the iPhone 6S in September.

Mobile developer NextBit is cooking up something cool for Android users. NextBit is run by alums of Google, Apple, HTC, and Amazon, and they brought out app transfer software last year called Baton…which works like Apple’s Handoff to let you move smoothly from one device to another and continue with what you were working on, watching, or listening to seamlessly. Recode.net says now they’re working on their own handset. They are claiming it will be very cool, and ‘not for everybody.’ Is this a take on the old Apple mantra ‘Think Different?’ We’ll apparently know soon.

Monitor Wirelessly Charges Phones

Posted: July 27, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung has revealed the first monitor that wirelessly charges phones. If your phone has the Qi wireless charging standard, venturebeat.com says you can lay it on the stand’s charging area, a little green LED lights, and that’s it! The monitor also features an ‘eye saver mode’ that reduces the blue light that causes eye strain. The SE370 monitor will come in 23.6 and 27 inch sizes, and will be out before the end of the year. No pricing has been announced yet.

Android Auto will be out in the next year, as will Apple’s further integration with Car Play, and arstechnica.com has ferreted out some cool future features by activating developer mode. It looks like Android Auto will eventually include roadside assistance, vehicle check, and service history later on. There is also a dummy screen titled ‘more car apps,’ so the system has code baked in to operate as a launcher for additional car apps. Arstechnica also found a huge list of sensors hidden away in Android auto, that will allow it to monitor more than just the speed and location of the car, including the cryptic ‘driving status.’ Could this be a mode for self-driving? Stay tuned.

Facebook’s Experimental ‘Watch Later’ Button

Posted: July 16, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Here’s a solution in search of a problem. Facebook is testing a ‘Watch Later’ button for videos. Video is a big deal to Facebook, because it’s one of their fastest growing categories, with 4 billion views a day the last quarter. Techcrunch.com says they’re testing a little tab in the upper right corner…mouse over it, and a save box pops up. Facebook is intent on really competing with YouTube in videos. It will be great for more views on Facebook, and more of your data they can make a buck off of, but do you really want or need this? I don’t.

Apple is reported to be talking with the cell providers about launching new ‘e-SIM’ cards for their phones. The latest iteration of the iPad has the feature, so it’s not like a bolt out of the blue, but the carriers are much more protective of the handsets than tablets. 9to5mac.com reports that Samsung is also involved in the talks, so a universal embedded e-SIM card could become standard…enabling users to switch cellular providers more easily. Of course, the carriers would still put limitations on this, to avoid an exodus to competitors. AT&T and T-Mobile parent Deutche Telekom are among the telecoms involved in the talks. The e-SIM could appear in phones as early as next year.

Samsung Making an 11k Mobile Display-Mimics 3D

Posted: July 10, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You haven’t even upgraded to a 4k TV yet, and now Samsung is gearing up to build an 11k mobile display. Engadget.com reports that they expect to have it out by 2018. At 2250 pixels per inch, it would be 4 times higher resolution than their existing quad HD displays. The killer app? It would simulate 3D without the annoying glasses.

Next week could see refreshed iPods. iPods? Yes, Apple still makes them and people still buy them. The Nano and Shuffle may just get new pink, gold, and dark blue colors, but the Touch looks to be upgraded to a 64 bit processor…probably the one in the iPhone 5S, and Apple’s M7 motion processor. According to appleinsider.com, the new iPods should drop on July 14th.

Increased Storage in Next-Gen iPhones

Posted: June 29, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple is apparently talking about returning to Samsung for memory in the next iteration of iPhones. 9to5mac.com says they aren’t looking to go over 128 gigs, but will drop the 16 gig model, making 32 gigabytes the entry level memory in the iPhone 6S models. It was already reported that Samsung is supplying the A9 processors. The killer feature that we know of as the phones have entered early production is Force Touch, ported from the Apple Watch.

Microsoft has sold some Bing maps assets to Uber, and along with them, around 100 data collection engineers that worked on Bing. Geekwire.com reports that Uber was already bulking up in the mapping department, having bought mapping software company deCarta in March. Uber has been relying on Google Maps in their app up to now.

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