Samsung Galaxy S8 Will Have Killer Selfie Cam; iPhone 8’s Third, Higher-Line Model Gets OLED; Netflix Allows Some Downloading of Shows

Posted: November 30, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Samsung Galaxy S8 will have autofocus on the selfie cam. According to bgr.com, Samsung has figured out a way to add autofocus to the front camera without increasing the size of the camera module or the thickness of the phone. The Galaxy S8 will use an “encoder” method that has coils at the side, rather than a Voice Coil Motor that’s used in rear cameras for autofocus.

KGI Securities now says only a new, top line model iPhone 8 will get the OLED with better picture and lower power consumption. Businessinsider.com says updates to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will get glass cases and wireless charging, though.

At long last, Netflix is allowing limited downloading of shows to be watched later offline. Theverge.com reports that it’s Netflix originals like Stranger Things, The Crown, Narcos, Orange is the New Black, and the like, but also a number of random other shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Paddington and Minions and Kung Fu Panda 3. It works on iOS and Android, with two quality versions: Standard and Higher. Netflix hasn’t said how much higher, but notes it will take longer to download. Finally, viewing for that plane flight or commuting over subway systems!

Apple-10 Prototypes for iPhone 8; Google Should Sell 3 Million Pixel Phones; Premium Amazon Alexa Coming; Cyber Monday Sets Record

Posted: November 29, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There’s lots of buzz about what next year’s iPhone 8 will be like. Some may be true…but Apple is testing more than 10 prototypes of the anniversary handset right now, according to businessinsider.com. A curved screen is a consistent rumor, as is an OLED display with darker blacks and less power hogging. Of course, there’s the glass back and possible wireless charging. Apple was supposed to get OLED screens this year, but dropped them due to supply problems, so stay tuned.

Preorders for Google’s Pixel phone have blown the doors off what was expected. 9to5google.com reports that, based on preorders and Verizon activations, they should sell 3 million phones by the end of this year. The Pixel is already 10% of the premium market in India…benefitting from Samsung’s collapse over the fiery Note 7. Apple has also benefitted there, grabbing 66% of the premium phone market!

Amazon apparently has a premium Echo speaker with Alexa in the works with a large touch screen and higher grade speakers. Bloomberg.com says it may be out first quarter of 2017. The speaker and screen with be angled and on top, so a person standing can use it when it’s sitting on a counter or table. The present Echo sells for $180 when not discounted, so expect the higher line one to be over $200.

Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day, ever. According to zdnet.com, analysts say US online spending topped $3.39 billion, and that’s a 10.2% increase over last year. It’s also slightly more than Black Friday, which notched $3.34 billion. Interestingly, mobile revenue was a little lower than Black Friday, but it was still up 48% over last year’s Cyber Monday. The five best-selling toys in terms of quantity sold on Cyber Monday were Lego, Shopkins, Nerf, Barbie, and Little Live Pets. The five best-selling electronic products were Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox, Samsung 4K TVs, Apple iPads, and Amazon Fire tablets.

Peeking Ahead at Apple; Samsung’s Amazing Coming AI Assistant; Future Tesla Buyers & Superchargers; New Old Sega Genesis Goes into Production

Posted: November 8, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has a few things up its tree, including something fresh for the present iPhone 7. Thenextweb.com says they may be readying a ‘Jet White’ shiny new color to the 7 and 7 Plus to bookend the Jet Black color.

As for the future, they may add a feature to Find My iPhone that would surreptitiously turn the phone on for you with the proper authentication, so you could find a stolen phone without alerting the thief, according to bgr.com. What about the iPhone 8? We reported earlier that they were working with Energous on wireless charging. Now, again according to bgr, this is moving forward with Energous getting an infusion from a power management chip maker. You would be able to charge your phone from a source 15 feet away…no charging pad…and it would draw current whether you were at home, work, or wherever!

Appleinsider.com has discovered that Apple was just granted a patent detailing an augmented reality mapping system that harnesses iPhone hardware to overlay visual enhancements onto live video, lending credence to recent rumors suggesting the company plans to implement an iOS-based AR strategy in the near future. Tim Cook has strongly hinted about this.

Meanwhile, over at Samsung, a sea change in digital assistants. The Galaxy S8 will have a digital assistant that takes ‘smart’ to a new level. Samsung will add Viv, from San Jose’s Viv Labs (which they bought last month). Reuters.com says Viv not only can answer questions and look things up, but can effectively write software on the fly to accomplish tasks that you ask it to! This is beyond Star Trek, folks!

A huge change for future Tesla buyers. According to theverge.com, anyone getting a Tesla after January 1st, 2017 will have to pay a small fee to use Tesla Superchargers. Previous owners will still get to use them for free. Tesla says the fee will be much less than the cost of filling a car with gas.

For hardcore Sonic fans, here’s something cool from the dailydot.com: The Sega Genesis is officially back in production. TecToy is making the machines, with Sega’s blessing. Aside from the SD card slot, it’s pretty well a duplicate of the original. It comes with 22 games on the SD card. Preorders are $125 for the box. Are you hearing the Sonic the Hedgehog theme?

Leak Points to Couple Surprises With iPhone 7; 10 Million Twitterers in China; Samsung Sailing Towards Great Numbers With Galaxy S7; Apple Sandbagging With iPhone 7

Posted: July 5, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A leaked slide from a Foxconn internal presentation shows a couple of features that may be coming on iPhone 7 that have been rumored, but not really solidly. Bgr.com reports that the Apple handset may indeed have an IP68 water and dust resistant rating and wireless charging support. If this slide posted by myDrivers.com pans out, it may be a ‘one more thing’ that Apple was saving back for the iPhone 7 rollout in September.

Twitter estimates it has 10 million users in China, which gives an indication of how many people there are using VPN to get around government censorship. According to techcrunch.com, earlier estimates were as high as 35.5 million. There’s no solid data, since the VPNs the scofflaws are using to Tweet show up as being in other countries besides China. With only around 10 million users out of Twitter’s 310 million, it’s not a crucial part of their business, but does give an idea of the people using VPN to get around the government censorship….and that’s usually journalists, activists, prominent business leaders, and decision makers. This is a significant leak in China’s ‘Great Firewall.’

According to analysts, Samsung is heading for the best quarter in a couple years, when they release smartphone numbers later this week. After some iffy quarters and phones that underwhelmed, Reuters.com says the Galaxy S7 has done better than expected…with about 16 million pumped out between April and June, and the curved screen model outselling it’s flat screened sibling.

Speaking of marketing, most everybody is predicting that since the iPhone 7 will be more like a 6 SS, and not a wow-year upgrade, it will mean a sales slump. Business insider.com reports that this may be intentional. Some Apple watchers are now saying that the so-called ‘tick-tock’ system of a major iPhone upgrade every other year is not sustainable, and Apple is just going with the math. Normally, about 33% of iPhone owners might upgrade this fall…that’s been consistent for 6 quarters, but if things really are a little disappointing, Apple can look forward to a huge jump of about 43% for the next 5 quarters after an iPhone 7S, or 8, or Anniversary model or whatever the 2017 model will be called. That will be a bonanza for them, and it sounds like just the kind of thing a nuts and bolts guy like Tim Cook might ‘cook up!’

Atari Entering Internet of Things; Giant MySpace Hack; Mophie Adds Wireless Charging to Juicepacks

Posted: June 1, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Atari is launching into the Internet of Things with a line of connected objects that will debut later this year. No word on what precise devices are included, but venturebeat.com reports that the legendary video game maker will develop the devices in partnership with Sigfox, a startup based in the south of France that is building a global communications network for IoT devices. Sigfox’s network already operates in 18 countries and runs with 7 million devices.

Mashable.com says MySpace and Tumblr have recently joined LinkedIn on the list of websites that had millions of login credentials stolen and put up for sale later. Over 64 million Tumblr accounts and more than 360 million MySpace accounts were affected by the data breach. Not all of them had complete email, usernames and passwords, but 111 million had a username and 358 million had a primary password. You can’t remember your password? Well 2 of the top 4 most popular passwords in the breach were password1 and 123456.

The Mophie Juicepacks are one of the best battery cases out there…full disclosure…I have had several and really like them. Now, they have just gotten better. In addition to protecting your iPhone and giving you about 50% extra power, Mophie is introducing ‘Charge Force,’ which is a Juicepack only with added wireless charging. Techcrunch.com says the charging pad and battery case are $99, same as previous Juicepacks, but a desktop/dresser stand and magnetic vent mount for cars will each set you back about $60 extra bucks. They should be in stores and online in the next few weeks.

Future iPhone May Have Curved Glass Case & 5.8’” AMOLED Screen; Your Free Future Fridge

Posted: March 28, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Over the weekend, appleinsider.com got hold of a note to investors from KGI Securities saying the 2017 iPhone may use curved glass front and back…similar to the iPhone 4S, but curved. It will also allegedly have an AMOLED screen…which, as we’ve noted, gives brighter colors and blacker blacks. The screen would be 5.8 inches, a little bigger, but smaller bezels would let Apple put it into the same sized phone. Wireless charging and face and iris scanning for security also may be incorporated.

A new fridge for free may be in your future. At least some people think so. At this year’s CES, Samsung introduced a refrigerator touted as truly “smart,” with connected cameras inside the fridge, an ability to run Pandora with built-in speakers and even grocery shopping through Amazon’s Alexa or a new, dedicated app called Groceries by MasterCard.Techcrunch.com reports that as an effect of the internet of things, and refrigerators like this one, your consumption can be tracked…and the fridge could automatically reorder the foods for you. Grocery sellers and manufacturers would subsidize this, as it locks in customers…like you are for the ink cartridges that go into cheap, subsidized printers. Are you ready for a fridge that makes recommendations, and has a subscription service for auto purchase of the foods? It looks like that’s coming!

Tesla Planning Name Change & Wireless Charging; Texting to Get Another Makeover?

Posted: February 23, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tesla Motors has acquired the tesla.com site from a fan of the scientist that’s owned it since the 90’s. Businessinsider.com says right now, it redirects to teslamotors.com. It looks like Tesla is about to drop motors and just become Tesla…as Apple Computer became Apple years ago. They will fold their Tesla energy brand under this umbrella…the division that makes the Powerwall and Powerpack batteries, as well as the auto operation. The storage division is expected to be a third of their battery factory production by 2020.

Meanwhile, the Tesla Model S is on the way to getting wireless charging. According to mashable.com, a supplier called Plugless is taking $244 deposits on a wireless charger they plan to introduce late this spring. It will cost $2440 if you order now…more later. The wireless rig can run off any 50 amp circuit, and only needs pro installation for outdoors. It will give a Model S 20 miles of range per hour charge. Right now, no system is available for the all wheel drive Model S, the Model X, Roadster, or upcoming Model 3.

Text…the most old-school thing besides voice available on mobile phones…may be getting a makeover. Theverge.com reports that Google has partnered with 19 phone carriers to update SMS and MMS messages. The new moniker? RCS, or Rich Communications Service. It would allow for sending higher quality photos, starting group chats, and video. T-Mobile has already used it for video calling. If it ends up being baked into Android, it would simplify contacting people…in fact, a simple text could seamlessly start a video chat without choosing Skype, FaceTime, Hangouts, etc.

4K iPad Air 3; Wireless iPhone Charging; Over the Air High Speed Internet

Posted: January 29, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

t’s no secret that iPad sales haven’t be setting the world on fire, and with the Air 3 supposed to be out in March, Apple needs something to create excitement. Bgr.com reports that they may have that something. There hasn’t been a real ‘oh wow’ feature on the iPad since the Retina display in 2012. The Air 3 may be taking it up a notch with a 4K screen! The next gen iPad Air will also reportedly have 4 gigs of ram and improved battery life.

A number of companies have wireless charging systems for their smartphones, but according to bloomberg.com, Apple may roll one out by next year that doesn’t rely on the phone making contact with a charging mat or plate. Cupertino is reportedly working on a system that can charge iPhones from across the room, and it may bow with the models out in 2017.

A company called Starry is working on over the air internet that could REALLY let you be a cable cutter. Their system uses 4 foot transmitters they call Beams that a small receiver called a Starry Point in a home’s window picks up and converts to something your router can broadcast through the house as regular WiFi. Businessinsider.com says t’s supposed to be significantly cheaper than the service from your cable or phone company, have no data caps, and offer speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. They aren’t up and running yet, but claim to be able to set up in a town in a matter of weeks, once permissions for their rooftop Beam antennas is granted. Stay tuned!

More iPhone 7 Rumors; Nest Thermostats Have Battery Problems

Posted: January 8, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We just reported yesterday about the possible dual rear cameras iPhones may be getting, and have also covered the likely loss of the 3.5mm headphone jack and waterproofing…as the commercial goes…’but wait…there’s more!’ Apparently, there’s a method to their madness in ditching the headphone jack and making people use the lightening port…and therefore buying new headphones…Apple is working on baking in noise reduction tech for both music and phone calls. Bgr.com says another possible killer feature may be coming…wireless charging! If you are like the 200,000 people mad enough to sign a petition demanding Apple not drop the headphone jack, go ahead and join them…but Apple will surely ignore it and do as it pleases. THAT’s one thing left over from Steve Jobs that will never change!

Lately, my Nest thermostat showed up with a low battery reading, and disconnected from the web. I now find that I’m not alone…there’s apparently a software bug that’s causing this. According to gizmodo.com, Nest has admitted that some people have the problem, and that they are working on it. Nest suggests a manual restart until a fix in in place. I did a modification of this…plugged it into my computer USB port for a hour to charge, then reset the date and time. Interestingly, it loses connection with my wi-fi network and wants to join an unprotected one, so you might check that out, too.

Wireless Charging from 30 Feet Away; Hello Again Nvidia Tablet and Goodbye Zune Services

Posted: November 17, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There is a new wireless tech that promises to be a lot more wireless than what is currently offered. Right now, you have to lay your device on a special pad to charge, and often you have to use a bulky case, as well…nice if you’re too lazy to plug it in, but not that helpful. Si Ware Systems has developed a new chip that allows wireless charging from 30 feet away. According to geekwire.com, the tech is based on the Cota technology from Ossia…which was founded by a former Microsoft engineer. It allows for wireless charging that works a lot like wi-fi…one chip in the charging station, and others in the devices you are charging. It can deliver 10 watts of power…your smartphone plug in charger generally puts out one or two watts. The tech is small enough to fit into a AA battery, so some older items like TV remotes wouldn’t even have to be replaced. Did I mention it charges from 30 feet away?

A couple of quick notes…theverge.com reports that Nvidia’s Shield Tablet is back on sale for $199 after the fire hazard recall of every single one. That’s $100 less than originally…this time with a hopefully less fire prone battery. The question, as posed by Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, is ‘do you feel lucky?’

RIP Zune services. Yes, you read correctly. The hapless Microsoft Zune mp3 player, which actually wasn’t a bad, was killed off in 2011, but the music streaming and download service continued on with the Zune brand until now. Mashable.com says people with Zune Music Pass subscriptions will be converted over to the Groove Music Pass, which is basically the same thing…or can apply for a prorated refund.

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