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Possible smaller Samsung smartwatch shown in FCC test docs

Any self-respecting tech aficionado would know that it is probably during FCC testing where most new gadget info busts out into public knowledge – good luck trying to keep your gadget a secret when it hits FCC’s testing tables. This just happened to global gadget giant Samsung again, where all FCC evidences point to a smaller Samsung smartwatch to be probably marketed as part of Android Wear soon.



The leaked documents show what is most probably a watch with a product code name of SM-382. This is very close to the naming scheme Samsung used for its Gear 2 watches (named SM-38x), but the new product has one marked difference from its predecessor – it is 10mm shorter, having dimensions of 36.9 mm x 58.4 mm.


Now, Samsung has apparently stopped the registration of the name “Galaxy Wear” in Korea (jump here, and see the updates), prompting assumptions that the wearable device might not be named “Samsung Galaxy Wear” as was earlier rumored. There is also a possibility that the watch might be part of the Gear 2 family, if we were to judge by the FCC-revealed naming scheme for the test product. Ultimately, we can only speculate from the leaked FCC documents.


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But at least one thing is sure, Samsung is not bailing out on Google’s Android Wear OS marketing – they are still listed as one of the top manufacturers who will produce devices for Google's Android OS. It is interesting to note that Samsung is staying with Android OS, given the fact that they have shown much more commitment to developing their own Tizen operating system recently.


VIA: 9to5google





Blackphone privacy-focused smartphone to head out in three weeks

Those who have been quite concerned about recent breaches in security and privacy might be well aware of one of a kind devices like FreedomPop's "Snowden Phone" and Silent Circle's Blackphone. This latter device, which saw quite an uptake after it was unveiled at MWC last February, will be shipping in three weeks, giving its soon-to-be owners access to the company's famous Silent app suite right out of the box.



In terms of hardware, the Blackphone is quite nondescript, sporting a 4.7-inch 720p HD screen, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, an 8 megapixel rear camera, and a 5 megapixel front shooter. The most notable piece of hardware on this device is probably the CPU. It runs on a 2.0 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4i, probably the last NVIDIA-powered smartphone we'll be seeing in quite a while after the chip maker signified their shift in business directions away from commodity mobile devices.


But where the Blackphone shines is in the features that no one is allowed to see except the owner. The device is filled with to the brim with things that will keep your information private and safe from unauthorized eyes. That said, Blackphone doesn't actually prevent you from sharing your information. Should you wish to let Google access pieces of information, it will let you do so. The point is that, should you chose to keep your life a secret, it has several facilities to ensure that it remains so. Aside from apps like Silent Text for ephemeral and encrypted messaging or Silent Phone for voice and video calls, the device can also "lie" to regular apps that harvest your information. You can, for example, present it with a dummy location or an empty addressbook if the app requires GPS and addressbook access.


To most consumers, the Blackphone might be overkill. But to a certain group of people, that could mean life or death. Silent Circle claims that, ironically, some of their customers are actually US government agencies, when some of those agencies actually look at Silent Circle very warily.. That said, the Blackphone is indeed popular and has a market, if its sales numbers can be taken as proof. When the company started processing orders for the device, it quickly sold out even with a price tag of $629, which is quite high for a mid-tier smartphone.


SOURCE: Light Reading





iFind Bluetooth location tag throws out the batteries

We've seen wireless tags for locating items, or your smartphone, before, like Nokia's Treasure Tag or HTC's Fetch Tag. iFind, however, is a class above the rest, because without a battery, this thing, like that iconic Energizer rabbit, will just keep on going and going and going and going.



You might wonder how this tag will run without batteries. After all, it still has electronics inside it. According to makers WeTag, they are employing a patent pending process they call Electromagnetic (EM) harvesting, which gathers the kind of energy that is regularly emitted by things like Wi-Fi trasmitters, cellphone antennae, and more. The energy is then stored in specialized power banks to juice up the tag. And by using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the tag consumes even less energy than regular Bluetooth devices.


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This innovation affords iFind a few interesting advantages over other tags of its kind. First is that it is promised to last a lifetime, at least in terms of operational duration. It doesn't have batteries to recharge or die on you, so that you get to use the tag 24/7 without fear of a drained tag just when you need it the most. It also keeps the tag small and thin. It can easily be slipped into a wallet without adding any bulk. In all other aspects, the tag works just as any device of its class. You can pair as many iFind tags as you want with a smartphone running Android, or iOS, as long as the device and OS version supports Bluetooth 4.0. Each tag has its own unique ID which you can pass to friends to help you look for a tag, and whatever's attached to it, using the smartphone app. Looking for a tag is like a game or Marco Polo, but the app does try to estimate directions and distance to help you. Inversely, if it's the smartphone that you've misplaced, just shake the tag vigorously to trigger the app's alarm.




For now, iFind is only a Kickstarter project, but it seems to be quite popular, managing to raise $443,000 when it was only asking for $25,000. That allowed it to hit many of its stretch goal features, including one that will let users set a configurable distance before the tag triggers the alarm. If it manages to reach the $500,000 goal before the campaign ends in 14 days, WeTag will be adding a "Last Seen GPS Location" feature that will help narrow down the location of the tag, though the tag itself will not have any GPS hardware. All in all, not that bad for an immortal, wafer-thin tag that costs $18 on Kickstarter, $30 if you want it to come in pairs.


SOURCE: Kickstarter





Supercell tests out Boom Beach in Germany, Finland

Game developer Supercell – of Clash of Clans fame – has just released a new game called Boom Beach. This new effort is structured mostly like a tower attack/tower defense game, with animations and game visuals very similar to Supercell’s chart-topping game. It is now available for Android as a free download, albeit still in a limited geographically-controlled test.



If you are living in Finland or Germany, Boom Beach will already appear in your Google Play Store apps – we suggest you get it now if you’re running out of time wasters. Boom Beach has a very simple premise, much like Clash of Clans – it builds on the historical D-Day events in the shores of France as Allied troops stormed Europe to regain control back from Germany in the Second World War. The animations and characters, although not specifically named as such, are subtly pointing to WWII references.


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As the primary player, you get to command troops to attack islands of an archipelago by first storming the islands’ beaches – hence the game’s name. The attacks are short gaming processes, pretty much the same in any tower attack game you will see around. The online multiplayer and social aspect is where the game gets its complexity, just like Clash of Clans. Your player can create your own base on an islands and protect it from attacks. But primarily, you get to attack other players’ bases – this is where you gain in-game resources to buy materials and upgrades.




Nothing particularly new in this model, but Supercell would like to show its audience something new to play, though not necessarily deviating from Clash of Clans’ formula. If you are not from Finland or Germany, there are two ways to go for you – first is to actually wait for the game to make it out of geographical testing and into your region, but who actually waits these days? For those who don’t want to wait (which is a lot of you out there), there is a workaround that involves duping the geographical lock via VPN. It isn't legit and of course it is not official, but it can be done and has been done by members of this forum here.


DOWNLOAD: Boom Beach via Google Play





CM 11 comes to OPPO Find 7a, OnePlus One, Xiaomi Mi-2

If you've felt that CyanogenMod catered a bit too much to the more popular devices found on this half of the world, this latest bit might sway you a bit. Nightly builds of CyanogenMod 11 have now been activated for a trio of high-profile Chinese devices, namely the OPPO Find 7a, the OnePlus One, and the older Xiaomi Mi-2.



Chinese branded devices, unless they are built to run CyanogenMod in the first place, like the rare OPPO N1, don't usually get the attention of the more popular ROMs. Given that much of the work on these ROMs are done by volunteers, that's not exactly surprising since these would need to have access to the device that they want to support, and in most cases, those would be models coming from Samsung, LG, HTC, and the like. Outside those mainstream brands, support has not exactly been swift, but now that changes at least for the more popular and more recent Chinese models.


The Xiaomi Mi-2, filed under the "aries" model name, might not actually be the latest, with the Mi3 having been launched last October. That said, better late than never, right? The OPPO Find 7a might be a bit more recent and is close to high-end smartphones in terms of specs. The CM team notes that it is theoretically possible to run the Find 7a image on the higher-end Find 7, but due to the lack of access to one such device, they cannot absolutely guarantee that.


The OnePlus One nightly build is actually also a notable one, in the sense that it might actually be a bit redundant. The smartphone already runs CyanogenMod 11S, a variant of CyanogenMod 11 with a few OnePlus add-ons. In essence, the two are one and the same. A vanilla CyanogenMod 11 nightly will definitely get you updates faster, but the CyanogenMod 11S might have added value and a guarantee of stability as a commercial product.


VIA: Android Police (1), (2)


Motorola phones’ damaged screens can be replaced for free

For people who are constantly mobile and always traveling with their precious devices in tow, chances are, eventually some damage to their gadget would happen. So those who anticipate a broken keypad or a damaged screen sometimes choose their phones based on the post-purchase customer service or warranty. Without fanfare or public announcements, Motorola has apparently that kind of great service if you buy your mobile phones directly from them.



During a Reddit discussion in the Moto X subreddit, the issue over broken screens came up. Some users revealed that if you buy a Motorola phone directly from them or if you used Moto Maker to customise your mobile, then you can actually replace your screen for free (for the first time) if for some reason, it got damaged by accident. This was later on confirmed when some users confirmed it with a customer service representative and checking on the Motorola website directly.


Motorola is not the only mobile company that has done this, as HTC also has a program called “HTC Advantage” where you can have your broken screen, for example on your new One M8, replaced for free. Companies like Motorola and HTC now have an advantage over others who do not offer this kind of replacement policy, especially for customers who lead accident-prone lifestyles. Screen replacements are expensive, as evidenced by the $175 fee for non-Motorola bought or customised damaged screens.


The one-time screen replacement service is available for the Moto X, Moto G and Moto E. It will also probably be included in the upcoming Motorola X+1. You can head on over to the Moto X website and fill up the request a repair form to avail of the screen replacement.


VIA Android Authority


Belkin, Logitech release accessories for Samsung Galaxy Tab S

Just a day after Samsung unveiled their top-of-the-line tablets, the Galaxy Tab S, gadget accessory manufacturers Belkin and Logitech are already leveraging on the new Samsung tablets by selling their own accessories for these. The Galaxy Tab S comes in two variants, the 10.5-inch and the 8.4-inch, and also come with their own premium accessories, but Belkin and Logitech it seems were fastest to the trigger in putting out their own accessories for Samsung’s new tablet line.



First up is Belkin’s “QODE Universal Keyboard Case”, set to compete with Samsung’s Bluetooth Keyboard accessory. Samsung is betting that workaholics will want to be able to have laptop-like functionalities with their Galaxy Tab S, and to do that, they will have to invest in a keyboard accessory. Belkin has just the thing, combining its own universal Bluetooth keyboard with a tablet cover functionality. The cover itself provides a tablet stand configuration so the screen can be propped up like a netbook. Belkin also released its patented TriFold covers for both the 10.5-inch and the 8.4-inch variants. The lightweight covers have foldable flaps that will give the Galaxy Tab S users two different configurable viewing angles to choose from, aside from functioning as device protection.


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Meanwhile, Logitech also came out with their Type-S keyboard case, which in the same logic as Belkin's product, doubles as a protective case and a Bluetooth productivity keyboard for Galaxy Tab S users. Logitech claims that the Type-S will compliment the Galaxy Tab S's light and thin design, while still offering protection and a keyboard that can combo with the tablet for people who want to use the device like a netbook of sorts.


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Belkin’s pricing for the QODE Universal Keyboard Case is at USD$99.99, while the TriFold covers are priced USD$39.99 for the 10.5-inch tablet and USD$34.99 for the 8.4-inch tablet. The covers are available in black and the popular Belkin purple color. The Logitech Type-S keyboard case is also priced at USD$99.99.


SOURCE: Belkin and Logitech





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