Subscribe:

Ads 468x60px

Labels

Galaxy Mega 6.3 takes a bullet for man in altercation in China

You’ve probably heard someone say that someday, your smartphone just might change your life. You might be in a life or death situation, where you will have to resort to using an app or you have to Google something just to get out of a threatening scenario. However, for a man in China, he experienced this literally as his Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 took a bullet for him, ensuring that he lived to tell the tale after an altercation in a snack shop in Xinjiang.



According to a local news website, a man dropped his wallet while at the snackshop, where another man promptly picked it up and returned it to the owner. However, before doing so, he joked that maybe he should just keep the money so he could buy alcoholic drinks. This did not please the wallet’s owner and so he scuffled with the wallet-returner and the other people with them try to break up the fight.


But it seems like the two men really wanted to have it out, and they resumed their fight outside of the shop. The second man then pulls out a knife (although some reports say it was a sickle, although why he was carrying that around is another story probably) either just to intimidate him or to actually cause injury. What he didn’t know was that the other man had a gun which he promptly shoots. The wallet-returning guy puts up a hand to “block” the bullet but it hits him in the arm nonetheless but also goes through his body, where the unsuspecting Galaxy Mega 6.3 in his shirt pocket manages to block it.


The second man was then brought to the hospital to treat for his flesh wound, while the gun-toting man surrendered himself to the police. The lesson learned here? Either you always put your large smartphone in your shirt pocket or maybe you stop joking around with strangers because you never know when they might be carrying a deadly weapon.


VIA: SlashGear





Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week


Welcome to the weekend! Whether you're working hard or just loafing around, you're probably using your smartphone. Give it a treat with these, the best new apps this week.


Read more...
















HP, Michael Bastian, Gilt team up for upcoming smartwatch

Heads up! There’s news that Hewlett-Packard is teaming up with luxury fashion designer Michael Bastian and e-commerce outfit Gilt Groupe in developing a smartwatch. With all kinds of companies jumping into the “wearables” bandwagon, HP is making sure that it doesn’t get left behind. But the team-up with Bastian – and the concept photos – say a lot about what the tech company is planning to put out.



Of course, we should be correct in assuming that the technology and device development will be handled by HP. The news is that the smartwatch will initially be distributed through Gilt’s online shopping website. But the device’s look and feel, the fashion behind it – we should look to Bastian’s talent with high end fashion.


Michael-Bastian-Smartwatch-600x406


Bastian is no stranger to watch design – he has already done work for the GANT brand on putting watches with his name on it. Would we be correct to assume (again) that he will be sticking to the looks and designs that are definitive of him? The concept pictures above say “yes, probably”. Take a look at Bastian’s watches for GANT below.


bast_watch_1 bast_watch_2 bast_watch_4 bast_watch_3 bast_watch_5


Lastly, rumors say that this watch would be compatible with BOTH iOS and Android, initially killing off the hopes that this will be launched under the Android Wear umbrella. The high-end nature of Bastian’s products would mean that it wants to get connected to both platforms. If this pushes true, then HP is totally going for a unique approach to its wearable. Watch this space, eh?


VIA: SlashGear





The US officially legislates Unlocking Consumer Act law

This, at its most basic, should be seen as a veritable win for the American people who first called out for the need of such a legislation – and has now reached its ultimate completion with US President Barack Obama signing into law the Unlocking Consumer Act, which basically says that any consumer who has already paid for their phone can have it unlocked and take it to the mobile carrier which they think provides the services that suit their needs best.



It needs to be said, this is the first time that a petition that traces its roots via the “We the People” website – an online platform for US citizens to offer suggestions and ideas to the government for resolving relevant issues – has actually resulted in a fix via legislation. With that in mind, this can truly be marked down as a major “win” for the US consumer.


What started with a petition by digital rights activist Sina Khanifar – actually a very a simple request, that the law would allow consumers to “unlock” their mobile phones and take it to the carrier which they think best suits their needs. The petition drew enormous support, and forced the US Congress to take heed. What resulted was a very “common sense” law that says all consumers can now have their phones unlocked. What’s more, the law also ensures that US citizens without the tech savvy to unlock their devices on their own can and should receive help in doing so.


In the end, consumers are given a free choice – a real choice with market freedom and not one bogged down by hidden profit agendas – to take a phone and switch carriers, a right that they really should have if they have complied with the device’s purchase contracts and if the phone is compatible with said carrier. This is a breath of fresh air for a sector that seems to be tying down and restricting more than it is giving freedom to communicate.


VIA: The White House





More devices getting Google Now launcher support

The Google Now launcher was probably the pick of the bunch of features that launched with Android 4.4 Kitkat (you can argue that point with us, of course), and it became all the more better when Google started peddling the launcher to other devices other than those bearing the Nexus prefix through the Google Play Store. After the app’s recent update, we bet more people will be happier because of the apparently wider range of devices supported.



Upon the app update, there was no obvious aesthetic or functional change to the launcher, except that – viola! – the list of devices supported seem to have grown. Now there is support for other Android devices such as Huawei’s Ascend P7, the HTC One M8, One E8, One Mini 2, and Desire 816. Some social media reports also point to support being available to the LG’s flagship phone, the G3.


The Google Now launcher was initially limited to Nexus and Google Play Edition devices, and Android users were all collectively heaving a “well, that sucks” at Google because of the limited support. Pretty soon, workarounds were being found to load it on more devices – because the Android community always seems to find a way.


This is probably at the very least an admission from the mothership that hey, if it’s really good software, then maybe a lot more people are entitled to at least make that decision on their own after experiencing it and using it. This situation has not yet been made official – no official statement from Google has come out – but you’ll be sure to hear from us if there are changes in this situation.


VIA: Android Central





Google exploring customization with Google Workshop

Google has had relatively good success over its Nexus products, building technologies and interfaces for devices on the bleeding edge of Android development. When it comes to accessories and whatnot, Google’s history has not been that great, and it has been trying to rectify that recently with the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (putting out different colors of cases for the devices). With the experimental Google Workshop, the company may be trying to break into that market a little bit more.



Google Workshop is a little tool that apparently allows users to design custom cases and even their own live wallpapers. If Google finds that this strategy works, this can mean a whole new push for custom accessories for your Google devices. For now, though – in its exploratory phase – the tool is just available for the Nexus 5 device.


There are two elements right now to Workshop. First is the “MapMe” element, which allows users to build a customized phone case and a live wallpaper based on a map location that is significant for the user. The second element is called “Moments”, and as the name suggests, this feature encourages users to upload their own photos and choose one for case design, and others for the live wallpaper. Of course, users can customize the look the casing using different colors or adding specific text.


goo_workshop_3 goo_workshop_2 goo_workshop_1


There is very little else to Google Workshop for now, and there is no word yet on whether this service will be expanded to other devices (and upcoming devices?) as well. It’s clearly in an experimental phase and is very much a work in progress. Let’s all wait a bit more to see if this is something Google will pursue to the big time.


VIA: Android Police





Microsoft brings Samsung to court over Android patent deal

On Friday, the Redmond-based global software giant Microsoft announced that it has brought South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung to court over a contract dispute in their patent deal for Android devices. Microsoft, in very basic terms, has a contract with Samsung where it receives royalties for every Android device it sells, and it is suing Samsung because according to them, the latter has not been keeping its part of the contract.



According to Microsoft’s deputy general counsel David Howard, this legal action was done “simply to enforce our contract with Samsung.” In 2011, Microsoft signed one of those landmark Android patent deals, claiming that every Android device Samsung sells infringes on its patents, hence the royalties. As of late, Microsoft claims that Samsung has not been paying them the royalties they’ve agreed upon based on that 2011 contract, a situation that started last year – specifically after Microsoft’s Nokia acquisition.


What Microsoft is asking is actually for the court to enforce the contract as legal and binding, where Samsung has already made clear its disagreement to it. “After spending months trying to resolve our disagreement, Samsung has made clear in a series of letters and discussions that we have a fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract,” Howard said.


Samsung has replied with a standard answer to the lawsuit, saying in a published statement: “We will review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response.” This patent contract has made Samsung – and many other Android device manufacturers – beholden to Microsoft, something that Google has vocally lambasted over the years. “This is the same tactic we’ve seen time and again from Microsoft,” Google said in a statement when the patent deal was signed in 2011. “Failing to succeed in the smartphone market, they are resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others’ achievements and hinder the pace of innovation.”


VIA: Recode





Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)