Galaxy Alpha announced with new metal frame that you wanted

The August 13 launch date for the new Samsung Galaxy Alpha is real, the new smartphone with Android 4.4.4 KitKat is just announced today, said to be "new design approach" with metal frame around the side of the phone. The back cover remains in plastic like other Galaxy series.

The Galaxy Alpha is a mid-to-high-end model, powered by a Exynos 5433 Octa Core (Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz) processor and paired with a 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED display. There is a 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage but for the first time, this Galaxy model does not come with a microSD card slot – probably due to the restriction of the external storage in Android KitKat. Samsung did not list a 64GB version for more storage space, although it was mentioned in the past rumors.

At 6.7mm thickness, the 4.7-inch size and 115g weight will fit nicely for one-hand operation compare to other 5.x-inch smartphones. Other specs include a 12 megapixel camera, 2.1 megapixel front facing camera, 4K video recording @ 30fps, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and 1860 mAh battery. Like the Galaxy S5, finger print sensor is integrated on the home button, with another heart rate sensor at the back.

Available in early September, the Galaxy Alpha will launch with Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue colors – depends on your region.

Story Timeline

• New photos, UAProf of Samsung Galaxy Alpha leaked


• Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows up at FCC, launch imminent


• New leaked photo shows Samsung Galaxy Alpha full specs

Sony Underwater apps lets you play with your phone in water

If it’s always been your dream to play with your smartphone while it is (or you are) submerged in water, then you better get yourself an Xperia Z1s or Xperia Z from T-Mobile. Sony has introduced 6 silly but fun underwater apps for when you are scuba-diving and have the urge to play games in the water or for when you just want to dunk your phone in the water then use it.

The Xperia phones are famous for their water-resistant features (although it is not exactly built for living underwater) and now they’ve also added the fact that the phone itself can detect when it’s underwater through spectrograms. And now the developers over at Sony have also added 6 underwater apps so you can do fun things while it’s wet.

Four of the apps are just for silly fun. Goldie is like a tamagochi, but the fish needs to be submerged in water to make it happy (and alive). Plantimal meanwhile is as it name says, a weird combination of plant and animal that grows when you “water” it and sends notifications when it has reached its peak and needs to be watered again. Sink Sunk is simply a submarine game for when you’re at the pool and bored out of your mind. Tiny Umbrella is for when you need for the top of your head to be protected from the rain by your smartphone (okay, it’s cute but come on).

The other two apps in the underwater suite may have a bit more purpose. If you and your friends are trapped in a storm or bored at the beach, you can do an instant karaoke session with the Rainy-Oke app. However it just has 10 songs right now and you may not be able to use it when you’re on dry land. Now if you miss the days of developing photos the old-school way, the Photo Lab app lets you submerge digital photos in water to apply a chemical bath or a filter and you can even tilt your phone just like you would an actual photo in an actual chemical bath.

The apps may seem silly or you wouldn’t really want your phone to get wet often, but come on, if you had the chance to play with your phone while either you or it is submerged, why not right? Unfortunately the apps are only available for the Xperia Z1s or Z and if you live in the US. But who knows it might expand to other Sony Xperia devices in other countries as well.

VIA: XperiaBlog

Xperia Z2 in seabed for 6 weeks, still works after “rescue”

When OEMs boast of their devices’ water-proof capabilities, they are still very careful to set limitations on what sort of conditions they will be able to survive. For example, Sony said that while their Xperia Z2 is indeed water-resistant, it complies with iP58 so it can only stand up to 30 minutes under 1.5 mm of freshwater. Well, a Swede’s experience with his Z2 might surprise even the people over at Sony as it survived being under 10 meters deep for an amazing six weeks and lived to tell the tale.

Alexander Maxen from Gothenburg was water-skiing during his vacation. He left his Xperia Z2 on the seat of his water ski, but when he jumped into the water, it bounced and fell in. He did not even attempt to rescue his smartphone since the sea bed was around 10 meters deep below them. They did try to call the phone and were surprised that they were able to connect to it (we’d like to know also your carrier which apparently has signal below sea level).

After six weeks, another friend of his went scuba diving in the same area, and surprisingly was able to still find the phone (apparently sea animals don’t have an appetite for gadgets). To their shock, when they connected the phone to a charger, the LED indicator lit up and it eventually turned on and was still in full working condition. Of course it had some external damage already, like the back screen was shattered, but the important thing was it was still working after six weeks under the sea! And Maxen is not even going to have the phone’s back screen repaired, as a remembrance of its amazing journey.

Now of course, we only have the Swedish media to rely on whether or not the story is actually true and not a hoax. And of course we don’t encourage Xperia Z2 owners to start chucking their phones into the sea and coming back six weeks later. But if you’re one of those who worked on the phone’s design and water-resistant features, maybe you should give yourself a pat on the back.

VIA: Xperia

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Change YouTube’s Mobile App Starting Screen with YourTube – XDA Developer TV

Here on XDA Developer TV, we talk about helpful Xposed Modules on our weekly show, XDA Xposed Tuesday. We’ve covered some modules that have everything and the kitchen sink, and those are great, but sometimes the simplest module catches our attention because it solves a singular major annoyance.

In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA Developer TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that lets you change the starting screen in the YouTube application. XDA Recognized Developer GermainZ created the YourTube module. TK shows off the modules and gives his thoughts, so check out this Xposed Tuesday video.

Be sure to check out other great XDA Developer TV Videos

• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Statusbar Gestures – XDA Developer TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Blur Your System Notification Panel – XDA Developer TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Launch Apps from Your Lock Screen with PINshortcuts – XDA Developer TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Heads Up Notifications – XDA Developer TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Clean Your Notification Panel – XDA Developer TV


• Android Basics 101: Understanding Xposed Framework – XDA Developer TV


• App Development: Xposed Framework for Android – XDA Developer TV

The post XDA Xposed Tuesday: Change YouTube’s Mobile App Starting Screen with YourTube – XDA Developer TV appeared first on xda-developers.

Manuganu 2: Wonderfully-rendered platform runner

There’s nothing in Alper Sankaya’s “Manuganu 2” that you haven’t seen before. It’s a platform runner, and there’s only so much you can do with a side-scroller, right? Sankaya proves us wrong with that last statement, because as limited as the platform running game could be, what the developer has done with Manuganu 2 is more than enough to catch your attention and make you waste minutes in casual gaming.

The game manages to carry casual gamers along – with seemingly endless replay value – on the back of some solid platforming gameplay, a beautifully-rendered game world, and a very welcome amount of variety for such a limited game. You play as a little tribal fellow who faces challenges along the side-scrolling action. The first stage will make you immediately familiar with the platforming games that we’ve all played in our childhood.

But suddenly, the game introduces new paths and trails, new sections. The view will switch and you will find your little tribal guy in the middle of a frenetic climbing level that requires you to run and flip between vertical poles. The game is actually very smartly produced in introducing new challenges, and even a new glide ability lets you, well… fly.

We warn you that none of this is close to being original, but therein lies the surprise – the game is still fun to play in spite of this. Manuganu 2 seems to have perfected the right mix of borrowed ideas and new ones that gives the game warmth and excitement. The game is free to download at the source link via the Google Play Store.

SOURCE: Google Play Store

Story Timeline

• John Woo’s first mobile game Bloodstroke now available


• Nuts! is a cute new endless 'climbing' game


• Must download game: Skulls of the Shogun for Android

Motorcycle helmets get smarter with Skully AR-1

As you cruise down the highway on your motorcycle, haven’t you ever wished that you could check out maps and important information without having to pull over to the side of the road and read an actual map or check your smartphone? Well, “the world’s smartest motorcycle helmet”, the Skully AR-1 is about to become a reality, bringing you a heads-up display (HUD), GPS navigation and a rearview camera to help you become more aware of your surroundings.

The Skully may just be the first motorcycle helmet that can project transparent displays onto your line of sight while riding your bike. But why would you even need this kind of gadget you ask? Well for one, it is equipped with GPS navigation and can be of great help when you’re in an unfamiliar place or you’re trying to find a specific location. The wide-angle rear view camera gives you a situational awareness that you do not experience with an ordinary bike helmet.

The helmet itself is lightweight and water-resistant and has an anti-fog, anti-glare and anti-scratch visor. It can be connected to your smartphone as well through Bluetooth and you’ll be able to access the Internet through it as well. Developers can also create apps for it through Skully Synapse, an open SDK program. It can also allow you to make hands-free calls and stream music from your phone to your helmet.

Although some of the features sound pretty distracting and dangerous if you’re actually on the road, it apparently has a safety certification from the DOT/ECE. The project is still up on crowd-funding site IndieGoGo although they have already reached 311% of their target, with 29 days left to go. Beta-testing has been ongoing for selected participants and if you would like to pre-order the Skully, you can visit their website.

SOURCE: IndieGoGo

NVIDIA plans for “Denver”, a 64-bit version of Tegra K1

With the relatively good feedback coming from the performance of the Tegra K1 chip, NVIDIA is not resting on its laurels and is moving forward with what looks to be the company’s bet for the near-future’s Android chip – the dual-core 64-bit version of the NVIDIA Tegra K1, codename “Denver”.

Making its claims as the first 64-bit ARM processor for Android (Qualcomm, with the Snapdragon 410, might have something to say about that), NVIDIA says that Denver would probably outperform most quad and octa-core SoCs in the market today. In fact, the company even goes to say that it can match desktop processors in certain tasks.

Those are very confident claims coming from NVIDIA, whose Denver chip runs only two cores. The difference might be in that each core will have7-way superscalar microarchitecture – which in street terms would mean, up to seven concurrent operations can be run on each clock. That’s a drastic improvement from any chip out in the market today.

NVIDIA is also banking on Dynamic Code Optimization, a structure that will figure out optimal routines for different apps and then save them in a dedicated 128MB cache. That means less work on re-optimization, more speed. This 64-bit version of the Tegra K1 will be pin-for-pin compatible with the 32-bit version, which means OEMs won’t have to redesign boards that much.

In the end, the main issue will always be performance boosts for the consumer. NVIDIA is already banking on energy efficiency with the Tegra K1. We should know more about processor speeds and the needed RAM combos for Denver as ship date approaches.

VIA: SlashGear

Story Timeline

• NVIDIA Tegra K1 dovetails with Unreal Engine for demo


• HP ships Tegra 4-powered SlateBook 14


• NVIDIA Tegra K1 gives Acer Chromebook 13 hours of uptime