ASUS continues to tease smartwatch launch at IFA 2014

If there was ever any doubt that ASUS was going to enter the smartwatch market with a launch of a product impending at IFA 2014, those doubts can be safely quelled by now – ASUS is coming out with a new wearable product in Berlin. That much is certain, with the Taiwanese manufacturer continuing to put out teasers for the new product.

We covered their edgy-looking first teaser a couple of days back, and since then there have been a couple more images that have come out – all in the same edgy, smart-futuristic vein. The wearable gadget market is surely going to look a bit more crowded after IFA 2014, as ASUS will not be alone in launching a new smartwatch or some other Android-based wearable device.

As you can see from the image above – grabbed from the ASUS Facebook page – this is indeed a smartwatch. But those of you with tech smarts may have already noticed the emphasized curves on the face of the device. Is ASUS coming out with a curved OLED screen for its smartwatch? That is certainly edgy. Then again, it could just be a curved protector glass over a flat screen.

With all these teasers, you would do well to notice that no information has leaked about the specs of the device, although they are said to be using an AMOLED screen on it. The price point is anywhere from USD$99 to USD$150. Could it be because there are some yawn-inducing specs underneath? Or is ASUS really that secretive about the details? Watch this space and keep track of the goings-on at IFA via our timeline.

SOURCE: ASUS

Story Timeline

• ASUS smartwatch incoming with voice and motion controls


• ASUS rumored to launch smartwatch by September


• ASUS teases Android Wear smartwatch unveil at IFA

LG G3 Stylus now official and not a Galaxy Note rival

With just a week to go before IFA 2014, LG has surprisingly let the cat out of the bag and announced the LG G3 Stylus ahead of its expected September debut. Sadly, it seems that many of the rumored specs for this surprise newcomer were quite spot on except for one or two details, revealing a stylus-bearing smartphone that is in no way a competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Note line.

Capitalizing on the success of the G3, LG has announced several variants with the same name that focused on bringing the new design and some software features to a less expensive tier, with the mid-range G3 Beat (G3 S in Europe) and the G3 A in Korea, which is practically the LG G2 in G3 clothing. To that end, the G3 Stylus is similarly a budget-friendly incarnation with rather mediocre specs. The only difference, it comes with a stylus and has a large but quite dismal screen.

Let's lay out all the specs. There is a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, higher than that of the G3 Beat, and 1 GB of RAM with 8 GB reserved for internal storage. The display spans 5.5-inches, not as large as earlier leaked, but confirmed to sport a qHD resolution of 960x540. On a smaller sized smartphone that might not be much of a drawback. But for something as large as the LG G3 itself, that is bound to be a liability. Surprisingly, there is a 13 megapixel rear camera like the G3 but without the new Laser Autofocus system. The front camera, on the other hand, is 1.3 megapixels like the G3 Beat. The battery on this thing is 3,000 mAh similar to the G3.

Of course, the highlight of the G3 Stylus, as its name implies, is the stylus. Unfortunately, even that will disappoint. It doesn't have a pressure-sensitive active digitizer like Samsung's equivalent, nor something like NVIDIA's DirectStylus, or even something gimmicky like Qualcomm's ultrasonic writer. Instead, you have what LG calls its patented Rubberdium stylus, basically the same capacitive rubberized stump you get in third party accessories, except the G3 Stylus comes with one by default and has a silo to tuck it in. That said, very creative folks have been known to produce masterpieces with such pens, so we won't be quick to belittle it. At least not too much. With the stylus, LG's QuickMemo apps become even more relevant and its large screen makes a perfect canvas for the Dual Window feature. Of course, there's also Knock Code, Smart Keyboard, and that selfie-friendly Gesture Shot to round up the smartphone's special features.

The LG G3 Stylus will first debut in 3G markets in Brazil next month, followed by Asia, Middle East, Africa, and CIS regions. Judging by that, we can presume there is no 4G LTE capability in this device, which might make it less appealing to US and some European markets. The smartphone will still make its way to LG's IFA 2014 display, where we will most likely get to see if this rather odd mix of high and low features will have something truly interesting to offer.

SOURCE: LG

Story Timeline

• LG G3 Stylus accidentally revealed in G3 Beat ad


• LG G3 Stylus likely a qHD 5.7-inch smartphone

A Single Android App Is Crippling the Nat'l Weather Service's Website

If you've been trying to look up your forecast on the National Weather Service's website this afternoon, you may have noticed that the forecasts are days out of date or not loading at all. Apparently, this is the result of a single "abusive" Android app overloading the agency's servers.

Read more...

Malaysian retailer advertises availability of Samsung Galaxy Mega 2

Though there has been no formal announcement from Samsung regarding this newest phablet, apparently the Galaxy Mega 2 is now available in Malaysia through authorised reseller SenHeng. Unless they jumped the gun in advertising the smartphone’s availability, this indicates that they are the first country to have officially released the newest member of the Galaxy family.

Well, it seems more likely that there was some confusion in when the ad should be published, because as per the Samsung Malaysia website, there is still no listing for the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2. The ad was spotted in a local newspaper in Malaysia and on the SenHeng website and advertises that it is available for RM1,299 which is around $410. The ad was also offering a special deal if you use a Maybank credit card to buy the smartphone with their Easy Installment Plan. For comparison, the previously released Samsung Galaxy Mega was priced at RM1,599 or around $505, which makes Galaxy Mega 2 almost $100 cheaper.

In terms of specifications, the ad lists the phone as having a 6” HD TFT display, powered by a Quad Core 1.5GHZ processor and has an 8MP rear camera. It has 1.5GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which probably explains why the Galaxy Mega is more expensive, since it has 16GB. Previously leaked details about the Galaxy Mega 2 have shown different specs. The first leak from a TENAA certification showed it had 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm, 2GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, rear camera at 13MP and front camera at 5MP. The 2nd leaked specs had 1.5GHz quad-core Pega Pro, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB storage, 8MP rear camera and 2.1MP front camera.

The Malaysian ad offers the Galaxy Mega 2 and two other Samsung smartphones for the Maybank instalment. You get 1 month free instalment on a 24 months duration, and will also get free dual car charger and a 10,000mAh power bank as well. We’ll be finding out in the next few days whether this was a legit offer or if they were not authorised to release the ad this early, since Samsung has not done any formal announcement yet.

VIA: SoyaCincau

Story Timeline

• Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 certified by TENAA, has faux leather design


• Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 leak shows a different set of specs

Chromecast root access achieved via Teensy boards

The Teensy USB Development Board made by PJRC is famous with DIY hobbyists, students, and budding computer engineers for its low-cost microcontroller chip and AVR processor, and for its easy usage via USB. The guys over at XDA have now used the earlier versions of the Teensy board – the Teensy 2.0 and the Teensy 2 ++ – to create an exploit that gives root access to your Chromecast device.

The process itself requires that you have in possession a Teensy 2.0 board or the slightly longer Teensy 2 ++ board. If you don’t have one, those are easily purchased via the PJRC links that are cited in the XDA forum thread (check the source link). There are also some software requirements that are linked on the thread, easily downloadable. You would also need a few cables – an OTG USB cable, and a USB-to-miniUSB for programming the Teensy board. Lastly, you would need a 1GB (at least) flash drive for flashing your Chromecast device.

The process is pretty straightforward and is clearly lined up in the thread. The exploit is guaranteed to work on Chromecast’s current software build, as well as new devices which haven’t been connected to the internet yet. Watch the demo below.

A logical question for non-techy users would be – what are the advantages of a rooted Chromecast? Well for one, you now have the ability to cast video from any Android phone or tablet to your Chromecast, whereas the original unrooted software would be very picky in the devices it allowed to cast to it. Then there’s audio casting, and using custom firmware to get even more out of your Chromecast. The warning, as always, is to research the heck out of the process before even trying it. But the payoff is ultimately sweet.

SOURCE: XDA

Story Timeline

• Popcorn Time's Android app now has Chromecast support


• Google offers more services as Chromecast turns 1 year old


• Google Update: G+ Chromecast support, minor tweaks

Koush reveals ADB GUI extension for Chrome

Google provides a very powerful Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool for interacting with an Android device, but the default interface is a rather geeky and, for some, a tad arcane. Koushik "koush" Dutta has just pre-announced a new tool that he has been working on that gives a fancy GUI to ADB, accessible via a Chrome web browser extension.

Installing the extension is easy but isn't the usual way you'd install Chrome extensions via the marketplace, at least for now. You download a ZIP archive and extract the contents into a folder of its own. Then in the Chrome browser's settings, you have to enable Developer mode and then click on Load unpacked extension and direct it to your extracted contents. Once installed, you can launch ADB either from the Extensions settings page or from Chrome's Apps page. Remember to stop any currently running ADB server before you do so, in case you have some already running.

Once everything has been setup properly, you will have access to almost all of ADB's functionality from a clean-looknig graphical interface. There are five tabs available. Packages lists all packages installed on the connected device and lets you do operations like clearing the data, uninstalling, forcibly stopping them. You can also into APKs from this space. The Controller tab lets you control your device right from within your browser window. A separate ChromeADB app on Google Play Store can be installed on the Android device which adds a mouse pad functionality in this tab. Process List simply enumerates the system-level process and apps running, but it doesn't let you do anything about them. App Memory Info and Disk Space do the same for memory space and file storage. These latter three do have some search functionality in them.

At the moment, only the Nexus 5 is the officially supported device for Chrome ADB, but more will be added to the list soon. Koush will also be making a more proper release of the extension, adding it to the Chrome web store to make it easier to install and manage. This extension removed the need for users to install the Android SDK tools just to get access to ADB, making it a lot easier for anyone to tinker with their devices. It is noted, however, that on Windows, drivers still need to be installed for the extension to work.

SOURCE: +Koush

Android “L” seems to be all about a Lemon Meringue Pie

Are you craving for some lemon meringue pie? Well, Google seems to be hankering for some as more evidence seems to indicate that the upcoming Android release, codenamed Android L, will be called “LMP”. And since it has always been all about sweet nothings when it comes to naming Android updates, then the initials most likely stand for this tangy dessert, unless you can think of any other sweet that the LMP can mean.

Multiple sources indicate that the Android “L” is being referred to as “lmp” and since the final build isn’t available yet, Google most probably will not confirm nor deny this. Let’s look at all the “evidence” that shows that we will probably all be buying lemon merengue pie in the next few months as speculation continues to grow until the official release of “lmp”. The current preview builds for the Nexus 5 and 7 are referred to as the “lmp-preview-release” based on the extract from the Android SDK. Another document that supports this is the WiFi certification for HTC’s upcoming tablet called Volantis. In the specs sheet, the firmware is listed as LMP as well.

Another key evidence for #teamLemonMeringuePie is the fact that when you search for the initials “lmp” on the Android Open Source Project repository, there are nine hits already. One of them even has LMP on its subject heading. However, it’s still not concrete proof that it will actually be called that, since the previous build was referred to as Key Lime Pie in internal documents, but ended up being called KitKat (probably for that weird tie-up with Nestle though).

All the speculation for the official name is fun (and making us crave for baked goods) but what’s more important for users is what new things Android L will bring about. Some initial reports indicate it will include multi-user account, a new Material Design, and ART runtime by default among other things.

VIA: Android Police

Story Timeline

• Next Nexus device believed to have "flounder" codename [UPDATE]


• Volantis is HTC’s Nexus tablet, specs leaked ahead of Google I/O


• Next Android version to be revealed at Google I/O 2014