Subscribe:

Ads 468x60px

Labels

Archos new Connected Objects: Weather Station, Music Light

In June, Archos joined the "Internet of Things" world by revealing its Smart Home products. At IFA 2014 next week, it will be expanding its "Connected Objects" team with three new devices, including an environment-aware orb, a musical LED bulb, and, amusingly, a headphone-toting beanie.



You have probably heard of many smart devices that are able to tell you weather conditions both inside and outside the home. The Archos Weather Station, whose name doesn't do justice to its looks, is no different in that regard. The company claims it will be able to tell you what you need to know about the temperature, humidity, air quality, air pressure, and even noise levels and pipe those to your mobile device, whether they be an Android one or an iOS. It comes in a stylish ball form that is both pretty to look at but also conspicuous beside your normal everyday furniture.


archos-music-light


The Archos Music Light is everything that its name says it is: an energy-saving LED bulb with integrated Bluetooth speakers. The bulb itself uses 16 LEDs and consumes 5W to give off a luminous flux of 200 LM. The speakers are rated Class D and the Bluetooth technology is compatible not just with Android and iOS but also with Windows OS, though Archos doesn't say whether it's Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8. Perhaps a bit more peculiar is the Archos Music Beany, described as a "plush beany that combines the benefits of a headphone with the style and comfort of a traditional beany." It also uses Bluetooth so its compatibility is largely the same as the Music Light.


archos-music-beanie


The Weather Station costs around ₤99 ($164), the Music Light ₤49 ($81), and the Music Beanie has a price tag of ₤29 ($48). All three will launch in September and will be making their public debut at IFA 2014 in Berlin.


SOURCE: Archos


Archos Platinum smartphones and Oxygen tablet revealed

IFA 2014 is almost upon us and Archos wants everyone to know that it will also be there. To stay ahead of the spotlight-grabbing flood of announcements that will take place next week, it is unveiling ahead of time its new batch of budget-friendly Android devices, including two new smartphones from its Platinum line and a shiny 10.1-inch Oxygen tablet.



The Platinum series is Archos' new venture into a more colorful but still affordable line of Android smartphones. It is advertised to have a blazing fast CPU, which in Archos' world means a 1.3 GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582. Curiously, the manufacturer has placed only 512 MB of RAM in here, sure to be the bottle neck of the whole device. The 50b, which is the standard bearer of the line, has a display that spans 5.0 inches but only sports a 960x540 qHD resolution. Another curiousity is the cameras, which are interestingly decent at 8 megapixels and 2 megapixels for the rear and the front, respectively. All of these powered by a measly 1,900 mAh battery.


archos-50b-platinum-2 archos-50b-platinum-3 archos-50b-platinum-4 archos-50b-platinum-5 archos-50b-platinum-6


Archos will be bundling quite a lot with the 50b Platinum, including 2 colored back cases, 1 crystal case, and an 8 GB microSD card. All for just ₤119, roughly $197 in the US. There is also a smaller version, the 45c Platinum. The 4.5-inch FWVGA screen plus the lack of the crystal case and microSD card in the package lets Archos push down its price to ₤99 or $164.


The Archos 101 Oxygen is the company's latest entry into the tablet world and it comes with slightly higher specs. An unnamed quad-core Cortex-A17 runs the show, which could reach up to 2 GHz in speed. There is happily at least 1.5 GB of RAM in this thing, paired with 16 GB of internal storage. The 10.1-inch display is also noted to support a 1080p resolution. Not much else has been published about this tablet aside from the ₤199 price tag, around $330. All three are scheduled to launch in September, but not before making an appearance at Archos' IFA 2014 booth next week.


archos-101-oxygen


SOURCE: Archos





T-Mobile expands Simple Choice family plans tablet options

T-Mobile is really upping the ante in the price and gadget wars with its competitors. A day after announcing that Simple Choice subscribers can upgrade their 500MB LTE data to 2GB, they’ve now expanded the Family Plan options by letting subscribers add a tablet to their plans. This means that one plan can now have up to ten lines, instead of the previously allotted five, as more families and businesses have need of more lines and gadgets as well.



A Simple Choice Family Plan previously consists of unlimited calls and texts and a shared 1GB of data. Now when you add a second line to that plan, you’ll be able to add the next lines for only $10 each. And if you think the shared data will not be enough (and of course it won’t be), you can just add $30 each for lines that would want unlimited 4G LTE data (but read the fine print first for their definition of what “unlimited is).


By September 3, subscribers also have the option to get an LTE tablet to their postpaid plan. They would just need to add $10 per month and just like the smartphone, the tablet will also get up to 5GB of LTE data. However, they did not specify up to when this deal will be offered, so if your family or small business is hankering for a new tablet, you better get avail of this probably limited offer.


Comparison1-600x208


Just a few days ago, T-Mobile offered a special deal for their Simple Plan subscribers to entice customers of their rival networks to switch to the uncarrier. While some of their current subscribers still have issues with their network, particularly for poor coverage in some areas and the unlimited not really being unlimited, T-Mobile has been pretty aggressive in showing the public that they are better than the three other major networks in the US.


VIA: SlashGear





New leaked pictures of Xperia Z3 show clearer view

We’re just a few days away from the official announcement of Sony’s newest smartphone, the Xperia Z3. But people still can’t get enough of any new leaks about the upcoming flagship of the Japanese OEM. New leaked photos show a better view of the handset, including a closer look at its battery.



The new photos show the Xperia Z3 from all angles possible, showing how much slimmer and lighter it is than its predecessor, the Xperia Z2. If the leaked pictures are the actual new smartphone, then it means it will be running on a 3100mAh battery (Z2 ran on 3200mAh). A few days ago, a certification from China’s TENAA was also leaked, with the Xperia Z3 listed as L55t and L55u models, with the difference between them being the former supports TD-SCDMA, TD-LTE network while the latter has WCDMA and TD-LTE network.


Based on the details shown in the documents, there is very little difference between the Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z3 in terms of specifications. The Xperia Z3 just has a faster processor using a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Quadcore as compared to the Z2’s 2.3 GHz. The new smartphone is also thinner at 146.5x72.4x7.35mm (the Z2 is 146.8x73.3x8.2mm) and lighter at 158.4kg (Z2 weighs in at 163kg). In terms of display, they have the same size at 5.2” but the Xperia Z3 has full HD display while Xperia Z2 uses the the Triluminos display (also in full HD). Other than those mentioned, the two smartphones have the same specs, with 3GB RAM, 16GB internal memory and 20.7MP main camera.


As to whether all these leaks are reliable, we’ll all find out on September 3, during Sony’s reveal at the IFA in Berlin. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the leaked images of the Xperia Z3.


Xperia-Z3-Leak_2-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_3-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_4-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_5-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_7-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_10-640x480 Xperia-Z3-Leak_12-640x480


VIA: Xperia Blog





HTC Desire 510 wants 4G LTE to be more accessible

LTE prices are starting to go down but the costs of smartphones that can support it aren't. Aspiring to bring an LTE-capable smartphone to the masses, HTC is unleashing the Desire 510, a mid-range smartphone touted to be an always connected multimedia device in your pocket and bears some of the highlights of HTC's more expensive selection.



The Desire 510 is undoubtedly a budget smartphone when you look at its spec sheet. Powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 and 1 GB of RAM, it just has enough juice to pull you through every day usage, some videos, and maybe a few games that don't require much resources. As for watching videos, though, you might be a tad disappointed. The 4.7-inch screen, while handy, only comes with an FWVGA resolution of 854x480. That's even less than 960x540 qHD. The 8GB storage might be a bit small, but that is easily rectified with a 128 GB microSD card. A 5 megapixel rear camera, a lowly VGA front shooter, and a decent 2,1000 mAh battery rounds up the smartphone's key hardware.



HTC_Desire_510_3V_White



That said, looks can be deceiving and the HTC Desire 510 might appear to be a semi-premium smartphone from the outside. It slightly resembles the company's more premium designs on its face, though the second speaker is sadly located at the back instead. It isn't aluminum though, but polycarbonate plastic. You will find Android 4.4 and HTC Sense running inside, though the exact version of the latter isn't specified. There's also BlinkFeed for your news reading needs. Interestingly, it seems that HTC is bent on capitalizing on its new Dot View case concept that debuted with the HTC One M8, since this budget smartphone will have its own set as well.


The HTC Desire 510 will be available worldwide including markets in the US, Europe, and Asia, particularly those with 4G networks. No exact availability date or pricing has been made known yet, but expect the smartphone to make an appearance at IFA 2014 next week, hopefully with a few more bits of information.


BitTorrent Sync 1.4: an easier way to share huge files

Everyone is all about the cloud these days, from temporary storage, to backup solutions, to ad-hoc sharing of files with others. But what if you needed to share a file that was so huge that not only does it hit the limit of any cloud storage but also makes it time-consuming to first upload the file to the cloud before sharing it with others? That is where BitTorrent Sync comes in.



BitTorrent Sync, as you might have guessed from the name, builds on the popular (or unpopular, if you prefer) peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. In it's very essence, Sync is like Dropbox, Google Drive, and whatnot that lets you share files with others or sync folders from one device to another aside for one important difference: there is no cloud involved. Without a central server, there is no central authority to dictate the rules. It also means there is no single point of failure or a potential security/privacy exploit waiting to happen. And more importantly, there are no limits to how large the file can be. Your only real limits will be your or your recipient's disk space and both your bandwidth quotas.


bittorrent-sync-2


This new version 1.4 of the app introduces some improvements to the flow of sharing, making it easier to hand out links to folders you'd like to share. You can opt to either directly email a link or copy the link to your clipboard so you can paste it wherever you choose. The recipient doesn't even need to have a Sync account, though he or she will be given instructions on how to proceed. Folders can be read only or you can give others write permissions as well. You have full control of what you share, how you share it, and with whom you share it. The only nitpick we have with the service is that you can only sync whole folders and not individual files. Despite the easy sharing features, Sync isn't a file sharing service but a decentralized folder syncing one.




BitTorrent Sync is available on all major platforms, whether you are on a PC or Mac running Windows, OS X, or Linux, or on a mobile device. It is even available in several NAS products. The desktop clients have all been updated and mobile apps should be rolling out now. The BitTorrent Sync app is available for free on Google Play Store and, since there is no cloud involved, the service is also free.


bittorrent-sync-3 bittorrent-sync-4 bittorrent-sync-5 bittorrent-sync-6


SOURCE: BitTorrent





Joby GripTight Stands for phablets now available

Joby has been making cool stands for smartphones for a long time, but if you were using larger devices, those stands didn’t always fit. Joby has announced that it has launched new larger size GripTight Mounts that are designed to work with big smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Note series.



The new mount has large enough holders on the stands to work with these devices even with a case installed on the smartphone. Joby says that the larger GripTight mount will work with phones having a minimum and maximum width between 2.7" and 3.9".


The new mount can also be purchased separately to pair with the GripTight Micro Stand of the GorillaPod Stand. The GripTight Mount has a universal tripod mount on top with 1/4"-20 threads and sells for under $19.95.


The mount holds the phone tight enough that the phone won't slip out when the mount is sideways or upside down. The Joby GripTight Micro Stand will sell for $29.95 with the GripTight GorillaPod Stand selling for the same $29.95 price.


SOURCE: Joby


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)