Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 taking some heat

Pardon the pun in the title, will you? The Snapdragon 810, Qualcomm's new standard flagship chip and arguably one of 2015’s hottest commodities, is the Android industry's answer for catching up with Apple on the 64-bit issue, as well as better performance via octa-core processing. This early, though, the Snapdragon 810 seems to be taking heat from gadget manufacturers and critics for all the wrong reasons.

San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. is at the moment trying its best to douse initial reports of overheating issues with the Snapdragon 810, most notably with electronics giant Samsung announcing recently that it might need to switch to its own underpowered Exynos chips for the much-hyped Samsung Galaxy S6 reportedly launching at MWC 2015 in Barcelona. Industry watchers note, though, that the world’s largest smartphone-maker may just be looking for a convenient excuse to promote its own processor line—which would be receiving a huge boost if the Galaxy S6 proves to be a massive success—while at the same time trying to reduce or eliminate its dependence on Qualcomm.

It’s no secret the Snapdragon 810 is key to Qualcomm’s revenue plans for the year. It is being marketed as the processor of choice for some of the industry’s high-end smartphones; even company President Derek Aberle noted that the Snapdragon 810 has given Qualcomm “good traction” with major device manufacturers. Initial assessments show that the company could see up to 8 percent reduction in earnings should Samsung make good on its plans to ditch the 810 completely. This probably explains reports that have also surfaced that Qualcomm apparently has an update for the Snapdragon chip to be made available for Samsung by March, but it is not clear if this will make it on time into the Galaxy S6.

Not everything is gloom-and-doom for Qualcomm, however, as Samsung rival LG has maintained it will stick -- and has stuck -- with the Snapdragon 810 for the high-end LG G Flex 2, which will hit the market by month’s end. In explaining their commitment to Qualcomm and the Snapdragon 810, LG vice president for smartphone development Choi Yong-su noted that heating issues are not centered solely on the chip itself, “but also on how the phone’s internal cooling system is designed.” So maybe the Snapdragon 810 does get hot—it’s just a matter of how manufacturers choose to live with it. What do you think?

VIA: The Wall Street Journal

Story Timeline

• Development devices for Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 emerge


• Snapdragon 810 will launch in 2015 on schedule says Qualcomm


• Samsung tipped to be ditching Qualcomm due to overheating

Project ARA: Lapka health modules and a Sennheiser update

More and more outfits are buying into Project ARA’s modular smartphone project. We talked about audio experts Sennheiser entering big-time into the project by designing an audio module for the smartphone, and they’re back with some amazing updates. Another outfit who specialize in style and healthy living – Lapka – is also keen to show off their plans for the modular project.

First up, Sennheiser has come up with two modules for the project designed for people who want just a little more oomph from the audio capabilities of their smartphones. The first concept module, named “amphion”, is designed to deliver high quality audio capture and playback. Using an energy efficient class G amplifier and a low-noise microphone input path, Sennheiser says that its design not only meets the demands of the audiophile, but is also perfect for musicians or journalists looking to capture some high quality audio for use at a later date.

The other audio module is just as impressive. The “proteus” audio module comes with two audio jacks, something we’ve all been dying to have on our current smartphones, for easier sharing of music. Sennheiser even suggests that this could have other applications too, such as using two stereo jacks to connect up four microphone inputs for high quality audio capture. Watch the video below for the complete presentation.

Lapka, on the other hand, is keen to show off its fusion of haute couture design with functional health and lifestyle modules such as air quality sensors, CO2 level sensors, a breath analyzer, an EKG module, and even a glucose level measurement module. Whew! Lots of great ideas here. Lapka is even pushing for Project ARA endoskeletons not in smartphone form but in other applications as well.

SOURCE: Phonebloks / Lapka

Story Timeline

• Google's Project Ara hands-on: modular plug-and-play smartphone action


• Project Ara configurator app makes it easy to design your own phone


• Project Ara: how the puzzle pieces fit

Apple may have bitten off Nexus 6’s ‘missing’ fingerprint sensor

It turns out that Apple may have been responsible not just for the seeming current downturn in innovating its own products, but contributing to some "missing" parts in the competition as well. Notice that cute "dimple" behind Google's Nexus 6 -- manufactured by Motorola hence the dimple has Motorola's logo? Well, news has come out that it should have been a tappy fingerprint sensor. But circumstances have been so that Motorola wasn't able to include that in that final design.

Former Motorola chief executive and now Dropbox CEO Dennis Woodside revealed in a chat with UK newspaper The Telegraph that the original intent for the Nexus 6’s backside dimple was for a sophisticated fingerprint sensor that could have allowed users to unlock the device with a touch of a finger. “Apple bought the best supplier,” Woodside explained, adding that the next best alternative was not up to Motorola’s standards for the Nexus 6. “The second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry, and they weren’t there yet.”

That supplier was supposed to be AuthenTec, which Apple bought for USD$356 million back in 2012 for its own use. Evidence of the fruity company one-upping the competition can now be seen in the iPhone 5S and in the newer iPads, which feature Touch ID, where the user can unlock the device with a soft touch on the home button. But the distinct advantage of this particular sensor—and proof of why Motorola wanted it in the first place for the Nexus 6—is that it does not require your finger to be in a certain position and can be engaged at any angle, adding a ton of convenience for users.

Woodside, though, has downplayed the what-could-have-been for Motorola, saying that missing the experience of opening the Nexus 6 with a fingertip touch instead of punching a PIN or swiping it open shouldn’t be too much of a big deal. It “wouldn’t have made that big a difference,” he said, but owners of the Nexus 6 would probably—most likely—disagree. Thanks (or no thanks?) to Apple, that possibility won’t be happening soon, unless Samsung introduces a fingerprint sensor of some sort in the upcoming Galaxy S6.

VIA: The Telegraph

Story Timeline

• Android 5.0.1 lands on Nexus 5, T-Mobile pushes to Nexus 6 too


• Double Tap to Wake feature brought back to unrooted Nexus 6


• Motorola lists Nexus 6 again, will start shipping on January 6

Enjoy all the NFL side action on YouTube and Google Search

Last year, the world was gripped by everything football as the 2014 edition of the World Cup was held in Brazil. Google was at the forefront of providing all the action for people who unfortunately couldn't be there in person. Now, it's the time for a different kind of football, as SuperBowl Weekend is almost upon us. Once again, Google wants to provide NFL fans with an easy way to be caught up in all the pre, during and post game goodies.

If you're an American football fan, chances are you would've typed the search words NFL on Google to look for the latest news and info (or if you want to know what's the difference between that kind of football with the other one). Well for the upcoming SuperBowl weekend, you may want to bookmark the NFL's YouTube Channel as they will be bringing you all the news, analysis, play-by-play, predictions, etc as the Patriots and Seahawks duke it out in Arizona in a few days time.

And even after the game, they will be posting a lot more content as the countdown to the 2015-16 season begins. Having football withdrawals, just type in a search for your favorite team or player, and the info will already be there, including links to relevant YouTube videos as well.

Google has been really great in giving sports fans info without even clicking on a link after googling a certain sports event. Like now, if you search Australian Open, you can already see the current scores and even upcoming matches on the search results page itself.

SOURCE: YouTube Blog

DIY mod for hard-to-press Nexus 9 buttons now available

We’ll be honest: We love the HTC Nexus 9. We’ve raved about it before -- how sleek and elegant it looks, about its 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor with dual Denver cores running at 2.3GHz, and that vibrant 8.9-inch display (2048x1536 pixel resolution). Now if only those really iffy volume and power buttons would have an easy fix. It turns out, there might just be hope for us and the rest of the tablet world who use Google's premier tablet.

Users of the Nexus 9—specifically the early versions—have complained of difficulties with the volume and power rockers on this otherwise impressive device, noting that these buttons were quite hard to press and provided hardly any feedback to work with. Up until now, the solution had been to buy a later release of the Nexus 9, where the problem apparently had been corrected by HTC.

Thanks to XDA member "lfrst05", there’s no more reason to dispose your early release Nexus 9 prematurely, as there is now a way to fix those troublesome buttons. The ingenious modder has noted that the volume and power rockers on his unit were not raised high enough above the surface of the body and speculated that this might have been a production error.

This DIY mod for the Nexus 9 is relatively simple, needing only a small Phillips screwdriver, a pair of tweezers, and a piece of paper—along with nerves of steel and steady hands, as, with any modification, this has the potential for disaster if you can’t figure out what you’re doing. If you really want to improve the performance of your Nexus 9 on your own, you can check out the official XDA forum thread (see source link below) for the mod and try for yourself.

SOURCE: XDA

Story Timeline

• This is the HTC Nexus 9 for movers and makers


• Nexus 9 now ships in 1-2 days directly from Google Play


• Nexus 9 released in sand color

Help a goat become a rockstar in new Android adventure game

What do you get when you put together a rebellious, bad-ass goat, an oversized rooster with questionable fashion sense and a dream to become a famous rockstar? You get Rockin' Goat a crazy 2D platform adventure game that is complicated yet fun, as you try to help these crazy kids get to the top of the charts, all while overcoming the usual obstacles to that dream, like angry plants, insane traps, and even an apocalyptic meteor.

The leather jacket-wearing goat with orange hair is called Elwood and his (former) owner said that he has an attitude problem and that he has caused nothing but trouble. The oversized rooster is Cluck McGee who gave the farm a bad name, according to the farmer, by throwing raging parties. But for other people, the two are simply breaking out to help Elwood be the best rock star in the world, with Cluck becoming the power behind the guitar (aka his manager).

Elwood, while aiming to become the next Mick Jagger, is still after all, a goat, and so you need him to climb walls and ram his way through all the obstacles along the way, which includes a flock of seagulls (the older people may get the reference), and the aforementioned meteor threatening to obliterate the earth. The game has nine levels and three environments, with the controls being intuitive enough for beginners. And of course, you can expect a rocking soundtrack for such a rockin game.

You can also start your band with Elwood, but don't forget who the real star is (it's not you). You can download Rockin' Goat from the Google Play Store for free but with in-app purchases available.

Cablevision to offer mobile phone service through WiFi

As more and more people are using data more than SMS or calls on their mobile phone subscriptions, carriers will become even more competitive, but on a different frontier. But it looks like some Internet providers are also getting in on the action, but this time offering mobile phone services through their WiFi. One of the earliest to jump on this wagon is Cablevision with their new low-cost service called Freewheel.

Since it's still early days, they are partnering with just one handset for now, which is Motorola's Moto G, which will come preloaded with apps as well. Users will have access to more than 300,000 WiFi hotspots all over the country. They will be able to send SMS and make calls as long as they're connected to any of Cablevision's access points, including those from Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner, who are part of the CableWifi Initiative.

However, the service doesn't have a fall-back option when for example a user gets disconnected from the WiFi network. That is why Cablevision is focusing on getting new users from areas that have "WiFi rich environments". While the service is being offered nationwide, but it will be heavily marketed in its "home turf", the New York Tri-state area where they have more than 1.1 million hotspots. Cablevision turns its users into WiFi networks by adding a separate network that can be used by their subscribers, which will include those that will be on Freewheel.

Existing Cablevision subscribers will just add $9.95 per month to their existing plan to get unlimited talk, text, and data. Those who aren't using their Internet service will shell out $29.95 per month. Meanwhile, the Moto G will be available for $99.95. We're looking forward to seeing if this will be a new trend for cable-led mobile services.

VIA: Gigaom