As we close out one week and kick off another, let’s take a moment to look back at the attention-grabbing headlines from the past seven days [January 13 – January 19]. Some of the news you may recall, some may be new to you, but all of the topics below are worthy of a mention.
Leaked third party case suggests next-gen HTC One will come with fingerprint scanner
Ever since the HTC One Max shipped with a fingerprint scanner, rumors have been floating around that the One’s successor will also ship with a fingerprint scanner. Now, the folks over at Sonny Dickson have managed to get their hands on some third party cases for the next-generation One.
Moto X bamboo back price dropped to $25; More options coming on 21st Jan
Back in August last year, when Motorola announced the Moto X, it promised that it will start offering wooden backs for the handset sometime soon. However, due to some quality and testing delays, the bamboo finished back for the X came towards the end of the year for an additional $100.
Google Now comes to Chrome Desktop alpha
“Chrome” is Google’s all encompassing brand for their internet browser, but there are actually quite a few different versions. There’s Chrome for Mac, Chrome for Windows, Chrome for Android … you get the idea. More importantly, each of those versions also come in three distinct flavors. There’s the stable version of Chrome that 99% of people, myself included, use on a daily basis. There’s the beta version of Chrome that’s also considered to be quite stable, but it’s not perfect. And finally, for the crazy ones, there’s the alpha version of Chrome, which Google calls “Canary”, like the bird miners once used as a crude oxygen meter.
Google unveils their latest ‘moonshot’ project: A contact lens that can read your blood sugar
Google was once a company that didn’t make a lot of money, but then they bought a small firm in 2003 called “Applied Semantics” and used their technology to develop the golden geese known as AdSense and AdWords. Fast forward to today and Google is so rich that they use their own buses and boats to ferry employees to and from work. Despite this wealth, Google is smart enough to understand that they’re a one trick pony. That’s why they’re investing in projects that are incredibly far removed from their most popular product, the Google search engine.
The guy who invented PGP is making his own Android phone. Does anyone actually need it?
Phil Zimmermann is the creator of an encryption protocol called PGP. He invented it so that his files, conversations, and any other thing he did on a computer, would be safe from the government. This sort of tin foil hat wearing is the inspiration behind “Blackphone”, a smartphone that runs a fork of Android called “PrivatOS”. What kind of screen does the phone have? What kind of processor? Does it support 4G LTE? How music is it going to cost? These are questions that are going to be answered next month at Mobile World Congress in Spain.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 Lite is finally official
The long rumored Galaxy Tab 3 Lite has just been officially announced by Samsung. According to the Korean mega-conglomerate, the device’s key feature is the ability to last for eight hours while watching video. Curiously, the Tab 3 Lite has a 3,600 mAh battery, which isn’t that much bigger than the 3,200 mAh cell in the far smaller Galaxy Note 3. Speaking about size, this new tablet has a 7.0 inch display that pushes a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Under the hood there’s a 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, and if you opt for the 3G version, you’ll get a 21 megabit per second HSPA+ modem.
HP’s first Android smartphones are meant for India; will come with 6 & 7-inch screen
HP’s Android based tablets might not have met with success but that has not stopped the company from trying. Today, the company has released two tablets phablets with a 6-inch and 7-inch screen, respectively, that can also make phone calls and are meant for India.
LG G Flex owners are experiencing screen defects that the company claims are normal
The LG G Flex is an amazing piece of engineering that shows people what phones will eventually will look like in two to three. Unfortunately, all tech demos have problems, especially ones that use cutting edge components. Several G Flex owners in Korea are reporting that their phone’s screen has bumps under the cover glass. When The Korea Times asked LG about this, the company confirmed that the bumps can appear if the phone experiences “excessive or frequent force”. A local salesclerk that was interviewed by The Korea Times says force isn’t even the issue here, but that all of the G Flex units he has handled have the same bump problem.
Rumor: Samsung was showing customers a 5.7 inch foldable display behind closed doors at CES
What doesn’t get shown off at CES is almost as exciting as what does get shown off at CES. Companies will often rent out a suite in a hotel or a private meeting room on the show floor and invite people to see devices and components that aren’t meant to be covered by the media. According to the Korean publication ETNews, Samsung was secretly showing people a 5.7 inch foldable display. The resolution of said display isn’t known, but it’s been confirmed to use AMOLED technology, which isn’t surprising given the existence of the Galaxy Round.
Motorola hires Ivan Poupyrev, said to be ‘one of the world’s greatest interaction designers’
Ivan Poupyrev is a name you’ve probably never heard. Sony and Disney, however, are companies you’re very familiar with. Ivan worked at Sony for eight years and at Disney for five years in the field of interaction design. He’s not the guy that puts pixels on screen, but instead he figures out how you interact, for lack of a better word, with an object. As an example, one of Ivan’s projects was to turn an ordinary household plant into a musical instrument.
Google announces Moto G Play Edition
Google today quietly added a Google Play Edition Moto G to the Play Store, that runs an unmodified build of Android 4.4 KitKat, with the same specs as the original Moto G.
HTC’s 2012 flagship phones, the One X and One X+, will no longer receive software updates
How long do most people keep a mobile phone before they decide they’ve had enough of it and want a new one? If you’re in a country where you sign two year contracts, then your operator pretty much dictates your replacement cycle. But if you’re the kind of person that buys phones full unlocked and unsubsidized, then what’s a good cadence? Is it 18 months? 24 months? More? HTC thinks two years is when most people will dump their phones, which is why they’ve just announced that the One X and One X+ will no longer receive software updates.
Moto X coming to Europe, it’ll cost 429 EUR ($586) in France and 380 GBP ($622) in the UK
It’s official: Motorola’s flagship smartphone, the Moto X, will be coming to Europe. According to The Economic Times, the phone will cost 429 Euros in France and 380 British pounds in the UK. Both prices are substantially higher than the $399 price tag in the United States, but hey, us Europeans are already used to being screwed when it comes to these matters.
Google to acquire Nest Labs for $3.2 billion
Google announced in a press release today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash. The company is known for the Nest thermostat, which can be controlled via an iOS or Android device. Nest Labs was founded in 2010 by former Apple engineers Matt Rogers and Tony Fadell, who is considered to be the father of the iPod.
Rumor: Samsung will hold an event in London in mid-March to announce the new Galaxy S5
During the weekend, an Italian journalist by the name of Flavio Pic sent out a tweet saying Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will be announced in London and an event due to take place in mid-March. Flavio says he’s received this information from a “trusted source”, but honestly, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with the same prediction.
Up until now, details about Samsung’s Galaxy S5 has been pretty sparse except for the fact that it would be unveiled at an event in London to be held sometime in March. Today, the folks over at SamMobile have managed to get some information about the Galaxy S5 specifications along with that of the Galaxy S5 mini and Zoom.
