Verizon Boosts Mobile Speed by 50%

Customers of Verizon’s mobile network received a pleasant surprise yesterday when the carrier announced that it had launched a new technology in 461 U.S. cities designed to make wireless data download speeds as much as 50 percent faster. Verizon said the upgrade, dubbed “LTE Advanced," will affect more than 288 million clients.
Verizon mobile customers don't have to pay extra for the new network or take any additional steps to access it. As long as customers are using one of the 39 devices approved for the network and their devices are running the latest software, they should start experiencing the faster speeds automatically, the company said.
The new technology uses software that combines two or three separate bandwidth channels into one larger channel to send data sessions over the most efficient route to completion, according to Verizon. This technology, known as “carrier aggregation,: uses a combination of 700 MHz, AWS, and PCS spectrum.

Courtesy of TopTechNews

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Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus 10 Leaks

The device was spotted in a handful of press renders passed along by German tech blog WinFuture, and judging by these images alone the slate will flaunt the same design language as the previous models, featuring a wall mount as well as a cylindrical base that should double as housing for the battery. The tablet’s back panel appears to be covered in leather – not unlike the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro –  and reportedly the slate will measure only 4.7 millimeters at its thinnest point. As far as hardware specifications are concerned, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus 10 sports a 10-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a pixel density of around 299 pixels per inch, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 system-on-chip featuring a 6-core processor clocked at frequencies of up to 1.8 GHz per core, and an Adreno 510 graphics chip. Otherwise, the slate is reportedly equipped with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory expandable via microSD, a 13-megapixel main camera complemented by a 5-megapixel front-facing sensor, and a JBL audio setup with Dolby Atmos support.

Courtesy of AndroidHeadlines

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Windows 10 update pushed back for some Windows phones

Microsoft’s Windows 10 Anniversary Update started rolling out for Windows Phones a few weeks ago, but not all devices received it OTA. The HP Elite X3 for one hasn’t received the Update yet, and now we’ve just been notified that the Vaio Phone Biz has had its update pushed back as well.

Citing issues with Continuum, Vaio confirms on its official website that the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update has been postponed due to Continuum not working with displays of “specific resolutions”.

Continuum for Phones is one of the major features of Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile operating system and one of the selling points of the business-focused devices pushed by OEMs.

Courtesy of MSPowerUser

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Samsung Notes app will be available for download on older devices

Today, Samsung announced that the powerful Samsung Notes app found on the new Galaxy Note 7 will be available for download on other Note devices in the future. The app is a consolidation of Samsung's previously available, S-Pen powered note-taking apps – Action Memo, S-Note, Scrapbook, and Memo. It lets users conveniently create, edit, and manage their S-Pen notes and drawings from one central location.

Samsung Notes supports handwriting recognition and lets users create memos both by keyboard input and by hand. The search feature in it is able to scan handwritten notes, so users can search inside their scribbles at will. The app also comes with pre-made check boxes, numbering, and font colors, which makes organizing chores and shopping lists faster and easier.

Courtesy of PhoneArena

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The LG G Pad II features the power of a small laptop.

The LG G Pad II is the workhorse that lets you stay on top of your work from any location. It features the power you’d expect to find in a small laptop, without all the extra weight. And it’s the perfect computing solution for students, families, and professionals constantly on the move.

This tablets rocks some pretty serious specs, compared to other models. It features a lightning quick 2.26 GHz quad-core CPU that makes quick work of your to-do list, and it can even multitask thanks to its split-screen functionality. Plus, it comes with a generous 2GB of onboard RAM and 32GB of storage space for all your files.

The LG G Pad II also provides users with numerous other must-have features: a gorgeous 10.1 inch HD display, front- and rear-facing cameras, Bluetooth functionality, and the Android Lollipop mobile OS.

Courtesy of AndroidCommunity

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Steve Wozniak speaks out against removal of 3.5 mm jack

Steve Wozniak's take on this design choice is that it will alienate fans of the iPhone and will lead to customer backlash. He also commented that he's no fan of wireless audio, as Bluetooth sounds flat and lifeless with the current tech, and said that advances in the field need to be made before the omission of a 3.5 mm jack is even considered as an option. He continued to lament the fact that his headphones with custom ear implants, which he enjoys very much, will now need an extra adapter attached to them to work with an iPhone. Sure, it's maybe not a huge pain to keep the adapter permanently attached to the headset's cord if all you use it with is your iPhone, but if it's a favorite set that gets plugged in a variety of your devices, having to remember to always bring that Lightning-to-headphones gizmo can get tedious.

On a slightly different note, The Woz continued to say that he is currently enjoying USB Type-C very much and that Apple should follow “the lead” of its competitors and implement it. The reasoning behind his feeling wasn't explained thoroughly, but he shared that one of his current smartphones, the Google Nexus 5X, is given “a higher level” just for having USB C.

Courtesy of PhoneArena

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Nougat is finally here for your Nexus

Google's newest version of Android OS 7.0, also known as Nougat, arrives in its first official form today.

Nougat, which many people have been playing with in a public beta since May, adds a number of new features to Android. Multi-window multitasking, extra battery-saving modes, baked-in support for Google's upcoming VR platform called Daydream and a bunch of new emoji are part of the changes. You can find out the details via our in-depth rundown.

There is, as always, a catch: The vast majority of Android users won't get Nougat on their device for weeks, if not months.
It's being pushed to Nexus devices first. The Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G (Android One) will get pushed over-the-air updates in "the coming weeks." Any device enrolled in Google's Android Beta program will be automatically upgraded to the final version as well.

Courtesy of CNet

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Unlimited data making a comeback?

For most of the years since, mobile industry executives have explained that unlimited plans just don’t make economic sense for the carriers, especially as simply surfing the Internet has expanded into all manner of apps, realtime driving directions, streaming music and video, and online games. Carriers, as they explain over and over again, own a limited amount of spectrum, or airwave licenses, thus limiting capacity for customer data usage.
But slowly unlimited plans have been coming back, and this week they nearly took over the entire scene. Both T-Mobile  TMUS -1.51%  and Sprint  S -1.50% introduced new, cheaper-than-ever unlimited data plans. T-Mobile’s new plan started at $70 for one line and went up to $160 for four lines. A prior unlimited plan ranged from $95 for an individual customer to $280 for four lines. Sprint went even lower, offering its unlimited plan for $60 to $160. Its old unlimited plan started at $75.
And both carriers said they intended to phase out the remainder of their data-limited plans sooner or later (T-Mobile said it would start next month for new customers, while Sprint wasn’t as specific).

Courtesy of Fortune

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Smartphone Battery Breakthrough

A new battery technology, which is soon to enter production, may be able to double the battery life on your smartphone by early next year.

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - who spun out and created a start-up called SolidEnergy - have created a new type of lithium metal battery, which comes anode-free and allows for twice the density in charge.

The technology has proved safe and is almost ready to be used in electric cars, smartphones, wearables and other portable devices; it's even set to launch in drones by November this year.

Qichao Hu, CEO of SolidEnergy, said "With two-times the energy density, we can make a battery half the size, but that still lasts the same amount of time, as a lithium ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium ion battery, but now it will last twice as long."

It works by switching graphite - a traditional battery material - for a very thin lithium-metal foil, which as well as being smaller can even hold more ions than normal cells.

 

Courtesy of TechRadar

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iPhone 7 doubles storgage space

Apple may launch an iPhone 7 with 256GB of internal storage next month, which would double the maximum amount of space available on an iPhone today.

Manufacturers behind flash-based memory have "increased chip prices citing strong demand for new smartphones, particularly the iPhone 7 featuring up to 256GB," according to DigiTimes.

This would give the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus as much space as the entry-level MacBook 2016. Only the largest iPad Pro 9.7 and iPad Pro 12.9 configurations have gotten to that level among currently available iDevices.

When Apple first launched the iPod, it marketed the 5GB size as a way to store 1,000 songs in your pocket – a great feat in 2001. A 256GB upgrade would be bring that number to over 50,000 songs in 2016.

Courtesy of TechRadar

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Improving The Nexus 6P?

To date, 2016 has been one of the best years in recent memory for Android. Samsung and LG have both come to the space with truly awesome flagships in the form of the LG G5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 EDGE. Imaging. Processing power. Design. Features. Specs. Hardware — everything looks, performs and feels as if it is right out on the bleeding edge once again. I am convinced this is why Apple’s iPhone sale are flatlining. The iPhone 6s range just looks remedial next to modern Android handsets.

Last year’s Nexus phone — the Nexus 6P — was easily one of the best releases of the year and an excellent entry for Huawei in the mobile history books. Everything was on point with that handset, from the way it looked, right down to overall performance and processing power. Hell, it even had a decent camera. And that was unheard of in the Nexus space until 2015.

This year’s range, then, have quite an act to follow; beating the Nexus 6P is not going to be easy. But what the Nexus 2016 phones do have going from them is pretty compelling. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 is awesomely powerful and provides huge improvements to connectivity, imaging and overall performance. This is why cameras like the one of the G5 are possible.

Courtesy of KnowYourMobile

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Apple’s next iPhone could be waterproof

The next iPhone might be able to swim, according to leaks – but it might be kept secret.

The company is working on making its newest iPhone waterproof, according to numerous leaks. The latest suggestion is a patent granted this week for a technique that lets Apple’s mobile devices take pictures properly underwater – apparently suggesting that it is working on letting those devices go underwater safely in the first place.

It is just the latest rumour in a run of leaks about the new iPhone that seems to suggest Apple is working towards a waterproof phone. Some have suggested, for instance, that Apple will be getting rid of its headphone jack in part so that it can seal up the phone, and it is also getting rid of the traditional home button as another way of stopping the water getting in.

Courtesy of Independant

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Samsung Gear S3 and Tab S3 To Launch Together

The Gear S3 is expected to come in the same circular shape as the Gear S2, with an AMOLED display. It will also sport the same rotary bezel on its side. The wearable from Samsung is also speculated to contain an altimeter, a barometer and a GPS-based speedometer.
All in all, these features will improve the tracking features of the Gear S2. Theoretically, these will help provide wearers with more reliable information.
The Samsung Gear S3 will also run on the Tizen operating system. There will be two variants of the upcoming device, one coming in a more classic design.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
As International Business Times adds, however, Samsung is likely to take the opportunity to also launch the Galaxy Tab S3b at IFA 2016.

Courtesy of ITechPost

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LG's new V20 with quad DAC

The Korean electronics giant on Wednesday said the V20 -- its next-generation flagship phone -- will feature a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC (digital to analog converter) in what LG called an industry first. LG said the DAC produces a crisp and clear sound reproduction that reduces ambient noise by up to 50 percent.

In addition to its DAC, the device is also expected to be the first phone to sport the new Android 7.0 operating system, known as Nougat.

Courtesy of Cnet

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iPhone 7 Headphone rumors

There's still probably months to go before its launch, but the most persistent rumor about the iPhone 7 so far is that it will ditch the traditional headphone jack.

This makes a lot of sense, following the announcement in 2014 that future iOS devices will support Lightning-connected headphones: after all, why make space for two ports when one would be enough? And this could enable Apple to make the iPhone 7 thinner than any previous Apple smartphone. But it does leave headphone makers with the option of making Apple-specific Lightning models or going wireless.

With control over the connection technology, could Apple join the competition and release its own set of Lightning headphones under the Beats brand? That's what we're going to consider today.

Back in 2014, Apple revealed at its WWDC event that headphone makers could now manufacture headphones that connect to iOS devices via the Lightning port. This announcement arrived just weeks after Apple confirmed that it had acquired Beats Audio, the company behind the popular Beats headphones.

Understandably, this led to speculation that suggests that the first headphones Beats unveils under Apple's management will use the Lightning port rather than the 3.5mm audio jack.

It's believed that the Beats acquisition is mostly focused on Beats Music - the company's music streaming service. But it would make sense for Beats to be among the first companies to launch Lightning-compatible headphones now that it's owned by Apple.

The first Lightning-connecting headphones are out now, although the choice remains distinctly limited.

Courtesy of MacWorld

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Nexus Sailfish's specs

Despite being fairly close to launch there still aren't all that many leaks surrounding the new Nexus handsets, but most of what we have heard is in agreement, including a new benchmark for the smaller Nexus Sailfish.

According to an AnTuTu listing spotted by TimesNews, the Nexus Sailfish has a Snapdragon 820 processor, an Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB of RAM.

That RAM amount has popped up already in a previous benchmark, while a Snapdragon 820 chip has been suggested by both a benchmark and a leaked build.prop file, so with this benchmark now added into the mix those core specs are looking likely.

That would put it in line with most other 2016 flagships, like the LG G5, HTC 10 and US versions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

The AnTuTu listing reveals a few other things too, including the presence of Android Nougat, which we're fully expecting, 32GB of built in storage and a 1080 x 1920 screen.

Courtesy of TechRadar

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90% of Android devices are safe from QuadRooter

Recently, it's been discovered that nearly 1 billion Android devices could be affected by a new set of security vulnerabilities gathered under the name QuadRooter. The vulnerabilities can potentially put at risk pretty much any Qualcomm Snapdragon-based Android device, but only if a user installs certain malicious apps.

A security patch to fully address this won't be out before September, but, fortunately, folks installing only apps from Google Play can not be affected by QuadRooter vulnerabilities anyway.

Since Verify Apps is enabled by default on devices running Android 4.2 or later and featuring Google Play services, it safeguards about 90% of all Android devices currently in use. If you do try to install content from unknown sources, Verify Apps will block the installation if it detects something suspicious.

Courtesy of PhoneArena

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iPad Pro 2 Rumors

Photos sent by an anonymous Chinese source clearly hints that the iPad Pro 2 could really be in the works.

Not much is revealed of what will iPad Pro 2 could offer. However, with the fact that it is the second flagship of Apple's premium tablet, it is expected to come with a much-improved processor, graphics and sound quality.

Rumors are rife that iPad Pro 2 will have a 64GB base model, Mirror reports. Aside from that, the forthcoming premium tablet is also said to be ditching the headphone jack, following the iPhone 7.

As for its size, the iPad Pro 2 is expected to come with a 12-inch screen that would feature adaptive display. This feature is said to let the device automatically adjust the brightness and color of the screen.

Other rumors features of the iPad Pro 2 include an smart connector and Quad-speakers. Also, the premium Apple tablet is arriving with Apple Stylus Pencil and a Smart Keyboard setup.

No official word has been made public as of yet regarding the official release date of the iPad Pro 2. However, sources claim that it will be launched alongside iPad Mini 5 and iPhone 7. 

Courtesy of GamenGuide

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HTC Desire 530 now available in US

Last month the HTC Desire 530 became available in the US for the first time, both in unlocked form as well as through T-Mobile. And starting today Verizon is offering the handset too, even undercutting the magenta carrier on price.

You can purchase the Desire 530 online from Big Red right now, or if you want to buy it from a store you need to wait until August 11. It's priced at $6 per month with a 24-month installment plan, adding up to a full retail price of $144 ($16 less than at T-Mobile).

The smartphone features a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP front-facing shooter, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 SoC (with a 1.1 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU), 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and a 2,200 mAh battery. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Courtesy of GSMArena

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Samsung iris scanner and security options on the Note 7

The iris scanning technology used by Samsung in the new Galaxy Note 7 is of the more sophisticated and much faster type that uses a combo of near-IR LED emitter and an iris camera, as opposed to only using the selfie cam and some software to get a lock on your eyes. Samsung says that this is a technology it has had for years in the making, and it might indeed be so, given that we first heard about the possible introduction of an iris recognition tech way back when the S5 was still on the drawing board.

The most important part of the memo, however, is that your iris scans are coded in a digital format and scrambled, so nobody can get a hold on anything that will be of any use to them by hacking or stealing your phone, just the way it is with the finger scans. Thus, feel free to use it with Samsung's new Secret folder that can store all the media, docs, mails, apps and contacts you wan't to keep from prying eyes.

Courtesy of PhoneArena

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Samsung upgraded Gear VR headset

Samsung launched the brand new Galaxy Note 7 at a trio of events in New York, London and Rio – but it wasn't just the phablet taking center stage. It was joined by an upgraded Gear VR headset too.
The big difference is the larger lenses, giving you a wider field of view for a more immersive VR experience. The controls on the right of the headset have also been given a tweak, and a home button has been added for easier navigation.

Finally, instead of a microUSB connection the new Gear VR has a USB-C pin, allowing it to plug in nicely to the Galaxy Note 7. An adapter is included in the box so you can use your older Samsung flagships though.

Courtesy of TechRadar

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$1.3 million diamond-studded iPhone 7

Brikk's custom Lux iPhone 7 options include large diamonds, small diamonds, yellow gold, pink gold or platinum in various combinations. You can also choose from 120 different scratch-resistant colors, so there's bound to be one that matches the fur shade of your designer dog, Queen Peaches.

Prices range from $4,995 (about £3,800, AU$6,600) on up to a thoroughly stunning $1.3 million (about £986,000, AU$1.72 million). On a scale from nutty to totally bonkers, that's pure cray-cray.

Courtesy of CNet

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LG V20 to run Nougat Software

Last year's LG V10 was arguably a more interesting phone than the South Korean company's G4 flagship, offering two screens, two selfie cameras and a phablet-sized main display – and now LG is updating the handset for 2016.

LG has confirmed in a blog post that it will launch the V20 in September. The phone will run Android 7 Nougat software, and will likely be one of the very first handsets to do so.

We were big fans of the LG V10,  praising it for its strong dual-lens selfie camera, durable design and interesting second screen concept.

Courtesy of TechRadar

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