Dell doesn’t usually impress us with its Android-powered offerings, but its new Venue 8 7840 tablet could be far more impressive than the onslaught of new slates we see at CES this week. It’s powered by a speedy Intel processor, has four cameras, and takes the title of the world’s thinnest tablet to date, measuring just 6mm thick.
Alcatel Onetouch wanted the world to see its new smartwatch so badly that it actually previewed the device last week ahead of its official unveiling. But at CES in Las Vegas today, the company confirmed a few juicy details we didn’t already know — such as compatibility with iOS devices, and the WATCH’s $149 price tag.
Smartphone innovation may have stalled in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from updating and improving upon their best devices. This year, we’ve seen big changes to devices like the iPhone, the Galaxy Note, and the LG G — as well as new contenders like the OnePlus One. But what are the best smartphones of 2014?
Here are our picks.
While Samsung’s smartphone sales may be falling, those who are buying its devices couldn’t be happier with them. In a new satisfaction study, the South Korean electronics giant beat even Apple to the top spot of the smartphone category, while Nokia ranked higher than BlackBerry, LG, and even HTC.
Samsung has taken a bit of a beating as of late, thanks to the decline of its mobile division, but that doesn’t stop us from noticing that these new pill-shaped speakers from being absolutely gorgeous.
Scheduled to be properly unveiled at CES 2015 in Las Vegas, the speakers are designed to project sound in a 360-degree radius, using Samsung’s proprietary “Ring Radiator” technology.
There are two speakers set to be introduced in the range: a larger model called the WA7500, which is described as a “stand type” and the lantern-style WA6500, which features a built-in battery and is more easily movable. Both speakers are wireless, utilizing Bluetooth technology.
We’ll have full details when we get a closer look at CES (along with the other gadgets on display at the much-anticipated tech show), but for now this is a great sneak peak at a line of speakers that is already filling us with envy. Check out more images after the jump:
Xiaomi is known for “borrowing” many aspects of Apple’s identity, and here’s one more to add to the list: its sky high valuation.
Having just announced the raising of an extra $1.1 billion in funding, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced on Monday that it is now valued at a whopping $46 billion — making it worth more than any other tech startup.
“This round of funding is an affirmation of Xiaomi’s achievements in more than four years of business and a prelude to a new stage of development,” founder Lei Jun wrote on Monday.
While Apple Stores go from strength to strength, the so-called Samsung Experience Stores sadly aren’t faring so well.
Would-be shoppers at Samsung’s flagship store in London, England, were today greeted by a message telling them about the permanent closure of the outlet.
The store was located in the Westfield Stratford shopping center, and followed an Apple-inspired layout, with an open plan design, staff in blue shirts, and plenty of space to try out new Samsung products — many of which arrived there first, before going on general release.
If you liked the iPhone 5c’s colorful design but were put off by its tiny screen and aging specifications, then Meizu’s latest smartphone could be right up your street. It’s called the M1 Note, and it looks just like an iPhone 5c, only it’s much bigger, has more impressive specifications, and costs under $200 off-contract.
Xiaomi has caught a lot of flack for copying what Apple has done previously, which is why it’s apparently gone back to the drawing board and come back with a new plan: do the things Apple thought about, but didn’t do.
With that in mind, a new report today claims that Xiaomi is set to adopt sapphire displays for its upcoming 5.7-inch Xiaomi 5, to be showcased at the upcoming 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.
The company has reportedly approached the China-based Lens Technology and Biel Crystal Manufactory about expanding their sapphire processing capacities for the job.
It’s been a great year to be an Android user. Not only have we seen the release of Google’s massive Material Design makeover and all kinds of wonderful new features inside Android 5.0 Lollipop, but we’ve also had oodles of awesome apps to enjoy.
In this roundup, we’ve selected the best Google Play releases from the past 12 months. We’ve got great launchers, amazing email apps, terrific Twitter clients and lots more. (Some are also available on iOS.)
Amazon is upping its delivery game this week by launching a new delivery service called Prime Now that will bring diapers, Fitbits, televisions, and thousands of other essential items, to your doorstep in under an hour.
Prime Now is available today in select areas of New York City from 6 a.m. to midnight, with more cities planned for 2015. The new service is being packaged as part of your annual Amazon Prime subscription, and while includes over 25,000 items.
Amazon even created a video to show what you can order:
Instagram is today rolling out new updates on Android and iOS that bring an updated design, new features, and five new filters that Instagram says are its best yet. Inspired by the global community, the new filter set is the first Instagram has added in two years, and it’s designed to compliment the capabilities of modern smartphone cameras.
Huawei today announced its new Honor 6 Plus smartphone at an event in Beijing, and the device is already getting a lot of attention for having almost exactly the same name as Apple’s latest flagship.
Despite what you may think, however, this isn’t just another iPhone clone. Instead, it’s a flagship Android phablet with some impressive specifications, including an integrated coprocessor for fitness tracking, a massive battery, and two 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras that promise sharper images and some incredible features.
Samsung is preparing to launch its own Apple Pay competitor in 2015, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans — and it could be teaming up with LoopPay to make it even more successful. Just like Apple’s offering, Samsung’s will allow the owners of its smartphone to pay for goods simply by waving their devices at a machine, but it may not rely on NFC.
Google’s ‘Year in Search’ report was released this morning providing an insight into what’s on the mind of world’s internet users, and when it comes to technology, the iPhone 6 was the most popular tech search of 2014.
The Apple Watch also appeared on the top 10 list, taking the number 8 spot followed by the iPad Air as number 10 in the Consumer Electronic category. The Nexus 6 managed to pull in to third place, while Samsung had two devices in the top 5.
Here’s the full top 10:
Xiaomi has quickly become the world’s third most popular smartphone maker, but according to a 2013 financial filing released by the privately held company, it doesn’t pay to copy your way to the top.
In 2013 Xiaomi made a meager $51 million in profit even though it’s valued at more than $10 billion by investors. The filing reveals Xiaomi’s low profits are on account of the No. 3 smartphone maker’s razor-thin margins. It brought in about $4.2 billion in revenue in 2013, giving the company an operating margin of just 1.8 percent.
BlackBerry is today rolling out a new BBM update across all platforms, but it’s the users on Android and iOS who will enjoy its biggest changes. In addition to support for stickers in group chat and improvements to the timed messages function, this release brings a brand new look to iOS and compatibility with Lollipop on Android.
A long-awaited WhatsApp client for desktops could finally be on its way to your web browser. References to a “WhatsApp Web” app have been discovered inside an APK package for Android, less than a week after WhatsApp allegedly tried to poach a web developer from a rival messaging company.
Seen a better deal elsewhere but want free Prime shipping? Amazon’s new “Make an Offer” option allows you to negotiate prices with sellers to bag a better deal. Just like eBay’s “Best Offer” function, it allows buyers to submit their own valuation for hundreds of thousands of items which sellers can then accept, decline, or counter.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard a peep from Jeff Bezos, regarding his plans to deliver Amazon packages by drone — and now we know why: he’s busy battling the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the use of unmanned aircraft.
Amazon sought permission from the FAA back in July to test drones near to Seattle, but the FAA has apparently been slow to grant its approval.
Bezos reportedly has a plan, though, and it means that U.K. Amazon users may be able to try out the bold new delivery system ahead of their American cousins, since Amazon is threatening to its drone research overseas if it doesn’t get permission to test-fly in the U.S. soon.
Google has been tightening up its policies on piracy services the last few weeks and today it just gave The Pirate Bay one its biggest blows on Android by banning its apps from Google Play.
Pirate Bay developers were sent an email from Google today notifying them that their apps had been removed. Apps that provided optimized browsers for the Pirate Bay were Google’s main target in the ban. Many of the apps, which included “The Pirate Bay Proxy,” “PirateApp,” and “The Pirate Bay Premium,” also had proxy sites for users to circumvent ISP restrictions.
The sudden banishment apparently came without a DMCA takedown notice, reports TorrentFreak, who spoke with one of the developers that claims his app really isn’t any different than Google Chome.
Thinking about finally signing up for Spotify Premium? There couldn’t be a better time to do it. For a limited time only, Spotify is offering new customers three months of access for just $0.99 a month — that’s $9 off its normal price.
It’s pretty clear that Samsung’s mobile business is faltering at the moment, and members of its executive team are paying the price. Not only has Samsung recently posted dismal quarter profits, but it also wildly overestimated the appeal of the Galaxy S5, with the result that unsold units are now piling up in warehouses.
According to a new report coming out of Korea, to get things back on the right track Samsung has just sacked three top executives in its mobile business as part of large-scale reshuffling/downsizing effort.
The three heads on the chopping block include Lee Don-joo, head of the mobile business unit’s strategic marketing office, Kim Jae-kwon, chief of the global operations office, and Lee Chul-hwan, who was previously in charge of the mobile R&D office.
Apple and Google are very interested in taking over the U.S. education market from Microsoft, but when it comes to capturing marketshare, the Chromebook is teaching Apple an important lesson: Price matters.
For the first time ever, Google has passed Apple in the U.S. education market, according to IDC data obtained by The Financial Times, which shows Google’s Chromebook laptops are more popular now in the K-12 classrooms than the iPad.
Google has launched a new online tool that allows users to see all the devices that have logged into their account in the last 28 days. If you have suspicions that someone may be logging into your Google account without your permission, you can log in and quickly identify any unauthorized access from computers and mobile devices.
