Smartphone - page 3

Android creator plans new device to challenge iPhone

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Galaxy Note 7
Samsung and other Android smartphone makers are about to get some new competition.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Former Google VP Andy Rubin is in talks with carriers about selling a new smartphone he has created with his startup, Essential.

Rubin left Google two years ago after creating Android and the leading the team behind it for eight years. Now that he’s had time away from the search giant, Rubin is planning to take on the iPhone and Android handsets with a new type of smartphone that specializes in artificial intelligence.

WhatsApp is dropping support for older smartphones

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WhatsApp
It might be time to get a new smartphone.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is dropping support for older smartphones that aren’t compatible with its latest features. At least one generation of iPhone, alongside older versions of Android and Windows Phone, will no longer be able to use the service at the end of the year.

Blips sticker turns your iPhone into a microscope

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BLIPS_00_HD
Get closer to your subject with Blips.
Photo: Blips

Place your iPhone’s camera too close to your subject and it loses its ability to focus, but not if you turn it into a microscope. That’s possible with a simple Blips sticker that’s placed over your iPhone’s camera lens — and you can preorder yours right now.

Corning’s new Gorilla Glass could make iPhone 7 display super tough

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iPhone 6 Plus_7
Dropping the iPhone 7 might not be a disaster every time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Breaking the screen on your next iPhone is going to be a little bit harder, if Apple goes with the next version of Corning’s Gorilla Glass.

The company debuted Gorilla Glass 5 today that is destined to arrive on smartphones later this year, offering better durability than any other version when its dropped from 5 feet or lower.

Spotify baits premium hook with free Chromecast

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Get a free one of these when you buy three months of Spotify Premium.  Photo: Spotify
Get a free one of these when you buy three months of Spotify Premium. Photo: Spotify

If you haven’t already grabbed a free trial of Spotify, you’re in luck – this deal makes joining the streaming music service even more enticing.

Today through February 28, when you buy three months of Spotify Premium for $29.97, you’ll get a free Chromecast.

Smartphones with 7-day battery life coming sooner than you think

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iphone-charging-battery-lightning-cable
Charging up every night will be a thing of the past.
Photo: freestocks.org/Flickr CC

Intelligent Energy is a company with a mission: It wants to get fuel-cell battery technology in smartphones everywhere to dramatically improve battery life. Today, it signed a joint development agreement with an anonymous smartphone manufacturer to put that plan into action. The two will work together on embedded fuel-cell technology, which would be capable of delivering a staggering seven days of battery life to smartphones.

Should Apple ever release a budget iPhone?

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fnf6c
Could a budget iPhone help Apple's smartphone business?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Speculation surrounding a “budget” iPhone died out when Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller promised it would never happen. But with iPhone 6s demand allegedly falling and the global smartphone market becoming increasingly saturated, could a more affordable phone give Apple a security net? Could it prevent the iPhone business from stagnating in the same way the iPad business has?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we bicker like children over these questions and more!

This portable iPhone battery doubles as a charging stand

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The ChargeStand in the resting position. It then folds up and functions as a portable battery.
The ChargeStand in the resting position. It then folds up and functions as a portable battery.
Photo: Ventev Mobile

The ChargeStand is a device with a static name, one that suggests its place is on a desk or end table. But the combination charging dock and portable battery is only meant to rest when you do.

It elegantly holds your smartphone in portrait or landscape position as it charges, but as your day begins, it folds up, fits neatly in a pocket or bag and, with a 3000 mAH battery, can lend an ample supply of juice to a battery near empty.

Microsoft app turns iPhone into 3-D scanner

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Microsoft has developed an app that can turn the smartphone camera into a 3D scanner.
Microsoft has developed an app that can turn the smartphone camera into a 3D scanner.
Photo: Microsoft/YouTube

If you keep track of the ways the iPhone is a revolutionary tool, you can soon add 3-D printing the growing list.

A Microsoft research team has created an app that turns any smartphone camera into a 3-D scanner without the need for extra hardware.

Apple vs. Google: Which titan will crumble first?

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Who's your money on?
Who is your money on?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Like every other company, Apple and Google have had their share of highs and lows in the past — but one thing that’s for sure is that neither of them can keep going from strength-to-strength indefinitely; they’ll both stumble at some point in the future.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2But which will be the first to take a tumble?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!

Handy running accessory charges your iPhone (and could save your life)

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Keep yourself and your iPhone alive with the BSEEN Boost Pack.
Keep yourself and your iPhone alive with the BSEEN Boost Pack.
Photo: Trident Design

You can charge your smartphone while cycling or running with an accessory also designed to keep you alive on the road.

Sounds like a lot to ask of a battery pack, but the Boost Pack by BSEEN does both with a rather simple design.

The Boost is a belt pack with an LED light panel that stays lit or flashes. It also holds your smartphone and a lightweight 4000 mAH rechargeable travel battery pack to keep your phone charged.

University adds dedicated texting lane for students on the move

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Don't stray into the wrong lane.
Don't stray into the wrong lane.
Photo: Inside Higher Ed

You know mobile devices have hit a certain critical mass when universities start adding walking lanes designed to stop texters from accidentally colliding with non-texters.

That’s exactly what happened to a staircase at Utah Valley University’s Student Life and Wellness Centre, with one staircase being home to dividing lines splitting students into “walking,” “running” and “texting” lanes.

Old flip-phones are the iPhone’s newest rival in Japan

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Are flip-phones making a comeback? Photo: Oscar Avellaneda-Cruz/Flickr CC

The iPhone has been killing it in Japan lately. Apple’s smartphone marketshare in the tech-obsessed country is continuing to dominate year-over-year, even though the company had a hard time giving out iPhones just five years ago.

With the iPhone 6’s bigger screen, the company is making more of an inroads than ever, but according to a report from Reuters, smartphones in Japan are facing stiff from competition from an unlikely suspect: flip-phones.

Apple accounts for 93% of smartphone industry profits

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Apple profits
Apple shattered records again this quarter.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

Things couldn’t be going better for Apple on the iPhone front. The company just posted the most profitable quarter ever in the history of corporations thanks to strong iPhone sales. And according to the latest report from Cannacord, Apple is basically the only company in the world making money off smartphones.

Apple accounted for 93% of smartphone profits in Q4 2014 reports Canaccord Genuity’s Mike Walkley who has also raised his target price on AAPL shares up to $145. That’s bad news for LG, Samsung, HTC and anyone else that makes smartphones, and to make it even worse, Cannacord estimates one third of all smartphone users will own an iPhone by the end of 2018.

See the full breakdown of profits per company below:

Wacky wearable wants to merge your smartwatch and phone into one

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The wearable tech you can take off and talk into. Photo: .klatz
The wearable tech you can take off and talk into. Photo: .klatz

Some of the best tech ideas come from taking two separate concepts and trying to merge them together into one device.

With all the chatter about smartwatches and smartphones as of late, it was only going to be so long before someone tried to combine the two: creating a gadget that gives smartwatch-like functionality while on the wrist, but also allows the user to take it off and use it like a smartphone when necessary.

That’s the idea behind .klatz, a Ukrainian “smartwatch/watchphone” project that’s currently raising money on Indiegogo. Its creator points out its iOS support — which means that you can pair it with an iPhone if you don’t fancy using it as your primary handset — while a promo video for the project shows it providing Pebble-style notifications, along with fitness tracking and music playing functionality.

Ex Apple CEO launches five new smartphones in the Middle East

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1984 --- Steve Jobs and John Sculley --- Image by Ed Kashi/CORBIS
1984 --- Steve Jobs and John Sculley --- Image by Ed Kashi/CORBIS

Former Apple CEO John Sculley has launched a new lineup of budget smartphones in the Middle East — although he admits Steve Jobs would like not be enamoured with them.

“Steve being Steve would say, you can do alot better,” he told Gulf Business.

The range includes various animal-themed devices, including the Octopus S520, the Falcon S451, Hornbill S551, Wolverine S501, and Obi F240. They are being launched by India’s Obi Mobile, a budget smartphone brand, which John Sculley co-founded.

The COOKOO smartwatch: Digital life right on your wrist [Deals]

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Finally … a stylish smartwatch!

Smart watches are cool, but very, very nerdy-looking. Not that being a nerd is off-putting, but you may not always want to send that message when someone looks at your wrist.

That’s why the COOKOO watch is so awesome. It gives you most of the functionality of any competing smart watch, and you can still wear it on a date without looking like you’re going to have Scotty beam you up out of the restaurant mid-meal. And you can get one for yourself for 23% off the regular price…just $99!