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Google Play Music's search interface has been a work in progress, as a prompt for it to listen to ambient audio to identify a song was a relatively recent refinement. A tweak coming out now, apparently via a server-side switch, retains the listening feature but brings the entire look in line with other up-to-date Google apps.
A new variant of the OnePlus X, model number E1000, appeared earlier this week on the website for TENAA, the Chinese regulatory agency that is roughly equivalent to the FCC in the US. This means it was approved in much the same way that the FCC certifies all cell phones, but we are lucky enough to get far more detailed information, including pictures. TENAA calls it "E1000," which pretty clearly alludes to the OnePlus X, model number E1001/1003/1005. What's different about the E1000? As far as we can tell: absolutely nothing. It may be a special edition variant for China, or it may be a slight hardware revision (i.e., physical changes to manufacturing necessitating a new model number). We just don't know.
Misfit's popular Flash activity tracker was recently released in a special Cyclist edition, which has a similar price to the original at just $50 but adds a key sensor of interest for those who ride bicycles: cadence. The only "catch" when it comes to fitness sensors like this is that you need software to interpret the data for you. Today's release of the Misfit Cycling app for Android provides just that.
Samsung's Creative Lab, an outlet for their talent to work on external projects, is starting to bear fruit. Three of those projects will be shown off at CES 2016 next week and they are interesting to say the least. Samsung is treating these as startup projects, with one being manufactured by a new and technically separate company, and the units at CES will not be production quality but rather are being used to assess their market potential.
I can't think of a better gift than a Bluetooth speaker for someone that hasn't shared a list with you, you don't want to spend a ton of money on, but still want to be happy with their gift. A lot of people don't have them, but nearly everyone has a compatible device and it's easy to trump up uses for a speaker even if you had never thought of using one before.This deal on a Kmashi model that also happens to be waterproof, has a built-in LED flashlight, and can work as a 4,800 mAh power bank in a pinch makes for a perfect gift if you can manage not to keep it for yourself. With the included bike mount, you can even annoy your entire neighborhood as you ride around with accompanying music.
ASUS has been getting more invested into the smartphone market, both in the US—where we recently talked about the ZenFone 2 Laser and ZenFone 2—and in their closer-to-home markets in the Eastern Hemisphere. This review will focus on two models that will not make it to the US, but should be of interest to those in Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. The main focus will be on the ZenFone Selfie, which is much like the familiar ZenFone 2 and ZenFone 2 Laser but with a high-quality front-facing camera sensor. I will also discuss the ZE550KL model of the ZenFone 2 Laser, which is available in some non-US markets.
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This deal popped up a couple of days ago but sold out before we could even post it, so time is absolutely of the essence here. You can get a brand new, midnight blue, 32GB, carrier unlocked Nexus 6 for only $299 on eBay while supplies last. Shipping is free in the USA.
Though no reasonable person would have suspected that Android Pay would get early support from every vendor, bank, and finance company, Chase has loomed large as among the most conspicuous absences. It doesn't help that the banking giant announced Chase Pay last month, which is like Android Pay except worse in almost every way.
Google and Facebook are sort of rivals, even if the average Joe may not realize it. They're both heavily invested in the race to know everything about you and to use that knowledge to make lots of money...somehow. And while Google has become a pretty integral part of using the web, on mobile it is important that searches don't just take you to websites, but apps too. That's why today's announcement via an Alphabet spokesperson that Google will show mobile search results that link to the Facebook app is important.
Back in August, we talked about a new OneNote feature called "Floatie," which was a terrible name. The feature was interesting, though, so it's all good news now that Microsoft says the floating button is here to stay and that they are calling it "Badge," which is much less terrible.
Leaving comments in specific places, just like you would in a word processor document, actually makes perfect sense. This is especially true on a mobile device, where it can be easy to miss the forest for the trees due to screen size limitations.
Fossil makes things you can wear, Misfit wears things you can wear. Fossil wants to make smart wearables, Misfit makes smart wearables. Fossil does fashion, Misfit does fashionable gadgets. If it sounds like a match made in heaven, then you know what the two companies were thinking when they brokered a deal to make Misfit part of Fossil's corporate portfolio.
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ASUS in the recent past has been pushing harder into Western markets and into smartphones in general with the ZenFone product line and its associated ZenUI software layer. Those who remember the Transformer tablets of yesteryear may be surprised at the non-geeky, colorful, feature-filled approach of these devices. Now well into the second generation of ZenFones, ASUS has announced the ZenFone 2 Laser for wide release, including the USA.
In a new video, RootJunky demonstrates how in just 10 minutes he was able to navigate around Factory Reset Protection in a Galaxy Note 5. This security feature is meant to make it impossible for someone to take your phone and just perform a factory reset as a way to make it their own.
For audiophiles and casual listeners alike, Audio Technica's M-series is an institution of sorts. The product line has proven durable, comfortable, and top tier in audio quality all at price points that shouldn't scare off someone willing to put a small investment into their listening experience. If even those prices were still a little steep for you, today there's no excuse. Amazon is offering three models at all-time low prices, according to CamelCamelCamel's price tracking history.The ATH-50x is available for $129, down from its usual $165. The ATH-40x is at $79 (down from $99) while the most affordable ATH-30x is $49 (typically $70). Those former prices I've mentioned aren't retail prices, either, those are the street prices that you can normally find them for at Amazon and elsewhere. The discounts are major drops even on that.
Enough with the sales pitch, these things market themselves. Just poke through the countless positive reviews and you can draw your own conclusions. You better do it fast, though, because the deal ends today. Follow the source link to get there.Source: Amazon
To show just how serious they are about their effort to make headway into the US market, Huawei will double the standard warranty period for the newly-released Huawei Watch. While the in-box insert for the Huawei Watch will state that the device is warranted for 12 months, you now need only to register the device at the company's website to add yet another year to the period. Both Huawei and Google are certainly hoping this might make it easier for you to swallow the idea of paying $399 for a smartwatch.
JPMorgan Chase announced a really cool idea today. Rather than use cash, check, or physical credit card, why not use a single service to substitute for all those methods from a mobile device? Knowing that consumers clearly want this and have never heard of anything like it, the banking giant announced Chase Pay, which will indeed be a mobile payments service that ties into Chase bank and credit card accounts. All kidding aside, this looks like a real dud.
A constant source of consternation among owners of OPPO devices has been the heavily customized ColorOS and especially the slow speed of Android OS updates to it. OPPO has held strong to ColorOS, owing in large part to its reported popularity in Asian markets. Today, in an effort to appease enthusiast owners, OPPO has announced an initiative to support current devices with an AOSP ROM with limited customizations.
Just as expensive universal remotes started to feel outdated, Logitech smartly joined the boom in smart home devices. While your old Logitech Harmony remote handled your cable box, TV, and maybe a couple of other auxiliary media devices, the new stuff goes far beyond entertainment systems. Today, you can jump on the bandwagon at a pretty steep discount as Best Buy offers the white Logitech Harmony Home Control for $80, a discount of $70.
Sure, Tumblr has seen better days. But for the Tumblr app, this could be a high watermark. I'm not sure what exactly their dev team was up to in the latest, presumably minor, update to their Android app. What I do know is that the jump from v4.7 to v4.8 brought with it the kind of changelog that should brighten your mood.