CES 2014 Wrap Up Day Zero A K A Press Day

Today was press day in Las Vegas for CES 2014. The show officially opens up tomorrow. However, all the companies needed to announce their new products today to get everyone to stop by their booth throughout the week to get hands on of their products. We started the morning off with LG, and moved onto AT&T and Huawei, and ended the day with Sony. We covered nearly 10 press conferences today, so needless to say, it’s been a busy day for us.

Qualcomm

This morning Qualcomm announced that they had lowered the price of their smartwatch, the Toq to $299 through January 11th. They also announced a couple new processors, the Snapdragon 602A and the Snapdragon 802.

LG

LG kicked off Press day today and they announced a few new appliances, along with the LG G Flex coming to the US on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. As well as the LG Lifeband Touch. There was also the Home Chat Service at CES.

ZTE

ZTE made a few announcements today as well. They announced the Grand S II complete with a Snapdragon 800 processor, and plenty of voice commands. There was also their new projector hotspot, which was a pretty weird combination, but still interesting.

AT&T

The second largest US carrier had quite a few announcements today. They launched a few more LTE markets, bringing the count to 500 markets. They also announced, alongside Chevy, that 4G LTE will be coming with Chevy’s 2015 lineup of cars. AT&T also announced alongside ASUS that the new Padfone X is coming to the US, along with HD Voice. AT&T also announced “sponsored data” today. Finally, AT&T also announced the winners of their Hackathon today, which can be found here.

Huawei

Chinese-OEM, Huawei was pretty quiet today, but they did announce the Ascend Mate 2. Which has a 6.1-inch 720p display, along with 2GB of RAM and 4G LTE. It is surprisingly coming to the US.

ASUS

Aside from the ASUS PadFone X, ASUS also announced 4 other phones, and the Dual-OS Transformer Book Duet. Which brings Windows 8 and Android into one tablet. As far as phones go, there’s the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5, ZenFone 6, and the Padfone Mini.

Alcatel

Alcatel always seems to fly under the radar, but they announced a few LTE tablets, the OneTouch Pop 7 and Pop 8 along with an octa-core phone, which has a true octa-core processor inside.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile had a few announcements today, they announced that they are buying unused spectrum from Verizon which will cost them about $3 billion. There’s also the Xperia Z1S coming to T-Mobile, with pre-orders starting next Monday.

Samsung

Today, Samsung announced four new tablets, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, 10.1 and 8.4. Also, Michael Bay was at their press conference this afternoon, and kinda sorta had a meltdown, you’ll want to see this.

Sony

Sony had quite a few devices to announce at CES today. Starting with the Xperia Z1S, Xperia Z1 Compact and their new fitness tracker, the Smartwear. The Xperia Z1S is hitting T-Mobile this month and pre-orders start next week, with the device landing in stores on January 22nd.

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Pretty busy day at CES for us. Tomorrow should be a bit less busy, with lots of other interesting tech that we may or may not see in the next few months. Considering we only actually saw about 5 phones today, we kept ourselves busy with plenty of wearables. Were there any surprises in your opinion, today?

The post CES 2014: Wrap Up Day Zero A.K.A. Press Day appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

via AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/01/ces-2014-wrap-day-zero-k-press-day.html

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How to Activate your IMEI Unlock With iTunes Without Restoring

For so many reasons one may have an Apple iPhone that is not activated making to function like an iPod instead of the phone its suppose to function as.

In order to activate it, you can request for IMEI unlock which is the best unlock solution. However, after requesting for such unlock and it becomes successful, the next thing is to connect to iTunes to activate it.

For so many, they already have applications and data on their unactivated iPhone. Consequently, restoring only for activating purposes isnt a palatable idea at all. This is where this guide becomes useful.

How to Activate your IMEI Unlock With iTunes without Restoring

Note: Before you can even ask for IMEI unlock method, the phone should  been activated with the official carrier.

Also, Internet connection is needed to successfully activate the factory unlock process.

Procedures

1. If you have not jailbroken your device, its a simple process of you putting the unofficial sim in the device, plugging in your device to the computer and launching iTunes. 

2. Immediately, iTunes would detect device and the message "Congratulations your device has been activated" would be displayed. Immediately, network bars would show up.

3. For those with a jailbroken device, it may not happen as easy as that. 

4. First go to Cydia, Manage, Sources, Edit and tap Add and add repo http://repo.binger.com

5. Click on Add Source and allow it to download the sources and packages.

6. Now search for Sam and install it. Go over to your home screen and you would see SAMPrefs as shown in the image below.

7. Click on Utilities and click on De-activate. After that you should click Revert Stockify. This will revert the hacktivation on it by the jailbreaking software.

8. Now unplug from iTunes, put in your unofficial sim card and plug back again.

9. Immediately, success stories will flood the screen "Congratulations your device has been activated".

That is it! your device is successfully factory unlocked.

You can also confirm with SAM by going to More Information options. Activation state should read WildcardActivated as shown in the image below.

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Nokia Lumia 1520 gets evleaked

Nokia Lumia 1520, in red, 2013 pic.twitter.com/kc6C253q4f
— @evleaks (@evleaks) October 4, 2013

A tweet from evleaks on Friday morning revealed the soon to be introduced Nokia Lumia 1520 done up in red. The Windows Phone powered handset is expected to be introduced on October 22nd in Abu Dhabi. The first model to contain the GDR3 update will also be the largest-screened phone using the platform.

We expect to see the Nokia Lumia 1520 in red, black, yellow and white sporting a 6 inch 1080 x 1920 FHD resolution, driven by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. 32GB of native storage is on board and a 20MP PureView snapper will be on back. Throw in a nice sized 3400mAh battery and you have a drool producing unit that could give some of those Android flavored phablets a run for their money.

Speaking of the green stuff, the Nokia Lumia 1520 could be priced off-contract in the neighborhood of $700+. Yes, we know that this is a rather exclusive neighborhood indeed.

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AH Awards 2013 Complete Roundup of All of this Year’s Awards!

This year, we did our first ever, Android Headlines Awards. Where we named the best tablet, best phablet, best phone, and a ton of other categories. In fact, there are 30 categories here. This includes phones, phablets, smartwatches, chromebooks, tablets, apps, and games. And we’ve got them all here on one page for you to check out. Let’s start off with the Phones of the year in different categories.

Best Android Mini Smartphone of the Year!

This was the year of the Mini. With Samsung, HTC, Sony and Motorola offering up Mini’s, Who came out on top?

Best Android Phablet / Large Smartphone of the Year!

With more and more OEMs getting into the Phablet Scene, who came out on top this year?

Best Android Budget Smartphone of the Year!

With the race to the bottom heating up, who came out on top in 2013?

Worst Android Smartphone of the Year!

Who was the “loser” with the worst smartphone of 2013?

Best Android Smartphone of the Year!

There’s LG, Samsung, Sony, Motorola, HTC, Huawei, and More!

Best Chromebook of the Year!

HP, Acer, Toshiba, and Lenovo pushing out Chromebooks this year. But who had the best Chromebook of the year?

Best Kids Android Tablet Of the Year

More and more OEM’s bringing out kid-friendly tablets this year. Who had the best in 2013?

Best Budget Android Tablet Of the Year

Great tablets like the Nexus 7, and the Yoga 8. Who had the best budget tablet?

Worst Android Tablet Of the Year

Many tried to compete with the Nexus 7, but who failed the hardest?

Best Full-Sized Android Tablet Of the Year
Who made the best 10-inch tablet this year? Google, Samsung, Acer, ASUS?

Best Mid-Sized Android Tablet Of the Year

Who made the best 7-8 inch tablet in 2013? From the likes of Google, Samsung, LG and others.

Best Android Smartwatch of the Year

2014 is said to be the year of the smartwatch, but who made the best smartwatch of 2013? Samsung, Sony, Pebble?

Best Android Live Wallpaper App Of The Year

Lots of live wallpaper apps came out this year, which one was the best?

Best Android FPS Game Of The Year

What was your favorite FPS game of 2013? Did it win in the Android Headlines Awards this year?

Best Android Tower Defense Game Of The Year

What was your favorite Tower Defense game of 2013?

Best Android Photography App Of The Year

Snapseed, VSCO Cam and others, which one won this year?

Best Android Endless Runner Game Of The Year

What was your favorite Endless Runner game this year?

Best Android Personalization App Of The Year

We love personalization apps right? Like Themer, Aviate and more. Which app won in 2013?

Best Android News and Magazine App Of The Year

Which Android News or Magazine app won in 2013?

Best Android Brain And Puzzle Game Of The Year

Which Brain and Puzzle game was the best of 2013?

Best Android Casual Game Of The Year

Which game was the best casual game of the year?

Best Android Action And Adventure Game Of The Year

What kind of action and adventure games were the best of the year?

Best Android Racing Game Of The Year

Lots of racing games in 2013, but which one came out on top?

Best Android Lifestyle App Of The Year

The Google Nexus 7, LG G Pad 8.3, Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and More!

Best Android Sports App Of The Year

ESPN Sportscenter, CBS Sports and more, but who won the award this year?

Best Android Entertainment App Of The Year

What was the best Entertainment app of the year?

Best Android Productivity App Of The Year

Quickoffice, Microsoft Office, who had the best productivity app of 2013?

Best Android Travel App Of The Year

Plenty of travel apps in 2013 including Orbitz, Priceline and more. Which one won in 2013?

Best Android Shopping App Of The Year

Amazon, eBay, Etsy and others. Who has the best shopping app?

Best Android RPG Game Of The Year

Lots of RPG games available on Android, which was the best of 2013?

The post AH Awards 2013: Complete Roundup of All of this Year’s Awards! appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

via AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2013/12/ah-awards-2013-complete-roundup-years-awards.html

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Samsung NX Zoom Lenses Choosing the Right Combination

With the release of NX 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 OIS iFn lens, you might be pretty eager to replace your kit lens. Or you might be contemplating getting the NX 50-200mm F4-5.6 lens instead. In this post, I will share with you the benefits and constraints of the different lens combination.

18-200mm: The All-In-One
No doubt the 18-200mm is the one lens that you should ever need on a camera. But there are reasons why you dont see them being used as much as the kit lens. One main reason: size. Many users might be happy with the 18-55mm range. But if you find yourself wanting to zoom in closer during most shoots, then you would probably should consider getting this lens, to save the hassle of changing lenses during shoots.

18-55mm + 50-200mm: Optimal Choice
What, then, is the benefit of getting 2 lenses instead of one? One main reason: price. With the kit lens already part of your NX camera package, getting another 50-200mm would not cost you as much as the 18-200mm. Having 2 separate lenses to cover the entire focal length also means you have the choice of picking your lenses to carry with you and losing some weight.

If price and size are not of concern, then here are some technical differences to highlight.


Comparing Maximum Variable Aperture Values
The table below shows the different maximum aperture when the lenses zoom in. The maximum aperture value changes for some zoom lenses because the lens barrel extends as you zoom, resulting in reduction of the effective aperture. Simplistically speaking, less light enters the lens as the lens barrel extend, so the aperture becomes "smaller" and shutter speed is reduced.

The reason why camera makers make variable aperture lenses is to reduce cost and weight so that general consumers can afford photography. Fixed-aperture lenses are very costly, and in the case of 18-200mm, practically impossible to achieve.


So what does the chart say? It says that the maximum aperture for 18-55mm reduces slightly faster than 18-200mm. For instance, at 45mm, the 18-55mm maximum aperture is F5.6, whereas the 18-200mm maximum aperture is F5.0, offering a third-stop advantage. Not much, really.

But comparing to 50-200mm, the 18-200mm maximum aperture is already F5.6 at 60mm whereas the 50-200mm is barely F4.3. That means the 50-200mm will let you shoot at faster shutter speed than 18-200mm at same focal length. And thats certainly an advantage. Note also that the 18-200mm hits F6.3 at 100mm, while the 50-200mm reaches F5.6 from 145mm.

So the 50-200mm is a brighter lens throughout the range compared to 18-200mm. But wait, theres more.


Comparing Minimal Focal Distance
The minimal focal distance for 18-200mm is 0.5m. The minimal focal distance for 18-55mm is 0.28m. The minimal focal distance for 50-200mm is 0.98m. Based on the figures, it means that you can shoot closer with the 18-55mm than 18-200mm, which in turns shoots closer than 50-200mm. Therefore, the 18-200mm lets you zoom in and shoot at objects closer than with 50-200mm zoomed in at 200mm.

  

 

However, at 18mm focal length, the 18-55mm would allow you to get closer than 18-200mm. Its a give-and-take situation.

Conclusion
The 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses do what they do best. 18-55mm lets you focus closer at objects, and the 50-200mm lets you shoot at bigger aperture. The 18-200mm lens covers the entire focal length in a size of 50-200mm lens. There is no substitute for quality: an all-in-one lens like 18-200mm is bound to have limitations to fit into the size that it is. But it definitely offers the one benefit that all photographers desire: zoom coverage. If you find it a hassle to switch lenses and can overlook the slight technical limitations, then this is the time to own the new NX 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OIS iFn lens.


If you are interested in the NX prime (fixed-focal) lenses, here is the post. Join my Facebook photography page.

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FAA Puts The Kibosh On Thirsty Ice Fishermen’s Dreams By Banning Beer Delivery Drones

(YouTube)

Have you ever been ice fishing? There you are, out on the frozen expanse, huddled in a shack and focuses all your attention on a hole in the ice. Well, half your attention. The other half is all about talking to your friends and throwing back a beer. But one local brewery got in a spot of trouble for trying to make the beer part easier with a drone that delivered frosty cold drinks right to your ice fishing shack.

The Federal Aviation Administration frowns on people sending out their own drones into the skies, but the owners of Lakemaid Beer figured they were just doing thirsty fishermen a favor by ferrying drinks through the air so they wouldn’t have to leave their toasty shacks.

The company — which calls itself the fishermen’s lager — had just started the local deliveries near Stevens Point, Wis., but the Minnesota-based company had its eye on a bigger slice of the ice fishing pie, reports NPR’s The Two Way. It’d hoped to use the drones to shuttle beer to ice shacks from bait and beer shops all over the wintry north.

Though it had only recently arrived in the skies, the FAA told the company its drones had to be grounded afer this first test.

“We were a little surprised at the FAA interest in this since we thought we were operating under the 400-foot limit,” one of Lakemaid’s managing partners said. Everyone at the company “figured a vast frozen lake was a lot safer place than [what] Amazon was showing on 60 Minutes.”

Drones aren’t allowed for commercial delivery, however, and as such the brewery can’t go on with its plans to use American airspace to bring thirsty fishermen (and woman, don’t you doubt it) a cold one.

The FAA told Lakemaid in an email that it “recognizes that people and companies other than modelers might be flying UAS with the mistaken understanding” that their actions are legal. But those rules only apply to people flying model airplanes.

The partner says he can see where the FAA is coming from (until someone from the FAA goes ice fishing and runs out of beer).

“I understand their concern,” he says. “Drones whizzing around piloted by any knucklehead is probably not the Jetsons future we all imagined.”

Watch the test video below:

Beer Drone Can Buzz The Skies No More, FAA Says [The Two Way]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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HTC BoomBass portable speaker cube is official

Along with the HTC Desire 601 and Desire 300 today, HTC also introduced a curious Bluetooth accessory, called HTC BoomBass. Now, portable Bluetooth speakers come a dime a dozen but this one is not a full-range speaker. Instead, it’s only a subwoofer, designed to amplify the bass sounds only.
The tiny subwoofer measures 64 x 64 x 64mm and HTC says it’s a great match for its range of smartphonesOutside the obvious, the portable subwoofer measures and has NFC for quick Bluetooth pairing. The operating range over the Bluetooth connection is 10m and the embedded 1200mAh rechargeable battery should provide up to 9h of continuous playback.

HTC BoomBass will be available starting mid-October.

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Fattin Data Toggle apps Mobile Data ON OFF switch

Most android phone and tablet have a problem, Battery life is noticeably longer. Battery performance is one of the biggest problems in android devices. I think usually goes in and out of 4G/3G & it kills on battery. Fix this problem use data toggle widget. Provide the widget to user to turn on/off mobile data (3G/HSDPA/CDMA/LTE) by using the widget. I think this apps most useful. You can get this application free by using google play store.

• Go to google play store > Type fattin data toggle

• Select fattin data toggle apps> select install > select download & install

• Go to home screen > press home icon > select add

• Select Widgets > select Fattin| Data Toggle apps.

 Now you can see your home screen Fattin| Data Toggle apps icon. Press it on/off 3G.

 free download  Data Toggle apps, android phone for  Data Toggle widgets, data on off switch, 

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