Google Play Music update adds machine learning and a fresh new look!

Google has just announced the biggest overhaul of its Play Music streaming service in years. On the face of it, Play Music has moved beyond the card-centric design of old, and now shows an interface built around album art, bright colors and vector graphics. Instead of shaded squares, graphics now expand to fill the entire window. (And there's a lot less orange going on, too.)




But aside from these superficial changes, the way Google recommends music for you is about to get a whole lot smarter, thanks to AI.

Motorola Moto E is now official, costs £89

Motorola Moto E is now official, costs £89

At its dedicated press events in London and Delhi today, Motorola’s latest budget phone the Moto E went official. The Moto E leaked in full a few days ago and there aren’t that many surprises.
The phone is built around a 4.3” scratch resistant display with Gorilla Glass 3 layer on top. It is of qHD resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 256 ppi. Motorola says it has built the phone to last and as a result it is resistant to water splashes.


Under the hood of the Moto E operates a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor that runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The company promises timely updates to future versions of Android, which is nice to hear for a phone of this budget nature. There’s 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory, of which just 2.21GB is available. Thankfully, it is expandable with up to 32GB microSD card.

Windows Phone 8.1 to drop on June 24th

Microsoft will begin officially rolling out Windows Phone 8.1 on June 24th. This should coincide with the launch of the Lumia 930, Nokia's upcoming flagship.
Just like other iterations of Windows Phone software, 8.1 will feature the typical 3 years of software support and updates.

Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System, including security updates, for a minimum of 36 months after the lifecycle start date. These updates will be incremental, with each update built on the update that preceded it. Customers need to install each update in order to remain supported. The distribution of these incremental updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone, and installation will require that your phone have any prior updates. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities.

Windows Phone 8.1 brings a host of new features and seems primed to make Microsoft's mobile OS a much more intriguing option for consumers.

Dual-SIM version of Galaxy S5 mini is undergoing testing

We’ve seen leaks of several Samsung SM-G800 models that are presumably the Galaxy S5 mini (with some variation in name - Galaxy S5 Dx, K Mini).
Indian import and export data site Zauba lists several G800 units entering the country for R&D purposes. They are all listed as having 4.5” screens, matching tips we’ve received.
More interestingly, the SM-G800H version is a dual-SIM phone, while G800A and G800F are not. Multiple rows of the tablet includes “SM-G800F-EUR_XX” suggesting the F will be the European version of the Galaxy S5 mini.
The single-SIM / dual-SIM division could potentially explain the conflicting info about the chipset we’ve been getting. The SM-G800H had a Snapdragon 400 (as detected by GFX Bench), while the SM-G800A has a 2.3GHz processor implying Snapdragon 800 (as per the UAProf).
It seems like quite a stretch that Samsung would cripple the dual-SIM Galaxy S5 mini this much over the single-SIM though.
Can't wait!

Samsung opens new factory in China

Samsung opened a new factory in Xi'an, China, where the South Korean tech giant will produce 3D V-NAND memory chips. Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, Oh-Hyun Kwon along with Chinese and Korean officials, Samsung suppliers and clients were present at the inauguration.


The facility took 20 months to complete and spans 230 thousand square meters. The grounds it's built on are larger than that – 1.14 million square meters – and by the end of the year will also house an assembly facility and a testing complex.


eMMC chips and SSD drives will be made here
China is where 50% of the world's supply of memory chips comes from. With this move, Samsung will have a more secure place in that business and promises a stable supply for its customers.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) available for $364 today

The Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) may no longer be Samsung’s flagship tablet, but it’s certainly one worth considering at the sweet price of $364. You can now have either the black or the white version the slate for that exact price thanks to a promotion held by US retailer Woot!.

You can even grab the 32GB version for just $35 extra or $389 in total. That’s a significant price cut compared to the retail price of the product over at other retailers such as Amazon, which lists the slate for $479 (16 GB) and $529 (32GB).
However, you should know that the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) units involved in the promotion are factory reconditioned . This means that the tablets were either demo units or retail ones that were returned to Samsung for one reason or another. Such units are guaranteed to work as new, but may have minor cosmetic damage and usually come with shorter warranty – in this case just 90 days.
If you have eyed the tablet, now is the time to get it, as the promotion runs out in less than 15 hours. If you are still undecided check out our Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) review to know more about the slate.

Huawei Ascend P7 review: Looking strong

Introduction

The Huawei Ascend P7 is the sequel to the ultra-thin P6, the phone that proved, beyond any doubt, Huawei's ability to create visually appealing handsets. The new model builds on the original with a 5" 1080p screen, superior camera and chipset, plus a number of other improvements.


Huawei Ascend P7 official pictures
The defining feature of the Ascend P6 was the 6.2mm thin body (touted as "the thinnest smartphone") and a faux metal back. The new Ascend P7 can claim neither of those things as it's thicker (7.1mm) and has a glass-covered back. But what a double textured finish indeed! One to fall in love with!
There is metal framing, and the whole thing is sandwiched between two layers of Gorilla Glass 3 - especially welcome on the front, where the new 5" IPS screen of 1080p resolution is well worth protecting. Even without having the P6 and P7 side by side, we instantly appreciated the extra clarity afforded by the higher pixel density.


Enough teasing the new specs, here are the other ups (and downs) of the Huawei Ascend P7.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE; penta-band 3G with HSPA; LTE Cat. 4
• 5" 16M-color 1080p IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3, usable with gloves
• Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat with Emotion UI
• Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A9, Mali-450 GPU; 2GB of RAM; Huawei Kirin 910T chipset
• 13MP autofocus camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording @ 30fps
• 8MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording, selfie panorama mode
• Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS
• 16GB of built-in storage (12GB available to user)
• side-mounted microSD card slot, hot-swap
• microUSB port with USB host, USB OTG
• Bluetooth v4.0
• FM radio
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor, compass
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• 2,500mAh battery

Main disadvantages

• Chipset benchmarks poorly
• Thicker than its predecessor
• Non-exchangeable battery
• Below average loudspeaker performance

The Ascend P7 takes photography seriously, especially selfies. The front-facing camera has an 8MP BSI sensor and features modes like face enhancement and selfie panorama. The camera on the back is sourced from Sony and is a 13MP shooter with 1080p video capture.
Huawei has also popped in a new chipset that brings more processing power and LTE support. Another plus is that the company claims to have fixed the overheating issues thanks to a more advanced manufacturing process. The phone comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat with the most recent Emotion UI, while its P6 predecessor is still on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Huawei Ascend P7 at ours
The new chipset is still based on Cortex-A9, which is normally a notch below Qualcomm's Krait-based offerings, never mind the higher clock speed in the P7. Having seen the four Cortex-A7s do well enough in the Moto G though, we shouldn't be quick to judge on core architecture alone.
Follow us through the next pages where we explore the Huawei Ascend P7 in detail.

Apple iPhone 6 could launch as early as August

Reports coming in from Taiwan suggest the iPhone 6 could be unveiled as early as August and launch a couple of weeks later as per Apple's tradition.
Those reports target the "smaller" 4.7" iPhone 6 and not the rumored 5.5" variant. The latter is expected to hit the shelves a month later in September.


The next iPhone should bring a large update of the smartphone and not just an "s" model. It's expected to bring along a bigger, sapphire-covered display (Apple is shipping sapphire to China for the display manufacturing).
The next-gen iPhone (or iPhones) will almost certainly be bigger and we've seen dummies and panels give hints about the approximate the size of the device.
The Apple iPhone 6 will likely ship with the next iteration of iOS, which Apple will unveil at its WWDC conference in June of this year. iOS 8 could carry a fitness-related Healthbook app along with an iTunes Radio app, improved mapping and transit data and various tweaks and modifications.

Apple iPhone 6 could launch as early as August

Reports coming in from Taiwan suggest the iPhone 6 could be unveiled as early as August and launch a couple of weeks later as per Apple's tradition.
Those reports target the "smaller" 4.7" iPhone 6 and not the rumored 5.5" variant. The latter is expected to hit the shelves a month later in September.


The next iPhone should bring a large update of the smartphone and not just an "s" model. It's expected to bring along a bigger, sapphire-covered display (Apple is shipping sapphire to China for the display manufacturing).
The next-gen iPhone (or iPhones) will almost certainly be bigger and we've seen dummies and panels give hints about the approximate the size of the device.
The Apple iPhone 6 will likely ship with the next iteration of iOS, which Apple will unveil at its WWDC conference in June of this year. iOS 8 could carry a fitness-related Healthbook app along with an iTunes Radio app, improved mapping and transit data and various tweaks and modifications.

Apple iPhone 6 could launch as early as August

Reports coming in from Taiwan suggest the iPhone 6 could be unveiled as early as August and launch a couple of weeks later as per Apple's tradition.
Those reports target the "smaller" 4.7" iPhone 6 and not the rumored 5.5" variant. The latter is expected to hit the shelves a month later in September.


The next iPhone should bring a large update of the smartphone and not just an "s" model. It's expected to bring along a bigger, sapphire-covered display (Apple is shipping sapphire to China for the display manufacturing).
The next-gen iPhone (or iPhones) will almost certainly be bigger and we've seen dummies and panels give hints about the approximate the size of the device.
The Apple iPhone 6 will likely ship with the next iteration of iOS, which Apple will unveil at its WWDC conference in June of this year. iOS 8 could carry a fitness-related Healthbook app along with an iTunes Radio app, improved mapping and transit data and various tweaks and modifications.

HTC One (M8) gets a special Captain America edition

HTC in association with Marvel has announced a limited edition HTC One (M8) smartphone with the S.H.I.E.L.D logo engraved on the back of the device.
The limited edition S.H.I.E.L.D One (M8) is based on the original Gunmetal grey edition of HTC's flagship smartphone with the logo etched into the back. The device also comes pre-loaded with a few Captain America wallpapers.


As a promotional campaign, HTC USA and HTC Canada are giving away the limited edition One (M8) smartphone in a form of a contest. There are 10 limited edition One (M8) units up for grabs in the US and 4 in Canada.
All you need to do to win the limited One (M8) model is to submit a Captain America themed selfie on HTC USA or HTC Canada's Facebook page. Alternatively, you can post your image on Twitter with the hashtag superselfie to enter the contest.
It's very unlikely that the Captain America edition HTC One (M8) will be on sale for the public, so it looks like the contest might be the only way to get hold of one.

A Little Less Surface, a Little More Sales?

Microsoft is expected to debut a smaller version of its Surface line of tablets later this month. The company reportedly will showcase the device for the first time, along with other new Surface models, at a New York City event on May 20.

The smaller version of the Surface will run on Qualcomm processors rather than the Nvidia and Intel chips Microsoft previously has used for the Surface line, according to Bloomberg. Some of the other new models apparently will continue to use Intel processors, however.
The move may be an attempt by Microsoft to muscle in on a market dominated by Apple's iPad mini and a number of Android-based tablets, such as the Nexus 7.
Microsoft was not among the top five tablet vendors in the first quarter of this year, according to a report IDC released last week.

Antitheft Measures In Smartphones

CTIA-The Wireless Association and major mobile manufacturers, providers and operating system makers have entered a voluntary agreement to include antitheft measures in smartphones.

The security and safety of mobile users is the top priority for the industry, according to CTIA, and the agreement is intended to protect consumers from smartphone theft while providing companies' with the ability to innovate.
Signatories to the agreement include Apple, Google, Microsoft, Motorola Mobility, Samsung, HTC, Huawei, Nokia, Asurion, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon. Among the notable names missing is BlackBerry.

All Things Appy: Top 5 New or Improved Android Apps

Five of the top free Android apps that either have been introduced for the first time or significantly updated this year are in the categories of password management, Web browser compression, lock screen functionality and media.

Google's Android OS apps can be obtained in Google's Play Store. Browse to the Play Store -- you'll find it in your device's app drawer. Then search for the app.
The latest versions of Android automatically update installed apps by default. You can switch off this auto updating or adjust settings so that Android will update only over WiFi. Look for the vertical three dot icon in the Google Play app header.
No. 1: Enpass

Enpass claims 10,000 to 50,000 installs and has an average Google Play Store rating of 4.3 stars out of a possible 5 from 384 reviewers.

Enpass syncs and stores passwords and other details, like ATM Personal Identification Numbers, or PINs, and financial account numbers using AES-256 encryption.

KitKat officially comes to Galaxy S3

Galaxy S3 owners who have been feeling a little left out in the cold or insulted following the rather disastrous Android 4.3 update from Samsung last year can now rejoice at the possibility of making that all go away: Samsung has begun the rollout of Android 4.4 for the Galaxy S3. Right now, it's only rolling on the Sprint network, but other carriers are bound to follow suit soon.

KitKat comes to the Galaxy S3. / © AndroidPIT

The update to 4.4 KitKat will arrive OTA, but if you simply can't wait that long the OTA file is available on the XDA Developers site for flashing. The new update brings Samsung's Knox security platform, which blocks downgrading if the update is as plagued with problems as the last one was, so the hesitant amongst you may want to wait a while to hear reports of its stability and functionality before taking the plunge.
The hunt is on for a root exploit at XDA too, so it won't be long before you'll be able to ditch any additional bloatware that comes with the update. We expect U.S. Cellular to release the update next, and as usual, Verizon will likely be at the end of the pack, so that will put T-Mobile and AT&T somewhere in the middle. When you get the update be sure to let us know what's new and what's broken.
Have you received the KitKat update yet? How is it going for you?

Source: Sprint

Google Now can help you find your parked car

It may be a small update, but it is definitely something that I’ll be using the future. As the owner of a generic car in a generic color, I always seem to be wandering around the parking lot trying to figure out where exactly I parked. Thankfully, this will soon be a thing of the past as Google has rolled out a new feature in Google Now that will help you find your parked car.

Ok Google, where is my car? / © Google, AndroidPIT

As of the latest update, Google will remember the last position in which the vehicle has been stopped and will automatically keep track of that last location. Really nothing else other than that: Google Now will place a pin when you stop your car for an extended period of time so that you can pull up the information when you need to find your way back.
Sure, while this seems like a simple solution, there is still some bugs that need to be ironed out: you may trigger a parking card in Google Now if you’ve received a ride from a friend or if you’ve recently taken public transit, but Google is in the process of working out the kinks. As with most things Google Now related, you can customize when these parking cards are suggested and can turn them off entirely if you don’t want to see them showing up.
Parking location cards will start appearing once you’ve updated your Google Search on Android to the latest version. 

Via: The Verge Source: Google Play

More Samsung Galaxy S5 tips and tricks

The longer you have a Galaxy S5, the more you realize how full it is of little in’s and out’s that take some time to get used to. Today we’ll share more tips and tricks with you, if you didn’t get your fill from the essential S5 tips and tricks earlier this week, all demonstrated in a hands-on video.

Find anything on the S5 with S Finder. © AndroidPIT

Aside from the Quick Settings in the notification bar, toolbox provides you with fast access to some of your basic and most used apps, like the calculator and memo pad. © AndroidPIT

© AndroidPIT

Private mode is Samsung's solution for keeping your personal data under wraps. © AndroidPIT

Check out the tips and tricks in our video demonstration:

Link to the video

One-hand operation

For small-handed folk, the one-handed operation mode offered on the Galaxy S5 is a huge help. Especially when on that daily commute where one-handed operation is a must, it will minimize the size of the used screen, so everything can be reached with your thumb. First you need to switch in this feature in the settings, which you can then trigger by swiping your thumb in and out of either side of the screen, depending if you are a right and left-handed users. It includes quick access to some apps on the bottom and side of the minimized window, whose size can also be adjusted by pulling on the outter corner.

Cinema mode

The best possible viewing mode for watching videos, playing games and even doing online shopping is cinema mode, which is easily located in the settings under Display. This mode provides for the best color replication and make your viewing experience a lot more enjoyable.

Private mode

Nowadays, everyone is worried about keeping private information under wraps and Samsung took this into consideration when creating the software for the S5. They integrated a new feature called Private Mode, which allows you to hide documents, videos, pictures and more in a special private mode. You first need to turn on the feature which you can find in the settings under the personalization subcategory. Switch on the feature and create a PIN. You’ll see that the mode has been activated in the notifications bar. Now, go to your gallery app for example and long press on the pictures you want to keep private. Press on the menu button and select ‘move to private’. These will then be moved to another folder, which will disappear when you exit private mode.

Toolbox

Toolbox is tiny helper feature that can be toggled on or off right in the notification bar. It won’t be visible at first among the Quick settings, you need to swipe left and it will appear at the very end. Toggling this on will make a tiny hovering circle with three dots appear, which you can move around your display. Pressing on this will open a series of app icons, like internet explorer, calculator and more. Basically, here is another way of getting quick access to basic and commonly used apps.

S Finder

You can use S Finder to find anything on your Samsung Galaxy S5, whether it is an app, an event, a contact, a Google Drive document etc. Simply pull down the notification bar and you will see the S Finder button. Tap on this and it will open a new window where you simply type in what you are looking for. This will save a lot of time instead of wandering in the wilderness on your smartphone looking for something.
Do you know of any other helpful tips and tricks for the Samsung Galaxy S5?

More LG G3 specs emerge - if you believe the writing on the wall

You might remember the heavily Instagrammed picture of the back of the LG G3 earlier this week. The device sat on top of a notebook with some handwritten specs visible but others obscured via the application of heavy filters. With the latest leaked pics of the LG G3 it seems the owner of that previous image doesn't want to miss out on the spotlight and has delivered an unfiltered version of the image with more specs visible.

It's that time where anyone who's seen, held, used or knows anything about the G3 is spilling the beans. / © AndroidPIT

Basically, the unfiltered image shows us the same thing we saw in the other pics recently leaked of the G3, but the additional handwritten specs are the real point of interest. We already knew the G3 moniker was legit, the QHD display we had confirmed by LG already too, but the rumored 5.5-inch diagonal is backed up by the notes and we now have a 3,000 mAh battery capacity to go on. Whether this is enough to power a 2K display and get anywhere near the G2's outstanding battery life is anyone's guess. I just hope there's a lot of optimizations that have been done.

This is the unfiltered version of the image leaked with more specs visible. / © Android Central

The handwritten specs also mention Gesture Palm Selfie which could mean just about anything along with something called Quick Circle, perhaps a Pie Control-esque quick access menu? The specs also state a 13 MP OIS+ camera, a 1-watt speaker and a peculiar reference to a 2 terabyte memory, which could only refer to cloud storage options, perhaps of the gratis variety. Finally, it seems to suggest that there will be two versions of the G3, one with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of memory, and another with 3 GB and 32 GB. Perhaps there could also be a QHD version and a Full HD version too? Not long to wait now to find out anyway.

Source: Android Central

Plenty of active iPhone 4s devices point at huge upgrade cycle

The hotly anticipated iPhone 6 looks bound to be a bigger success than expected. Research data from Morgan Stanley which shows a huge number of active iPhone 4 and 4s devices points at a massive upgrade cycle in the making.

The data which Morgan Stanley gathered is from the four major US carriers – AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. It shows that almost half of the iPhone users out there are going to be due for an upgrade when the latest smartphone from Cupertino hits the shelves.

While there is no guarantee that all users of older iPhone hardware will switch to iPhone 6, we reckon that the yet to be announced handset surely has a good chance of being their choice. Apple iPhone 6 has already made a couple of alleged appearances and is expected to launch this fall with 4.7” display on board.
Source | Via

Xiaomi Redmi Note hits 15 million pre-orders

Thanks to its clever marketing strategy called "Hunger Marketing," Xiaomi managed to sell 100,000 Redmi Notes in 34 minutes back in March. Now, the company proudly boasts 15 million people have pre-ordered the $161 phablet.


That number beats Apple's cumulative iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c opening weekend's 9 million sales as well as the Samsung Galaxy S5's. Mind you, Xiaomi's definition of pre-order doesn't necessarily mean that the users have paid their Redmi Note smartphones. The company counts regular pre-orders as such in addition to people signed up to receive more information about the phone via email.
The Redmi costs $161 (CNY999) and boasts a 5.5” 720 x 1280 display, a 1.7GHz octa-core chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a 13MP camera, 3200mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2. That's certainly a lot of smartphone for a very modest price tag.
Nevertheless, 15 million people registering only reaffirms the smartphone market strength in China and Xiaomi's clever way of doing business. The company is expanding its market presence and by the year's end will start selling it flagship Xiaomi Mi3 in India, Brazil, and Russia as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Via • Via (2)