Twitter finally launches Periscope for Android

Periscope for Android is here. Twitter's new streaming app contains many of the same features found in the iOS version, but with a few Android exclusives. In addition to more granular notification controls than found in the iPhone version, there's a new "return to broadcast" feature that helps get viewers back to a stream after being interrupted by a phone call, text or other pesky distraction.

The notification setting includes the ability to opt in or out of alerts when a followed user goes live, shares a broadcast or when a user gets a new follower. The alert settings are global instead of on an individual user basis. So if you turn off alert for when followed users go live, you won't be alerted if any of the folks you follow start broadcasting.

The Return to Broadcasts feature places a notification on the Android home screen when viewing a feed is interrupted by a call or other item. When the viewer is done doing what ever it is that stopped them from watching a feed, they tap the alert and the app loads the feed they were previously watching.

The development of the Android app was led by former Secret and Twitter Android lead, Sara Haider. Haider returned to the flock in March and immediately started building the Periscope for Android app. The team had to deal with the usual fragmentation issues that comes with dealing with the multitude of screen sizes out there. "It's been a jam packed last couple of months," said Haider. "I dealt with a lot of those challenges on Vine, so I'm not a stranger to them."

The app supports KitKat 4.4 and later which made development "significantly easier" since it surfaces more of the hardware encoding and video APIs. It also has Material Design elements of Lollipop 5.0 including a dedicated broadcast button instead of a the broadcast tab found in iOS. In fact, on the Android version of the app you can swipe back and forth between tabs.

While the two apps are similar and will continue to work towards parity, Haider said, "we also have the opportunity to do some experiments on both platforms."

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Google and Skrillex Want You to Buy This Android Phone Case

Google is creating a series of limited-edition cases for Android phones, and its first collaboration is with producer and DJ Skrillex.

Skrillex created three intergalactic-themed cases for his collection, which are on sale now in the Google store for $40, and will be available until the end of June or until supplies last.

Slap one on your Nexus 5, Nexus 6 $590.00 at Amazon, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S6, or Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and the cases will deliver a space-themed wallpaper pulled from satellites that Google and Skrillex launched into the stratosphere. Yep.

"During the day, the live wallpaper displays images of earth and, at night, it shows constellations visible from your location," Google said in a blog post.

A video clip (below) shows Skrillex launching that satellite (named after his dog Nanou) in the desert. (According to Wired, 13 tiny satellites were launched in total.) When Google is finished with Nanou, "a lucky fan will win the autographed satellite in an upcoming giveaway," the company said.

In addition to space themes, the cases also feature a button on the back that can be customized to go directly to the phone feature of your choice: camera, home screen, or even the Skrillex website, if you're so inclined. You'll also get VIP access to Skrillex content.

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Mobile’s strategy is the key to any business success in todays digital world. Pixotri technologies works one-on-one with businesses and individual product lines to develop a comprehensive mobile presence that complements your existing brand identity while building out your mobile brand.

 Contact us for your mobile app development requirements.email- info@pixotritechnologies.com. Visit our website: www.pixotritechnologies.com

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Snapdragon 810 chip doesn't overheat, jilted Qualcomm sniffs at LG

Qualcomm is hitting back at the suggestion its Snapdragon 810 system-on-chip overheats, while carefully making sure it doesn't call its customer LG a cheapskate.

Critics argue that if the 64-bit ARM-compatible Snapdragon 810 was problem-free, it would have been chosen by LG for the new flagship G4, which was launched this week and uses the Snapdragon 808. If the G4 is the greatest phone ever, why not use the top-of-the-range processor?

(As an aside, Samsung went in-house for the processor in its Galaxy S6 smartphone, choosing its own Exynos 7420 system-on-chip over the Snapdragon 810.)

Examining the detail, however, you soon discover that LG isn’t claiming that the G4 is a flagship mobe. It majors on having a fast f/1.8 lens, great battery life, a new user interface and a leather back. LG doesn’t claim that the G4 is the fastest phone yet. And the LG Flex 2 does use the Snapdragon 810.

Qualcomm’s chip pricing has always been shrouded in secrecy. It works hard to make sure that rival customers don’t know what the other is paying. It is, however, to be expected that LG will be paying less for the six-core 808 than the eight-core 810.

What no manufacturer ever says is “it’s engineered down to a price”, however true that might be, so instead LG's Dr Ramchan Woo, head of smartphone planning, said: “Our objective with LG G4 was to create a smartphone with the optimal balance of performance, functionality, efficiency and design innovation.”

“By working closely with Qualcomm Technologies on the LG G4 smartphone,” Dr Woo continued, “we were able to deliver on this high bar of innovation that both companies set.”

Both Qualcomm and LG talk a lot about battery life. In practice the 808 has a very similar processor architecture. It runs at a slower clock speed which will help both battery life and reduce heat, and the graphics processor is downgraded a little on the 808.

How useful the extra power is on the 810 depends on the application. If a game is driving all four cores hard you’ll see a difference, particularly over short periods of time because when the chip heats up, that will cut the clock speed. In a long gaming session an 808 may start slower but overtake an 810 as the 810 gets cut by heat – and then see the 808 slow as that too gets hot. This is familiar territory for all processors.

A Qualcomm spokesman refused to comment to The Register, telling us "all decisions on the components of a handset are down to the individual OEM."

So what Qualcomm isn’t saying is that the 808 was chosen on price, and what LG isn’t saying is that there will be another handset, above the G4 which will have a Snapdragon 810. All clear?

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Nokia denies that it plans to return to smartphone manufacturing

Nokia, the former world leader in mobile manufacturing, has denied that it plans to return to the handset business. Earlier a report on the popular technology website Re/Code had said that Nokia plans to return to the mobile handset business, citing sources and added that virtual reality was another area that was being explored by Nokia.

Now Nokia has come out to deny the reports and said in a statement on its website,

“Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive. Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.”

The Re/Code report had claimed that the Nokia, which recently launched the N1 tablet and an Android Launcher, will design the devices and then license them to another company. The other company would also be responsible for manufacturing, sales, distribution, said the report.

Nokia recently announced recently that it has agreed to buy Alcatel-Lucent in an all-share transaction that values the smaller French rival at 15.6 billion euros ($16.58 billion). The deal will allow Nokia to boost its network equipment business, and its map business as well.

Mobile app development

Mobile’s strategy is the key to any business success in todays digital world. Pixotri technologies works one-on-one with businesses and individual product lines to develop a comprehensive mobile presence that complements your existing brand identity while building out your mobile brand.

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Acer unveils smartphone with huge battery and new line of wearables

After it got done announcing a small army of inexpensive Windows convertibles and laptops today, Acer turned its focus to smartphones. The company unveiled a brand new Android phablet, the Liquid X2, and it contains one of the largest batteries we've yet seen in a phone. Rated at 4000 mAh, the Liquid X2's battery is larger than the Droid Turbo's. It's bigger than the Note 4's battery, as well. Even when it's powering a 5.5-inch display (Acer hasn't specified the resolution), the enormous capacity of this battery should allow you to skip the charger and keep running through another day or two of use. Lenovo recently announced its own smartphone with a 4000 mAh battery for the Russian market, and we don't yet know whether the Liquid X2 is US bound.

ACER LIQUID X2 HANDS-ON PHOTOS

The phone includes a 64-bit octa-core processor, according to Acer. And it supports three SIM cards; while that's not a new thing for Acer, it's still rare to see among the company's competitors and should make this phablet ideal for travelers and people who have to clearly separate work from their personal lives and some other, third thing. Acer's also following HTC's lead and putting the same camera on both the front and back of this phone; a 13-megapixel f/1.8 sensor will handle rear camera and selfie duties. And finally, the company showed off a Quick Touch flip case — the same sort of thing you see on Samsung phones — that offers fast access to music controls, the weather, time, and other features without fully flipping the case open.

ACER LIQUID LEAP HANDS-ON PHOTOS

Acer is also releasing a trio of new fitness trackers, and each represents a step up in design compared to the Leap wearable that it produced last year. The Liquid Leap Fit features a 1-inch touchscreen, waterproof design, optical heart rate sensor, and gold-plated sensors that can read galvanic skin response — just like Jawbone's Up3 wristband. Using a combination of all those, the Leap Fit will provide users with a "stress index." 

The bands are also interchangeable. Acer's new flagship wearable is called the Liquid Leap Curve and, as the name implies, includes a curved touchscreen plus all the same hardware as the Fit. It basically looks like a Samsung Gear Fit clone, but you can swap the bands out to give it a more unique style. The most basic of the new wearables, the Liquid Leap Active, is essentially a refresh of last year's hardware. All three are compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows. Like the Liquid X2, pricing and availability details here remain an open question.

Mobile app development

Mobile’s strategy is the key to any business success in todays digital world. Pixotri technologies works one-on-one with businesses and individual product lines to develop a comprehensive mobile presence that complements your existing brand identity while building out your mobile brand. Contact us for your mobile app development requirements.email- info@pixotritechnologies.com. 

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Huawei Ascend P8, Ascend P8max With Android 5.0 Lollipop, Octa-Core SoCs Launched

Huawei on Wednesday launched its flagship smartphone, the Huawei Ascend P8, alongside its large-screen variant, the Huawei Ascend P8max. The dual-SIM Android 5.0 Lollipop-based smartphones feature the company's EmotionUI 3.1 skin on top.

The Huawei Ascend P8 will be available in two versions, Standard (16GB inbuilt storage) and Premium (64GB inbuilt storage). While the standard version is priced at EUR 500 (roughly Rs. 33,300), the premium version costs EUR 600 (roughly Rs. 40,000). Huawei says Europe, Middle East and South Africa will be the first regions to get the flagship smartphone, followed by a worldwide release within one month.

The Huawei Ascend P8max is due to launch in 30 countries and will arrive almost a month after the Ascend P8. Priced at EUR 550 (Rs. 36,700) for its 16GB inbuilt storage variant, the phablet will also be available with 64GB inbuilt storage version at EUR 650 (roughly Rs. 43,300). Both the Ascend P8 and Ascend P8max sport a metal unibody design made of space-grade aluminium.

The Ascend P8 (seen above) also comes with a special nano-coating that the company says makes it splash-proof. The handset houses a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution display (424ppi). Huawei says the display takes up to 78.3 percent of the front panel, as compared to Apple iPhone 6's 65.8 percent and Samsung Galaxy S6's 70.8 percent. The 4G-enabled smartphone also has an E-Ink cover accessory, which adds a 4.3-inch display suited for outdoor reading.

Huawei says the Ascend P8 uses what it calls the world's first 13-megapixel rear camera sensor that captures light in RGBW (Red-Green-Blue-White) pattern and features optical image stabilisation (OIS). This tech is supposed to help the device capture better low-light images. The camera can balance jerks and vibrations of up to 1.6 degree, which Huawei says is better than the stabilisation on the iPhone 6 Plus. The firm adds that an independent image processor for DSLR-quality images, ISP for noise reduction and more has been added for better results. An 8-megapixel front-facing camera is also onboard for selfie images and video chats.

The Ascend P8 is powered by a 64-bit octa-core Cortex-A53 Hisilicon Kirin 935 SoC clocked at 2GHz coupled with 3GB RAM. Backed by a 2680mAh battery, the smartphone is said to run for 2.3 days of regular use and 1.5 days on heavy usage. The smartphone's Signal+ tech enables the device to switch between the two antennas (one on top and one at bottom), which Huawei says will help find best the data and call connections.

The smartphone measures 144.9x72.1x6.4mm, weighs 144 grams and will be available in Mystic Champagne and Titanium Grey colour variants.

Coming to the bigger phablet, Huawei Ascend P8max (seen above), the device features a 6.8-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution display with pixel density of 326ppi. Huawei says the display takes almost 83 percent of the front panel. Besides featuring a landscape mode, the handset's huge display can also perform split-screen multi-tasking operations.

Powered by the same 64-bit octa-core Hisilicon Kirin 935 SoC, but this time clocked at 2.2GHz, the Ascend P8max features 3GB RAM alongside a Mali-T628 MP4 GPU. The Huawei Ascend P8max comes with the same 13-megapixel rear camera module as the Ascend P8, but sports a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Backed by a 4360mAh battery, the device is rated to last for over two days of normal usage and 1.5 day of heavy usage, while it can offer 15 hours of continuous video playback.

Huawei says that its LTE-enabled Ascend P8max weighs 228 grams, measures 182.7x93x6.8mm and equips a 7-layer heat conducting structure, which keeps the processor's temperature 5 degrees lower than its competing devices.

Mobile app development

Mobile’s strategy is the key to any business success in todays digital world. Pixotri technologies works one-on-one with businesses and individual product lines to develop a comprehensive mobile presence that complements your existing brand identity while building out your mobile brand. Contact us for your mobile app development requirements.email- info@pixotritechnologies.com. Visit our website: www.pixotritechnologies.com

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