Aug 04
There is a certain intimacy that comes with getting a tattoo. Not only are you decorating your own skin in a unique way, but you’re also sharing that experience with the artist who is essentially making you bleed over and over again.
Aug 04
Last month we reported that the HTC Desire 530 smartphone had made its way to the US. The handset was initially announced by the Taiwanese company back in February 2016, before being released in March, but it was only last month that the phone found its way to retailers in the US, but better late than never, right?
Now the phone itself isn’t expensive at $179, but in case you’d rather not pay that price upfront, you might be interested to learn that the HTC Desire 530 can now be purchased from Verizon as well. The carrier is offering the phone in a monthly installment plan at $6 a month over the course of the next 24 months, which actually adds up to $144, making it cheaper than buying the phone outright from HTC (not counting your monthly usage bill).
Alternatively, customers who plan to activate a new line of service with the carrier can expect to pay $2 a month for the next 24 months, making the phone itself almost a quarter of HTC’s list price. However if postpaid isn’t something you’re interested in, don’t worry as Verizon will also be offering it up for prepaid customers at $99.99 upfront if you pick from one of the carrier’s prepaid plans.
For more details on how to purchase the handset, just head on over to Verizon’s website.
HTC Desire 530 Now Available From Verizon , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
Google’s Nexus handsets have differentiated themselves from other Android phones by offering users a stock Android experience, but this year’s Nexus handsets could change that. So far we’ve seen what appears to be a special launcher created for the handsets, and there also seems to be some kind of fingerprint swipe gesture to bring down the notification shade.
These weren’t features discovered in the build of Android 7.0 Nougat that Google released to developers, and now thanks to more information from Android Police, it looks like we can expect more exclusive features coming to this year’s Nexus devices. One of those features is what Google is calling Night Light.
This is similar to Night Shift mode in iOS in which the color of the screen will change to omit any blue light. The idea is that blue light messes up our sleep cycles, especially if you use it right before bed, so if you’re the type that uses their phone while lying in bed, Night Light will come in handy.
Similar to Night Shift mode, Google’s Night Light mode appears to be customizable in terms of when it can be activated. Users can activate it manually, or have it activate from sunset to sunrise, or set a custom schedule. Other seemingly exclusive features includes the ability to wake your phone up by double tapping its display, or by picking it up. For now it is assumed that these features will be coming to the 2016 Nexus handsets as there is no indication that it will arrive for older Nexus devices as well.
2016 Nexus Handsets Could Get Some Exclusive Software Features , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
There has been a bit of controversy regarding USB-C cables/chargers. Unlike micro-USB which has been around for a while, USB-C is still relatively new which means that some OEMs are getting it wrong in terms of being compliant. Unfortunately it seems that some of those problems might have spilled over into Google’s Nexus handsets.
According to YouTuber Nathan K. (via Phandroid) who claims to do independent analysis and verification, he claims that there are some wall chargers that are bundled with the Nexus 5X and 6P that are defective in the sense that they could potentially fry your USB-C devices in the event that you think that your USB-C cable/charger is a one-size-fits-all-solution.
In his test, which you can check out in the video above, Nathan discovered that the charger provided by LG/Huawei isn’t smart enough to know when they’re supposed to be charging, and when they’re not supposed to be charging, meaning that they will keep pumping electricity into a device that it is plugged into.
This is fine if you are planning to charge your phone, but if not, there is a good chance that your device could be overloaded and get damaged in the process. That being said, in his testing, Nathan notes that Google’s own made charger actually works the way it is supposed to, so if you do have more than one USB-C device, maybe you might want to consider Google’s charger just to be on the safe side.
Your Nexus 5X/6P Wall Chargers Could Fry Other USB-C Devices , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
Earlier today we reported that according to a recent GFXBench sighting, it was suggested that OnePlus could be working on a “mini” version of the OnePlus 3. Unlike other “mini” variants, this would literally just be a smaller version of the OnePlus 3, meaning that it would pack a 4.6-inch display but the rest of the specs would be the same.
Essentially it would be akin to the iPhone 6s/6s Plus in terms of how much it varied. However it turns out the rumors were false as OnePlus’ co-founder Carl Pei has since taken to Twitter to shut them down. In his tweet he says, “No. #rumorshutdown”, which we reckon is pretty official as it gets as far as refutation is concerned.
In our previous post we did express our skepticism about the benchmarks. OnePlus had earlier this year announced they would no longer be making the OnePlus X handsets as they wanted to focus on their flagship lineup. A OnePlus 3 Mini would be counterintuitive as it means having to divert more resources to creating a different and smaller mold, not to mention having to juggle more inventory.
As OnePlus stated back then, the company just wanted to focus on strengthening its foundation. In any case it seems that for now, the OnePlus 3 Mini rumors are no more, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any changes or announcements all the same.
OnePlus Co-Founder Shuts Down OnePlus 3 Mini Rumors , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
Leading up to the release of the Legion expansion for World of Warcraft, Blizzard announced their plans to release animated shorts titled “Harbingers”, which from what we can tell seems to revolve around some of the key characters in the upcoming expansion. The first short featured Gul’dan, the second featured Khagar, and now the third and final Harbingers video has been released.
This video features none other than Illidan, a character from the Warcraft universe who has shifted from being both the protagonist and antagonist, although in Legion it seems like Illidan will act as more of an anti-hero kind of character and will most likely be leading the Demon Hunter class.
The video shows Illidan leading a group of Demon Hunters in an invasion on the Legion’s world. “In this new animated short, follow the tale of an Illidari recruit and Illidan’s elite corps of demon hunters as they prepare to engage the Burning Legion for the first time.” It also shows him uttering one of the game’s most famous lines, “You are not prepared”, which will no doubt send chills down the spine of many a World of Warcraft player.
Legion has been set for a release on the 30th of August, but for players who pre-purchased the game, you will be able to access the Demon Hunter class starting on the 9th of August, which is also when the Demon Invasion world event will be kicking off.
Blizzard Releases Third & Final ‘Harbingers’ Video Featuring Illidan , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
Have you ever gone somewhere only to realize that parking is a complete nightmare? We suppose sometimes you could anticipate the difficulty of parking, like for example a mall on the weekend will no doubt be packed, or maybe during lunch hour, or maybe after work where people might head to a mall to do some shopping or eating.
However sometimes there might be events that you do not know about, and in such cases parking can become a nightmare. The good news is that you could soon use Google Maps to figure that out. According to an APK teardown by Android Police, they have discovered some strings of code that hint at Google Maps being able to tell you whether the place you’re going to has parking available.
Now it won’t actually point out to users where they can park, although that would be awesome, but it will break down the ease of parking into “Easy”, “Medium”, and “Limited”. We’re not sure how this will work, like whether or not this will be dynamic in the sense that it will update and change depending on the time of day.
Or maybe as Android Police suggests, it will be based on historical information in which it just shows you the general ease of parking in an area just to give users a rough idea of the parking situation. Either way we guess we’ll have to wait for the update to roll out in order to get a better idea.
Upcoming Google Maps Update Could Show Parking Difficulty , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
So we have things like smartphones, smartwatches, smart home appliances, so why not smart shoes? To be fair, smart shoes aren’t exactly new. Some of you guys might recall that several years ago, Nike and Apple teamed up where users could insert a little chip into their running shoes and pair that with an iPhone app, but obviously technology has come a long way since.
If you’re into golf, then these smart shoes called the IOFIT might be of interest to you. The shoes are created by a company called Salted Venture, which is a spinoff from Samsung. The shoes actually made their debut earlier this year in February, but the company has recently launched them on Kickstarter in hopes of getting them funded.
The shoes will still require users to sync up with a smartphone, but the sensors will be embedded into the shoes itself meaning that you won’t need any other accessories. It will be able to detect things like posture and swing, so if you’re doing it wrong, the app will then able to tell you what you’re doing wrong and how to improve it, thanks to the built-in sensors that can detect weight and shifting in weight during a swing.
The IOFIT shoes do not come cheap as they are priced at $200, but if you reckon your golf game could do with some improvements, then head on over to its Kickstarter to pledge your support.
Samsung-backed IOFIT Smart Golf Shoes Launches On Kickstarter , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Aug 04
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter….
Aug 04
Much like Valve open-sourced its Steam controller gamepad, it’s doing the same for the Vive VR headset’s stand-out feature. The company has recently opened up SteamVR’s room-scale 3D tracking system to anyone, as spotted by The Verge. Development kit…
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