Hasta La Gadget!

Remember the three-month exclusivity deal where only Samsung tablet owners could watch ITV Player? Well, now that it’s September, anyone with a Google-powered slate can get their The Jeremy Kyle Show fix. Along with axing the manufacturer restriction, the company has fixed various glitches including slow performance and video reset after commercial breaks. It’s available gratis from Google Play right now, just in time for this week’s X Factor.

Filed under: Tablets, Software, HD, Mobile

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Via: The Digital Lifestyle

Source: Google Play

Fans of Skype for Windows Phone 8 can now record more than just voicemail: Microsoft has updated the app to support video messaging. Like on other platforms, Windows Phone users can send an unlimited number of video clips to their Skype contacts for free. There aren’t any other new features, but Skype members who prefer visual communication will likely want to grab the upgrade today through the Windows Phone Store.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

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Via: Windows Phone Central

Source: Windows Phone Store

As this author was fiddling with his Xiaomi Phone 2S (or MI2S) in bed ahead of Xiaomi’s big event tomorrow, he spotted something odd: a thumbnail of an unfamiliar device — next to the entry-level Red Rice aka Hongmi — in the company’s online store app. Since it’s a high-resolution image, we’re able to zoom into our screenshot (full version after the break) to see this Lumia-like design but with a flatter back. The long flash strip also suggests that this could be a beefed-up dual-LED flash module. Other than that, there’s not much else that we can pick up here.

Given the clock on this mysterious phone matches the 2pm start time of tomorrow’s event, we’re pretty certain that this is Xiaomi’s third-gen flagship device, the MI3; and it’ll likely be announced alongside the Xiaomi TV. We also recall seeing the same back cover leaked way back in February, and the side-by-side shot with the MI2 (embedded after the break) is pointing to a 5-inch screen for this new phone. Judging by the pattern so far, we bet it’ll use Qualcomm’s beastly Snapdragon 800 SoC to follow the 600 on the MI2S. Ultimately, it’ll be all about the price, which is likely to be no more than CN¥1,999 or about US$330 off contract.

While the above product thumbnail appears to be stuck in the cache on our MI2S, the same spot is occupied by the proper MI2S image in the same app on our MI2A. Talk about perfect timing, eh? Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some sleep to catch up on — we don’t want to scare Hugo Barra with our panda eyes.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Sony’s new smartwatch, which is actually named the SmartWatch 2, has been a known quantity since its official announcement in June at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, and now the Samsung Galaxy Gear has been itemized by its creators in Berlin at IFA. Meaning it’s time for the two to square off in our blogger arena of champions for a spec and feature showdown.

Sony Smartwatch specs

• 1.6-inch, 220×176 display
• Aluminum body
• Micro USB charging
• Compatible with most Android phones
• NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 for connectivity
• 3 to 4 days battery under normal use
• €199 ($262 U.S), Ships in late September
• No camera, mic or speakers

Samsung Galaxy Gear specs

• 1.63-inch, 320×320 display
• Stainless steel body
• Snap-on, proprietary USB 3.0 charger
• 800MHz Exynos single-core processor
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Compatible with new Galaxy devices, previous gen Galaxy support coming soon
• Around 1 day of use
• 4GB of onboard storage
• $299
• Ships in September (October for U.S.)
• 1.9 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, speaker + 2 mics
• Gyroscope and accelerometer for workout tracking

The SmartWatch 2 isn’t cheap at €199; in fact, it’s the same price as the newly-reduced 8GB Nexus 4 model. Samsung’s is $299 and much more full-featured, with Samsung managing to pack a whole host of A/V equipment in its device. It also runs a number of Android apps out of the box, which have been redesigned specifically for the watch.

SmartWatch 2 does have NFC for easy pairing with Android devices that support it, as well as more battery life, a better, higher resolution screen, and water/environment resistance that should keep your device protected from general grit and submersion at 3 feet for up to 30 minutes. Sony’s also doing a big push for bringing third-party apps to the SmartWatch software platform, which could help narrow the gap there.

Overall though, as you can see from the list of specs above, there’s not really much of a competition between the two devices in terms of features; but Sony’s SmartWatch 2 has an edge in battery life owing to its much more narrow feature set, and it offers wider support for other Android devices out of the box.

These are two very different definitions of the term “smartwatch,” with the more ambitious vision coming from Samsung. Aside from the steep requirement of apparent (temporary?) platform lock-in, I’m definitely much more intrigued by the Gear, but I also suspect both devices will find a mostly limited receptive audience among consumers.

Today’s Unpacked event was all about Samsung’s new Notes and its Galaxy Gear, but there’s good news for folks with older hardware. Turns out, Android 4.3 is coming to the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S 4 in October along with the update that’ll add Galaxy Gear functionality to the GS 4. Let’s hope none of the Nexus gremlins made their way into Samsung’s Galaxy.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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