According to the publication, the Optimus GJ will simply be a waterproof version of the Optimus G. Features and hardware specs will remain the same – the only differentiating factor is that the Optimus GJ will have the IPX7 waterproof standard. This rating will let you submerge the Optimus GJ in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes, whereas the IPX6 waterproof standard is resistant from powerful water jets (i.e. heavy splashes, rain, etc).
The Optimus GJ isn’t a surprise considering that the Korean company already has a waterproof version of the Optimus G available that released on Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo last year (pictured below).
While the launch event for the Optimus GJ is set for May 22, a few days after that on May 30 in Macau, LG has another launch event scheduled for a smartphone in LG’s popular “G” series. We’re not sure what the Korean company plans on announcing then, but it’s not a far-fetched idea that we’ll see the Optimus G2, or even the Optimus GK.
While I can’t imagine many people would go out and get the Optimus GJ simply for its waterproof prowess, at the core of it, it still has some excellent hardware. Similarly, Samsung is also going to launch a rugged Galaxy S4 version – the Galaxy S4 Active – at some point in the coming months.
Are you looking forward to seeing the Optimus GJ become available in Taiwan?
Got a sense of humor? You might enjoy this new video from BlackBerry Jam 2013
As in previous BlackBerry Jam keynotes, Alec Saunders, Christopher Smith and Marty Mallick are back, but this time they aren’t singing. Previously known for their hits “The Waiting”, “Keep On Loving You“, and “At Last“, this year the guys did something a little different and put together a parody of a reality TV competition. If you aren’t in Orlando right now, or if you missed the BlackBerry Jam keynote, this is your chance to see just what the Developer Relations team at BlackBerry has cooked up for your enjoyment.
While I personally always liked the BlackBerry band and admired them for putting themselves out there and doing something a lot of people didn’t “get”, I think this parody will appeal to a wider range of viewers. Take a look at the extended cut of the video above, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Thursday, May 16th marks the US premiere of the 12th Star Trek flick: Star Trek Into Darkness. Like the 2009 film simply titled Star Trek, the new Into Darkness is directed by JJ Abrams and follows the adventures of the crew of the [new] original Enterprise under the command of a reimagined Captain Kirk played by Chris Pine. While the action-oriented direction of the last film, cockier Kirk, aggressive lens flares, and design of the new old U.S.S. Enterprise might have ruffled a few feathers, the 2009 entry kicked up the production quality of Star Trek films by an order of magnitude or two.
Four years later, the new Star Trek Into Darkness has already premiered in a number of countries worldwide and will be landing in the US next week. The new film has a dedicated iPhone app and a villain that recorded his audition with his iPhone while on vacation in England. And the Enterprise itself has a bridge that critics likened to the design of an Apple Store.
Okay, we might be stretching here. We just love Star Trek and we expect that you’re likely a fan too. Statistically speaking, it’s not a stretch to make that assumption. So, why not watch some Star Trek this weekend before heading to the cinema to catch Into Darkness? There are ten classic films staring your favorite combination of Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley or Stewart, Frakes, and Spiner, and of course there’s the 2009 Star Trek blockbuster with Pine, Quinto, and Urban. And they’re all on iTunes, plus 716 episodes of five series spread across thirty seasons. In short, there’s a lot of Star Trek to be watched, so with a new film coming up next week, you better get started now while you still have time.
You are going to see Star Trek Into Darkness, right?
Nobody in mobile technology seems to want you to touch your mobile device anymore. Apple would rather you speak to your phone, Samsung wants you to use your eyes, as well as hovering your fingers above the screen and, as for Google, it doesn’t even want the mobile phone to be in your hands because that’s “too emasculating” (says the guy with a screen in front of his eyeball).
But a quick look at the majority of sci-fi movies brings us to the conclusion that the feature that some people would really want to use for input is telekinesis or mind control. The very thought of it (pun intended), sends shivers down my spine. The possibilities are endless. Checking and replying to emails without ever touching your phone, maybe even without pulling the device out of your pocket, becomes possible. Gaming could be taken to another level, because lets face it, sometimes those controllers just don’t respond fast enough.
More importantly, people with disabilities could use mobile devices much more effectively and that’s where Samsung steps in.
Samsung has decided that the plethora of ways to interact with mobile devices is simply not enough. For those who aren’t keeping count, there are four ways of interacting with Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S4. There are touch, eye, gestures and voice control all crammed into the slim 5-inch frame of the Galaxy S4. So what other avenue of device interaction can Samsung explore? Well, telekinesis seemed like a good place to start.
Now before you think somebody at Samsung has read one too many X-Men comics, they are actually a lot closer than you’d think. In fact Samsung, with the help of assistant professor of electrical engineering Roozbeh Jafari at the University of Texas, has actually got a crude method working with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (to find out exactly how Samsung is utilizing the technology, check out the video at the Source link at the end of this article):
To use EEG-detected brain signals to control a smartphone, the Samsung and UT Dallas researchers monitored well-known brain activity patterns that occur when people are shown repetitive visual patterns. In their demonstration, the researchers found that people could launch an application and make selections within it by concentrating on an icon that was blinking at a distinctive frequency.
We here at Android Authority don’t like to be party poopers, but for the sake of saving you some money (in buying a Charles Xavier costume in anticipation, who by the way did not possess the power of telekinesis), we’d like to inform you that the current method is cumbersome and requires the use of bulky headgear (which ironically resembles the headgear Professor X uses in Cerebro).
Samsung isn’t using any new technology for this project, as it relies on EEG monitoring electrodes to get the job done. However, it is its interest in creating more ways for you to interact with your device that is of paramount importance here. While the clear emphasis is on people with disabilities, the ultimate goal of Samsung’s Emerging Technology Lab is to broaden the ways in which all people can interact with their smart devices.
Currently, the technology has a success rate of 80 to 95 percent, which many would claim is a better success rate than voice control, and allows users to make selections every five seconds. Samsung is hoping to make the headgear less obtrusive so that people can wear it throughout the day.
Even with all the promising development, we can’t say that telekinesis will be “The Next Big Thing” on the Galaxy S5 or any other future mobile device from Samsung.
Is telekinesis top of your features list for phones? Is this just another arrow in Samsung’s featuritis bow? Would you like to see the input method in any other devices (Google Glass)?
Have a Sony smartphone from last year and still patiently awaiting the upgrade to Jelly Bean? Sony took to Twitter today to reveal that several of their Xperia handsets should be seeing Android 4.1 very soon, as work on the updates have now reached the final stage.
Specifically, Sony mentioned the Xperia P, Xperia Go, Xperia S, Xperia SL, Xperia Arco S and Xperia Ion. Unfortunately no word on exactly when the updates will arrive, though Sony does say they will have more details next week.
There is a lot to love about Jelly Bean, and this is certainly a welcome upgrade. If you own one of the above handsets you will soon enter a world of improved notifications, Google Now, camera improvements and of course better overall speed thanks to Project Butter enhancements.
While it’s a bit frustrating to wait for Jelly Bean on devices like the Xperia Ion – which has been out since last summer – we have to admit that Sony has done a lot to improve its image in the Android world as of late. They’ve certainly opened things of for developers as of late. Some examples of this change in attitude include their involvement with AOSP code and reports that they have even given sites like XDA free devices to help with projects.
Hopefully we will have some solid information about Sony’s Jelly Bean update plans to report next week.
Barnes & Noble is reported to give away a free Simple Touch e-reader with every Nook HD+, in a limited time promotion.
Bookseller Barnes & Noble has enjoyed a crazy good start with its line of Android-powered tablets. Back in December 2011, the retailer ranked an amazing fourth place in market share thanks to its Nook Color tablet, and seemed capable of turning itself into a powerful player in the tablet business.
However, market forces disrupted B&N’s plans, and after a poor 2012 holiday season, the bookseller announced a dismal 26% drop in revenues from its tablet business.
In this context, the fact that Barnes & Noble will bundle a free Simple Touch e-reader with every Nook HD+ tablet sold next week should come as no surprise. As reported by Reuters, the promotion could signal an effort to reduce inventories, at a moment when B&N mulls a strategy change, or even a complete exit from the hardware business.
For now, the promotion, which is for all purposes a fire sale, isn’t advertised on the B&N site, but do check back starting tomorrow, March 24. The Simple Touch e-reader, first launched in June 2011, currently sells for , while the Nook HD+ starts at 9 for the 16GB version.
Dan Brown’s book is one you either loved or hated, but it was impossible to ignore (at least a few years ago). Now, The Da Vinci Code book is available as a free download in the Google Play Store for a limited period of time.
Doubleday, Dan Brown’s publisher, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, has announced that the book will be available for free at online retailers, including the Google Play Store, until March 24. Other retailers participating in the offer include Barnes & Noble, Amazon or the Apple iBookstore.
If you think that this offer doesn’t do much for you since you’ve already read the book, you should know that there still is something in it for you. The free edition includes the prologue and first chapter of Dan Brown’s next book, Inferno, set for release on May 14.
Have you ever dropped your smartphone or tablet? Not a pleasant experience, I know. As always, the relentless pursuit of innovation is yielding achievements and developments in areas not previously thought possible. Science once confined to the limits of military and security applications has been leaping over to the cutthroat mobile device market for some time now.
When it comes to protecting the displays of our precious devices, Corning’s Gorilla Glass is currently state of the art. Here’s a demo we’ve seen at MWC in February.
Sapphire could be the next wonder material
Sapphire itself is a special material. With a melting point of 2,030C, it remains virtually impervious to pretty much everything that’s thrown at it. As the second hardest material next to diamond, it is significantly more abundant and less expensive, making it perfect for our beloved mobile devices. What’s more is that it has long enjoyed success in a variety of applications – namely bulletproofing the cars of some very special people, and on Rolex watches to ensure that the face stays scratch free throughout years of use. And there’s many more.
ExtremetechGT Advanced Technologies sapphire glass prototypes. Can you spot the one for the iPhone 5 on the far left?
The sum of it is that sapphire is ten times more scratch resistant than normal glass, and, while we don’t have real world tests of how it will stack up next to Corning’s famous Gorilla Glass, we’d have to say that it’s likely to yield some drastic improvements for people that tend to drop their devices more than they ought to.
Naturally, it’s still a material that has a crystalline structure, and is therefore still capable of shattering or cracking, but the fact remains, it is significantly harder and stronger than the materials used in our smartphone displays today. While it remains roughly ten times as expensive as its immediate competitor – Gorilla Glass, economies of scale in the furiously competitive mobile device economy will result in it becoming much cheaper in a relatively short period of time. According to the talented nerds at ExtremeTech:
”Sapphire glass is around three times the strength and scratch resistance of Corning’s Gorilla Glass, [making] an almost perfect smartphone screen. There’s one caveat: according to a market analyst, a sheet of Gorilla Glass costs around , while the same piece of sapphire glass would cost . Thanks to increasing competition, though, the cost of sapphire glass is dropping. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a high-end smartphone (such as the iPhone) use a sapphire screen in the next few years.”
If you’ve taken the time to see our drop tests, you’ll know that most devices don’t hold up very well against concrete. Assuming similar advancements are made in other materials, we one day could all own devices that are incredibly hard to smash, shatter, and break.
Is this a welcome advancement? Have you ever shattered or broken your devices display?
We told you last week that Huawei was planning to release its 6.1-inch smartphone, the Ascend Mate, for about 0, a much lower price than what we initially thought it’d be offered for. Now are you ready for some even better news?
Following the launch of the quad-core phone yesterday in its home country, Huawei has announced that the Ascend Mate will carry an official price tag of 2,688 Yuan. In other words, those in China can grab the supersized phone for about 0.
Of course, you’re going to have to wait for a few more days to see the Mate in store shelves, as it will only be released on March 26 at 10 a.m.
As a refresher, here’s a quick roundup of its pretty darn fine specs. The Ascend Mate comes with a 6.1-inch HD IPS+ display, a quad-core 1.5GHz K3V2 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB onboard storage, microSD slot (up to 32GB), 8-megapixel camera, 1MP front-facing cam, 4,050mAh battery, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
For those in Europe, the Ascend Mate is listed on Amazon Germany for €499, though the listing doesn’t say anything about its availability. In the meantime, check out our hands-on video above.
If you’re a fan of XMBC for Android and the XMBC project in general, then you’re going to love the latest bit of news published over at the XMBC Blog. The XMBC team says that they are going back to their usual monthly development cycle, which means that users can expect a new version of XMBC to come out each and every single month. In fact, right now, as most people are still getting acquainted with XMBC 12 – Frodo, the team as well as a number of other developers are already hard at work on making the next version, XMBC 13 – codenamed Gotham.
There is currently a call for those with highly-developed art skills to come up with the relevant version images now for when it finally comes out. And at the same time, “the brave” are also called upon to test the resulting build that comes out of all the work done by the end of the month, to help streamline the software development process.
For now the most stable build is still the most recent one — XMBC 12 – Frodo — and from the February changelog, the XMBC Team has pulled out a number of noteworthy highlights:
Play Using…
For those familiar with AirPlay for video and audio, this is quite similar, except now you don’t need to be using an iOS device to push your content. You just need to check the box to turn on your UPnP server in XBMC under System->Services->UPnP and you can send your media anywhere that supports it.
Android Improvements
This first cycle includes a slew of Android improvements. For starters, XBMC now controls native Android audio, so users don’t have to close XBMC, turn the volume up, re-open XBMC, and finally listen to whatever they were listening to. Instead, the audio is controlled like any other Android app (thanks to mcrosson). Second, XBMC for Android is no longer stuck facing one direction. If you flip your Android device 180 degrees, XBMC will flip with it (thanks to montellese).
iOS Improvements
The local iOS keyboard is already the default keyboard for XBMC, but now it has even more utility. It can accept any text from any iOS language, and it also supports the iOS clipboard copy and paste feature (thanks to ulion).
Other Improvements
Dev Montellese continues his breakneck work of improving the XBMC library. With this cycle, he has added tags for tv shows and musicvideos, and he has also made it possible for those individuals who like to pick and choose each piece of media art individually to add alternative artwork (landscape, banner, etc.) without needing to use an addon like the automated Artwork Downloader. To use this feature, click “Choose art” on a piece of media’s info screen, and then select “Add art” at the bottom.
If you would like to learn about all of the changes introduced in the most recent stable version, XMBC has a list of all February milestones gathered all in one page. And as always, you may contribute through either donations or offering support through the user forums and submitting your own bug reports.
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