AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Report: Apple to cut Samsung's share of iOS chip production

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Sep 2013 8:02

Report: Apple to cut Samsung's share of iOS chip production According to Korean daily Hankyung, Apple is going to cut down Samsung's share of building the upcoming A8 chip used in the future iPhone 6 and future iPads.

Supposedly, most of the manufacturing will now be done by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), with the company to be responsible for up to 70 percent, with the rest covered by Samsung.

Despite years of rumors that Apple is looking to take away share from its biggest rival, that so far has not come to fruition.

Samsung was the main manufacturer of the new A7 64-bit processor, and is the only company that can easily fulfill full Apple orders.

Apple signed the deal with TSMC in June.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung: 100 million using ChatOn messaging service

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Sep 2013 7:52

Samsung: 100 million using ChatOn messaging service Samsung has announced that their ChatOn messaging service has reached a "global subscriber base" of 100 million users.

The service is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and on desktops, making it a truly cross-platform service similar to WhatsApp and others.

Reads the press release: "Samsung Electronics is proud to announce that ChatON now has a global subscriber base of over 100 million users. The service was launched in October 2011, hitting the 50 million subscriber mark in May 2013 and doubling that number to 100 million only four months later.

ChatON's growth can be attributed to the support it offers across international markets and various OS platforms. The service provides a seamless experience where users can access ChatON through PCs, Samsung feature phones, and all the major smartphone operating systems: Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone. ChatON's multi-screen support also allows users to sign-in on up to five different devices using one Samsung account ID."




AfterDawn: News

Leaked: Here are the Google Nexus 5 specs

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Sep 2013 7:42

Leaked: Here are the Google Nexus 5 specs Thanks to a leaked log from the upcoming LG D820 (The Google Nexus 5), we now have most of the specs for the upcoming Android flagship.

The phone will feature a 4.97-inch, 1080p display with a massive 442ppi, will be powered by a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. The device will run on Android 4.4 KitKat and include 16GB internal storage for its base model.

For the cameras, the device will use an 8MP sensor on the back and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

Additionally, the Nexus 5 will feature dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and GPS connectivity.

Wireless charging capabilities are built-in, and the phone has a 2300mAh battery.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

On a budget? Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins without multiplayer to cost $10 less

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 9:40

On a budget? Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins without multiplayer to cost $10 less The publisher behind Batman: Arkham Origins has confirmed that the Wii U version of the game will not include online multiplayer mode and will therefore cost $10 less.

Multiplayer is available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions, but the Wii U will not have it. Warner Bros. Interactive says the open-world single-player campaign will remain the same as its brothers, however.

It appears that the Wii U console has such little usership that the publisher could not justify keeping online servers.

The game will be released on October 25th. Warner has priced the Wii U version at $50, compared to the regular $60.




AfterDawn: News

Sony apologizes for GTA V digital distribution issues

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 8:54

Sony apologizes for GTA V digital distribution issues While Sony has made a grand effort to make their digital distribution platform a success, it is certainly not without its problems, as seen by the recent Grand Theft Auto V launch this month.

A significant number of PSN users have reported failed downloads of the game, or other errors, some that have spanned days.

With a total file size approaching 18GB through the PlayStation Store, corrupted or failed downloads is not something you want to see, and Sony has apologized for the experience.

PlayStation UK head Fergal Gara says the experience will be completely revamped in time for the launch of the PlayStation 4, on November 15th.

"There are big innovations in the PS4 to make it more attractive," he added, including the fact that gamers can begin playing their PS4 downloads before it has completed. "We've done a lot of work on pre-delivering files. It's not perfect. It's not seamless. But it's a major area of focus"




AfterDawn: News

Sprint will wait before removing BlackBerry devices from stores

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 7:10

Sprint will wait before removing BlackBerry devices from stores Sprint CFO Joe Euteneur says the company is taking a "wait and see" approach in regards to BlackBerry and whether it will follow rival T-Mobile in its strategy of removing BB devices from its retail stores.

Euteneur says the company does not want to "rock the boat" with its business customers, who have always been the biggest consumers of BlackBerry devices.

T-Mobile no longer offers the devices in their stores, but continue to take orders online and in-store for direct ship.

Earlier in the week, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said their decision on BlackBerry would be based completely on their customer's wishes.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung Galaxy S4 to get Android 4.3 this month, Note 2 to get next month

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 6:29

Samsung Galaxy S4 to get Android 4.3 this month, Note 2 to get next month Thanks to French carrier SFR, Samsung fans now have a roadmap for when their devices will receive the latest Android update.

The flagship Galaxy S4 will allegedly receive the OTA update in October, while the older Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 will receive their respective updates in November or December.

This roadmap may be different for U.S. carriers, who are infamous for being slow with updates for Android due to extensive testing and usually the addition of bloatware.

Google is expected to introduce Android 4.4 KitKat in the next month, so Galaxy owners will be a generation behind, at least for a number of months.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Sources: Samsung to soon unveil Galaxy F premium devices

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 5:53

Sources: Samsung to soon unveil Galaxy F premium devices Samsung is rumored to be working on Galaxy F devices, moving away from the cheap looking plastic look of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note line and moving towards more 'premium' designs.

The new devices will include high-end metal designs, and will be smaller than the Note in size, say the sources.

Outside of the metal design, the phones are also said to have "top-of-the-line internals." Such a move would allow Samsung to position the Galaxy S as a cheaper (yet still viable) option, just like Apple's new iPhone 5C.

For now, this is just a rumor, but one that makes perfect sense, and one that will likely be well received by consumers.




AfterDawn: News

CyanogenMod installer will still need PC access

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 5:35

CyanogenMod installer will still need PC access Earlier this month we reported on CyanogenMod becoming an official company, with plans to release an app that will make installing the operating system easier than ever.

We now have an idea on how the installer will actually work, but it's not as simple as originally implied.

When you first install the app it will guide you through the process of loading the operating system, a process which will require a PC. The app will link you to a URL where you will download a PC app that actually does the installation.

Sources that have been able to rest the installer, say the PC app does all the heavy lifting, with users really only forced to hit "next." Altogether the process takes 10 minutes or less.

Flashing the custom ROM will wipe your device, so as always it is pertinent to backup your device.




AfterDawn: News

Video: Steve Ballmer's last speech to Microsoft employees

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 4:25

Video: Steve Ballmer's last speech to Microsoft employees After over a decade at the helm, Microsoft announced earlier this year that CEO Steve Ballmer would be retiring.

Investors and Microsoft fans were generally happy about the news, and the company's stock jumped 7 percent on the day of the announcement.

The Verge was able to get footage of Ballmer's last speech to employees, and describes it as "powerful and touching footage -- one of the most influential men in the history of technology saying goodbye to the company he helped create."

Check the video here:




AfterDawn: News

Android has now surpassed iOS in tablet sales, revenue

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 3:18

Android has now surpassed iOS in tablet sales, revenue According to new ABI Research data, the global tablet market is now Android's to lose, following years of Apple dominance.

The firm says iOS has now "passed the baton to the Android ecosystem," and the firm cites three specific reasons this has happened.

For the Q2 2013, Android tablets sold tallied 30.5 million, compared to 14.5 million iPads. Of the $12.7 billion of revenue from tablet sales for the quarter, Apple finally fell below the 50 percent majority mark (but barely), leaving Android to control that metric.

Finally, the iPad's average selling price has fallen 17 percent over the last year thanks to strong sales of the iPad Mini while Android tablet prices have seen an increase of 17 percent in the same period.

As far as brands go, Apple was easily the top dog, with their 14.5 million iPad sales. Samsung came in second at 8.1 million units sold.




AfterDawn: News

405 million users still running aged Windows XP operating system

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 1:35

405 million users still running aged Windows XP operating system Microsoft may have finally turned a corner in its ongoing efforts to move users away from the aged Windows XP operating system.

While most market research firms show Windows XP as still controlling 33 percent (or higher) of the OS market, Microsoft's own figures have that number lower, at about 27 percent.

According to Paul Thurrott, this means there are still 405 million XP users around the globe, good for the second most of any operating system, behind Windows 7.

The operating system will be retired on April 8th, 2014, and Microsoft says it hopes only 13 percent of users will stick with the OS past the support date.




AfterDawn: News

Intel forced to push Internet TV service back to 2014 as it continues to seek partners

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 12:45

Intel forced to push Internet TV service back to 2014 as it continues to seek partners Intel has been forced to postpone the launch of its Internet TV service as it continues to seek partners to help it launch.

The company has been actively searching for content and content partners to help launch a TV service that it believes can compete with cable and satellite giants like Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon.

Intel Media had originally planned to debut the "On Cue" service in November, but that has been pushed indefinitely and sources say the entire project may have to scrapped if the company cannot get to a "workable solution."

Reportedly, the company has approached Netflix to team up but discussions have never gone anywhere. Netflix has long said they will not build a service that competes with traditional cable and satellite TV

Intel confirms they remain committed to searching for "prospective partners which have synergies," including other broadband companies.




AfterDawn: News

Here is the champagne iPad Mini 2 with Touch ID sensor

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 12:18

Here is the champagne iPad Mini 2 with Touch ID sensor Chinese tech site DoNews has posted what they claim are photos of the upcoming Apple iPad Mini 2 in champagne (gold) colorway along with a new Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Additionally, the site says a "space grey" colorway will be unveiled, as well, just like the new iPhone 5S.

One important fact that remains unclear is whether the new tablets will have high-res Retina displays, but it would seem Apple will need to boost the resolution of the device to compete with new 7-inch devices with 1080p such as the Nexus 7 FHD.

Adding to the reliability of the photos are posts from @SonnyDickson, the same source who posted accurate iPhone 5S and 5C details a month ahead of launch. Dickson agrees with the colors and the Touch ID sensor.

Dickson also claims that the iPad mini 2 will use Apple's new A7 64-bit chip, making it a multitasking powerhouse.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Unlocked BlackBerry 10 devices now being sold directly from the company

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Sep 2013 11:55

Unlocked BlackBerry 10 devices now being sold directly from the company Following announcements from Sprint and T-Mobile that the carriers will no longer be offering BlackBerry 10 devices in store, BlackBerry has begun selling unlocked Q10 and Z10 smartphones directly through their own site.

The move also follows a recent earnings report in which the company saw revenue fall 50 percent year-over-year and the company took a massive $1 billion writedown due to excess Z10 inventory.

Somewhat surprisingly given their precarious situation in the market, the devices are still highly priced. The Z10, available in white and black, will sell for $449 and will work with any GSM carrier.

The Q10, with its full keyboard that is still popular with enterprises, will sell for $550. The Q10 has a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, LTE connectivity, NFC, a microSD slot and a 2100 mAh battery.

Read more...



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