Let's Talk Tech
It’s time again to tear into our monthly subscription geek and gamer gear service LOOTCRATE! This month’s theme is “Galactic” which means we can expect to see stuff from shows and movies with the word “Star” in the title! Let’s dig in!
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When Microsoft acquired Nokia’s hardware division, they did not get all of Nokia’s assets. One team to remain under the Nokia badge was the HERE mapping division, and it’s quickly become a favorite of Windows Phone users, bringing terrific turn-by-turn directions and downloadable maps to Microsoft’s ecosystem.
Reported today by The Next Web, a Nokia Executive Sean Fernback was quoted in regards to future HERE development:
“today we still maintain the [HERE] Windows Phone apps, it has our brand on it so we need to look after it, although we’re not particularly investing in them at the moment, that could still change. With the Nokia X program, we were authorized to continue to work on it until about now really, but that work is about to cease. I think there have been a number of different programmes that have continued through the year onto different platforms, but now it’s just going to focus on the two – Android and iOS.”
We’ve known that HERE Maps would be making a transition to Android, specifically on Samsung devices, and it would make sense that the team would be turning more resources to the newer (and larger) platforms. HERE Maps is not leaving Windows Phone, but for fans of Microsoft’s OS (and ostensibly Nokia’s hardware) a reduction in support could be a worrying proposition. There are already precious few outlets developing for the WP platform.
A new iPhone means we have a new iPhone camera to test out! Staying with the same 1/3″ sensor at 8MP, the iPhone 6 Plus adds proper hardware optical image stabilization to the mix. Let’s see how Apple’s first phablet performs in our real world tests!
The Galaxy Alpha is an interesting statement of a phone from Samsung. The Alpha steps away from Sammy’s usual “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” manufacturing approach, and working on crafting a more refined experience. It seems tailor-made to combat the newly released iPhone 6.
Instead of continuing a specs war, the Alpha takes solid performing hardware and pairs it with the metal build quality we’ll soon see on the Galaxy Note 4.
AT&T has announced today they will be the exclusive carrier of the Alpha in the USA, and the phone will be available to buy starting September 26 for $200 on a two year contract. If you’ve been considering an Alpha, drop us a comment, and you can read AT&T’s full PR (with a video teaser) below.
Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Alpha Exclusively Available at AT&T Sept. 26”
Here we go folks! AT&T was kind enough to open a store early for me to go hands on with the new iPhones! Here are my initial thoughts on Apple’s newest flagship phone and their first phablet!
Apple set the standard for audio playback with the original iPhone, but since then other phones have improved dramatically. Now that the iPhone 6 Plus has a phablet sized screen, did Apple bump up the speaker size and quality? Let’s take a listen!
MPOW makes some affordable wireless audio gear. I recently got a chance to try out their newest Bluetooth speaker. At a street price around $50, does it make too many compromises? Let’s take a listen!
It was one of the big questions left unanswered by Apple’s keynote. Introducing an NFC payments option is fantastic, but will that NFC radio be available for other uses, like “tap & share” or “tap & pair”?
The answer it would seem is “no”, at least for now. Following launch, the NFC radio in the iPhone 6 will only be made available to Apple Pay. This also means that competing services like Google Wallet will likely be blocked, but it’s still unclear if recently re-branded Softcard (former ISIS Wallet) will be allowed on the iPhone. Softcard was introduced by the carriers, and there’s no doubt they’re looking to leverage their own payment system on what’s sure to be one of the most popular phones of the year.
NFC is a fantastically versatile little radio capable of a variety of functions. On Windows Phone and Android it can be used to initiate file sharing between devices, control settings on the phone (I use stickers to toggle things like WiFi and Drive Modes), and it can take the place of RFID enabled cards in some cities which use the technology for public transit.
As Apple is just entering the mobile payment market, it’s no surprise they’d want to restrict access to the radio used. Security will be key in encouraging customers to use and trust this new service. Still, hopefully we see a little more flexibility out of Apple’s conservative hardware policies, giving iPhone owners more access to all of the fantastic accessories and services which already utilize this hardware.
(Via Cult of Mac)