Now that Samsung has killed off the Galaxy Note7, its main concern is to get at the bottom of the whole overheating batteries mystery.
While the investigation is ongoing, it has been revealed via a report from the Wall Street Journal, that Samsung has been testing phone batteries, including those bound for the Note7 in one of its own internal labs before putting them on the US market.
While Samsung’s testing does ensure its products are approved by the US Wireless Industry Group (the CTIA), other manufacturers like Apple or Lenovo use one of the 28 external labs that are certified by the CTIA, to verify the safety of their products. Other device makers like Motorola choose to conduct these tests both internally and externally.
The testing is done to determine whether the parts comply with the standards put in place by the IEEE or Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Now the association claims Samsung is the only tech manufacturer self-testing its batteries.
Manufacturers test batteries on their own, but also inside the devices in order to see how they behave while charging or when a phone call is incoming.
Some experts in the battery testing industry have argued that while self-testing could easily lead to a conflict of interests, it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to prefer in-house facilities, as it allows them to better protect sensitive info related to these products.
A Samsung spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal the company’s internal testing didn’t result in finding any issue with the Note 7 batteries, both the original models and the replacement units. The Korean tech giant has been testing phone batteries in-house ever since 2009, so the world assumed it knew what it was doing.
Finally, in the wake of the Note7 affair, Samsung has announced it has decided to bring forth significant changes when it comes to testing the quality and safety of its products. Nevertheless, this latest piece of information might cast another dark shadow on Samsung’s already soiled reputation.
The People’s Operator, a mobile virtual network operator that uses both GSM and CDMA technologies, has launched a new rate plan. Available immediately, the Infinity plan gives customers unlimited data for as low as $55 per month. What’s the catch? Well, there are a few things worth noting.
For starters, the Infinity option is only available to customers who have CDMA phones. This means it applies to those of you who have a Sprint, Verizon, or prepaid phone through one of their respective services. Otherwise, you will have to purchase a new handset to take advantage of the deal.
Also worth pointing out, the plan normally goes for $59.99 but the five dollar monthly savings comes when you enroll in automatic payments. The Auto Pay credit is taken off immediately each month you agree to let them automatically process your payment.
Last, and likely not a real issue for most people, the Infinity plan does cap the 4G LTE speeds once the threshold of 50GB of data is crossed. Doing so results in slower, throttled speeds for the remainder of the bill cycle. We wager to guess that not too many of the TPO subscriber base will find this problematic.
We’ve tested and reviewed the service offered by The People’s Operator and found it to be a worthy alternative to more pricey carriers. And, given it uses the same networks that the tier-one providers use, you can expect equal coverage. Our favorite part of TPO, though, has to be the percentage of our monthly bill which is allocated to a charity of our choice.
The Galaxy Note7 is dead and buried but that doesn’t mean Samsung is not trying to preserve its memory. According to some Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 owners writing on the xda-developers forum, Samsung is in the process of rolling out a software update meant to port some of the Note7’s exclusive features.
The Korean tech giant is attempting to make the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge seem more attractive, especially to users who had to part with their phablet recently.
As you probably known by now, Samsung has announced it will be offering $100 credit towards the purchase of a different phone from its garden and for premium users the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge seems the obvious choice.
So from to onward Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge users will be able to take advantage of the always-on display setting, along with a bunch of new customization options. For example, owners will notice the update replaces two of the existing calendar options with a new one.
The always-on display setting can also show you the currently playing music track. A new digital clock feat allows users to add their own custom text signature, letting them choose fonts and preferred colors.
However, bear in mind that a few things aren’t functioning properly after this update including notifications from Samsung’s own email app. Some users have been reporting higher battery drain after the update, so proceed with caution.
If you’re still holding on to Note7 handset, we’re taking the opportunity to remind you that you can exchange it for another Samsung phone, including the premium Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Despite not bringing S Pen functionality to the table, the two handsets are still some of the best Android phones available on the market.
X-CORE. Galactic Plague. is an extremely familiar feeling “pandemic” game created by a Russian indie team. X-CORE takes the many virus and bacterium popular with the game type and recasts them into a variety of alien species looking to kill or enslave the planet.
Setup
You can find X-Core. Galactic Plague. for free in the Google Play Store. After download and installation are complete, you are ready to begin playing. Upon launching the game, you will cycle through a few load screens before finding yourself in the middle of a mildly confusing game set up. The lack of a main menu means you are either in a game or in a setup menu to begin a new one. This is my first real problem with the game. The lack of menu or explanations makes it so there is no clearly defined way to continue a saved game, no stats or perk charts to strategize with, and no menu to adjust settings.
Gameplay
The gameplay found in X-Core. Galatic Plague. is extremely simple, repetitive, and not very well explained. Every player will start out as the “Greys,” a well-balanced race with no leaning towards mobility, power, or influence. Should the player navigate them to victory on the normal difficulty or higher, they will unlock the “Reptiles.” The reptiles have very low mobility, low influence, and a lot of power. There are seven other races for the player to unlock throughout the game in the same way, “beat the game with X on a normal difficulty or better.” The only time we see a move away from this is when the app is looking to sell you two of the alien races via in-app purchases. This lack of diversity makes subsequent playthroughs feel “familiar” and the game quickly lost my attention.
X-Core. Galatic Plague.’s gameplay is extremely similar and yet basic compared to many other pandemic games. You start your alien invasion in a country of your choosing. After that initial invasion, you begin to accumulate Skill Points (SP) which you can use to upgrade your alien force. There are five areas you can spend your accumulated SP:
Mobility – How quickly your alien race can spread
Military Power – How quickly and inconspicuously your aliens can kill people
Influence – How effectively your alien race can brainwash the masses
Awareness – The level of awareness the rest of the globe is to the presence of aliens
Secret Weapon Prevention – Hurt the progress of the secret weapon designed to kill your alien race. (Known as “The Cure” in normal traditional games)
These five categories contribute heavily to your success, but going all out in any one will likely cause your game to end in defeat.
Conclusion
X-Core. Galactic Plague. is a simple game that is fun for three to five playthroughs after you have figured out the basics (which are not explained to you). After this threshold, the game quickly becomes repetitive, and even switching amongst the unlockable races available to the player does nothing to make the game feel fresh. The fact that the game is free does add some value to picking up the app for the afternoon, but I would not suggest investing any money in the in-app purchases.
There’s more to Samsung than the Galaxy Note7-related issues, so today we bring you word that the Korean tech giant has announced it started mass production of its System-on-Chip (SoC) units based on 10nm FinFET technology. The company claims this is an industry-first and that we should expect to see devices taking advantage of the news SoCs starting early 2017.
The announcement comes in the wake of Samsung’s successful mass production of the industry’s first FinFET mobile application processor, in January 2015. The company also stated its second generation 10nm process with performance boost is on target to start mass production in the second half of 2017.
The new 10nm SoCs represent an upgrade from Samsung’s older 14nm process. The technology features an advanced 3D transistor structure alongside improvements in the areas of design enablement and process technology. Samsung’s new process will feature a smaller transistor fin, transistor gate and interconnect smaller than its predecessor, the 14nm node. All in all, it amounts to a 30% total area shrink.
Since smartphones are basically small computers, they require most of the parts we see in old school desktop and laptops in order to function the way we want them to. But unlike desktops and laptops, handset don’t have the same amount of internal space, so silicone makers like Samsung need to make these internal parts as small as possible. That’s why miniaturization is a very important part of SoC development.
Furthermore, according to the press release issued by Business Wire, future 10nm-smartphones can expect to see 27% percent increase in performance or a 40% decrease in power consumption. Which in theory should means customers will be able to enjoy handsets that offer a longer battery life or faster computing power (emphasis on the “or” which indicates the device won’t be able to offer both)
For those of you who aren’t really familiar with SoCs, you should know that a System-on-chip is constructed from several different units. The most important one is the CPU or the central processing unit that can be either single core or multi-core (most premium handsets are of the latter variety). Most processors inside the SoCs are based on ARM technology.
SoCs also come bundling a GPU or a graphic processing unit, needed to handle things like games and a memory unit which helps to perform various tasks on a smartphone. Other components bundled within SoC architecture include video encoders and decoders and possibly a modem.
Now, we should note that different chipset makers take different approaches to designing their SoCs. That’s why two different handsets featuring the same 1GHz processors might not perform equally. The common denominator here is the ARM blueprint, but some companies choose to license ARM’s design and use as it is, while others create their custom CPU using guide lines provided by ARM. Samsung is an example of the latter.
We mentioned above the Samsung successfully completed mass producing the industry’s first FinFET mobile application a year go. But what exactly is FinFET? FinFET (also known as Fin Field Effect Transistor) is a type of non-planar or 3D transistor used in the design of modern processors.
Since planar transistors with length below 20nm seem to be a technology limit with electrical parameters starting to degrade while silicon process variations impact on performance, foundries like Samsung have been looking for workarounds. The main reason behind the degradation is the planar structure itself. And as the rigors of the market continuously push for increase the density of transistors in chip and performance in terms of speed and power consumption, FinFET was designed to resolve these problems by virtue of geometry scaling (3D approach).
Going back to Samsung’s 10nm-related news today, rival foundries like TSMC and Intel have already announced the ramping up of their 10nm process production. As for Globalfoundaries, the company is expected to skip over the 10nm node and go straight to the 7nm process instead. The silicon producer says the latter pushes triple-patterning lithography to its limits, unlike the 10nm process.
Samsung’s 10nm node should make it out on the market in time for the Galaxy S8 release. The handset is rumored to be shipping with Snapdragon 830 in the US, which by the way will be also made by Samsung and based on the 10nm technology. Despite the massive Galaxy Note7 fiasco, Samsung still says it’s on track to release the Galaxy S8 flagship. The new 10nm SoC will certainly help build up hype around the device.
It goes without question that almost all of us still experience dropped calls. I use the nation’s second largest network with AT&T, but in San Diego reception can still be spotty. The network quality has improved vastly over the years, but when I’m on a call in my truck and go through one of San Diego’s many hills, reception can be spotty. Or when I’m out exploring the county looking for a new hike with my dog, at the outskirts, reception can also be spotty in those areas as well.
I make frequent trips from southern California to northern California at least six times a year. I know exactly where my cell signal will drop out on that drive because I have been making those trips for 18 years now.
While spotty reception in areas like that is acceptable for many, there are those of us who need a solid connection all of the time. I have quite a few friends who work in sales and construction where their automobiles are their mobile offices. With the amount of technology at our fingertips, it is essential for those to have access to the internet or solid voice reception to communicate to those who matter most. Whether it’s your family or your customers, dropped calls are a pain in the rear.
There are also thousands of people who go on road trips to explore the continental US where cell reception can be spotty at best, depending on where you are. People who use RVs and campers know first hand just how bad cell signals can be.
Luckily there are options available for boosting your connections for your home or even your automobile. I’ve been using the weboost Drive 4G-M vehicle cell signal booster and haven’t dropped a call or experienced laggy data since.
Design and Setup
The weboost Drive 4G-M is comprised of an amplifier that connects to an outdoor antenna for receiving cell signal, where it then amplifies the signal and sends it out through another antenna in your automobile. It’s powered by a DC power adapter that fits into your car’s cigarette lighter. I’m not an engineer so I can’t explain the process of how it does this process. All that really matters to me is if my cell signal is improved.
A device of this sort looks more intimidating than it actually is. The instructions list six simple steps for installing the booster.
Install the included magnetic antenna on your roof and slide the cord under the door seal
Place the interior antenna next to a place where you normally use your cellphone. In my truck, there is a pocket on the side of the passenger seat which provided the perfect installation spot. You can use the included VELCRO to mount it in another desired location.
weboost recommends installing the 4G-M box in a spot with decent ventilation such as under a seat or under the dash. In my case, I simply installed it under the driver side chair.
Once installed, simply screw the indoor and outdoor antennas into their respective slots.
Then connect the included DC power cable into the 4G-M.
Plug the power adapter into the vehicle’s DC power supply and flip the switch to on.
Total installation time took no more than five minutes.
Does it work?
Absolutely. I am an AT&T customer in north San Diego county. Reception is spotty at times, because I am 25 miles away from the city center and am surrounded by several canyons where signal goes to die. I’ve never gotten good reception at my home, with all of my phones holding at 1-2 bars of reception. However bars aren’t an exact science as manufacturers use different scales to indicate strength. I definitely have spotty reception in my home and need to sit by windows to get the best call quality.
Luckily you can test the exact strength of your reception simply by dialing *3001#12345#* and it will put your phone into test mode. It doesn’t harm your phone to perform this test, so don’t worry about voiding your warranty or anything like that.
My base reading was -114db with one bar of service on an iPhone 7 Plus. I know this is an Android site, but I am in the process of evaluating the 7 Plus’s camera before my Pixel XL arrives. This booster works for all devices, iOS and Android as well as all networks.
Once I flipped the switch, I picked up an additional 25db of power within one minute of powering on the 4G-M.
My signal strength bar rating went up to 4/5 instead of 1/5 that I had as a baseline.
My call quality improved even as I pulled back into my garage which is normally a dead spot for me.
I’ve been using this amplifier for several weeks now, and I don’t have picture evidence to back up signal strength since I can’t use my phone in my hands while on the road. In areas where I typically get two bars, I now get full bars across the board, even on my Sprint MVNO review Samsung Galaxy S6 from TextNow. Where I typically get solid signal, the 4G-M doesn’t over amplify my signal as it regulates itself back down. I drove around town taking several 30 minute long calls just to test out the reliability of this 4G-M and it works as advertised. I then performed the same routes without the booster on and as expected, calls dropped in areas where I knew the signal to be poor from prior experience.
The Drive 4G-M will not make something out of nothing. That’s something that no one on earth has the power to do. But as long as there is a signal, the weboost Drive 4G-M can amplify the weak signal and turn it into a much more stable and reliable signal. With a more reliable signal, your battery life on your devices will also last longer as they don’t have to turn up the gain to constantly search for service.
Summary
The weboost Drive 4G-M retails for $379.99 at wilsonamplifiers.com and Amazon.com. Considering how much we pay for cell service at today’s pricing, we should all expect stable cellular signals no matter where we go. However stable cell service simply does not exist for most of us.
If you’re someone who relies on a strong and reliable signal while in your car, the weboost Drive 4G-M can make a world of difference in boosting your signal strength with gains up to 50db or 32X what you’re currently getting. It’s a brand that first responders trust, and is now a brand that goes with me wherever I go to provide solid and reliable service.
Wearables, and fitness bands in particular have gotten a lot of press in the last few years and experienced rapid growth. More and more people want to take control of their health and the information gleaned from these trackers certainly help people make informed decisions. While almost everyone knows the biggest player in the game, Fitbit, there are many other excellent options out there.
Xiaomi, a massive Chinese cell phone manufacturer, may not be a name that you know yet, but you will soon. Xiaomi has attracted some of the top names in technology, like Hugo Barra who it lured away from Google to come be a Vice President for the company. Since his arrival, we’ve seen the release of many high-quality products like the Mi Band 1S and Mi Band 2.
Mi Band 1S
How does a water resistance fitness tracker for $12 sound? That’s what you get with the Xiaomi Mi Band 1S. The tracker connects to your phone through Bluetooth and allows you to track your heart rate with the Mi Fit application. The lightweight tracker is designed to give you the basic information you need without getting in your way. To that end, the Mi Band 1S is thin and light so you won’t notice it during your exercise routines.
Due to its simple construction, the Mi Band 1S has incredible battery life, it can last up to 30 days on standby. In addition to the heart rate tracking, the Mi Band 1S also tracks steps, distance, and calories burned.
The Mi Band 1S will even provide important information while you sleep. The band records when you’re in deep or shallow sleep so you can see how long it’s taking you to get into the restful sleep pattern you need to be in. Another very useful feature is the silent alarm feature that will vibrate the band to wake you up in the morning. This is more subtle than a blaring loud alarm that may way you up abruptly and is more personal so it won’t wake up your partner either.
Not only does it track your heart rate, but it will also alert you when you have a call coming in. If you’re expecting that important call during work, you won’t miss it while you’re working out. You can also use the Mi Band 1S as a trusted Bluetooth device with your Android phone so your phone is easily unlocked when it’s nearly and uses a safe passcode when it’s not.
If you’re looking for a great deal on the Mi Band 1S, check out Geekbuying where you can pick one up for as low as $11.99.
Mi Band 2
If you’d like to step it up a little bit, the Mi Band 2 might be for you. If the Mi Band 1S is the basics, the Mi Band 2 offers more features and a nicer interface. With a .42″ OLED display and touch controls, the Mi Band 2 blurs the line of fitness band and smartwatch to give you a taste of both.
With the OLED display, you can view the time, your steps, heart rate, and more information right on your wrist. The smart sensors in the device know when you’ve risen your wrist to see the display and smartly turn it on for you. No tapping or shaking to see the information you want.
Not only does the Mi Band 2 track your heart rate (PPG), but it also has an updated pedometer algorithm that will more precisely track your steps, calories burned, and other sport related information. If you’re sitting around too much, the Mi Band 2’s sedimentary reminder will let you know it’s time to get up and move around.
The Mi Band 2 retains the silent alarms and call and messaging reminders that the Mi Band 1S has and has a 20-day battery life. The band also has an IP67 rating which means it will be safe from the elements even if you’re running in the rain.
If you’re interested in picking up the Mi Band 2, head over to Geekbuying where you can pick one up for as little as $24.99.
Oculus, Samsung, HTC, Microsoft, Sony and Google have all made a huge push into the virtual reality space. They’re all predicting realistic visualizations and sounds in a headset are going to be the next wave of media that is going to take over the world. The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are supposedly great headsets, but need powerful PC setups to take advantage of them. The cost is prohibitive to most with the headsets costing over $500 alone.
Google offers its own Cardboard which is literally just a piece of cardboard folded into a viewer with two lenses and a magnet. Cardboard is cool in concept but is arguably a pricey option for a piece of paper. However it does allow you to experience VR, not to nearly the level of the Vive or the Rift, but it is a cool experience nonetheless.
Instead of investing $15 into paper, you can grab alternatives to Cardboard such as the ARCHEER VR Headset for smartphones with displays up to 6.5″. It costs just $5 more and even comes with a Bluetooth controller for a more fluid experience in the VR world.
Let’s check it out.
Design and Usage
The ARCHEER VR Headset is a plastic viewer that is compatible with phones from Android and iOS. It’s a box where you place your smartphone into the holder and fold it up so you can see your phone magnified by the two glass lenses.
Even though ARCHEER claims this viewer can fit phones with displays up to 6.5″, it’s more likely that the largest phone you can use with this is one with a 5.7″ display. The LG V10 and Nexus 6 certainly will not fit, so make sure you check the dimensions of your phone before you grab this headset. I used the headset with the Moto Z and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge without issue in the ARCHEER VR Headset.
The headset comes with a comfortable strap that stretches to fit very comfortably on your head. It’s easy to adjust with VELCRO straps and should fit most head sizes, including those with abnormally large heads like me. The lenses are adjustable too since all people have different distances between their eyes. (This setup is not good for those who wear glasses.)
The compatible VR apps, which there are quite a few available in the Google Play Store, split your display into two, and the VR headset brings them back together in one large image when you look through the lenses. If you haven’t experienced VR before, it’s rather inspiring to see where this content is headed. When you turn your head, the video moves with it giving you an immersive experience. It really does feel like you’re in another world. For those who get motion sick, this is the type of experience that will make you feel queasy. For the rest of you, you will find VR rather fun. Especially when it only costs $20.
The ARCHEER VR Headset also includes a Bluetooth controller that helps you navigate through menus, or play games with compatible VR apps. The controller uses two AAA batteries that are not included in the box. It’s easy to pair the controller – just pair it like you would any other Bluetooth device. Once paired you can navigate menus with the joystick. A mouse cursor pops up on your display as soon as you move it. It’s a nice add-on even though most of our gadgets use built-in Li-Ion batteries.
The ARCHEER VR Headset is very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The padding on the front with the comfortable head strap make this experience far superior to Google Cardboard.
Summary
Content for VR still has a long way to go before people will adopt it en masse. However experiencing VR is still possible with the content that is available, and it is breathtaking if you’ve never seen it in action before.
Music plays an integral part of our lives for most of us. We listen to it in our cars on the way to work or school, at the gym, at home while cooking or when we are doing chores. It gets our blood pumping before a big game, offers background noise while we study, and provides endless entertainment within arms reach on our smartphones.
There are quite a few people who don’t know much about headphones which is why we review so many of them. While the headphones that come with your devices can play your music, they’re generally not very good. Low quality earbuds miss quite a bit of the musical spectrum and there’s a good chance you’re not hearing all of your music.
dodocool’s Hi-res earbuds are the wired variety with a 3.5mm audio plug with an in-line noise cancelling remote control. dodocool describes the drivers in the earbuds at Amazon with 40mm drivers, but that isn’t possible with an earbud of this size. Without taking them apart, I cannot identify how large they really are, but I would guess they’re the standard 8mm or 10mm variety based on the size of the casing.
The casings are made from plastic with a small ear flange that keeps them from falling out. The design is basic for earbuds, but that’s nothing to complain about considering these are all about sound.
When it comes to sound, it’s pretty hard to live up to the Hi-res description in the product listing. That description is usually reserved for high-end earbuds that costs 10 times as much as these dodocool earbuds which cost about $40. However when you load up Hi-Fi music from TIDAL, or high-quality music from Spotify, the earbuds actually perform quite good. They’re balanced while offering quite a bit of detail. Bass is punchy, mids are at the forefront and highs are clear without being piercing. These are tuned to please many instead of just dialing up the bass, and are not overly analytical which can become tiring to listen to over time.
They aren’t nearly as Hi-res as other earbuds I’ve used that qualify for that description, but they are quite good nonetheless. If I compare them to earbuds from Apple or Samsung that come for free with your smartphone, these are in a whole different category of sound reproduction.
When wearing earbuds of this variety, you need to make sure the fit is snug. Any air that can enter your ear will distort the sound. dodocool provides three sizes of silicone ear tips that are suitable for almost all ear canals. The tips are soft and comfortable and can be worn for several hours without fatigue.
When it comes to taking calls with these earbuds, they are excellent. Wired earbuds usually outperform their wireless counterparts with a sure connection through the 3.5mm audio jack. I took over a dozen calls for work with these and did not encounter any issues on either end of the call.
Summary
dodocool hooked the AndroidGuys’ readers up with an exclusive discount for these headphones. For a limited time, you can grab the dodocool Hi-Res in-ear earphones for $25.99 at Amazon using discount code 3OYEHHJP at checkout.
At $26 these earbuds are a more than fair price for those looking to upgrade their music experience. For those of you who use the earbuds that come with your smartphone, you’re missing out on a whole lot of detail in your music. It’s time you upgrade – the dodocool Hi-res in-ear earbuds are comfortable, are great for taking calls and offer a great all around music experience at a solid price.
Sony has announced that it will be releasing a handful of mobile games for both iOS and Android by March of 2018. In the past, Sony has dipped their toes in the mobile market with Playstation branded mobile games. Now they look to go full-on with a handful of internally developed games for both iOS and Android.
Sony’s now defunct mobile framework generically titled Playstation Mobile
Previously under the guise of PlayStation Mobile, Sony had certifiable devices that could play Playstation applications and games on tablets and phones as well as the Playstation Vita. Due to this ventures lack of success, going forward Sony is developing under a new venture by the name of ForwardWorks for its mobile properties.
Like Nintendo, Sony sees the ever-expanding mobile market as a lucrative space to invest. In Japan, the mobile market makes up for over 45% of all game sales. Sony is wise to make investments in this area as technology devices merge to the mobile space– a space which dominates much of Asia.
Will Sony use traditional controllers or adapt games to play on the touchscreen? Time will tell
While Sony did not announce any properties for this new venture; Sony does have a Playstation Experience this December in Anaheim, California. It is unknown at this time if Sony will take to the stage to announce or show any new games for its mobile division or talk of what IPs could make the jump to mobile. We will keep you up to date when more information is available.
