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Verizon, AT&T to get store-in-store presence at select Best Buys

Josh Noriega
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We’ve always known Best Buy as a third-party alternative to obtaining our smartphones.  I guess it’s done well in the eyes of the carriers.  Both Verizon and AT&T have announced today that they’re moving in.

The objective both of the carriers seek is to provide a better experience to customers/prospects viewing their offerings.  Verizon will actually refer to its area as the Verizon Experience Store.

[blockquote author=”Verizon Wireless”]The larger Verizon presence within 250 Best Buy locations will offer shoppers the ability to experience the latest wireless connected devices, tables, smartphones, apps and services.

In addition, each Experience Store will be staffed by dedicated and highly-trained Best Buy employees who are knowledgeable on Verizon products and services. These experts will provide customers with a complete Verizon Wireless experience, offering customized solutions based on their connectivity needs.[/blockquote]

VZW_bestbuy

This is certainly great from the perspective of coming in to play with devices.  Many phones at Best Buy are dummy units.  Also, recall that Samsung made a similar move not too long ago – setting up a space with its latest devices and representatives to walk you through them.  I found it a convenient place to check out the Note 5 before it was released.

AT&T has a very similar announcement, stating that “The new space also includes dedicated employees who are expertly trained on the ins and outs of the products only offered from AT&T.”

[blockquote author=”AT&T”]By expanding our in-store presence and depth of products sold at Best Buy, we’re giving customers another convenient way to fully experience what AT&T has to offer. We look forward to everyone stopping by one of the select stores and seeing the new changes for themselves.[/blockquote]

ATT_best_buy_rendering_blog

Verizon says that it will have nearly 100 locations up and running by the end of this month.  Both carriers plan to have their entire 250 locations in place by the end of 2015.

Do you think this is a smart move?  I don’t always like to go into a carrier store to check out a new device, especially if it’s not my carrier, so I welcome it.

Sources: Verizon | AT&T

HURRY! HTC offers up some incredible limited time deals

Scott Webster
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HTC, as part of its Hot Deals promotion, is offering a number of great bargains today. Whether you’re looking for a phone, a tablet, or some goodies, HTC has something worth considering. The promotion runs for just a short time; it ends at midnight tonight (11:59PM PST). Note these are also limited to available supplies so don’t be surprised if something disappears along the way.

hotdeals

  • 50% off RE Camera
  • 50% off all accessories
  • 40% off Nexus 9
  • 25% off HTC One M9 (with UH OH Protection and $100 Google play Credit)

HTC Hot Deals

Some Moto X Pure users are having issues with their speakers

Matt Adams
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In a forum post on Motorola’s forums, many Moto X Pure owners are complaining that they’re having issues with the top speaker on their phone. There doesn’t appear to be any obvious rhyme or reason to the issues that range from crackling at high volumes to audio skipping when the Moto X Pure is turned into landscape mode.

[df-gallery url=”https://www.androidguys.com/gallery/motorola-moto-x-style-pure/”%5D

The user that started the thread reports that their issues are apparent even at less than full volume and it seems to be the worst in audio books. Turning off “audio effects” seems to help the problem but does not fix it completely. Others chime in that they’re seeing similar issues on their Moto X Pure and Moto X Style.

Another user has gone on to complain about the audio dropping out for a second when the phone is turned into landscape mode. Another has issues playing ringtones at full volume.

While some suspect that it’s a software issue that can be fixed with an update, others think it’s Motorola using a substandard speaker. The Moto X Pure starts at only $400 so it makes sense that people will automatically think Moto is skipping out on quality parts to keep the price down. But the rise of cheap, good smartphones shows the world that you can make a compelling device for a compelling price. Motorola seems to be the king of this.

[graphiq id=”5eYincQGirz” title=”Motorola Moto X Pure Edition” width=”600″ height=”400″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/5eYincQGirz” link=”http://smartphones.specout.com/l/3988/Motorola-Moto-X-Pure-Edition” link_text=”Motorola Moto X Pure Edition | SpecOut”]

Source: Motorola Forums

Snapdragon 820 to debut with LTE download speeds of up to 600Mbps

Austin Hyde
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Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced that their newest chipset, the Snapdragon 820, will debut with the most advanced LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity technology of any other chipset on the market. The 820 will be reserved for premium level smartphones, presumably because of the cost.

  • LTE Advanced speeds
    • Cat 12 (up to 600 Mbps) in the downlink
    • Cat 13 (up to 150 Mbps) in the uplink
    • Up to 4×4 MIMO on one downlink LTE carrier
  • Breakthrough connectivity support in unlicensed spectrum:
    • 2×2 MU-MIMO (802.11ac)
    • Multi-gigabit 802.11ad
    • LTE-U and LTE+Wi-Fi Link Aggregation (LWA)
  • Comprehensive service across connection types
    • Next Gen HD Voice and Video calling over LTE and Wi-Fi
    • Call Continuity across Wi-Fi, LTE, 3G, and 2G
  • RF front end innovations
    • Advanced Closed Loop Antenna Tuner
    • Qualcomm RF360™ front end solution with CA
    • Wi-Fi/LTE antenna sharing

The 820 is the first publicly announced chipset with Category 12 download speeds and category 13 upload speeds. To give this some perspective, this is 33% improvement over the 810’s download speeds and a 200% improvement over the 810’s upload speeds.

The 4×4 Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) is designed to double download throughput speeds on LTE. Basically, this allows for multiple connections to the same source for download. In theory, it kind of works like a torrent would. Download speeds are not only dependent on both the speed of the download connection, but also the speed of the upload on the opposite end. So if you’re connected to the uploading server twice, you can download the file twice as fast. Of course the uploading server will have to support the technology as well.

Other technologies announced for the 820 are Quick Charge 3.0, built-in malware protection, and 2x’s performance and battery life. What do you think? Will your next phone be rocking the 820? Let us know in the comments below.

Here is the full press release for your viewing pleasure.

Qualcomm Announces Breakthrough Connectivity Features in the Snapdragon 820 Processor

–Upgraded X12 LTE modem includes the most advanced LTE and Wi-Fi feature set of any publicly announced integrated modem and application processor for use in mobile devices–

SEP 14, 2015 HONG KONG

Qualcomm products mentioned within this press release are offered by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), has integrated its newly upgraded X12 LTE modem into its upcoming Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 processor, providing leading 4G LTE and Wi-Fi technologies for premium tier mobile devices. The new Snapdragon 820 processor addresses unprecedented demand for blazing fast connectivity and seamless services. The Snapdragon 820 processor’s upgraded X12 LTE modem offers:

  • LTE Advanced speeds
    • Cat 12 (up to 600 Mbps) in the downlink
    • Cat 13 (up to 150 Mbps) in the uplink
    • Up to 4×4 MIMO on one downlink LTE carrier
  • Breakthrough connectivity support in unlicensed spectrum:
    • 2×2 MU-MIMO (802.11ac)
    • Multi-gigabit 802.11ad
    • LTE-U and LTE+Wi-Fi Link Aggregation (LWA)
  • Comprehensive service across connection types
    • Next Gen HD Voice and Video calling over LTE and Wi-Fi
    • Call Continuity across Wi-Fi, LTE, 3G, and 2G
  • RF front end innovations
    • Advanced Closed Loop Antenna Tuner
    • Qualcomm RF360™ front end solution with CA
    • Wi-Fi/LTE antenna sharing

This is the first publicly announced processor for use in mobile devices to support LTE Category 12 in the downlink and Category 13 in the uplink, providing up to 33 percent and 200 percent improvement over its predecessor’s download and upload speeds, respectively. Also available as a discrete chipset, the X12 LTE modem has demonstrated peak download speeds of up to 600 Mbps through 3x downlink carrier aggregation and 256-QAM, as well as peak upload speeds of up to 150 Mbps through 2x uplink carrier aggregation and 64-QAM. The Snapdragon 820 processor is also the first publicly announced processor to offer LTE support for 4×4 Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO), designed to double download throughput speeds on a single LTE carrier. In addition, it features Uplink Data Compression (UDC), a feature that is currently unique to select Snapdragon LTE modems, and engineered to enhance the user experience in a wide range of applications, including accelerating web page loading times. The Snapdragon 820 processor is also the first publicly announced processor with Advanced Closed Loop Antenna Tuning when paired with the QFE2550 Antenna Tuner, designed to dynamically optimize RF performance in real network conditions, particularly for challenging metallic industrial designs in premium tier handsets. Advanced Closed Loop Antenna Tuning is designed to reduce dropped calls, improve cell edge throughput and even lower power consumption.

In addition to its leading LTE features, the Snapdragon 820 processor also supports superior Wi-Fi performance and connectivity experiences through Qualcomm® VIVE™ 802.11ac with Qualcomm® MU  | EFX MU-MIMO technology, along with tri-band support, through multi-gigabit 802.11ad (11ad) Wi-Fi. With 2×2 802.11ac (11ac) plus MU-MIMO technology, devices will have the ability to achieve a range increase of up to 50 percent over the 1×1 configuration.

The peak rate of 2×2 80 MHz 11ac is up to 867 Mbps, while the 11ad peak rate is up to 4.6 Gbps. Additionally, 11ad offers up to a five time increase in user throughput with similar power consumption as 11ac. With dynamic session transfer between 11ad and 11ac, devices will have the ability to achieve high performance connectivity in a power-efficient way. The high bandwidth and speeds offered by 11ac Wi-Fi, 11ad Wi-Fi, and MU-MIMO brings new-levels of performance designed to improve overall quality of service, and enhance user experiences for applications such as streaming 4K video, doing peer-to-peer large file sharing, using media kiosks, docking wirelessly, hard disk backups and more.

The Snapdragon 820 processor features advanced convergence technologies between LTE and Wi-Fi, and between licensed and unlicensed spectrum:

  • LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U). The Snapdragon 820 processor is the first publicly announced processor for use in mobile devices to offer comprehensive LTE-U support when paired with the WTR3950, increasing mobile network capacity and user throughput by aggregating LTE in licensed and unlicensed bands.
  • LTE and Wi-Fi Link Aggregation (LWA). LWA is another method of aggregating licensed and unlicensed spectrum. It is designed to allow mobile operators to utilize their Wi-Fi infrastructure to augment licensed LTE network capacity with unlicensed spectrum capacity.
  • Next-generation Wi-Fi calling. The X12 LTE modem supports next-generation HD Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Video over LTE (ViLTE) calling services using the IP Multimedia Subsystem, with support for call continuity between LTE and Wi-Fi. Making use of the cognitive capabilities of Qualcomm® Zeroth™, the X12 LTE modem monitors real-time Wi-Fi quality to decide if and when to shift the call from LTE to Wi-Fi or back.
  • Antenna sharing. The new modem supports several antenna sharing schemes between LTE and Wi-Fi, designed to make it easier for manufacturers to design devices with advanced technologies like LTE-U, 4×4 LTE MIMO, and 2-stream Wi-Fi, with attractive form factors and minimal performance impact on either technology.

“The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with X12 LTE modem is a new industry leader, offering highly differentiated features that put OEMs and carriers on the cutting edge, including the latest advances in LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With technologies like 4K video, virtual reality and cognitive computing rapidly evolving, it’s important to provide consumers with the speed and bandwidth to create a more compelling mobile experience.”

The Snapdragon 820 processor continues QTI’s long-standing tradition of integrating industry-leading modem features. It also includes support for services such as LTE-Broadcast and dual-SIM LTE carrier aggregation devices. Devices based on the Snapdragon 820 processor are expected to be available in 1H of 2016.

About Qualcomm Incorporated

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website,OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Qualcommm, Snapdragon, Qualcomm RF360 and VIVE are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Zeroth is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Snapdragon, Qualcomm Zeroth and Qualcomm RF360 are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Qualcomm VIVE and Qualcomm MU | EFX are products of Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. 

Hurry: HTC Nexus 9 one day sale for as low as $240

AndroidGuys
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1

HTC is having a one day sale on the Google Nexus 9 today and will end on Sept. 15th at 11:59PST. You can pick up the 16GB WiFi model for as low as $239.40, down from the MSRP of $399.00. The 32GB WiFi version can be had for $287.40 down from $479.00. Both versions come brand new and are Google’s pure Android tablet running Android Lollipop 5.1. Again, this is only a one-day sale and quantities are limited so act fast.

Designed for work and play, Nexus 9 combines a brushed metal body and soft grip back with the best of Google and Android for virtually limitless entertainment content and business tools.

For movers and makers

  • 8.9” screen
  • Front-facing stereo speakers
  • Access to over a million apps
  • Automatic Android updates
  • Seamless device integration

Accessories are also on sale like the Nexus 9 Keyboard Folio can be had at 50% off.

Check out the deal at HTC.com. Other deals at HTC listed here.

Source – Slickdeals

[graphiq id=”2bvu57ZkYDP” title=”HTC Nexus 9 Key Facts” width=”600″ height=”692″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/2bvu57ZkYDP” link=”http://tablets.specout.com/l/829/HTC-Nexus-9″ link_text=”HTC Nexus 9 Key Facts | SpecOut”]

E FUN announces its first 4G LTE Nextbook Android tablets, Ares 8L and 10L

AndroidGuys
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E FUN, the fifth largest vendor of tablets in the US, announced its first 4G LTE tablets, the Ares 8L and 10L. Both tablets are compatible with Verizon’s LTE network, run Android Lollipop 5.0, and are powered by Intel’s quad-core Atom processor.

The Ares 8L is an 8″ display tablet designed for users constantly on the go and want access to streaming videos, email, social media and video games. The Ares 10L is more geared toward the power user with a 10″ display and a magnetic keyboard with two USB ports.

Both tablets share these specs:

  • 1280×800 IPS screen
  • Quad-core Intel Atom processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • Verizon 4G LTE
  • 16GB memory
  • Bluetooth 4.0 with WiFi
  • Expandable memory up to 64GB via microUSB

Both the Ares 8L and 10L are available at Walmart for $144 and $193 respectively with a two-year contract.

Check them out at NextbookUSA.com or at Walmart.com.

Ares 8L -$144

Ares 10L -$193

k2-_02e54f79-9f02-4613-89f6-13efbed436e6.v1k2-_4cba4c5c-12e6-4c52-978c-b687e3d7e114.v1

Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 430 and 617 to the mid-range lineup

AndroidGuys
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Qualcomm Incorporated announced two new chips today to their mid-range lineup and they sure do look like real performers. The Snapdragon 430 and Snapdragon 617 offer major upgrades in both multimedia and connectivity and are expected to be available no later than Q2 2016.

The Snapdragon 430 features X6 LTE, with downlink speeds of up to 150 Mbps and uplink speeds of up to 75 Mbps. The 430 now supports camera sensors up to 21MP and uses the new Adreno 505 GPU. Both of those features were usually reserved for the top-end processors, but Qualcomm is now blurring the lines between budget devices and flagships. What this means is more money in our pockets at the end of the day.

Better yet, the Snapdragon 617 further improves upon the 430 with downlink speeds up to 300Mbps, and uplink speeds up to 100Mbps and also supports the same camera architecture as the Snapdragon 618 and 620.

Both the 617 and 430 now support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0, meaning mid-range and budget devices will charge even quicker.

As smartphones and tablets continue to spread to all corners of the globe, we recognize that users are becoming more discerning in what they want,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The introduction of these new processors is a clear indication that we are listening to the needs of our customers who want ever improving cameras, faster connectivity, and better battery life across all available price points.

2016 may be the year we turn to mid-range devices as our daily drivers if other mid-range components see improvements like these Snapdragon chips.

Read the full press release here.

Qualcomm announces Quick Charge 3.0 promising even faster charging

AndroidGuys
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1

Need a reason not to buy Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 chargers or any of the new flagships out like the Moto X Pure Edition? Well Qualcomm has just given you one. A really good one too.

Qualcomm just announced QC 3.0, the new standard for quick charging. Qualcomm claims that it is twice as fast as QC 1.0 and 38 percent more efficient than QC 2.0.

While Quick Charge 3.0 will be backwards compatible with 1.0 and 2.0, you will need a new charger to utilize 3.0 speeds.

Unfortunately for those who completely bought into Quick Charge 2.0, their chargers will be unable to deliver the 3.0 speeds, but the still will be able to charge the phone at 2.0 speeds which is significantly faster than standard charging. It isn’t a total loss.

These super fast charging speeds are achieved by some “sciencey” stuff that I will quote down below. The gist of it is that your devices with Quick Charge 3.0 will be able to use a wider variety of voltages in order to get more power faster in a safe fashion.

[blockquote author=”Qualcomm“]How does it work? Quick Charge 3.0 employs Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV), an algorithm which allows your portable device to determine what power level to request at any point in time, enabling optimum power transfer while maximizing efficiency. It also supports wider voltage options, allowing a mobile device to dynamically adjust to the ideal voltage level supported by that specific device. Specifically, Quick Charge 3.0 offers a more granular range of voltages: 200mV increments, from 3.6V to 20V. That way your phone can target one of dozens of power levels.[/blockquote]

Qualcomm created this nifty video down below to help quickly bring you up to speed on this new standard.

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 will work now on any phone that uses the following processors

  • 820
  • 620
  • 618
  • 617
  • 430

The best part is that this will work with any port connector. USB Type-A, USB micro, USB Type-C, or proprietary connectors can all bask in the glory that is Quick Charge 3.0.

If you were on the fence about getting a new phone, this should sway you to the hold off and wait side. I know that this is enough to get me to stick with my Idol 3 5.5″ a little longer and not buy the Moto X Pure Edition like I have been craving to.

I will gladly hold out until I see some smartphone with QC 3.0 in tow before buying a new phone. What about you? Is QC 3.0 enough to make you wait until buying a new phone? Or is there a current flagship out now that is just too good to pass up?

Motorola Connect app updated with new watch faces; New Moto Body app appears

Dan Bartram
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Motorola’s accessory customisation app, Motorola Connect, is bringing some cool new features along with a recent update.

You’ll see a big new UI that brings the design in line with other Motorola apps and you’ll see new material design aspects to see connected devices and also add new pairings.

Upon tapping a device, you’ll see the familiar layout of watch location, and the gallery of watchfaces.

moto-connect-new-faces

 

On the topic of new watchfaces, the new faces include Dials, Dials II, Refined, and Essential. Dials and Dials II have three interactive dials you can set to options like Weather, Moto Body activities like calories or steps, and battery.

Let us know what you think of the new update in the comments section below.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.motorola.targetnotif’ name=’Motorola Connect’ theme=’discover’ lang=’en’]

 

LG sends out invites for October 1st event

Matt Adams
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LG has started sending out invites for an event on October 1st. The invite features a film reel and a slate board asking you to save the date for October 1st in New York. Generally, companies try to tie in some sort of element from their presentation into invite, but we haven’t seen any leaks having to do with movies.

lg-event-invite

We have, however, seen a lot of leaks for a new flagship phone from LG. Whether it’s called the LG G4 Note or the LG G4 Pro is yet to be seen, but we did catch a trademark filing for the G4 Note earlier this month.

There haven’t been a ton of hardware leaks on the G4 Note, but we might be seeing a very similar phone to the G4 that was released earlier this year. It’s probably too early in the year to see a newer processor, and 3 gigs of RAM seem to be the sweet spot right now. If they follow Samsung’s example, we’ll probably see a stylus of some sort too.

What do you think LG will be showing off? A new phone? Maybe a new watch? Let us know in the comments how you think the film theme may play in.

[graphiq id=”2R5NIKyMm5T” title=”LG G4 Pro” width=”600″ height=”400″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/2R5NIKyMm5T” link=”http://smartphones.specout.com/l/4229/LG-G4-Pro” link_text=”LG G4 Pro | SpecOut”]

Source: AndroidCentral

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