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Want to know if your phone’s compatible with the Gear S2? Find out here

Andrew Myrick
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0

Yesterday it was announced that Samsung would be opening up compatibility for its Tizen-based Gear S2. However, the only specifics that were announced were that the Gear S2 would work with any Android device running 4.4 KitKat or higher, and at least 1.5GB of RAM.

[df-gallery url=”https://www.androidguys.com/gallery/samsung-gear-s2/”%5D

However, thanks to the folks over at TalkAndroid, they have uncovered the list of devices that Samsung has claimed will work with the Gear S2. If you’re wondering whether your device will be compatible, here’s the list for you to feast your eyes upon:

HTC

  • HTC One – EU
  • HTC One M8 – US
  • HTC One M9 – EU, US
  • HTC 826W – CN

Huawei

  • Honor 4X – CN
  • Honor 6 – EU
  • P8 – EU, CN
  • Ascend Mate 7 – EU, CN

Lenovo

  • Vide Shot – CN
  • x2 Pro – CN

LG

  • G Flex – US
  • Optimus G – KR
  • Optimus G2 – EU, US
  • Optimus G3 – EU, US, KR
  • G4 – EU, US, KR
  • G Vista – US
  • Nexus 5 – EU, KR, CN

Motorola

  • Droid Turbo – US
  • Droid MAXX – EU
  • Droid MINI – EU
  • Moto X – EU, KR
  • Nexus 6 – US, CN

Nubia

  • Nubia Z9 – CN

OPPO

  • R7 – CN

Pantech

  • IM-A910S – KR

Sharp

  • Aquos – EU

Sony

  • Xperia Z2 – EU
  • Xperia Z3 – EU

VIVO

  • X5 Pro – CN

Xiaomi

  • Mi3 – EU
  • Mi4 – EU, KR, CN
  • Note Pro – CN

ZTE

  • V5 – CN

Kyocera

  • Duraforce – US

Asus

  • Zenfone 2 – EU

Let us know what you think about this list of compatible devices, and whether your device will be compatible with the Gear S2 once released. We still don’t have US pricing or availability, but it’s only a matter of time before that information becomes available.

Source: Samsung via: TalkAndroid

2016 Honda Accord debuts with Android 4.2.2

Austin Hyde
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5

P_20150903_090802_HLWe recently reported that the new 2016 Honda Accord would come with Android Auto. Well, it appears now that not only does it come with Android Auto, but like its larger sibling the 2016 Honda Pilot, the 2016 Honda Accord also comes with Android 4.2.2 Jellybean.

This should be great news for early adopters of the 2016 Honda Pilot, which does not come with Android Auto or Apple Carplay. The fact that the Accord and the Pilot are running the same OS would indicate that Android Auto and Apple Carplay will be able to be enabled on the Honda Pilot at a future date with a firmware update.

P_20150903_090816_HLI had the opportunity to play with the new system for a little while earlier today and found the system to be very responsive. In fact, it is much more responsive then the other 7″ Audio Display units that Honda offers in the CR-V, Civic, Fit, and HR-V that do not use the Android OS. I’m not sure if that is directly attributable to Android or if it has more powerful hardware as well.

What do you think? Does this put the 2016 Honda Accord on your radar? Let us know in the comments.

CBS will stream select NFL games including the Superbowl

Austin Hyde
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0

CBS has announced that they will be streaming online the largest sporting event in the USA, the Superbowl. Leading up to the Superbowl, CBS will also stream 2 regular season games and 4 AFC playoff games.

  • New York Jets v Miami (October 9, London, UK)
  • Carolina v Dallas (November 26th, Thanksgiving)
  • 4 AFC playoff games in January (Wild Card, Divisional, and Championship)

Superbowl

Football fans will be able to stream the games free of charge to a full range of devices including Android and Chromecast. There are no subscriptions or accounts to log into, but don’t expect this to become the norm just yet. The NFL has broadcast contracts set all the way through 2020. It’s unlikely that we will start to see much of a change until sometime after that.

In the meantime, be grateful that you now have a few more options to watch a sport that you love. Are any of you planning on watching it online? Let us know in the comments.

 

CBS Press Release:

NFL ON CBS Streaming Coverage Will Be Available on Connected TVs, Laptops, Desktops, and Tablets for Two Regular Season Games, Four Playoff Games and Super Bowl 50

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Sept. 1, 2015 – CBS Sports will stream more NFL ON CBS game coverage than ever this season, including two regular season games, four playoff games and Super Bowl 50 from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Streaming coverage will be available on laptops, desktops and tablets at CBSSports.com and on televisions through select Connected TV devices, including Xbox One, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku® players and Roku TV™ models. All of the NFL ON CBS games that will be streamed live will be available online and on OTT devices for free with no authentication required.

Streaming coverage begins with the national broadcast of New York Jets-Miami in London (Oct. 4, 9:30 AM, ET), which will mark the first NFL ON CBS regular season game to be streamed live. CBS Sports will also stream Carolina-Dallas (Nov. 26, 4:30 PM, ET), which will mark the first time the CBS Sports broadcast of a Thanksgiving Day game is streamed live.  

All AFC playoff coverage will again be streamed this year, including the Wild Card, Divisional, and Championship games. On Sunday, Feb. 7, CBS Sports will live stream the CBS Television Network’s exclusive broadcast of Super Bowl 50.

“We’re very excited to offer more NFL ON CBS streaming coverage across more digital platforms than ever before,” said Jeffrey Gerttula, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CBS Sports Digital. “All NFL fans will have access through their computers, tablets and now Connected TVs to two regular season games for the first time in addition to all of the AFC playoff action, culminating with a truly historic Super Bowl.”

Streaming coverage will also be available to Verizon customers on phones through NFL Mobile. Additional details of the streaming coverage for each game will be announced at a later date.

Barnes & Noble, Samsung announce Galaxy Tab S2 Nook

Justin Marden
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0

tab s2 nookFresh off a big keynote at IFA, Samsung is still rolling with more announcements. Today Samsung and Barnes & Noble announced the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook, which is essentially a version of Samsung’s latest flagship tablet aimed at the avid reader. The Tab S2 Nook is sporting the same specs as the standard 8-inch Tab S2, but Barnes & Noble has given users a bit more incentive to buy this version. In addition to access to the Nook library (which boasts over 4 million books) and Nook apps, buyers will also get a few extra goodies:

  • Three free books (from a selection of 20 titles)
  • Three free magazine editions (from a selection of 25 magazines)
  • $5 Nook Store credit
  • Lifetime in-store support for the tablet

It’s worth noting that Barnes & Noble members will get an additional 10% off the purchase price of $399.99. That’s a discount of roughly $40, which isn’t too shabby for a top of the line tablet. If this device sounds like your cup of tea, the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook is available now, in Barnes & Noble stores and online at Nook.com.

Source: BusinessWire

Samsung teases Galaxy View device for October

Dan Bartram
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0

Along with the unveiling of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch at IFA 2015 in Berlin today, Samsung revealed something else called the Galaxy View, despite not really explaining what it is.

The Galaxy View, from the pictures Samsung teased out, looks to be a brand new big tablet that appears to have a kickstand and aimed at watching movies and TV shows.

Screen Shot 2015-09-03 at 21.16.44

It’s supposed to be released in October and could really either by a device completely on its own, or an accessory that attaches to a device as a second screen. A second display would make sense to offer an external display accessory to Samsung products, and would certainly justify the name ‘View’.

I guess we’ll find out in October.

Samsung Pay will come to the Gear S2 this November

Andrew Myrick
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2

In addition to cross-manufacturer compatibility, Samsung announced that Samsung Pay will be coming to the Gear S2 sometime in November. This will be possible due to the fact that there will be a Gear S2-specific application built into the smartwatch for easy use.

In order to keep your Gear S2 from being used for malicious purposes, Samsung has a two-step verification process built-in.

  • The watch continuously monitors your heart rate, so if you haven’t taken the watch off since the last time you authorized it for payments it’ll be painless to walk up to a PoS terminal and pay.
  • If the watch was removed from your wrist since the last time you made a payment, it will ask for a personalized PIN that you set up to authorize the next payment, and won’t ask again until the next time you take the watch off.

Finally, you will be able to use the Gear S2 with 3G capabilities with Samsung Pay even if your Gear S2 isn’t connected to your device. These are some awesome updates coming out of Samsung that aren’t even all the way related to Samsung phones.

[df-gallery url=”https://www.androidguys.com/gallery/samsung-gear-s2/”%5D

Let us know what you think about these features of the Gear S2 in the comments down below. Will you be picking one of these up once they are ready for purchase?

Source: Phandroid

Samsung Gear S2 will work with almost any Android device

Andrew Myrick
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1

With IFA 2015 still happening, it seems that the majority of the major announcements have died down. Now the manufacturers are filling in the holes such as pricing and availability, compatibility, and other questions that may pop up about these new devices.

Speaking of developing information, Samsung is starting to reveal a bit more about the Gear S2. The first bit of news is pretty surprising and awesome at the same time. Those who were intrigued by Samsung’s previous wearable devices, were stuck without, unless they already owned a compatible Samsung device. With the release of the Gear S2, Android users across the board will be able to jump on the Gear S2 bus.

This compatibility breakthrough for Samsung doesn’t come without a cost. The Gear S2 will ONLY be compatible with devices running Android KitKat 4.4 or higher, and your device MUST have at least 1.5 GB of RAM. Sorry if you’re on one of those older devices still, but maybe it’s time to look into the plethora of new devices and upgrade.

[df-gallery url=”https://www.androidguys.com/gallery/samsung-gear-s2/”%5D

Let us know whether this development from Samsung will influence your decision for purchasing your next smartwatch.

Source: Phandroid

Bounce along with Ball Climb (App Review)

Jason Botha
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0

Ball Climb is a great game for someone who simply doesn’t have time to play strenuous racing or zombie-killing games. You can play whenever, wherever thanks to the fact that it doesn’t require internet. Ready? Bounce!

Setup

As you may have guessed, Ball Climb is a simple game that doesn’t require many resources. As such, there is very little settings and setup that you have to through. You’re prompted to connected to a Google account for Play Games, and then you’re through. The only tutorial you get is “Tap!”, which is quite frankly all you need.

Gameplay

It’s probably not the only one of its kind, but it does seem to offer original gameplay. You’re basically a ball that bounces between two walls. Each time you tap, it moves higher up. The trick is to avoid the spikes on the wall as you move up. While it is kind of addictive, challenges and achievements are absent, leaving you with repetitive gameplay. There are however milestones in Google Play Games, but it’s not quite the same as if they were built in the app. To e fair, there are diamonds that you collect in order to get new balls, so there is at least some motivation to play.

Everything was smooth and responsive. Adverts do make minor appearances, but they’re not intrusive or annoying. Overall I quite liked the idea of it and playing the game.

Screenshot_2015-09-03-16-18-07

 

Is it for me ?

If you’re a fan of Indie type games, or simply looking for something simple, Ball Climb is likely the thing you’ve been looking for.

What we liked:

  • Fun gameplay
  • The sounds
  • Clean UI and graphics

And not so much…

  • Lack of levels
  • Lack of challenges

Ball Climb offers entertaining gameplay with being simple at the same time. While the challenges and levels/stages may only be something to look forward to, it still offers fine, smooth gameplay and certainly provides some entertainment. It’s one of the better games out there.

[pb-app-box pname=’com.taptoplay.ballclimb’ name=’Ball Climb’ theme=’discover’ lang=’en’]

 

T-Mobile adds video calling functionality

Benton Trerise
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0
T-Mobile adds video calling functionality

T-Mobile has been shaking the industry like crazy the past couple of years. I mean, they’re the reason that Verizon has gotten rid of contracts. Well, as John Legere has said many times, the Un-carrier isn’t showing any signs of slowing down as today they’ve announced video calling functionality from within the phone’s dialer.

IncomingVideoCall

Dubbed T-Mobile Video Calling, T-Mobile is seeking to allow video calling functionality right out of the box. All it takes is placing a phone call, and then selecting either video call, or voice call. That’s it. Nothing more

Contacts that can receive video calls will have a small camera icon on them. Those that cannot receive them will have the same icon, but greyed out. T-Mobile says they’re working to make this functionality available to all, among all carriers. This will be accessible on both Wi-Fi and LTE, and T-Mobile says if you move from one of those connections to a slower connection, the call will transfer “seamlessly” to a voice call.

Currently this is only available on the Samsung Galaxy S6+ and Note 5 through a software update, and the S6 and S6 Edge will be available next week. T-Mobile plans to have three more devices available by the end of the year.

Video calling has been a functionality available for awhile, but being able to do this through a carrier will more than likely make the experience much easier, especially for those not as tech-savvy.

What do you think? Are you excited for this ability? Anyone received the update already and used it? Let us know in the comments below.

SOURCE: T-Mobile Newsroom

Samsung introduces new SmartThings portfolio

Justin Marden
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0

smartthings-hubIFA is always full of new and exciting products, but Samsung is taking a different approach with their newly-acquired SmartThings brand. Samsung announced an updated version of the SmartThings Hub at IFA, along with some new devices — called “things,” of course — that can be paired with the hub. The new hub, which is available now direct from Samsung, is sporting an ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1GHz, a faster chip than we found in the older hub. The new processor means the hub can now handle video streaming, so users can view live feeds on their smartphone from a connected camera. The hub will also send users event-based notifications when smoke, fire, leaks, or floods are detected. New features also include a battery backup that allows the hub to continue functioning for up to 10 hours on its own, in the event of a power outage.

sleepsenseSamsung isn’t stopping with the SmartThings family, as it introduced a few new devices at IFA as well. SleepSense, a flat disk that users place under their mattress, monitors sleep patterns, heart rate, and respiration. It also recognizes when a user falls asleep, turning off a connected TV and adjusting the heating or air conditioning.

Along with SleepSense, Samsung is bringing more content to users via partnerships with Netflix, VoD, Amazon, and even GameFly. The push is to get users to  buy more Samsung televisions, so they have access to such great content and features. Along with digital content, Samsung also announced a new Blu-Ray player, which is supposedly capable of upscaling content to UHD resolution. This will be a nice addition to the Samsung family for Blu-Ray fans.

samsung-addwashAppliances also made an appearance at Samsung’s IFA showcase, with the announcement of AddWash, a new line of washing machines from Samsung that aims to make laundry a little less frustrating for users. The WW8500 AddWash is the first washing machine in the line, and Samsung claims that it’s the first washing machine that allows users to add laundry at any point in the wash cycle with the push of a button that unlocks the door. It also pairs with a companion smartphone app that gives users notifications and allows them to monitor laundry during the cycle.

samsung-smartthings-vehicleFinally, Samsung is teaming with BMW to integrate the SmartThings hub into cars. This will enable drivers to lock and unlock the car via their smartphone, as well as check the technical status of their BMW. Volkswagon is also working with Samsung, creating the Car Mode for Galaxy app, a competitor to Android Auto. The app essentially does many of the things that Android Auto does (navigation, music playback, etc), but connects to cars that support MirrorLink. Users can then control functions in the app through steering wheel controls or their on-board display. The companies are also introducing an app for the newly announced Gear S2, which will allow owners of certain Volkswagon cars to control some functions from their watch.

Samsung is definitely investing in the Internet of Things with these new and updated devices, which makes sense given the company’s desire to have all their devices integrated with the SmartThings hub within the next five years. We’ll keep an eye on Samsung’s new products, which hopefully bring a new level of functionality to homes (and cars).

Source: Android Central (1), (2), 9to5 Google

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