News

Android SDK gets major usability update, thanks to GPU acceleration

Google is releasing revision number 18 of its Android emulator, which should be a real treat for Android developers of the world in dire need for better tools to build the next big hit in Google Play Store. According to a post made on Android Developers’ blog, the latest revision will bring “a dramatic performance upgrade and support for a broader range of hardware features, notably sensors and multi-finger input”.

Get it from Amazon for $99

If there’s one good thing to come out of  today’s launch of the iPhone 5  is that it seems to have triggered Amazon to majorly slash the price of the Samsung Galaxy S3. This time, the retailer is discounting more variants of the phone, and not just Verizon’s version. A couple of days ago, both the Pebble Blue and Marble White Galaxy S3 were offered on Amazon Wireless for a mere $139.

Google will sell Zagat to review site The Infatuation

TL;DR Google will sell restaurant review company Zagat to The Infatuation for an undisclosed amount. Zagat was purchased by Google in 2011 for $151 million. The Infatuation is a nine-year-old company that plans to uphold and respect the decades-old Zagat brand. Back in 2011, Google bought the nearly-forty-year-old brand Zagat for $151 million. Google intended to use Zagat’s brand name recognition as well as its history of reviews to bolster its own reviews embedded in the Google Maps app.

T-Mobile will give you a smartphone if you join one of their prepaid plans

Well, not technically free of charge. You will have to pay for the device up front, but you’ll get a mail-in rebate up to a $50 value to cover the cost of the device. Yeah, $50: that’s the kind of price-range we’re looking at here for these phones. Still, nothing to sneeze at. If someone walked up and handed you fifty bucks on the street you’d think it was a pretty damn good day.

Bluetooth SIG unveils Auracast, a way for you to share audio to many devices

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority TL;DR The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced Auracast. Auracast is the next generation of Bluetooth audio technology. Auracast provides audio sharing, virtually unlimited broadcasting, and more. Audiophiles are in for some good news, thanks to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and its latest Bluetooth innovation. The SIG has announced Auracast, a new audio technology and brand that offers audio sharing, public listening tech, improved accessibility, and more.

First battery benchmarks show Snapdragon 800 is a frugal beast

The new LTE-A version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was compared to its competitors in a series of benchmarks. The results show that the Snapdragon 800 version consumes the same or less power than the Exynos 5 Octa version and other competitors. A Korean website tested the battery life of the new LTE-A version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the first device powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor. Playwares put the Galaxy S4 LTE-A SHV-E330S, which launched last week and is a South Korea exclusive, through a web browsing test, a video playback test, and a 3D benchmark, in order to see how the Snapdragon 800 processor fares against competitors.

Google Pixelbook patent shows motorized display that tracks your face

I’ve been lucky enough to meet designers from several notable laptop manufacturers over the years, and if there’s one thing I’ve found that they have in common it’s this: they’re all obsessed with hinges. Not glistening displays, not blisteringly fast CPUs, no… hinges.As strange as that sounds, you have to admit that it is oddly satisfying when you lift up a laptop lid in one smooth, slick motion courtesy of a well-designed hinge.

New ZTE Warp Elite costs just $179.99 from Boost

Today, Boost Mobile andZTE have announced the new Warp Elite smartphone, the successor to the Warp Sync. Priced at just $179.99, the ZTE Warp Elite is shooting right for the mid-range market. The ZTE Warp Elite has undergone a design overhaul from the last Warp smartphone, with a sleek looking case and large 5.5-inch display. Although the resolution is just 720×1280, which may be a little low at this size.

Sonic Jump brings Sonic the Hedgehog to Android

Sonic the Hedgehog is among the more recognizable characters in all of video games. Ranking right up there with Mario and Pacman, With the death of Sega as a console, Sonic began to fade into legend. Remembered only by older gamers who remember what it was like playing on the Genesis. Sonic has made a comeback in a new game for Android called Sonic Jump.Originally, the game was only released for iOS.

The LG V20 will launch on September 6 in San Francisco

LG already confirmed that the V10’s successor will arrive in September, but now we know exactly when to expect it. The Korean giant sent out invites for a press event scheduled for September 6. The presser will take place in San Francisco, a slightly unusual choice for LG, who picked New York or the big electronics trade shows for its recent launches. A separate event will be held on September 7 for the Korean press in Seoul.